Fearless football predictions

[Samdari]

Got the idea for a thread from one of our esteemed members, who was moonlighting writing an article of the same title at another site. One of his predictions was eye-poppingly ballsy, so I thought I would challenge the class to top it.

First QB to get benched:
Look at the options available here. Do I go to Cleveland? Chicago? Baltimore? Carolina? Washington? Dallas? I’m going to predict a bit of a surprise here. I think the Jags will kick Mark Brunell to the curb a year early. They think Garrard is ready to play. They love Leftwich. They are rebuilding. Why pay Mark 6 million to get a concussion this year? I think he’ll be the surprise cut of training camp.

The challenges here are twofold:
1) Name the mystery author

2) Make your own eye-popping 2003 NFL season prediction.

Mine: Trung Canidate ends up third string RB for the Redskins.

[sabotai]

1) Rush Limbaugh? (Ok, serious. My guess would be Cam)

2) Mike Vick gets injured... Ok, serious. The Packers will not make the playoffs this year.

[Maple Leafs]

How's this: Panthers vs. Colts in the Super Bowl

[DolphinFan1]

Jay Fielder will surprise everyone and have a pro bowl career with Griese looking over his shoulder.

[mrsimperless]

1) TroyF

2) Neither Terrell Owens or Randy Moss will be involved in any stupid shenannigans in 2003.

[sabotai]

"2) Neither Terrell Owens or Randy Moss will be involved in any stupid shenannigans in 2003."

Wow. I think this takes the prize for most ballsy prediction. And I bet it's the first to be wrong.

[albionmoonlight]

1.) No clue

2.) The Ravens finish last in the AFC North (even behind the Bengals )

[Senator]

1) Dave Concepcion

2) Bulger will take over for Warner after his less than impressive start, and then run the table.

[Draft Dodger]

the Dallas QB's will stink.
Emmett Smith will gain about 500 yards.
Kordell Stewar leads the Bears to the SuperBowl. (ok, 2 out of 3 ain't bad)

[CAsterling]

1) No Idea, but I guess maybe Cam.

2) Jake Plummer will be the seasons MVP.

[k0ruptr]

1. no idea.
2. Panthers make playoffs
2a. Stephen Davis leads NFC in rushing yards
2b. Sultan Mcullough starts more then 3 games for the redskins at RB
2c. Mike vick comes back and still leads all QB's in rushing, and Nearly makes the pro bowl. note the nearly.

[Noble_Platypus]

1) no idea
2 Clinton Portis suffers the dreaded sophmore jinx.

Hows that for fearless?

[Wes Huett]

1) Cam

2) Panthers will win 10 games; Titans will host playoff game with a losing record (7-9)

[Ryche]

1. No clue but probably would have been accurate if Leftwich had made it to camp in time.

2. Somewhat bold prediction - Atlanta starts out 4-0 with Doug Johnson at quarterback.

2b. Extremely bold prediction - The offensive rookie of the year comes from the Minnesota Vikings. But it's Nate Burleson, not Onterrio Smith. He reminds me of Jerry Rice when he came out of college, from a small school, perceived as not quite fast or big enough, but great hands and a great route runner.

[RainRaven]

1. Ravens finish first in the AFC North... Pittsburgh will tank and finish last.. no running attack and Maddox will prove to be a fraud.

2. San Fran will not have a good year... sub 500 and TO will be looking to get far far away from it.

[QuikSand]

1. I'd guess TroyF also.

2. Seattle and Minnesota both make it to the late season looking like viable superbowl threats.

[Celeval]

No guess.

Chargers make the playoffs as a Wild Card and win two games.

[JeeberD]

1) Quiksand

2) The Cowboys will win eight games this year

[stkelly52]

I would guess Cam

The Bengles will come will be withine a game of reaching the post season

[ice4277]

1.) No clue

2.) Kyle Boller wins Rookie of the Year.

[cthomer5000]

1. Shorty

2. the Dolphins miss the playoffs.

[nilodor]

1. TroyF

2. The bengals make the postseason, Mavin Lewis is Coach of the year and after patching up his relationship with Corey Dillion, Corey becomes the NFL MVP.

[albionmoonlight]

Take 2

Jeremy Shockey completes his descent into madness this year and is suspended for at least one game by either the league or the Giants for something that he will do that will get shown on Sportscenter about 1,000 times.

[nilodor]

Dola:
After number two occurs, hell freezes over and many men suddenly have dates with womyn who had previously shot them down. George Bush is seen skipping arm in arm with Sadaam down the streets of Bagdad singing the Off to See the Wizard song from the wizard of OZ and Dennis Miller says something that is not only funny but the masses can understand it without the need of a translater.

[cuervo72]

1. mrskippy
2. Maurice Clarett sues the NFL

[larrymcg421]

1) No idea.
2) Brian Griese leads the Dolphins to a 4-0 record in December.

[Fonzie]

1) TroyF
2) Ballsy prediction for this year: shorn.

[TroyF]

Originally posted by cuervo72
1. mrskippy
2. Maurice Clarett sues the NFL

I'd have expected mrskippy to have made your prediction, he knows about lawsuits really well.

