Saturday to Sunday: NFL Season Predictions

When prepping for the NFL season, it is likely you will go into the season with some predictions for a Super Bowl winner, Division winners, and season awards. It’s always interesting to make these predictions because the team's roster and coaching staff change every season. At this point, we are officially 3 weeks into the NFL season and we are starting to get a better guess of who might be potential contenders and who is at the top of their positions.

Award Predictions:

In the NFL, there are multiple awards given to players that perform the best. The awards that we will be predicting for the end of the season are regular season MVP, offensive and defensive player of the year, comeback player of the year, offensive and defensive rookie of the year, Super Bowl MVP, coach of the year. I will also be giving a prediction on who I think has the best chance to win the Super Bowl.

To get started, we will start with the Most Valuable Player Award (MVP). The last two MVP awards have been given to Patrick Mahomes, and rightfully so. He is obviously the best player on the field, every time he steps foot on the field. I believe he will have the best chance at receiving the award again, which would make him only the second player ever, along with Brett Favre, to earn the award in three straight seasons. Mahomes has great passing ability, rushing ability, and winning ability. Nobody can do what Mahomes does on the field.

Next up, we have the Offensive Player of the Year award. With the start to the season the Dolphins are having, it would be silly to pick somebody from a different team. With that being said, Tyreek Hill is the man in Miami. He has started off the year in a close race for first in receiving yards at 412, while leading the league in receiving touchdowns with 4. If he keeps this pace all season, Tyreek will be the easy choice for this award.

Let’s switch things up to the other side of the ball with the Defensive Player of the Year award. This is always a touch award as it has plenty of potential options. With the three best defensive players in the league, Micah Parsons, T.J Watt, and Myles Garrett, this choice doesn’t come easy. They all have great pass rushing talent, along with run stopping ability. Micah Parsons won the award last year in a close race, however, I believe he is going to pass the throne to T.J Watt because of his ability to get to the quarterback and create scoring opportunities.

Now, let’s talk about the first year players on both sides of the ball. For Offensive Rookie of the Year, you have to evaluate all of the talent the young guys have shown in the first few weeks. This pick comes easy because Anthony Richardson has come out firing both on the ground and in the air. His only downfall is missing a game and a half with a concussion, but he has plenty of time to make that up.

The defensive rookie of the year is tough because of all the great defensive talent that was picked in this year’s draft. However, I think Jalen Carter has had a great start to the season and has the right coaching staff to make him the top defensive rookie. I think that Jalen Carter has the most potential and will continue to prove why.

The Comeback Player of the Year comes with no debate as Damar Hamlin literally comes back from the dead to play football again. He was dead for a few minutes on the field and then brought back to life by the medical team of the Buffalo Bills. He might not see the field anymore, but the fact that he is alive and still performing, means there is no way you could give the award to anyone else.

What’s a player award without a great coach? There is a good reason why coaches get awarded and that is because they put these great teams together and execute to perfection. So far this season, as mentioned earlier, the Dolphins have shown they are the powerhouse of the NFL. Mike McDaniel led his Dolphins to a 70-20 victory over the Broncos, making it the second most points scored in a single outing. Therefore I don’t see why anyone else is more deserving than Mike McDaniel if the Dolphins continue to play the way they are.

The final and most meaningful awards, the Super Bowl Champions and the Super Bowl MVP. As you could probably guess, the Miami Dolphins are my team to watch as they have come out firing on both sides of the ball. With all the fire power they have on offense, I think it will be hard to find a team that can slow down their scoring. The reason they are scoring so much is because they have two top tier receivers and an experienced, while fresh, back field. But their star receiver, Tyreek Hill, is too speedy and too experienced to not shine in the moment. I think the Dolphins win the Super Bowl, and the Super Bowl MVP award goes out to Tyreek Hill.

Division Winner Predictions

The NFL has 8 divisions with four teams in each division. The league is split between two conferences, AFC, and NFC. Both conferences have four divisions each. The winner of each division goes to the playoffs with hopes of winning the Super Bowl. Here are my predictions for who will win each division in the NFL.

