More Predictions about the Upcoming NFL Season

Here is part two of my season predictions for all 32 NFL Teams. NFC North and South Edition.

NFC North:

The Chicago Bears didn’t make too many adjustments in the offseason, all they really did was draft Justin Fields. Now, since the Bears don’t have a QB1 set in stone, they should start Justin Fields. He has a lot of young weapons to play with, David Montgomery, Allen Robinson, Darnell Mooney, and Cole Kmet. Also, the Bears have an above-average defense. This team has a very, very bright season up ahead, I’m excited to see what they do.

The Detroit Lions got worse over the offseason (is that possible?). They lost Matt Stafford, Romeo Okwara, Marvin Jones Jr, Kenny Golladay, Jarrad Davis and Matt Prater. Their 2020 5-11 season seems like a dream right now, I give them a 4-13 at best. They can’t even develop their youngsters, RB D’Andre Swift can’t even run normally because his O-line is really bad, what's new? At least their new head coach, Dan Campbell, wants to win and also bite off kneecaps. Really. Type his name and “kneecaps” in Google and you’ll get the full story. Maybe that’ll fire up the whole team, or maybe it won’t because they’ll think their skipper is a psycho, no in-between.

The Packers’ dumpster fire of an off season was put out a little bit. MVP Aaron Rodgers and best WR in the league Davante Adams both went MIA during the offseason, scaring and intriguing everyone in the NFL community. Without those two, they would have a distraught coach, Matt LaFleur a rookie QB, Jordan Love, WRs that never got more than 50 yards in a game, Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdez-Scantling, an up and down TE, Robert Tonyan, and a lockdown defense. Still a pretty good roster, but, if they want to go back to the NFC Championship, then they would need Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams to be satisfied with every square inch of the Packers. Well, they aren’t, and Rodgers again got nothing this offseason. Let’s say you, the reader, were Aaron Rodgers, considering all of the circumstances, would you want to go out, every game and pass for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns? I wouldn’t. Some might say that he wants to prove to the Packers that he can do this on his own. Why would he want to prove anything, it’s the end of his career, a very decorated one. Well, there goes another offseason, try again next year, right? When Rodgers will be 38.

The Vikings are one of those scary teams. Minus the Lions, this is a very tough division, and they have a great team. I just wish Kirk Cousins wouldn’t be there. For this team, you need a solid top 10 QB and Cousins just isn’t that. Cousins is getting way too much money each year and he’s not producing. Imagine if this team would have a modern QB, a scrambling deep passer, like Justin Fields. They could’ve traded up but decided to stick an OT, a good choice, but imagine Justin Fields on that team. The defense is great too. I’m interested to see what Dalvin Cook does this year. I hope he does amazing because that’ll really propel the Vikings.

Final Standings: Bears, Packers, Vikings (all within 2 games of each other), Lions.

NFC South:

I feel like the Falcons didn’t get better or worse over the offseason. Obviously, they lost Julio Jones, but that uncovers Calvin Ridley as WR1 (who I think will slide right in as Julio 2.0) and they got Kyle Pitts. Their defense, again, is really good. The only problem I have is Matt Ryan. He is way past his prime and didn’t have a crazy high peak (like he wasn’t at a prime Aaron Rodgers level, ever). Also, the Falcons can’t experiment with a young QB as the 49ers or Packers can. This team has mediocrity or worse in front of it.

The Panthers are on the path to a very successful rebuild. They have the best running back in the league, Christian McCaffrey, they have a young QB who has potential, Sam Darnold, two stud receivers, DJ Moore and Robby Anderson, and a very young and good defense. They need to fix up their O-line, not screw up in developing Sam Darnold, and get established defensive pieces and they’ll be set. But, realize this, this season is going to go down the drain if Christian McCaffrey doesn’t have a good year (this includes injuries). If CMC goes down, then they’re clueless. Darnold is not amazing yet, so the receivers won’t play to their max. This team does have a bright future, just not right now.

The Saints have a make-or-break team and year. If they succeed, they will build on what they have. But if they flop, then hello rebuild mode. Drew Brees, a really, really, really, great QB, just retired. Jameis Winston cannot do what Brees did, but he’ll try, and he’ll probably fail. Michael Thomas and Tre’Quan Smith are both out for the start of the year, MT for at least four weeks after that. Their defense will keep things close and interesting. Alvin Kamara has to have a record-breaking season for them to even think about first place. If he, God forbid, went down, then the Saints’ season is over. Saints will have to bless the Saints for them to squeeze into first.

The Bucs -- usually, when you bring a championship-winning roster back (at least 90% of the players back), usually that means good things will happen. Playoffs at least. When one of those players is the Greatest Player to ever step onto a Football field, even better things will happen. They’re playing with a fantasy roster. They have one of the best WR duos ever in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, they have a solid running back in Leonard Fourtnette and the best defense in football. Included in that defense, they have the best linebacking trio in the NFL, Shaq Barrett, Lavonte David, and Devin White. A really young secondary that has unlimited potential as of now and some of the best defensive linemen in football. ALL of this is happening when the Bucs also have a brilliant mind in Bruce Arians at the helm. Great stuff coming out of Tampa.

Final Standings: Bucs, Saints, Falcons, Panthers