NFL Fans love to make outrageous predictions prior to the start of the season. Here are 10 "Bold" predictions for the 2013 NFL Season by self described "man of the people" Jared Kurlander. Do you think any of them are likely to actually happen? We still have 43 days left until the Baltimore Ravens travel to Denver to
kick off the season, which means it’s a perfect time for some predictions. But these aren’t just any predictions; these are BOLD predictions. By “BOLD predictions”, I mean things that are unlikely to happen but could still logically happen. If you’re expecting, Denver Broncos finish with the best record in the NFL, well, that wouldn’t be very bold now would it? I make these BOLD predictions so the people don’t have to. I am, of course, a man of the people. This list is no particular order, so the boldness of each prediction is up to you. Honorable Mention – New England Patriots miss the playoffs After Danny Amendola (who has injury issues), the next best receiver on the Patriots is Julian Edleman. After Edleman, there’s a 31-year-old Michael Jenkins and then a plate of dudes I’ve never heard of. The defense always has it’s issues too, though they were better with Aqib Talib. It remains to be seen if running back Steven Ridley can take the next step and improve on last year. But the Pats have Tom Brady and no one else in the AFC East does. Brady is one of those quarterbacks who could make me into a Pro Bowl receiver. The Miami Dolphins should pose the biggest threat to the Pats, but as long as Tom Brady is under center, the Pats are a playoff team. 1) Rex Ryan is fired after Week 5 This isn’t bold in the sense of Rex Ryan getting the pink slip; the Jets are going to be terrible and Ryan will probably end up fired. The boldness can be found in the week number Ryan gets the boot – Week 5 is pretty early in the NFL season for a coach to get canned. So why Week 5? My guess is the Jets start 0-4 before they travel to Atlanta in Week 5 to take on the Falcons on Monday Night Football. Once the Jets get throttled on national television, they’ll have no choice but to fire Rex Ryan. This may also be the time when they change the pace of their offense and stick in Geno Smith. Hey, if Rex is fired, at least he’ll have more time to run with the bulls. 2) Pittsburgh Steelers miss the playoffs for the second year in a row The Steelers haven’t missed the playoffs in consecutive years since 1998-2000 and it’s hard to imagine an organization like Pittsburgh missing the playoffs again. But the Steelers aren’t as good as the Baltimore Ravens or Cincinnati Bengals, which means they will be fighting for the wild card spot. Assuming the Ravens or Bengals, Texans, Broncos and Patriots win their respective divisions, here is the Steelers’ competition for a wild card spot: Ravens/Bengals, Miami, Indianapolis, Tennessee, Kansas City and San Diego. That is a lot of teams to beat out. Though Roesthlisburger is healthy, he, the offensive line and Troy Palumalu have a recent history of being injured early and often. The Steelers will be home on the couch eating Doritos Locos Tacos come playoff time. 3) Carolina Panthers make the playoffs The Panthers haven’t made the playoffs since 2008, but they finished off 2012 on quite the roll. Cam Newton’s play improved and they won their last four games of the season, including a win over Atlanta (they also played Atlanta well in Week 4, losing 28-30). The NFC is stacked with potential wild card teams, and if the Panthers make the playoffs, it’s likely because they beat out either New Orleans or Atlanta – unless three NFC South teams make the playoffs. That’s unlikely however given the strength of all the other teams in the conference. The Panthers have nice talent and if Cam Newton can put together a solid full season the Panthers will be one of NFC wild card teams. 4) Tim Tebow scores as a tight end Yes, I know that it’s been reported that the Pats will likely keep Tebow at quarterback, but that just makes this all the more bold! With Gronk hurt and Hernandez in the big house, the odds that Tebow takes a least one snap at tight end have gone up. That one snap could be his touchdown. The Patriots and Bill Bilichick have been creative before with versatile players. You may recall a certain Mike Vrabel, the former linebacker for the New England Patriots. During his time with the Pats, Vrabel caught eight passes, all for goal-line touchdowns. I have a feeling Tebow could be Mike Vrabel 2.0. The only problem with this is that Skip Bayless will somehow make the argument that Tebow’s success at tight end means he can thrive as an NFL quarterback. Won’t that be glorious? 