1. The rumours of the demise of the San Francisco 49ers have been greatly exaggerated. I've seen experts suggesting they will win as few as three games. Pu-lease. Despite having the most tumultuous offseasons in NFL history, there is just too much talent there to have such a precipitous decline. Navarro Bowman is back to lead the rebuilt defense and he is on a mission. Colin Kaepernick will have a solid season and let's face it, Vernon Davis cannot possibly be worse. Count on a 9 or 10 win season and the Niners will be in the playoff race most of the season before just falling short.
Um. Well, Navarro Bowman DID have a great season, being nominated for Comeback Player of the Year and leading the entire NFL in tackles. But, Vernon Davis WAS worse and got himself traded to Denver, and Colin Kaepernick somehow lost his starting job to Blaine Gabbert and may have played himself out of town. The Niners never got close to the 9 or 10 wins I predicted, finishing 5-11. Not so good.
2. The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will completely dissolve and both miss the playoffs. OK that one isn't as much a "prediction" as a "dream scenario".
Well both teams made the playoffs but neither is in today's SuperBowl, so all is well in the world.
3. Alex Smith will finally shed the label of "game manager", throwing for 4000 yards (many of them to Jeremy Maclin) and cancer survivor Eric Berry will inspire the defense as the Chiefs win 11 games and win the AFC West.
Well I was honestly pretty close on this one. Smith didn't get to 4000 yards but 3,486 isn't too far away, Jeremy Maclin caught 87 passes for over 1000 yards, and all Eric Berry did was return from cancer, put up 60 tackles and 10 passes defensed, and win Comeback Player of the year. Oh, and the Chiefs won exactly as many games as I predicted - 11 - but failed to win the AFC East by one game.
4. The NFC West will reclaim it's status of "best division in football" as the Cardinals finally take that next step and win the division. The Rams will also finally make strides and win 9-10 games.
Well, nobody is calling the NFC West the best division this year, and the Rams didn't quite get to 9 wins (7), but the Cardinals did win the division.
5. The Redskins are really going to regret demoting RGIII and by mid-season, when the team is 1-7 and both Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy have been completely ineffective, fans in DC will be clamoring for his return.
Couldn't have been much farther off on this one; RGIII was only active for one game all season, Cousins had a pretty good season and the Redskins finished 9-7 and won the NFC East. RGIII will certainly be playing somewhere else next year.
6. Andrew Luck will flirt with the NFL Record of 5,477 passing yards in a season, before falling just a couple hundred yards short of Peyton Manning's mark.
Oh boy, not quite. Luck was injured early and never got close to looking like himself, and the Colts missed the playoffs.
My original SuperBowl prediction was for the Green Bay Packers to be victorious over the Colts. Not even close. So since "bold" predictions didn't work out for me too well in the regular season, let's try to make up for that with a few bold predictions for today's game.
1. No touchdowns will be scored
2. Cam Newton will spend all day running for his life, and as a result will be the game's leading rusher, but won't be able to convert in the red zone
3. Ted Ginn Jr will be open deep once for an easy TD and will drop the pass
4. Von Miller will have 3 of the Broncos' 8 sacks and will be named MVP
Denver Broncos 15, Carolina Panthers 12
Please, please, folks.....no wagering.
Enjoy the game!
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