ESPN ran a simulation of all 285 games in the NFL season and uploaded the results to their website. IF you would like to check out the results of their simulation, head over to their website. The results are definitely debatable, as it is all completely random.

AFC South:

The AFC South consists of the Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Titans.

Colts: The Indianapolis Colts are one of the younger and more exciting teams in the NFL with their new quarterback Anthony Richardson. They will go through some rough patches but will be one of the more intriguing teams in the league.

Titans: The Titans have been one of the better teams in the AFC in recent memory, but it seems that they are on the decline.

Texans: Texans are led by rookie quarterback CJ Stroud and will be a young, fun team. They will struggle but have potential to shake things up in the AFC South.

Jaguars: The Jaguars are the favorite to win the division. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence is one of the top young players in the league.

AFC South Prediction: Indianapolis Colts

AFC East:

The AFC East has the New England Patriots, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, and Buffalo Bills.

Patriots: Patriots are set for a down year with a very lackluster roster, head coach Bill Belichick will look to continue his winning ways in New England.

Jets: Jets were very hopeful coming into the year, Aaron Rodgers injury hurts their chances.

Dolphins: Miami has one of the most explosive offenses in the league led by wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

Bills: As long as the Bills have superstar quarterback Josh Allen, they will be one of the favorites in the AFC.

AFC East Prediction: Miami Dolphins

AFC North:

The AFC North has the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, and Cincinnati Bengals.

Steelers: Steelers are a tough team to beat year in and year out. They will be in the mix for the North.

Browns: Browns are looking to make a splash this year with the return of quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Ravens: Lamar Jackson and the Ravens are one of the hardest teams to stop in the league, pair that with a tough defense and this team will be hard to stop.

Bengals: Coming off two successful years, Joe Burrow and the Bengals are looking to get over the hump and win a Super Bowl.

AFC North Prediction: Cincinnati Bengals

AFC West:

The AFC West consists of the Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, and Denver Broncos.

Chargers: Chargers offense has been the bright spot of the team for years to come. They will be competitive this year.

Chiefs: The reigning Super Bowl champs will be looking to repeat the same success this year.

Raiders: Raiders will struggle this year as they brought in a new quarterback.

Broncos: Broncos have a new head coach and had a very poor year last year. They will struggle.

AFC West Prediction: Kansas City Chiefs

NFC South:

The NFC South has the New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers, and Atlanta Falcons.

Saints: Saints have a solid roster but will take time to adjust to their new QB Derek Carr.

Buccaneers: Baker Mayfield will look to follow in Tom Brady’s steps and lead the Buccaneers to the Super Bowl.

Panthers: Panthers have their new quarterback Bryce Young who looks to turn around this franchise.

Falcons: They are clearly rebuilding and will struggle to find too much success in the NFC.

NFC South Prediction: New Orleans Saints

NFC East:

NFC East has the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders, and Philadelphia Eagles.

Giants: The New York Giants are looking to build off of a successful 2022 season.

Cowboys: Cowboys are one of the better teams in the NFL. They should have success in the East.

Commanders: They are one of the worst teams in the NFL. They will struggle in the East.

Eagles: They fell just short of a Super Bowl last year. They will be looking to get over the hump and win the big game.

NFC East Prediction: Philadelphia Eagles

NFC North:

NFC North has the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and Minnesota Vikings.

Packers: It will be an interesting year for the Packers as it's their first year without Aaron Rodgers.

Bears: Bears have been one of the worst teams in the NFL for years, they will likely follow suit.

Lions: Lions have been improving every year and will look to compete for a championship this year.

Vikings: Vikings had a great year last year but could not finish in the playoffs. They will look to improve on a great year.

NFC North Prediction: Detroit Lions

NFC West:

The NFC West has the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, and the Arizona Cardinals.

Seahawks: Seahawks had a surprisingly good year last year, they will look to win the division this year.

Rams: Rams have been on the decline since they won the Super Bowl in 2020.

49ers: They are the most complete team in the league.

Cardinals: They are the least complete team in the league.

NFC West Prediction: San Francisco 49ers