NFL 2015: Week 1 Picks and Super Bowl 50 Prediction
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| I think this looks like Tom Brady, don't you? (Jane Rosenburg/Reuters) |
It's been awhile since my last post back in February, but not much has happened since then. There was just a draft, free agency, OTAs, Brett Favre being inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame, training camp, fights in training camp, Hall of Fame inductions in Canton, Tim Tebow making a comeback with the Eagles, preseason games, Tim Tebow getting cut by the Eagles and a sketch artist's hilarious drawing of Tom Brady in court appealing a suspension for his role in Deflategate.
So, like a said, not much.
Deflategate is finally over, thank the Lord, and we can finally get to football. 2015 will be the 96th in the history of the National Football League and will conclude with Super Bowl 50. I wish they would've stayed with roman numerals this year, because it would have been Super Bowl L -- Super Bowl Large -- but nonetheless it's the golden year for the NFL. A golden NFL shield logo will be on every field in every NFL stadium this season and the 50-yard line will be gold as well, not the actual line, but the 50 will be.
I'm not a huge fan of the gold logo and 50-yard marker, but I can't fault the NFL for going all out for Super Bowl 50, which will be played at the San Francisco 49ers' Levi Stadium, which as you might have forgotten, is in Santa Clara, CA.
Who will get to Santa Clara and hoist the Lombardi Trophy along with a golden numeral 50? The answer may surprise you.
2015 NFL PREDICTIONS
Here are my predictions for the 2015 NFL season, from individual awards, division winners to Super Bowl champion.
MVP: Aaron Rodgers
I feel like I pick Rodgers to win MVP every year, but that fact of the matter is the guy is the best quarterback in the league. The Packers are a .500 team at best without Rodgers and a Super Bowl contender with him running the offense. It's that simple. Other guys like Andrew Luck, Tom Brady and Odell Beckham will have good seasons, but none will be better than Rodgers as he leads the Packers to the Super Bowl.
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| Rookie WR Amari Cooper is going to catch a lot of passes for the Raiders this season. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports) |
Times have changed in Pittsburgh. The Steelers use to be known for running the ball and playing solid defense. Now, they throw the ball at will and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for almost 5,000-yards and 32 touchdowns last season. With one of the leagues best running backs, Le'Veon Bell, and best receivers, Antonio Brown, to get the ball too, Roethlisberger will put up monster numbers again this season.
Defensive Player of the Year: J.J. Watt
Who else could it be? Maybe Darrelle Revis or Richard Sherman? Or maybe a new comer will burst on to the scene. My money is on Watt though, the guy is a beast and the best athlete in the NFL.
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Amari Cooper
Derek Carr will be looking Cooper's way a lot in Oakland and the first round pick out of Alabama should have a terrific rookie season.
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Vic Beasley Jr.
Beasley was an outstanding player at Clemson and he will terrorize quarterbacks from the Atlanta defensive line this season.
Comeback Player of the Year: Adrian Peterson
Peterson missed almost the entire 2014 season because of the incident involving him hitting his son with a switch, but Peterson has put that behind him and I expect him to get the ball a lot in Minnesota.
Coach of the Year: Mike McCarthy
With a healthy Aaron Rodgers and a loaded offense, McCarthy's Packers will make a Super Bowl run in 2015. Don't be surprised if Arizona's Bruce Arians, Minnesota's Mike Zimmer or Atlanta's Dan Quinn get some Coach of the Year votes as well.
PLAYOFF TEAMS
AFC
AFC East: New England Patriots
AFC North: Cincinnati Bengals
AFC South: Indianapolis Colts
AFC West: Denver Broncos
AFC Wild Card: Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens
Other Potential Playoff Teams: Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills
NFC
NFC East: Dallas Cowboys
NFC North: Green Bay Packers
NFC South: Atlanta Falcons
NFC West: Seattle Seahawks
NFC Wild Card: Arizona Cardinals, Minnesota Vikings
Other Potential Playoff Teams: Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions, Carolina Panthers
AFC Championship: Cincinnati Bengals over Indianapolis Colts
NFC Championship: Green Bay Packers over Seattle Seahawks
Super Bowl 50: Cincinnati Bengals 31, Green Bay Packers 27
That's right. The Cincinnati Bengals, a team that has not won a playoff game in almost 25 years will win four playoff games this year en route to winning Super Bowl 50. Yes, I'm a diehard Bengals fan and may be a little biased, but hear me out as I explain why.
