Ty's Mid-Season NFL Redo
I've been teasing it for 2 days, and now I am ready to do my 2018 NFL mid season redo. Unlike my NCAA college football mid season redo, the NFL is actually in the middle of their season. Each of the 32 teams have played 8 of their 16 regular season games. I do need to say, right off the bat, I was very, very wrong about my Super Bowl pick for this season, which I will touch on when I get to them. I will re pick the divisions, the Super Bowl, but I will stick with my MVP. I will also talk about some of the new additions each team has made since the trade deadline, which was wild.
Okay, lets get to it.
I will start wit the AFC. The AFC East was in question for, maybe, one week, when the Dolphins were 3-0. Now, things are back to normal. The Patriots own this division. They are by far the best team, and will continue to be for some time. The Dolphins have crashed back down to Earth, the Bills are a mess offensively, but they do play solid defense and the Jets are mediocre at best, although I do like Sam Darnold. The Patriots are easily the winner of the East. Hell, they may wrap it up by week 10.
The AFC North is a different story. The Steelers started off horribly, seemingly unaware that they had to play defense. They have shored things up as of late, and they look solid, even without LeVeon Bell. The Ravens looked great to start off the year, especially their defense, but they fallen flat the past 2 weeks. They pass too much on offense, and the defense is getting no rest, thus causing them to struggle. The Bengals looked like a possible 10 win team, but they just got throttled by the Chiefs this past Sunday. The defense cannot hang with upper level teams, and Marvin Lewis is back to his choking ways. And the Browns, well, they have played better defense, but the offense is so far behind, they have rookies everywhere, and they just fired their head coach, deserved, and their offensive coordinator, also deserved. But, to promote Greg Williams, that is insane. The Browns are still a mess, and not a very good football team. I'm going to go with the Steelers still because I just don't trust the Bengals or Ravens.
The AFC South was the division I thought would be best. It is not. The Titans stink. They are not a viable NFL team. The Colts play very hard, but they don't have the talent. The Texans are starting to look better, and they just added Demaryius Thomas, but they cannot protect Deshaun Watson. And the Jags, my preseason pick for the Super Bowl, are an absolute, Browns level mess right now. Blake Bortles is awful. They have no run game with Fournette hurt. And the defense, which was my main reason for picking them, has been getting gashed and gutted week after week. The Jags are a tire fire, and I do not think they will get up from it. I'm going with the Texans because of Watson, but this division is nearly unwatchable again.
The AFC West is a 2 team race, but really, the Chiefs are the cream of the crop. Patrick Mahomes has been wonderful. He has been so much better than I ever imagined. So has the rest of the offense. I thought they'd be good, but they are great. The Chargers are their only "threat", but I don't see it with them. Sure, they are fine offensively, and they have an okay defense, but I wouldn't trust them in the playoffs. The Broncos are going full rebuild mode, trading Thomas and sticking with Keenum was wrong. They are wasting a great defense. And the Raiders, oof. The Raiders are absolutely awful. They are horrid. They got rid of any good player they had, and they have won 1 game. Hope you guys enjoy this as long as Jon Gruden is your head coach. The Chiefs are going to run away with this division.
So, my playoff teams are as follows, the Patriots, Chiefs, Texans and Steelers. My wild card teams are the Chargers and, oh I don't know, lets say the Ravens. In the AFC title game I will go with the Chiefs playing the Patriots, and the Chiefs getting their revenge. The Chiefs will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. God damn you Jags. You really made me look like a fool.
Now, the NFC.
The NFC East is a joke of a division. Washington is the "best" team, and their defense got better with the addition of Ha Ha Clinton Dix. They play all slug fest games, and they will find a way to win 10 of those. The Cowboys are as inconsistent as any team in the NFL. They also stink on defense. They also have no real receivers. I don't buy Amari Cooper as a number one. They have 8-8 written all over them. The Eagles, my other Super Bowl pick, have been almost as inconsistent as the Cowboys. They lost Jay Ajayi, their best running back, to an ACL injury. They did get Golden Tate, and that should help. And Carson Wentz is still not one hundred percent yet. And the defense has been underwhelming so far. The Giants are atrocious. This is one team I was totally right on in my preseason preview. Eli Manning is trash. They cannot run the ball. Odell Beckham is being wasted. And their defense is a sieve. They might be worse than the Raiders. Washington will win this division.
