Back on the 14th of August (2 days after I started this website), I wrote my predictions for the 2022 NFL Season. I’m now going to see how I got on and I’m looking forward to this as I only remember a few things that I predicted (and they weren’t correct). I will also mention my power rankings too.
AFC:
AFC East
In my power rankings, I had the Buffalo Bills as the number 1 team, the New England Patriots as the 11th-best team, the Miami Dolphins as the 21st-best team and the New York Jets as the 25th-best team. In terms of the division table, I had the Buffalo Bills to win the AFC East with a record of 12-5. The Bills won the division with a record of 13-3 so I wasn’t too far off. I then had the Patriots to finish second, also with a record of 12-5. New England actually finished third with a record of 8-9 so I definitely overestimated them. The Miami Dolphins then came in third for me with a record of 9-8. I can tell you that the Dolphins finished second in the division with a record of 9-8 so I actually think I predicted Miami well. Finally, I had the New York Jets to finish bottom of the AFC East with a record of 3-14. The Jets did finish bottom of the division, but with a record of 7-10 so I don’t know if this was a good prediction or not. In terms of the playoffs, I had the Bills in as the number 3 seed and the Patriots in as the number 5 seed. Buffalo ended up with the number 2 seed whilst New England didn’t make the playoffs. Miami also got in as the number 7 seed.
AFC North
In my power rankings, I had the Cincinnati Bengals as the 9th-best team, the Baltimore Ravens at 10, the Pittsburgh Steelers at 20 and the Cleveland Browns as the 22nd-best team. In terms of the division table, I had the Baltimore Ravens to win the AFC East with a record of 13-4. The Ravens actually finished second in the division with a record of 10-7 so I clearly overestimated their ability. I then had the Bengals to finish second with a record of 11-6. Cincinnati actually won the division with a record of 12-4 so I got that one wrong. The Pittsburgh Steelers then came in third for me with a record of 4-13. The Steelers did finish third, but with a record of 9-8 so I wasn’t close with this one. Finally, I had the Cleveland Browns to finish bottom of the AFC North, also with a record of 4-13. The Browns actually finished bottom with a record of 7-10 so I didn’t predict this division very well at all. In terms of the playoffs, I had the Ravens as the number 1 seed and the Bengals as the number 6 seed. Baltimore ended up getting the number 6 seed whilst Cincinnati took the number 3 seed.
AFC South
In my power rankings, I had the Indianapolis Colts 16th, the Tennessee Titans 18th, the Jacksonville Jaguars 23rd and the Houston Texans as the worst team in football (32nd). In terms of the division table, I had the Tennessee Titans to win the AFC South with a record of 11-6. The Titans actually finished second in the division with a record of 7-10 so I think they underperformed. I then had the Colts to finish second with a record of 9-8. Indianapolis actually finished third in the division with a record of 4-12-1 so I got this one completely wrong. The Jacksonville Jaguars then came in third for me with a record of 2-15. The Jags won the AFC South with a record of 9-8 so this is easily the worst prediction so far! Finally, I had the Houston Texans to finish bottom of the AFC South with a record of 1-16! I’ve clearly had no faith in Houston this entire season and they actually finished bottom with a record of 3-13-1 so they did better than what I expected (thank god)! In terms of the playoffs, I had the Titans taking the number 4 seed. Jacksonville got the number 4 seed instead.
AFC West
In my power rankings, I had the Denver Broncos 4th, the Los Angeles Chargers 5th, the Kansas City Chiefs 6th and the Las Vegas Raiders 12th. In terms of the division table, I had the LA Chargers to win the AFC West with a record of 12-5. The Chargers actually finished second in the division with a record of 10-7 so I wasn’t quite correct there. I then had the Chiefs to finish second in the division with a record of 11-6. Kansas actually finished top of the division with a record of 14-3 so I was of here. The Las Vegas Raiders then came in third for me, also with a record of 11-6. The Raiders did finish third in the division, but with their record flipped (6-11) in what was actually a really disappointing season for them. Finally, I had the Denver Broncos to finish bottom of the AFC West, also ridiculously with a record of 11-6! The Broncos did finish bottom of the division, but with a record of 5-12 so this was bad (more from them than me though). In terms of the playoffs, I had the Chargers taking the number 2 seed and the Chiefs taking the number 7 seed. The Chargers actually ended up taking the number 6 seed whilst Kansas got a bye into the Divisional round so I wasn’t really close here. My only positive is at least I didn’t predict either the Raiders or the Broncos to play more than 17 games this season.
NFC:
NFC East
In my power rankings, I had the Dallas Cowboys as the 7th best team, the Philadelphia Eagles at 15th, the Washington Commanders at 24th and the New York Giants at 30th. In terms of the division table, I had the Philadelphia Eagles to win the NFC East with a record of 14-3. Both of those things happened so I am delighted with that prediction. I then had the Cowboys to finish second in the division with a record of 13-4. Dallas did finish second with a record of 12-5 so I was almost spot on again. The Washington Commanders then came in third for me with a record of 7-10. The Commanders actually finished bottom of the division with a record of 8-8-1 so I over and underestimated them at the same time which is quite impressive. Finally, I had the New York Giants to finish bottom of the NFC West with a record of 4-13. The Giants actually finished third in the division with a record of 9-7-1 so they massively exceeded my expectations. In terms of the playoffs, I had the Eagles taking the number 1 seed and the Cowboys taking the number 5 seed. I got both of these things right so I’m once again very happy. However, the Giants also got into the playoffs as the number 6 seed.
