By Vincent Pensabene
The National Football League is the number one programming on five different networks. For the first
time since February 5 when the New England Patriots made a historic comeback against the Atlanta
Falcons, actual football is back! Fans are finally finished watching meaningless preseason football and
get to games that matter. This offseason was filled of inequality in football, CTE studies, and Ezekiel
Elliot doing too much but with the season starting up, here is the official predictions of who will win
Super Bowl 52.
The AFC East is one of the easiest divisions to predict in football with the reigning Super Bowl champions
and the rest of the mediocre teams in the division. The Patriots, now without wideout Julian Edelman,
still have the most talented offense that Tom Brady has ever had. The Miami Dolphins have called to a
retired Jay Cutler (yes, THAT Jay Cutler) to replace an injured Ryan Tannehill. Only bright side is Cutler
had his best statistical year with Dolphins’ Head Coach Adam Gase. The Buffalo Bills did their best
tanking job that they can do by sending Sammy Watkins to the Rams and signing Anquan Boldin, who
retired just thirteen days later. However, their tanking job was not even the best in their division as the
New York Jets won at something this offseason, lose the most talent. The Jets’ offseason consisted of
losing their top two receivers in Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, their top 2 quarterbacks in Ryan
Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith, trading away Sheldon Richardson, and losing their best receiver due to
injury. The race to the first overall pick in the draft is on.
AFC East Standings
New England Patriots 14-2
Miami Dolphins 9-7
Buffalo Bills 6-10
New York Jets 1-15
The AFC North is a division filled with the Steelers and middle-of- the-road teams. The Pittsburgh
Steelers have one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL with Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and
Le’Veon Bell. Also, improving their defense with picking up cornerback Joe Haden from the Cleveland
Browns to their stellar group. The Cincinnati Bengals had a solid draft but not enough to edge out
Pittsburgh. Rookie running back Joe Mixon has had his off-the- field issues prior to the draft so it will be
interesting to see if he can stay out of his own way. The Baltimore Ravens are entering the season with a
very lackluster running attack. They will have issues scoring this upcoming season but the defensive unit
will make things interesting. Finally, the Cleveland Browns. What else should be said? They improved
with drafting DeShone Kizer as he has a chance to have Dak Prescott-esque results without the wins. The
team is improving with some rookies they drafted, but not enough to get out of the basement of the
AFC West.
AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers 11-5
Cincinnati Bengals 8-8
Baltimore Ravens 8-8
Cleveland Browns 5-11
The AFC West is filled with question marks as the Oakland Raiders are attempting to recapture the
magic they had while waiting to move to Las Vegas. They signed a former Super Bowl winner, retired
Marshawn Lynch. The Raiders won nine one-possession games last year and will not have that same
result. Derek Carr is returning off an injury that kept him out of the playoffs last year and has a better
team with a little worse results. The Las Angeles Chargers are the team people will be surprised by. The
young defensive core will be better in their new system, along with veteran quarterback Phillip Rivers
leading the way, this team will make LA buzz a little bit. The Kansas City Chiefs have a tough schedule as
half their games are against teams that were in the playoffs last season. Alex Smith will have to bridge as
the Chiefs get ready for Patrick Mahomes II to take control. An aging team will be exposed more this
year. Denver has an array of issues on offense, especially at quarterback. They tried to fix it by bringing
back Brock Osweiler but he won’t be enough to help that defense stay off the field.
AFC West
Oakland Raiders 10-6
Las Angeles Chargers 9-7
Kansas City Chiefs 8-8
Denver Broncos 6-10
The Tennessee Titans have a good offense around Marcus Mariota, who is coming off a season where he
threw 26 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. They added cornerback Logan Ryan from the Patriots and
have a particularly easy schedule. The Indianapolis Colts have a major question mark at quarterback as
Andrew Luck has been anything but lucky recovering from a lacerated kidney and still has minimal
offensive line support. The Houston Texans have gotten their franchise star JJ Watt back from injury but
they go to Seattle, Baltimore, and New England. They had a strong defensive core for a few years but
they haven’t done much with it. The Jacksonville Jaguars round off the division, they are talented but
throw too many interceptions in Blake Bortles, even in the preseason.