Marvin Lewis' Bengals have made four straight playoff appearances, only the Patriots and Packers have more with six. The Bengals return almost everyone from last year's team, which finished 10-5-1, and the roster improved in the offseason.
Cincinnati made a few moves in the offseason with the return of pass rusher Michael Johnson (Buccaneers) on a defense that was dead last in the NFL with 20 sacks last season and signing Ohio native and linebacker A.J. Hawk (Packers). The addition of Johnson on a defensive line that already has Carlos Dunlap on one end and Geno Atkins, who according to the coaches is back to his pre-injury All-Pro form, in the middle, the Bengals could have one of the best defensive lines in football.
With Dunlap, Johnson and Atkins on the defensive line, solid linebackers in Hawk, Rey Maualuga, Vinny Rey and Emmanuel Lamur and a very deep secondary with corners Adam Jones, Dre Kirkpatrick, Leon Hall and Darqueze Dennard, and safeties Reggie Nelson and George Iloka, the Bengals have the potential to be a top ten defense.
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| If the Bengals are to get to the Super Bowl, Marvin Lewis (left) and Andy Dalton will be the reason why. (The Cincinnati Enquirer/Jeff Swinger) |
Now, the Bengals do have a difficult schedule. They play the teams in the NFC West, AFC West, Houston, Buffalo and divisional foes Cleveland, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. A brutal schedule, but I believe that if the Bengals can win enough games to make the playoffs, this schedule will prepare them for the a Super Bowl run. Going up against quality teams like Buffalo, Houston, Pittsburgh (twice), Baltimore (twice), Seattle, St. Louis, Arizona, San Diego, Kansas City and Denver will only make the Bengals better.
The only thing keeping the Bengals from success is none other than their quarterback, Andy Dalton. Dalton is 0-4 in the playoffs and has not played well in any of his postseason starts. When Andy Dalton is on, he's one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Period. When he's bad, he's really bad. Dalton played well at times last season, but it seemed like the bad outweighed the good as Dalton threw only 19 touchdown passes while throwing 17 interceptions. If the good Andy Dalton shows up the majority of the time in 2015, the Bengals are going to win a lot of football games and possibly even the Super Bowl. If the Bengals do win the Super Bowl, that will mean the end for head coach Marvin Lewis.
Back in July Marvin talked about how he wants to ride off into the sunset. "I want to hand Mike (Brown) the trophy," Lewis said via the Cincinnati Enquirer's Paul Daugherty, "then just walk away."
Marvin Lewis has done an amazing job resurrecting the worst franchise in the league to a playoff contender each and every year. Marvin Lewis deserves to hold the Lombardi Trophy and I think this just might be the last season we see him on the Bengals sideline.
Now for my picks in Week 1 of the 2015 NFL season.
WEEK 1 Picks (Home team in CAPS)
NEW ENGLAND over Pittsburgh (Thursday, 8:30 p.m. ET, NBC): With Tom Brady not suspended and the Patriots raising another Super Bowl banner in Gillette Stadium, there's no way I'm not taking New England in this one. Steelers will give them a game though.
Green Bay over CHICAGO (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX): The Packers will miss WR Jordy Nelson, who was lost with a torn ACL in the preseason, but Aaron Rodgers will still pick apart a Bears defense that was dreadful last season.
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| J.J. Watt practicing his touchdown celebration in training camp this season. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle) |
NY JETS over Cleveland (Sunday, 1:00 pm. ET, CBS): Josh McGown will get the start at quarterback for the Browns, becoming the 23rd quarterback -- if my math is correct -- to start a game for Cleveland since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999. 23 quarterbacks in 17 seasons, that my friends is a recipe for disaster and is why Cleveland will have yet another losing season.
Indianapolis over BUFFALO (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS): Rex Ryan will have the Bills in playoff contention by seasons end, but he won't be able to beat Andrew Luck and the Colts in his first game at the helm in Buffalo.
Miami over WASHINGTON (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS): Robert Griffin III wasn't cut by the Redskins last weekend, but he will be on the sidelines on Sunday, as Kirk Cousins gets the start to begin the season. This whole situation around RGIII has not been good. Owner Dan Snyder doesn't want to get rid of his star, while reports are management and the coaches want RGIII to go. I believe until he's gone, the Redskins can't move forward. Cousins has been an okay quarterback, but I think the Redskins franchise quarterback is currently not on the roster.
