A look back at my AFC and NFC predictions – @TouchdownTips

So I’ve got Thursday off work and before I look towards the 2 write ups I’ve got for this weekend, especially as one of the games I’ll be doing the write up for is the Texans… I thought i’d look back at what I thought would of happened at the start of the season and see if I got anything right…

NFC North – https://touchdowntips.com/2016/09/01/nfc-north-predictions-footbawltips/

Team	Prediction	Actual
Vikings Packers Lions Bears	12-4 11-5 8-8 5-11	8-8 10-6 9-7 3-13

So… I’m actually not disappointed with this, obviously the prediction was based on Peterson doing well, and not being decimated on the O-line, those two things fell apart quite quickly! But I had the Pack pretty much on the record they finished on, and was 1 off on the Lions games, so not bad really, had the Bears bottom too, which is nice, didn’t think they’d be that bad though.

NFC East – https://touchdowntips.com/2016/09/01/nfc-east-predictions-footbawltips/

Team	Prediction	Actual
Giants Redskins Cowboys Eagles	10-6 9-7 8-8 5-11	11-5 8-7-1 13-3 7-9

I quite obviously underestimated the Cowboys! I didn’t think Dak would do as well as he has, and I definitely didn’t think their defence would have done. The Giants I had pretty much right, one game off on them, Redskins as well would of had the exact record if they’d beaten the Bengals, and I had Bradford as QB in the write up, Wentz did a lot better than expected.

NFC South – https://touchdowntips.com/2016/09/01/nfc-south-predictions-footbawltips/

Team	Prediction	Actual
Panthers Saints Falcons Buccs	10-6 5-11 5-11 6-10	6-10 7-9 9-7 11-5

So…This one didn’t go too well. The Panthers sucked. In fairness, In the write up, I did state that I thought the Falcons would do far better, and the Saints would too, but because it was one of the last divisions I did, a lot of the results were pre-set from the way I did the predictions, going through the results I thought from each game, so at least I was right thinking the Falcons would be better than 5-11. I was completely wrong about them not being a team to get excited about though!

NFC West – https://touchdowntips.com/2016/09/02/nfc-west-predictions-footbawltips/

Team	Prediction	Actual
Seahawks Cardinals Rams 49ers	14-2 11-5 3-13 3-13	10-5-1 7-8-1 4-12 2-14

Not a million miles away on this one, The Seahawks weren’t as dominant as I’d thought, The Cardinals weren’t as good as most people expected. I actually had the Rams one game worse than they finished, lets be fair they were lucky to get to 4. The Niners, well, I had them winning 3 as well… Close! – “I don’t think Jeff Fisher will be getting to his usual 7-9 record, or keeping his job.” At least that was spot on.

AFC North – https://touchdowntips.com/2016/08/22/afc-north-predictions/

Team	Prediction	Actual
Steelers Bengals Ravens Browns	11-5 10-6 7-9 6-10	11-5 8-8 6-9-1 1-15

Finally, I got one spot on… Unfortunately for me being a Bengals fan, it wasn’t the one I wanted. The Steelers hit their 11-5. The Bengals had a very poor year, Eifirt was out for longer than I expected and Greens injury at the end hit them. The Ravens I had about right, 1 game off, and I thought the Browns were actually going to be mildly good. Whoops.

AFC East – https://touchdowntips.com/2016/08/24/15-days-to-go-afc-east-predictions-footbawltips/

Team	Prediction	Actual
Patriots Jets Dolphins Bills	11-5 8-8 6-10 4-12	14-2 10-6 7-9 5-11

So the Jets stank far more than I thought, I thought Fitz would do ok. He didn’t. I messed up the Pats from the get-go, I thought they’d be 2-2 without Brady, and then they’d still go on to lose 3 through the season. Brady is better than ever though. I was very down on the Bills, they did better than planned. And the Dolphins, probably my biggest variance so far, they far exceeded my expectations.

AFC South – https://touchdowntips.com/2016/08/26/13-days-to-go-afc-south-predictions-footbawltips/

Team	Prediction	Actual
Texans Jaguars Colts Titans	11-5 9-7 6-10 4-12	9-7 3-13 8-8 9-7

I got the league winner correct at least, the Titans were the big shock here, winning 9 games where I had them at 4! The Jags, well, everyone was high on them coming into the season, and making the leap. That didn’t happen. At all. And the Colts, well, I knew I was too harsh on the Colts, and Luck in particular.

AFC West – https://touchdowntips.com/2016/08/30/9-days-left-afc-west-predictions-footbawltips/

Team	Prediction	Actual
Chiefs Raiders Chargers Broncos	11-5 9-7 8-8 7-9	12-4 12-4 5-11 9-7

I got the top two in the correct order anyway, Chiefs I was one off with, the Raiders quite a few off, I had the Broncos missing out on the playoffs which was right, although they won a couple more than expected, and the Chargers could well have been 8-8 if they hadn’t had someone crippled every single week.

Overall…

Overall, I wasn’t actually that far off! I got the correct top teams in all of the AFC, I can excuse myself on the NFC North, as the Viking were badly hit with injuries, and I was only a 1 game off on the Packers record. The Cowboys far exceeded anything I thought they’d do without Romo there, and that was a lot of peoples viewpoints, I was a game off the Giants there, and half a game off the Redskins, and I had the Seahawks at 1-2 (not hard there tbh) and lets not mention the NFC South. – For that to be my first body of work, and the first time i’d looked so in-depth into the whole situation, i’ll give myself a solid C grade.