The NFC North has provided the NFL with some of the ugliest football all year. My team, the Packers, have been wildly frustrating to watch. They still cannot run the ball, they still cannot stop opposing offenses and Mike McCarthy is wasting Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams' best years. They seem to have thrown in the towel with the Clinton-Dix trade too. I don't know what to do with this team. The Vikings have looked better as of late, but let us not forget what happened when they played the Bills and Rams in consecutive weeks. The Bills destroyed them in Minnesota. It was as shocking a loss as I can remember. They then got ramshackled by the Rams on a Thursday night. As I said, they have played better as of late, but time will tell. Also, I think they will soon regret the contract they gave the highly overrated Kirk Cousins. The Lions are odd. They just got rid of Golden Tate, Stafford best receiver, they don't give the ball to Kerryon Johnson enough, and they have a bad defense. Matt Patricia is not the greatest head coach either. And the Bears, while they have a stout, top 5 NFL defense, they have the wrong QB. Guys like Tarik Cohen, Jordan Howard and a healthy Kevin White have to deal with Blake Bortles 2.0 in Mitch Trubisky. He is not a good QB. He should be a back up. But, this defense, especially Khalil Mack, can take this team to 8,9 or even 10 wins. I'm going to go with Minnesota, but I wouldn't be shocked if the Bears won the division. God damn you Green Bay.
The NFC South is competitive, but it is only 2 teams, not the three I thought it could be at the start of the season. The Panthers look a little bit like their 2015 team. They aren't as explosive, but Cam is getting into a groove, Christian McCaffery is being used properly, and Devin Funchess has turned into a solid wideout. The defense isn't great, but they get the job done. The Saints are great. They are so threatening on offense. They can seemingly do anything they want at any time. They are awesome. Their defense has also gotten better as the year has gone on. The Falcons are a mess. They lost their best defensive players to season ending injuries, and they just cannot stop anyone. The offense has been pretty good, but when you need to score 40 points just to stay in a game, that is a problem. And the Buccaneers aren't even worth my time. I'm going with the Saints, they are so good, but this division will get 2 playoff teams.
The NFC West is all about the Rams. No other team has any shot at this division. The Rams are so much further ahead of every team, and they just added Dante Fowler to their already stout defense. They also have Todd Gurley, who is amazing. The Seahawks have played better than I thought, but they are still not a real threat. They could sneak into the playoffs, but I doubt it. And then there is the Cardinals and 49ers. I mean, both these teams stink. They have no playoff aspirations. The 49ers lost their QB early in the year. The Cardinals waited too long to play Josh Rosen. These teams are dreadful. These teams are playing for next year. The Rams, who are still undefeated, are going to roll with this division.
So, as far as the playoffs go, the division winners are as follows, the Rams, Saints, Vikings and Washington. And my wild card teams are the Panthers and, I am going to stick with the Eagles here. Sorry Bears fans. Sorry Packers fans, me included. I just think the addition of Golden Tate will help the Eagles get to 10 wins. Carson Wentz is also starting to play better. In the NFC title I have the Rams and Saints, mainly because I want to see them play twice this year.(They play each other this weekend) I'm going to go with the Rams. They remind me so much of the 2015 Panthers, but with a better defense.
So, that means I have the Chiefs and Rams in the Super Bowl. And, I'm picking the Rams. They are devastatingly good. I also think the Saints will be a tougher matchup than the Chiefs. This would also be a fun Super Bowl.
As far as award winners, coach of the year should be Sean McVay. Offensive rookie of the year will be one of these QB's, lets say..... Sam Darnold. Defensive rookie of the year will be Jaire Alexander. Defensive player of the year will be, and damn well better be, Aaron Donald. Offensive player of the year, and MVP will be, and should be, Todd Gurley. I know that what Mahomes is doing is unheard of, but so is what Gurley is doing. Look at his numbers. They are comparable, and he is the best player on the best team.
There you have it, my NFL season redo. I was clearly wrong in the preseason, but I feel like my redo is much closer to what will happen. I'm still pissed at the Packers.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.
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