5) St. Louis Rams finish top 10 in offensive I’m a big believer in Sam Bradford and this is the year I believe he’s given the chance thrive. Bradford has been stuck on a team with no weapons and no offensive line. Receivers couldn’t get open, the offensive line couldn’t hold back defenders to give Bradford time, and Bradford would end up on his back as a result. In 2012, the Rams finished 23rd in yards per game and 25th in points per game. But this year is going to be different. The Rams picked up left tackle Jake Long to help strengthen the line and drafted playmakers Tavon Austin and Stedmon Bailey. Austin is going to give Bradford a Percy Harvin type target and Bailey should provide nice depth to a receiving corps that’s been lacking. 6) Dallas Cowboys win a playoff game Take a look at the NFC East. Is there really one team significantly better than the other? Not really. The NFC East is up in the air, and the Dallas Cowboys may very well be the best team in the division. If they end up as a wild card, I don’t see them winning a playoff game. If they win the NFC East however, and play a wild card team (the Carolina Panthers!), the Cowboys may finally win their first playoff game since 2009. As per usual, a lot of their success is dependent on Tony Romo. They guy may be the most underrated or overrated player (depending on your view) in the league, but there is no denying the guy has insane talent. In most cases, it usually comes down to that one mistake Romo makes or that one play he doesn’t make. With a full season from Demarrcoo Murray and limited mistakes from Romo, the Cowboys’ will be in every game. Their defense though, will have to make a jump if the ‘Boys want to win that playoff game. Dallas’ gave up 25 points per game last season, good for 24th in the league. If the Cowboys can improve to a more middle-of-the-pack type defense, they’ll finally get that playoff win, and Skip Bayless can rejoice that the Cowboys are playoff-relevant again. 7) Jacksonville Jaguars finish top 10 in attendance If you haven’t heard, the Jacksonville Jaguars may air the NFL RedZone channel on their fancy new big screens. The RedZone channel shows the most compelling moments of games being simultaneously played around the league. It’s basically the best invention of all-time. This move by the Jags is clearly to attract fans to the stadium. I mean, they don’t want to come watch the Jags play, but if the RedZone channel were playing on super-new, high definition screens, fans may flock to the stadium. The Jags ranked 20th in average home attendance in 2012 and had to cover some seats with a tarp at a few home games due to lack of fans. Fans LOVE the RedZone channel and fans LOVE fantasy football. Being able to watch your fantasy players at any possible scoring moment makes for the one of the most exciting football-watching experiences. The only question here is if fans will be willing to pay ticket prices for something that they can watch at home and on the couch with unlimited nachos and cheese. Personally, I think being at an NFL game is an unbeatable experience. To be surrounded by 70,000 of your closest friends is something that I will enjoy until the day I die. But there are millions of people out there who prefer to watch games from home. The improved TV experience and convenience factor are huge in keeping people on their couches. But what the Jags are doing combines the TV experience and the game experience. Fans can have their choice of watching a terrible team or watch the RedZone channel and chat it up with surrounding fans. Hey, if the Jags turn out to play some decent football, at least there could be more fans in the stands to bear witness. I’m very much looking forward to how this plays out. 8) Adrian Peterson rushes for 2,000 yards again No NFL player has ever done this. Then again, no NFL player was ever as much of a freak as Adrian Peterson. The guy tore his ACL and then ran for 2,097 yards and came within eight yards of Eric Dickerson’s record of 2,105. If any guy is going to rush for 2,000 yards in back-to-back seasons, it’s going to be Adrian Peterson. Peterson also has his freakish year on a team with an average quarterback and no receivers, meaning defenders could stack eight or nine guys in the box. Yet Peterson still trucked and juked his way through bodies. This year, the Vikings picked up Greg