Hi everyone,
We’re still a couple of weeks away from the start of training camps, but since the Fantasy Football Sherpa Preseason Player Projections & Rankings are already available, I figured I’d go ahead and predict the NFL standings for the upcoming season.
In the last two seasons we’ve had a team go 16-0 and a team go 0-16. I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that we see both happen again in 2009, although the teams I predict will accomplish these feats will probably surprise you.
Without further ado, here are the Sherpa’s predictions for the 2009 regular season:
NFC East
Dallas Cowboys 13-3 x
NY Giants 11-5 y
Philadelphia Eagles 10-6
Washington Redskins 6-10
NFC North
Green Bay Packers 13-3 x
Chicago Bears 9-7
Minnesota Vikings 9-7
Detroit Lions 1-15
NFC South
Carolina Panthers 16-0 x
Atlanta Falcons 13-3 y
New Orleans Saints 11-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4-12
NFC West
Arizona Cardinals 10-6 x
Seattle Seahawks 4-12
San Francisco 49ers 2-14
St Louis Rams 2-14
AFC East
New England Patriots 10-6 x
Buffalo Bills 9-7 y
Miami Dolphins 6-10
NY Jets 0-16
AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers 14-2 x
Cincinnati Bengals 8-8
Baltimore Ravens 6-10
Cleveland Browns 3-13
AFC South
Houston Texans 13-3 x
Indianapolis Colts 13-3 y
Tennessee Titans 9-7
Jacksonville Jaguars 8-8
AFC West
San Diego Chargers 14-2 x
Denver Broncos 6-10
Oakland Raiders 2-14
Kansas City Chiefs 1-15
x - division winner
y - wild card
And since you’re probably curious . . . here are the Sherpa’s predictions for how this would play out in the playoffs (numbers in parentheses refer to conference seedings):
Wild Card Round
NFC: (3) Green Bay Packers over (6) NY Giants, (5) Atlanta Falcons over (4) Arizona Cardinals
AFC: (4) New England Patriots over (5) Indianapolis Colts, (3) Houston Texans over (6) Buffalo Bills
Division Round
NFC: (1) Carolina Panthers over (3) Green Bay Packers, (5) Atlanta Falcons over (2) Dallas Cowboys
AFC: (1) Pittsburgh Steelers over (4) New England Patriots, (3) Houston Texans over (2) San Diego Chargers
Conference Round
NFC: (5) Atlanta Falcons over (1) Carolina Panthers
AFC: (3) Houston Texans over (1) Pittsburgh Steelers
Super Bowl XLIV
Atlanta Falcons over Houston Texans
Of course, since no preseason games have been played yet, and no season-ending injuries to any key players have occurred yet, these predictions could end up looking silly in hindsight. Such is the nature of preseason predictions. The NFL’s unofficial slogan is “On any given Sunday”, and it’s admittedly unlikely that some of the teams could maintain the consistency needed to finish with the record I’ve predicted for them (in particular, the Panthers and Jets). Still, these predictions are consistent with my preseason evaluation of the teams, so it will be interesting to see how things actually play out during the season.
Fire away!
The Sherpa
Fantasy Football Sherpa
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