Carolina over JACKSONVILLE (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX): With WR Kelvin Benjamin out for the year with a torn ACL, Cam Newton will have Ted Ginn Jr, Philly Brown, Jerricho Cotchery, Kevin Norwood and Devin Funchess at wide receiver this season. Not exactly an elite group. At least Newton can run and he has reliable Greg Olsen at tight end along with a healthy Jonathan Stewart at running back. Jacksonville will be better this season, but not good enough to defeat Carolina on Sunday.
Seattle over ST. LOUIS (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX): Seattle is one of the best team in the NFL and although the Rams have a tough defense and an improved offense with Nick Foles now at quarterback, there's no way I'm not taking Seattle here. This could be a trap game though, as the Seahawks travel to Green Bay next week to play the Packers in a rematch of the NFC Championship game.
ARIZONA over New Orleans (Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET, FOX): The Cardinals did not lose a game with Carson Palmer at quarterback last season and many wonder had he not gotten hurt Arizona might have made a deep playoff run. Drew Brees and the Saints will struggle on offense against a good Cardinals defense and they'll miss TE Jimmy Graham, who was traded to Seattle this offseason.
Detroit over SAN DIEGO (Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET, FOX): This is a tough game to pick as I think both the Lions and Chargers can make a playoff run this season. In what will be a close game, I like Detroit as they have a more explosive offense, arguably a top five defense and a WR named Calvin Johnson.
TAMPA BAY over Tennessee (Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, FOX): Marcus Mariota vs. Jameis Winston. The top two picks in the draft will square off in Tampa Bay in their first career NFL starts. I think both Mariota and Winston will have good careers and it will be interesting to watch them grow over the coming years. Both the Buccaneers and Titans were awful last season and I don't expect either team to be much better this season. With that being said, I like Jameis Winston to get his first career win.
Cincinnati over OAKLAND (Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS): The Bengals have never won out in Oakland, but that will change on Sunday. It will be close though, as the Raiders are a much improved team and I will be curious to see rookie WR Amari Cooper go up against a good Bengals secondary. Expect offensive coordinator and former Raiders head coach, Hue Jackson, to get the ball to receiver A.J. Green, tight end Tyler Eifert and running backs Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard early and often.
DENVER over Baltimore (Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS): A lot of people like the Ravens this year and I too think they will make the playoffs, but Peyton Manning still has a little left in the tank for one final playoff run -- feel like we've been saying that for years. Haven't heard much about Peyton this offseason, probably because some other quarterback -- cough, cough, Tom Brady -- gained most of the media attention. Nevertheless, Peyton can still play and the Broncos will be good again in 2015. Denver beats Baltimore and these two could meet again in January. Remember the last time these two teams met in January? Click here.
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| Odell Beckham Jr. made one of the greatest catches you'll ever see against the Cowboys last season. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) |
Philadelphia over ATLANTA (Monday, 6:55 p.m. ET, ESPN): I was really hoping the Eagles would've kept Tim Tebow. There is no offense in the league that is more suited for Tebow's style of play than Chip Kelly's. Seeing Tebow, DeMarco Murray and Sam Bradford all in the backfield for the Eagles would've been exciting, but better luck next time, Tim. As for the game, I like the Eagles behind their new-featured back, the aforementioned DeMarco Murray.
SAN FRANCISCO over Minnesota (Monday, 10:15 p.m. ET, ESPN): Minnesota should have a good team this year. Adrian Peterson is back at running back, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has had a full offseason working on his game after a solid rookie season and the defense has had another year in Mike Zimmer's system. The Vikings may make a run at the playoffs, but I like the 49ers on Monday night. San Francisco lost linebackers Chris Borland, Patrick Willis and defensive lineman Justin Smith to retirement this offseason and those will be tough holes to fill on defense. I don't expect the 49ers to be a .500 team this season, but playing on the road on Monday night the first week of the season is tough, so I like the 49ers over the Vikings.
There you have it, my predictions for Week 1 and the entire NFL season. If there is one thing that I have learned in my 24 years of watching the NFL it is this, you can't predict what will happen in the NFL. Prime example, who would've thought that Seahawks would throw it instead of handing the ball off to the best running back in the league, Marshawn Lynch, at the goal line to win Super Bowl XLIX?
I enjoy being right, but it won't surprise me at all if my predictions are completely wrong, but that's okay, because football is back and that's always a good thing.
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