Jennings, so defenses will have to back off at least a little to defend against the threat of Jennings. The offensive line will have to have a repeat performance, but Peterson should have a little more room to run that last year with Jennings in the picture. The Vikings will face only three defenses in 2013 who ranked top 10 in rushing yards per game in 2012 (Seahawks, Redskins and Steelers). Obviously that could change, but it gives some indication of the defenses Peterson will be up against. I’ll even make this a two part BOLD prediction: Adrian Peterson will break Eric Dickerson’s record of 2,105 yards. BOOM! 9) Chicago Bears finish with the best record in the NFL Yes, even better than the Packers, Broncos, Texans, Ravens, Falcons, 49ers and Seahawks. This is contingent upon the Bears’ offensive line keeping Jay Cutler on his feet rather than his back. But Cutler has a natural chemistry with Brandon Marshall and has a stud running back in Matt Forte. Their defense is one of the best in the league, but again, it all comes down to Cutler and the offensive line. Cutler, often consider Brett Favre 2.0, throws way too many interceptions, many due to his poor decision making and many due to him having to rush. The Bears started 7-1 last season even with Cutler throwing interceptions left and right. I just have this feeling that the Bears have been on the brink for a few years now, and I think this is the year that Cutler and the offensive line take the Bears to the next level. Chicago added left tackle Jermon Bushrod and guard Matt Slauson via free agency and drafted guard Kyle Long, so the offensive line should see an drastic improvement over past years. Does this mean the Bears will make the Super Bowl? Not at all. But with the dramatically improved offensive line and a limited-mistake Jay Cutler, the Bears will finally take the next leap into one of the elite NFL teams. 10) Baltimore Ravens repeat as Super Bowl champions Yeah, I said it! Joe Flacco has taken the leap into one of the top six or seven quarterbacks in the league (Ron Jaworski even ranked Flacco fourth). Flacco is coming of an historic NFL postseason, throwing 11 beautiful touchdowns and zero interceptions, something only one other person – the great Joe Montana – has accomplished. Flacco lead the Ravens to a Super Bowl win, taking home Super Bowl MVP in the process. So I’d say the Ravens are all set at quarterback. One of the arguments against the Ravens repeat chances (or postseason chances depending on the analyst) is all of the players they lost. On defense, the Ravens lost six players: Ray Lewis (retirement), Ed Reed (Texans), Dannell Ellerbee (Dolphins), Paul Kruger (Browns), Cary Williams (Eagles) and Bernard Pollard (Titans). But the Ravens brought in a plethora of defenders to replace those that were lost and arguably improved their defense from last year. Baltimore added safety Michael Huff (Raiders), defensive end Marcus Spears (Cowboys), defensive lineman Chris Canty (Giants), linebackers Elvis Dumervil (Broncos) and Daryl Smith (Jaguars). They also drafted safety Matt Elam (Florida) and linebacker Arthur Brown (Kansas State) who are both projected to contribute right away. Oh, they also get Lardarius Webb back from injury, who’s one of the best cornerbacks in the league when healthy. To top it off, the Ravens resigned left tackle Bryant McKinnie who was integral in the Ravens playoff success once he was inserted back into the starting lineup. The only true question mark is at wide receive. The Ravens traded Anquan Boldin to the 49ers so Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones will assume the one and two receiver sports, respectively. But the third receiving spot is very up in the air. Tandon Doss got a few chances last season but had too many drops for him to be guaranteed the third receiver spot. The others that are expected to compete for the third spot include Deonte Thompson, Laquan Williams, Tommy Streeter and veteran David Reed. The Ravens also lost veteran Matt Birk at center, but they signed A.Q. Shipley to compete with Gino Gradkowski. They may struggle at center in the first few weeks, but the experienced lineman around those two will help to ease the process. The receiver issue may prove to be significant, but the Ravens have one of the best all-around teams in the NFL and are primed to get back to the Super Bowl. The Baltimore Ravens will be making snow angels come February in New York. Article By: Jared Kurtlander Source: Sportsrageous.com |