2009 Season Predictions
September 9th, 2009 - 8:47 pmMaking predictions for an entire football season isn’t easy and is rarely done correctly. The reason why is that injuries and on-field performance simply cannot be accurately projected for 17 weeks. So, essentially, when making season predictions, what you’re really doing is ranking the teams by talent and strength of schedule.
With that said, here are my off-the-cuff season predictions for 2009:
| AFC | |||||||||||
| East | North | South | West | ||||||||
| Team | W | L | Team | W | L | Team | W | L | Team | W | L |
| New England | 13 | 3 | Pittsburgh | 11 | 5 | Indianapolis | 10 | 6 | San Diego | 11 | 5 |
| Miami | 8 | 8 | Baltimore | 11 | 5 | Tennessee | 10 | 6 | Denver | 6 | 10 |
| NY Jets |
6 | 10 | Cincinnati | 6 | 10 | Houston | 9 | 7 | Kansas City | 5 | 11 |
| Buffalo | 5 | 11 | Cleveland | 4 | 12 | Jacksonville | 8 | 8 | Oakland | 3 | 13 |
| NFC | |||||||||||
| East | North | South | West | ||||||||
| Team | W | L | Team | W | L | Team | W | L | Team | W | L |
| NY Giants |
11 | 5 | Minnesota | 12 | 4 | New Orleans |
11 | 5 | Seattle | 8 | 8 |
| Philadelphia | 10 | 6 | Chicago | 11 | 5 | Carolina | 10 | 6 | Arizona | 7 | 9 |
| Dallas | 9 | 7 | Green Bay |
10 | 6 | Atlanta | 7 | 9 | San Francisco |
6 | 10 |
| Washington | 6 | 10 | Detroit | 4 | 12 | Tampa Bay |
5 | 11 | St. Louis |
3 | 13 |
AFC Playoffs
Wild Card Round
San Diego over Tennessee
Baltimore over Indianapolis
Divisional Round
New England over Baltimore
Pittsburgh over San Diego
Conference Championship
New England over Pittsburgh
NFC Playoffs
Wild Card Round
New Orleans over Philadelphia
Chicago over Seattle
Divisional Round
Minnesota over Chicago
New Orleans over NY Giants
Conference Championship
Minnesota over New Orleans
Super Bowl XLIV
New England over Minnesota
Most Valuable Player: Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
Brett Favre is the player that will push the Vikings over the top, but Adrian Peterson is the most valuable player on the team. With defenses playing honest against Favre and the passing game, Peterson will find more holes to exploit en route to a big season.
Comeback Player of the Year: Tom Brady, New England Patriots
Is this really any doubt? Only if Brady is named league MVP, I guess. But for a guy who played in just a quarter of action last year, Brady appears to be a lock to at least be in the running for this award, assuming he doesn’t go down with yet another injury.
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Knowshon Moreno, Denver Broncos
We all saw what happened with Kyle Orton leading the Bears last season. A lot of checkdown passes. Moreno should be used as a receiver out of the backfield an awful lot this season and will also be asked to shoulder the load in the run game.
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Aaron Curry, Seattle Seahawks
Curry was perhaps the most complete and NFL-ready player in the 2009 draft class and should make an immediate impact on Seattle’s defense. If preseason is any indication — and that isn’t always the case — he should be one of the leading tacklers on the team.
Bears Pro Bowlers:
Danieal Manning (KR), Greg Olsen, Olin Kreutz, Lance Briggs.
