Way Too Early NFL Playoff Predictions – NFC - Noah Weber's Blog

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Noah Weber's Blog

Way Too Early NFL Playoff Predictions – NFC Stuck

Posted on July 13, 2012 at 10:14 AM.

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(PHOTO CREDIT: http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/)

Although the start of the NFL season is still almost two months away, it’s never to early to speculate as to which teams will emerge as playoff participants in the year ahead. What follows is the second of a two-part look at which teams are likely to still be playing come Winter.

Now for the NFC…

NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles

Everybody thought the Eagles were going to make noise last season after making some significant moves during last year’s offseason. Unfortunately, Philadelphia struggled to find a rhythm from game to game, and they failed to make the playoffs for the first time in three years. With few losses, a couple of key additions (including stud LB DeMeco Ryans), and a year for the team to gel, expect Philly to survive a very difficult NFC East division.

NFC North

Green Bay Packers

Green Bay has been playing at the highest level for almost two whole seasons now, and little has happened during the offseason to suggest they won’t continue to shine. They have the best QB in the game, a perennially formidable defense, and enough support players to score a LOT of points every Sunday. Although the NFC North is on the rise, Green Bay still reigns supreme within the division.

NFC South

New Orleans Saints

The NFC South is certainly up for grabs this season, as just about every team could conceivably steal the show. That being said, only the New Orleans Saints have performed with reasonable consistency over the past several seasons. Even with the shadow of the bounty scandal still very much hanging over their heads, New Orleans still has Drew Brees and an assortment of supplemental weapons to help them score the kind of points that have made them dominant in the past. It could be an interesting road, but I see New Orleans re-claiming the throne in the NFC South

NFC West

San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco emerged as a dominant force last season, allowing just three rushing TDs all season and holding opposing backs to 77 yards/game. They return all of their imposing defensive unit, while also adding some key additions to the offensive side of the ball. All indications, therefore, are that San Francisco will only be better than last season, although as long as Alex Smith is playing quarterback anything is still possible. Combine San Fran’s powerhouse defense and improved offense with a relatively weak division, and you have a clear front runner for the team to emerge from the NFC West.

NFC Wildcards

New York Giants

With the NFC East looking to be a competitive division from top to bottom, it only seems right to select a wild card team from within that mix. The former champions lost some key players in Mario Manningham and Brandon Jacobs (both to San Francisco), but they return enough of the pieces of last year’s championship team to remain competitive. If they can’t beat out Philly for the division title, they will at least find their way into the playoffs via wild card.

Detroit Lions

Detroit has been one of the most promising young teams in the NFL for a while now, and they are only continuing to improve. Off-the-field woes aside, Detroit returns a defensive unit that is anchored by one of the best defensive lineman in the league today, Ndamakong Suh. Quarterback Matthew Stafford is coming off his first healthy season, in which he threw for over 5,000 yards, and they also have the best wide receiver in the game. Period. With all of those tools, Detroit has as good a chance as any team to find their way into the playoffs as a wild card team.

Do you agree with my predictions? Which teams do YOU see making the playoffs next season?

Comments

# 1 Heroiczero13 @ Jul 13

While I appreciate the Eagles pick, I'm not sure how I feel about this. Looking at it, you make solid points and it does seem to be the most logical conclusion. However, every year we are continually shown that logic is a bit iffy on reliability. So I feel like there will be a few surprise fails to make way for new contenders. I see the Panthers doing exceedingly well this year, really building off Newton to a monumental degree. Maybe the knock the Saints off the South or take a Wild Card spot from another team. Overall, solid predictions, but there is too much turnover in the NFL Playoffs to feel secure about it.

# 2 rainesdaddy @ Jul 14

You mentioned consistentcy as one of your reasons for selecting the saints, okay. But you overlook the falcons COMPLETELY, and you pick the most inconsistent team of them all....the Lions. Falcons win the south, Eagles scare me, giants dont make the playoffs, bears win north, packers and cowboys are wild cards, niners win west. Let's see what happens.

# 3 Noah Weber @ Jul 14

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I agree that the Bears and Falcons are probably the most glaring omissions from the list. Should be an interesting season!

# 4 Feldman011teen @ Jul 16

NFC East - Philly - I was thinking the other day it just seems like it's their time again.

NFC North - Chicago - I think GB cools off and Chicago lights it up and stays healthy.

NFC South - Carolina - The Aint's will get off to a slow start. Carolina has everything in place.

NFC West - Niners - I think they'll get home field in playoffs.

Wildcards - Aints - slow start but they'll make a run.

seachickens - yes not the giants, cowboys, lions or falcons. All those teams will hover at 8-8 or 9-7 but i think seattle does enough to grab the last wildcard spot.

# 5 schnaidt1 @ Jul 16

@js3512....the bears had a cakewalk last 5 games against teams they should have beat easily?

u do remember them playing the packers on christmas day right?

yea everyone had a healthy bears team cakewalking over them...

my picks are as follows..

1. packers.
2. 49ers
3. giants
4. bucs
5. lions
6. bears.

# 6 LSUPride @ Jul 16

I'm telling everybody watch out for the Cardinals they have a great young defense and added some vital pieces in the draft. if they get a QB defiant wild card spot. #bankit