DKY’s NFL Predictions ’13, Part I

Last year I made some horrendous predictions, but just like a weather man, I am back to try again!

Last year I picked only 6 of a possible 12 playoff teams correctly, ultimately picking the Atlanta Falcons to overcome the Pittsburgh Steelers to become Super Bowl XLVI champs.

Yikes.

Nowhere to go but up, right?!

As always injuries can and will play a major role in the season. It happens every year. Peyton Manning, the obvious example, going down turned the Colts from a probable wild card team to #1 choice in the NFL Draft (hello, Andrew Luck).

Who knows how the Buffalo Bills would have performed if Fred Jackson never went down and Ryan Fitzpatrick’s ribs were never injured? They finished 6-10, but when healthy they were 5-2 and to say they could have went 9-7 or 10-6 isn’t a far reach. We’ll never know and that’s the rub with injuries to key players in the NFL.

This year is no different. Michael Vick will always be the prime suspect on everyone’s list to get hurt and ruin his teams season. He is notoriously fragile with his little baby bones and needs to run less recklessly or he will never complete a full season again.

Is Peyton Manning all the way back? He took some good, hard shots in the preseason and popped right back up, but (there’s always a ‘but’) no one has ever had this sort of injury/surgeries before so there’s no way to possibly predict how his neck will react to a full slate of games.

Can the New York football Giants repeat?

Can the Packers repeat a 15-1 type season and win the Super Bowl?

On to my prediction of every teams record;

AFC East
**New England Patriots (13-3)
*Buffalo Bills (10-6)
New York Jets (8-8)
Miami Dolphins (4-12)

AFC North
*Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)
*Baltimore Ravens (11-5)
Cincinnati Bengals (7-9)
Cleveland Browns (2-14)

AFC South
**Houston Texans (12-4)
Tennessee Titans (6-10)
Indianapolis Colts (5-11)
Jacksonville Jaguars (4-12)

AFC West
*San Diego Chargers (10-6)
Denver Broncos (9-7)
Oakland Raiders (6-10)
Kansas City Chiefs (3-13)

NFC East
*New York Giants (11-5)
Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)
Dallas Cowboys (9-7)
Washington Redskins (6-10)

NFC North
**Green Bay Packers (13-3)
*Detroit Lions (10-6)
Chicago Bears (10-6)
Minnesota Vikings (3-13)

NFC South
**New Orleans Saints (13-3)
*Atlanta Falcons (12-4)
Carolina Panthers (8-8)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-13)

NFC West
*San Francisco 49ers (11-5)
Seattle Seahawks (9-7)
St. Louis Rams (4-12)
Arizona Cardinals (1-15)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFC Wild Card Round
Ravens over Chargers
Bills over Steelers

NFC Wild Card Round
Giants over Falcons
Lions over 49ers

AFC Divisional Round
Patriots over Bills
Texans over Ravens

NFC Divisional Round
Packers over Giants
Lions over Saints

AFC Championship
Texans over Patriots

NFC Championship
Packers over Lions

Super Bowl XLVII
Green Bay Packers over Houston Texans

Part II of my predictions will come tomorrow! That post will include my hardware picks (MVP, Coach of the Year, etc) and a list of things I believe will occur in the league this year, be they injuries (Vick?, Peyton?), team feats or records that may or may not fall. It’s gonna be a menagerie.

Trust me.