2013 NFL Season Predictions

The 2013 NFL season is 25 hours away as the Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos take battle in Denver to open the season tomorrow night. In a rematch of last years AFC Divisional Playoff match up, where the Ravens upset the Broncos 38-35 in Double Overtime, en route to their Super Bowl XLVII victory over the San Francisco 49ers 34-31, the Broncos look for big revenge, especially with the addition of WR Wes Welker through free agency and RB Montee Ball through the draft from Wisconsin. I think we all know that Denver will have the most high-powered offense this season and may be the clear-cut favorite in the AFC, but the loss of LB Von Miller for the first six weeks on a defense that already lost LB Elvis Dumervil in free agency to the Ravens will be hard to swallow and could really force Peyton Manning and the offense to put up a lot of points the first six weeks to make sure they stay atop the AFC and not fall too far behind early in the season. Baltimore lost a lot of leadership on the team in ILB Ray Lewis (retirement) and S Ed Reed (free agency), but made up a little bit for it with the addition of LB Elvis Dumervil, the return of DB Ladarius Webb (injury), and S Matt Elam (draft, Florida). I don’t think the defense will be as good as it was with Lewis and Reed, but it won’t drop off too much with those additions. I do question the offense a bit, especially with the injury bug hitting the tight end position and the trade of WR Anquan Boldin to San Francisco. Is Torrey Smith ready to be the full-time #1 wide out? Can Flacco replicate what he did during last years Super Bowl run? Who will be Flacco’s second option? Should be a very interesting season for Baltimore.

Last year my Super Bowl pick was the Houston Texans over New York Giants and boy was I wrong. The Texans would be crushed by the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional round of the playoffs, and the New York Giants didn’t even make the playoffs. I didn’t even pick the Broncos to make the playoffs last year and I had the Ravens losing to the Texans in the AFC Divisional round of the playoffs. I also had the Kansas City Chiefs as the most improved team and I couldn’t have been more wrong after they had the worst record and #1 pick in the draft, which I thought the Miami Dolphins would’ve had. And had the Dolphins gotten the number one pick, I thought they’d take QB Matt Barkley out of USC, who ended up going to the Philadelphia Eagles in round four. Very bad predictions from me last season, so lets hope I made a complete 180 this season. So without further ado, here are my 2013 NFL season predictions, and don’t be afraid to add yours in the comments section.

* Indicates Wild Card Winner

AFC East:
1.New England Patriots (10-6)
2.Miami Dolphins (7-9)
3.New York Jets (4-12)
4.Buffalo Bills (4-12)

AFC North:
1.Cincinnati Bengals (12-4)
2.Baltimore Ravens (11-5)*
3.Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7)
4.Cleveland Browns (5-11)

AFC South:
1.Indianapolis Colts (11-5)
2.Houston Texans (11-5)*
3.Tennessee Titants (4-12)
4.Jacksonville Jaguars (2-14)

AFC West:
1.Denver Broncos (14-2)
2.Kansas City Chiefs (5-11)
3.Oakland Raiders (4-12)
4.San Diego Chargers (3-13)

AFC Wild Card Round:
3 Indianapolis Colts over 6 Houston Texans
5 Baltimore Ravens over 4 New England Patriots

AFC Divisional Round:
1 Denver Broncos over 5 Baltimore Ravens
2 Cincinnati Bengals over 3 Indianapolis Colts

AFC Championship Game:
1 Denver Broncos over 2 Cincinnati Bengals

NFC East:
1.New York Giants (9-7)
2.Dallas Cowboys (8-8)
3.Washington Redskins (8-8)
4.Philadelphia Eagles (7-9)

NFC North:
1.Green Bay Packers (12-4)
2.Minnesota Vikings (9-7)
3.Chicago Bears (8-8)
4.Detroit Lions (8-8)

NFC South:
1.Atlanta Falcons (12-4)
2.New Orleans Saints (11-5)*
3.Carolina Panthers (6-10)
4.Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-10)

NFC West:
1.San Francisco 49ers (14-2)
2.Seattle Seahawks (12-4)*
3.St.Louis Rams (8-8)
4.Arizona Cardinals (2-14)

NFC Wild Card Round:
3 Atlanta Falcons over 6 New Orleans Saints
5 Seattle Seahawks over 4 New York Giants

NFC Divisional Round:
5 Seattle Seahawks over 1 San Francisco 49ers
2 Green Bay Packers over 3 Atlanta Falcons

NFC Championship Game:
5 Seattle Seahawks over 2 Green Bay Packers

Super Bowl XLVIII:
1 Denver Broncos over 5 Seattle Seahawks
Super Bowl MVP: Peyton Manning, QB, Denver Broncos.

NFL MVP: Peyton Manning, QB, Denver Broncos
Offensive Player Of The Year: Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints
Defensive Player Of The Year: Aldon Smith, LB, San Francisco 49ers
Coach Of The Year: Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals
Offensive Rookie Of The Year: Tavon Austin, WR, St.Louis Rams
Defensive Rookie Of The Year: Jarvis Jones, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Comeback Player Of The Year: Brian Cushing, LB, Houston Texans
Executive Of The Year: Mike Brown, Cincinnati Bengals
Most Improved Team: New Orleans Saints
Most Disappointing Team: Arizona Cardinals & Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Jacksonville Jaguars select Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville with the #1 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
Arizona Cardinals select Tajh Boyd, QB, Clemson with the #2 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
San Diego Chargers select Jadeveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina with the #3 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. (The big shocker, Clowney falls to #3 after two big QB needy teams select 1 & 2.)