1) ???
2) Kyle Boller is given the starting job by midseason and struggles badly. He never establishes himself as an above average NFL quarterback.

TroyF

[Leonidas]

1. Arizona wins no more than 2 games (The hard part is trying to figure out which 2)

2. Age finally shows for the Raiders and they only win 9 and miss the playoffs

[tucker342]

Since NFL football is so hard to predict, here's my prediction:


most games will be played on sundays

[ice4277]

Originally posted by ice4277
2.) Kyle Boller wins Rookie of the Year.

Originally posted by TroyF
2) Kyle Boller is given the starting job by midseason and struggles badly. He never establishes himself as an above average NFL quarterback.

TroyF

Well at least one of us may be right

[TroyF]

Ice,

I've always been very leery of QB's that come out of college with:

1) Only one really good year to fall back on

and

2) Guys who have serious accuracy issues.

I understand there were circumstances that hindered Boller and his progress. Still, his career completion % in college scares me. Even if he becomes a superstar QB, I don't think it is something that can be fixed within a year.

I consider your prediction very ballsy and will congratulate you on it if you nail it.

TroyF

[Schmidty]

1. The Venerable Ajahn Brahmavamso.

2. The Detroit Lions finish 8-8 and squeak into the playoffs.

[ice4277]

Originally posted by TroyF
I consider your prediction very ballsy and will congratulate you on it if you nail it.

TroyF

Me too, thats why I made it

And I wholeheartedly agree with the reasoning behind your thinking, for some reason I just have a gut feel that he will turn out to be pretty good.


EDIT: Added that last sentence.

[Sublime]

1) ?????

2) Wiliam Green will lead the Browns to the playoffs, and be the best back in the AFC. (Yardage wise)

[Samdari]

Originally posted by TroyF
Ice,

I've always been very leery of QB's that come out of college with:

1) Only one really good year to fall back on

*cough* akili smith

[TroyF]

Originally posted by Samdari
*cough* akili smith

Exactly. Many more like him as well. When you combine the accuracy issues (he was only 53% in his BEST year) along with the one year wonder problem, I don't like Boller's chances of success.

Another thing I fear about him: I'm always leery of anyone who moves themselves WAY up the draft board by having good post season games. I'm always reminded of Kelly Stoufer.

TroyF

[TLK]

- Adrian Murrell will start at least half of the games at running back for the Cowboys and put up a thousand yard season....

[GrantDawg]

1) TroyF

2) Bill Parcells resigns before the end of the season. (Maybe not as bold as others).

[Draft Dodger]

Originally posted by Sublime

2) Wiliam Green will lead the Browns to the playoffs, and be the best back in the AFC. (Yardage wise)

a year too late for my fantasy team

[MIJB#19]

1) My first thought was TroyF, but seeing his name pop up at others, I go with Solecismic
2) The Detroit Lions will have a 4-game winning streak
2.1) Not a single running back in the NFL will start all 16 games
2.1.1) The Jacksonville Jaguars will do good enough to draft #1 overall in 2004
2.1.1A) The Buccaneers go 15-1, losing only in week 17
2.1.1AA) The Giants-Jets game ends in a tie
2.1.1AAA) Rafael Cooper will lead the Lions in rushing touchdowns
2.1.1Last) All former Amsterdam Admirals QBs who make the 53-men rosters will start at least one game (This may include Colts' Jim Kubiak, Falcons' David Rivers and Vikings' Shaun Hill)

I guess the last prediction is the easiest one.

[Schmidty]

Originally posted by MIJB#19
2.1.1AAA) Rafael Cooper will lead the Lions in rushing touchdowns.

Oops for you. Cooper was cut on Wednesday.

[TroyF]

I guess since this has been up a week and Samdari hasn't said yet, I'll spill the beans. I'm the mystery author. The full text of the article is as follows: (WARNING: Packer fans may not want to read this) (EFS is the fantasy league BTW)


In the past week I’ve read some interesting articles on the web. One article dealt with the most important offensive and defensive players from each team. I learned some stunning information in this article. For example, did you know that Ray Lewis is the most important player on the Ravens defense? (don’t tell anyone I told you) How about the fact that Donovan McNabb is the key to the Eagles offensive attack? (here I was thinking it was Antonio Freeman)

Another article I read stated that Carson Palmer is the best backup QB in all of football. It was actually an article on the most important backups for each position, but I stopped after reading that one.

Well, I figure if these guys can spit out that much important information, I can too. Here are some of my predictions for the upcoming NFL season:

Most Overrated Free Agent Pickup:

Junior Seau. Look, I love Junior. He loves the game and I respect that. He isn’t the same player he used to be though. Get him in space and watch him get torched. He also gets hurt a lot now. He’ll be a decent 3rd LB in EFS this year, but he’ll hurt his real team.

Most Underrated Free Agent Pickup:

Jay Riemersma. Jay isn’t exactly a burner. He’s not the world’s greatest blocker either. He does do a good job of getting open on third downs though. With defenses worried about the three solid WR the Steelers have, he’ll be worth a couple of big first downs a game for them.

