2019 NFL Week 1 & Season Predictions

The 11^th Year of SportsWorldBliss is here, and I am excited to spend some actual time thinking about predictions. So of course here are my picks put together at the last minute and extremely quickly.

2019 NFL Playoff Predictions and Awards

Division Winners

AFC East – Patriots – Death, taxes, the Patriots win the AFC East.  

AFC North – Browns – I’m on board. I like the Ravens too, but the Browns are loaded. It’s time to take the step.

AFC South – Texans – Kind of by default. Titans are boring but only somewhat effective, Colts are a nice story but now have a lower ceiling, and Jags have two halves of a team that hate each other.

AFC West – Chiefs – I wanted to pick the Chargers, but the wheels are already falling off there.  

AFC Wild Cards – This is brutal. Ravens I guess, and Chargers?

AFC Championship – Patriots over Chiefs.

NFC East – Eagles – Cowboys are close, but the Eagles are still loaded.  

NFC North – Packers – What can I say? I trust Aaron Rodgers. Bears are very good, but the QB disparity overrules general talent.

NFC South – Saints – A competitive division, but the Saints are still loaded with talent and have Drew Brees.

NFC West – Rams – Hugely talented, but I’m interested to see what Gurley has, especially come November.  

NFC Wild Cards – Falcons, due to pure offensive talent and continuity, and Cowboys based on a reasonable defensive projections.

NFC Championship – Saints over Eagles.

Superbowl:  Saints over Patriots. Feels like one Brees-Brady Superbowl needs to happen, and the Saints have been so close.

Awards

MVP: Mahomes

-Hard to go elsewhere right now.

OPY: Barkley

-Opportunity, talent, youth, big city.

DPY: Aaron Donald

-People don’t understand how good he is. Still.

ORY: Kyler Murray

-Press and opportunities.

DRY: Josh Allen

-Just because people are excited about him.

COY: Doug Pederson.

-Every year it should be Belichick. But it never is.

Week 1 Predictions

Packers +3 over Bears, 24-23

-Bears are probably better, but Packers have Aaron Rodgers. I’ll take it.

Browns -5.5 over Titans, 30-20

-Browns should roll over this team. Should.

Ravens -6.5 over Fins, 24-10

-I am so excited to bet against the Dolphins this year.

Falcons +4 over Vikings, 31-26

-Vikings make me nervous. They have the “overpriced team underachieves and falls apart” vibes all over them. Falcons at least have a consistent

Jets -2.5 over Bills, 20-16

-I just don’t trust the Bills’ roster fully, and the Jets are a bit closer. Not having to drop 3 got me here.

Eagles -10 over Washington, 26-13

-Excited to bet against Jay Gruden and whoever replaces Jay Gruden in week 7 this year.

Rams -1 over Panthers, 30-26

-With the uncertainty of Cam’s health, I’m taking the defending NFC champs with strong confidence.

Chiefs -3.5 over Jags, 28-24

-I’d love to grab the extra half point here. But the Jags are too much of a mess. Maybe they will pound it and run clock and toughen up on defense, but I don’t think so.

Chargers -6.5 over Colts, 26-17

-Chargers are already an injury riddled mess, but the Colts will need some time to gel and find their new identity.

Seahawks -9.5 over Bengals, 17-6

-I don’t love the Seahawks this year, but this is a slogfest waiting to happen.

Cowboys -7.5 over Giants, 23-10

-Giants are going to have a long year, especially if they don’t think it is about to be a long year.

Lions -2.5 over Cards, 20-16

-Either the Lions slog out a boring game, or the Cards explode and we are about to see something fun this year.

Bucs -1 over SF, 29-27

-I’d love to pick against the Bucs, but I’m not sure Jimmy G is really ready to go. Arians might make them a professional team and everything too.

Patriots -5.5 over Steelers, 31-20

-Do I love this? No. But the Pats beat the Steelers at home. Rinse, repeat.

Saints -7 over Texans, 34-26

-Bigger number than I’d like, but the Saints are primed for a big run and the Texans will be figuring out all their new pieces.

Broncos -2.5 over Raiders, 23-17

-I picked up the Broncos defense in so many leagues. The Antonio Brown situation has gone past concerning to ridiculous and firmly in the area of “team effecting”.

Record in 2018:

Straight Up: 155-87

By Spread: 126-113

Lifetime record:
Straight Up: 1417-771
By Spread: 1163-1026