AFC South
Tennessee Titans 11-5
Indianapolis Colts 10-6
Houston Texans 8-8
Jacksonville Jaguars 5-11
The NFC East is the most compelling division in football as all four teams have a chance to be special.
The Philadelphia Eagles have improved tremendously with the additions of Alshon Jeffrey and Jordy
Matthews. Carson Wentz will be even better this season and that is why they will win the division.
The Dallas Cowboys have a question, as of this writing, about Ezekiel Elliot’s possible suspension. With
the six games he was given, that plays a big factor into their record. Dallas, just like Oakland, can be a
better team with worse results.
The New York Giants improved their roster to give Eli Manning more weapons with Brandon Marshall to
relieve Odell Beckham Jr.
The Washington Redskins have issues that stem from if they want Kirk Cousins as their quarterback
since their owner can’t even remember his name. Their division record will cost them a chance at the
playoffs.
NFC East
Philadelphia Eagles 10-6
Dallas Cowboys 10-6
New York Giants 8-8
Washington Redskins 7-9
The Green Bay Packers are a very talented group led by Aaron Rodgers. The weapons Rodgers has are all
still there so there will be no change in their standing in the division.
The Minnesota Vikings have moved on from their franchise player Adrian Peterson and the team looks
good. Sam Bradford just has to do enough until Teddy Bridgewater can return, the defense will step up
to make them relevant.
The Detroit Lions have the richest player in NFL history in Matt Stafford, but that doesn’t mean his
contract will equal wins. Not much help on offense will prove to be their downfall.
The Chicago Bears are bridging to the future with Mitch Trubisky and will have to wait another year for
any meaningful games.
NFC North
Green Bay Packers 12-4
Minnesota Vikings 9-7
Detroit Lions 8-8
Chicago Bears 2-14
The Seattle Seahawks got even deeper with their front seven with the addition of Sheldon Richardson.
The Seahawks will be a team that has flashes of their old selves.
The Los Angeles Rams are definitely bouncing back from last year where they barely could move the
ball. Jared Goff will have a better season this year and their record will show it.
The Arizona Cardinals had their window of opportunity closing and it looks like it will be shut. Larry
Fitzgerald is getting closer to retirement and the team needs their defense to step up.
San Francisco 49ers have too many questions and not enough answers. This will be another season of
rebuilding.
NFC West
Seattle Seahawks 10-6
Los Angeles Rams 7-9
Arizona Cardinals 7-9
San Francisco 49ers 6-10
The Carolina Panthers will bounce back with Cam Newton and Christian McCaffrey being threats that
defenses will have a hard time figuring out.
The Atlanta Falcons will have a Super Bowl hangover and their offense won’t have the same invincibility
that it had a season ago.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will show signs of improvement but in a stacked division, will not have the
results they are looking for.
The New Orleans Saints are getting too old with Adrian Peterson and Drew Brees. Five years ago, this
team would be scary, now it’ll be if they can stay on the field.
NFC South
Carolina Panthers 10-6
Atlanta Falcons 8-8
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 8-8
New Orleans Saints 6-10
The playoff seeding in the AFC would be: New England, Pittsburg, Tennessee, Oakland, LA Chargers,
Miami while the NFC would be: Green Bay, Seattle, Carolina, Philadelphia, Dallas, Minnesota. The Wild
Card round would have Tennessee, Oakland, Carolina, and Dallas advance.
The Divisional round would have matchups of Oakland vs New England, Tennessee vs Pittsburgh, Dallas
vs Green Bay, and Carolina vs Seattle. The winners would be New England, Pittsburgh, Dallas, and
Carolina. The Championship round would have the Patriots beating the Steelers and Dallas defeating
Carolina.
Super Bowl 52 would have New England face Dallas. New England has too many weapons and would
repeat with Tom Brady winning MVP.