Team most likely to nosedive:

Green Bay. I love Brett Farve and the offensive output they’ll have. I don’t like the defense. In fact, I hate the defense. The defensive tackles are undersized. The defensive ends are undersized. The linebacking core is undersized. Are we beginning to see a trend here? I think this defense will make Kordell Stewart look like a good NFL QB. That’s the most damning praise I can give them.

Team most likely to surprise:

Minnesota. What’s the major difference between the Vikings and the Packers? The Vikings did some things to shore up their weaknesses. EJ Henderson, Chris Claiborne, Denard Walker and Kevin Williams will all be upgrades. They’ll also be helped playing in a division with the rebuilding Lions, the disappointing Packers and Kordell Stewart being the starting QB for the Chicago Bears.

First QB to get benched:
Look at the options available here. Do I go to Cleveland? Chicago? Baltimore? Carolina? Washington? Dallas? I’m going to predict a bit of a surprise here. I think the Jags will kick Mark Brunell to the curb a year early. They think Garrard is ready to play. They love Leftwich. They are rebuilding. Why pay Mark 6 million to get a concussion this year? I think he’ll be the surprise cut of training camp.

TroyF

[TroyF]

Now some quick thoughts on some of the things I've seen in this thread:

Mine: Trung Canidate ends up third string RB for the Redskins.

I thought he'd work out, but the word on his training camp performence has not been good at all. I give you good odds.

The Packers will not make the playoffs this year.

See above. I don't want to add anything else for fear of the Cheeseheads.

How's this: Panthers vs. Colts in the Super Bowl

Posts like this will cause Skydog to enforce a strict drug testing policy for all forum members.

Jay Fielder will surprise everyone and have a pro bowl career with Griese looking over his shoulder.

If he stays healthy, I agree that Griese will not see the field this year. That's a really big IF given his injury history.

Neither Terrell Owens or Randy Moss will be involved in any stupid shenannigans in 2003.

That's gutsy. Real gutsy.

The Ravens finish last in the AFC North (even behind the Bengals )

Wouldn't surprise me. Their defense isn't nearly as dominant as it once was and I'm not sold on Boller. (who I expect will be starting by week 4)

Seattle and Minnesota both make it to the late season looking like viable superbowl threats.

Agreed.

San Fran will not have a good year... sub 500 and TO will be looking to get far far away from it.

With the Free Agents on the defensive side of the ball, the Niners will probably let TO go either way.

Clinton Portis suffers the dreaded sophmore jinx.
Jake Plummer will be the seasons MVP.

I grouped these two together. Having watched the Broncos in pre-season and some training camp, the only way Portis doesn't IMPROVE on his numbers from last year is an injury. He's hitting every hole, hasn't put the ball on the ground this preseason and the Denver O-Line gets Nalen back at center. Plummer? I hope. I wish. I pray. I don't think so. He made some of his trademark decisions in the Bears game. (He could have easily had 4 INT's that game instead of the one shown on the stat sheet)

Overall? Interesting predictions. Refreshing from the crap I've seen at some of the major news sites in the past few weeks.

TroyF

[MIJB#19]

Originally posted by Schmidty
Oops for you. Cooper was cut on Wednesday.

Then the Lions better resign him, or else he won't be able to lead the Lions in rushing TDs.

Now seriously, I'm sorry to hear that, Cooper looked to become the first Amsterdam Admirals RB to make it in the NFL.
Cooper has arguably been the best RB in Admirals history.
At almost every position a former Admirals player has established himself as a starter or primairy backup, except at RB and in the secondary.
Compare it to the # of QBs that are 1st or 2nd string in the NFL and I kinda feel sorry he's not there yet.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally posted by MIJB#19

2.1.1) The Jacksonville Jaguars will do good enough to draft #1 overall in 2004

Hey now, more love for my Jags. Where my Jags at?

Defensive minded coach + much improved defense = wins

AFC South weak division + Possible 1500+ yard RB + good defense = wins

Pro Bowl Punter who gives amazing field position = wins

Question at QB position - problems at WR position = losses

K accuracy issues = losses

Ergo, Jax will not be 2-14 or some nonsense. I think 6-10, 8-8 are better predictions.

-Anxiety

[Samdari]

Originally posted by TroyF
WARNING: Packer fans may not want to read this

Do you really think there are Packer fans who still read your football posts?

[vtbub]

1. we answered that all ready.

My fearless predictions:

-Cowboys go 8-8; so will Oakland.
-Seattle makes the playoffs; Packers will not.
-Warner throws for 4000 yards; Chicago won't get 2500 as a team.
-Both wild cards in the AFC come from the East; Denver wins the West.
-Detroit and Cincy will threaten for .500; so will Pittsburgh and the Jets.
-Buffalo wins the Super Bowl; Philly loses it.

[TroyF]

Originally posted by Samdari
Do you really think there are Packer fans who still read your football posts?

Good point.

TroyF

[Buccaneer]

2) Bills and Chiefs will win their divisions. Giants will reach the NCF Championship game. The rest of the playoff teams are your usual suspects. Lions and Bengals will join the Cardinals as having the worse records (for this season). Next year will be a little different.