NFC North
In my power rankings, I had the Green Bay Packers 3rd, the Minnesota Vikings 19th, the Chicago Bears 26th and the Detroit Lions 28th. In terms of the division table, I had the Green Bay Packers to win the NFC North with a record of 14-3. The Packers actually finished third in the division with a record of 8-9 so this was a bad prediction (blame the Packers). I then had the Vikings to finish second in the division with a record of 8-9. The Vikings actually won the division with a record of 13-4 so I was off here. The Chicago Bears then came in third for me with a record of 3-14. The Bears did finish with a record of 3-14, but in last place so I feel like I get half a point. Finally, I had the Detroit Lions to finish bottom of the NFC North, also with a record of 3-14. Detroit actually finished second in the division with a record of 9-8 so fair play to them. In terms of the playoffs, I had the Packers to take the number 2 seed. Green Bay didn’t even make it to the playoffs whilst the Vikings got in as the number 3 seed.
NFC South
In my power rankings, I had the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the second-best team in the NFL, the New Orleans Saints as the 13th-best, the Carolina Panthers at 27th and the Atlanta Falcons at 29th. In terms of the division table, I had the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win the NFC South with a record of 13-4. The Bucs did win the division, but only with a record of 8-9 (they underperformed)! I then had the Saints to finish second in the division, also with a 13-4 record. The Saints actually finished third in the division with a record of 7-10 so I was completely wrong here. The Carolina Panthers then came in third for me with a record of 3-14. The Panthers actually finished second with a record of 8-9 so they definitely did better than I expected. Finally, I had the Atlanta Falcons to finish bottom of the NFC South with a record of 2-15. The Falcons did finish bottom of their division, but with a record of 7-10 so I was still a bit off with this prediction. In terms of the playoffs, I had the Buccaneers to take the number 4 seed and the Saints to take the number 6 seed. Tampa did take the number 4 seed, but the Saints didn’t finish in the playoffs.
NFC West
In my power rankings, I had the Los Angeles Rams 8th, the Arizona Cardinals 14th, the San Francisco 49ers 17th and the Seattle Seahawks 31st. In terms of the division table, I had the Arizona Cardinals to win the NFC West with a record of 13-4. The Cardinals actually finished bottom of the division with a record of 4-13 so I got this prediction completely the wrong way around. I then had the 49ers to finish second in the division with a record of 12-5. The 49ers actually finished top of the division with a record of 13-4 so I was slightly off with this one. The Los Angeles Rams then came in third for me with a record of 10-7. The Rams did finish third in the division, but with a record of just 5-12. It’s crazy as I thought my prediction for the Rams was harsh! Finally, I had the Seattle Seahawks to finish bottom of the NFC West with a record of 4-13. The Seahawks actually finished second in the division with a record of 9-8 which was pretty amazing. In terms of the playoffs, I had the Cardinals to take the number 3 seed and the 49ers to take the number 7 seed. Arizona didn’t make the playoffs, San Fran took the number 2 seed and the Seattle Seahawks finished as the number 7 seed.
NFL Playoffs:
Wild Card Weekend
In my first AFC matchup, I had the Patriots to win in Tennessee. Neither team even made it to the playoffs so this prediction is completely wrong. I then had the Bills to beat the visiting Bengals. That game actually took place a week later in real life and the Bengals won so I can’t even take half a point. Finally, in the AFC, I had the Chiefs to lose against divisional rivals the Chargers in LA. This match didn’t happen, the Chargers lost in the Wild Card Round and the Chiefs literally won the Super Bowl yesterday so this was all wrong. In the NFC, I had Tampa Bay to win at home against the Dallas Cowboys. That match did happen, but Dallas won so I was close. I then had the Cardinals to beat the Saints at home and that was not a good prediction as neither team made the playoffs. Finally, I had the Packers to beat the 49ers at Lambeau Field. Green Bay weren’t even in the playoffs whilst the Niners won on that weekend in real life.
Divisional Round
In the AFC, I had the Los Angeles Chargers to beat the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round. The Chargers weren’t there, but the Bills did lose in that round so I’m taking that. I also had the Baltimore Ravens to beat the New England Patriots and that wasn’t a good prediction as neither team made it that far in real life. In the NFC, I had the Green Bay Packers to win at home against the Arizona Cardinals. This was another bad prediction. Finally, I had the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to go to Philadelphia and knock out the Eagles. Face-Palm Emoji!
Conference Championship
In the AFC Championship game, I had the Los Angeles Chargers to beat the Baltimore Ravens on the road. We’ve already established that my predictions are bad and the reason I went with the Chargers was because I had predicted that Justin Herbert would be this season’s MVP. I was wrong. In the NFC Championship game, I had the Green Bay Packers picking up another home victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I’m gonna defend myself here and say that these two teams played a lot worse this season than they really should’ve.
Super Bowl LVII
My Prediction for Super Bowl 57 was the Los Angeles Chargers would win their first-ever Super Bowl trophy with a win over the Green Bay Packers. This was one of the predictions I did remember and it’s a shame to say that it didn’t work out like this. Hey, at least I got the winning division correct!
Note: Thankyou to anyone who has read anything to do with the NFL on my website, I’m already looking forward to writing about the 2023 season! Also, congrats to the Kansas City Chiefs for winning Super Bowl 57!
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