Before we start the predictions, I want to take a moment and talk about the longevity and success of this league. 21 years ago, I was a 21 year old kid with an idea to create an online madden league, but really had no idea how it worked. With the help of Dolan (Lhu27) we created the MOF. We had some bumps and bruises in our first few seasons, but now 73 seasons later here we are. One of the most prestigious leagues out there. As we enter our unprecedented 74th season, a number that not many leagues, if any, have ever seen, I want to thank every single one of you for making this league what it is. I say this all the time, but this is a wonderful hobby for all of us. Something to get our minds off the everyday grind and have a place to escape for a few hours a week. I take pride and pleasure in providing that for you guys, so again, thank you for making the MOF great!
Welcome to the Season 74 Predictions! So last season's numbers, I was 4 for 7 in the AFC. In the NFC I was 5 for 7. I predicted that BigReub would win his first SB title over the Panthers and Betroit but who knew that Betroit would leave the country for the playoffs? Anyway, I was wrong and we had a repeat of SB 72 with the Ravens once again beating the Falcons this time 41-17 for his 2nd straight title and Mack's 3rd title in his 6th season here. We saw quite a bit of turnover last season, the Rams had 4 coaches. The Bears, Dolphins, and Cardinals also had coaching changes mid-season. So that throws monkey wrenches into the predictions as well. As we enter the 3rd season of the edition things start to clear up, we see who the real contenders are season in and season out and predictions get a bit easier. We do usually see 1 or 2 new playoff teams per conference, so who will it be this season? Can MMX's Chiefs break through? Will Roclo get back to his Madden '23 form? Or maybe we see DocHolliday's Dolphins tear it up? Over in the NFC will the return of Hicks blow up the NFC West? Will we see Krayzie come back strong and challenge for the NFC North? The new season is always filled with excitement, so without further ado, here are your MOF Season 74 Predictions!
*Remember all these predictions are very in depth. We go game by game with the current schedule and predict games 1 by 1 and that's how we come up with our algorithms. Remember this is all in good fun and for some, some bulletin board material! Enjoy
Biggest Off-Season Addition: WR Jerry Jeudy - NE (87 ovr)
Biggest Off-Season Subtraction: DT Ed Oliver - BUF (88 ovr)
Best Draft Selection: FS Gordon Wall - MIA (78 ovr)
The AFC East. What is there to say? Last season we saw Bubba not quite go undefeated but still winning the division. We saw Coach DoubleD leave town after going 8-6 but Coach Doc took over and guided them to the playoffs. We saw the Patriots finish better than we thought, with some upset wins and we saw the Jets take a mighty step backwards after the departure of Aaron Rodgers. So what's next? We start with the Buffalo Bills. The 2-time defending AFC East champs I believe will do it again, this time easier. I think Buffalo has a tougher schedule this season, and the middle of their schedule is going to be a real test and we could see the division get a little spicy there but I still believe the Bills will end up on top because of the play of Josh Allen. His quick release and weapons are going to win games for him by itself. The Bills did lose Von Miller to retirement and they also traded DT Ed Oliver so their defensive line has taken a big hit. They did sign BJ Hill but they're going to need a lot more than that to make up for the loss. Other than that, the team has pretty much stayed in tact. I expect another big season out of that three headed WR monster in Diggs, Chark, and Cone. The Miami Dolphins are next on our list, I have them finishing in 2nd place but I do have them taking a step back. This will be Coach DocHolliday's first full season in Miami after going 2-1 to finish out Season 73 and losing in the wild-card round to Buffalo. This team was built for Doc's style of play. Speed everywhere, and a QB with a strong arm to run the run n shoot. They will be fun to watch but I think their schedule is going to be their downfall. They have to play the NFC South and NFC North, ouch, also Buffalo twice. Miami had the best draft pick in the division with FS Gordon Wall out of Iowa St. and that secondary was already filled with fantastic players. The Dolphins have a really nice team, they are one of the teams I have my eye on to really blow my prediction to pieces. The New York Jets and Coach Gouch had themselves a really tough Season 73 after being a playoff team in Season 72. Most experts say it was because of the loss of QB Aaron Rodgers. They weren't able to duplicate the success with QB Bernard Glenn. Glenn finished the season with 23 TDs and 44 INTs. Contrary to belief, Rodgers had a similar Season 72 with 25 TDs and 38 INTs. But that 6 turnover difference could really decide a few wins there. The Jets come into this season with lower expectations and deservedly so. They went out and traded WR Garrett Wilson to the Titans, leaving a big hole at WR. They are putting a lot of pressure on Mecole Hardman Jr. to be that number 1 WR that I don't think he can be. Of course you have HB Breece Hall with his 93 speed and backups Elijah Mitchell and Damien Harris who I know first hand are solid backups. The bread and butter of this Jets team is the defense and the defensive line. We all know that the defensive line just doesn't get in as much as they used to in previous games but Nick Bosa and Quinnen Williams just isn't fair. If Gouch can find a way to rush the QB with those guys, we're going to see the Jets soar. However, I think the game has nerfed that. I think the Jets will finish 3rd at best, Buffalo is superior and Miami's roster is just better period. Some of us forget that Coach Shawty has a Super Bowl title under his belt here but he just doesn't get the respect that comes with an MOF championship, does he? It seems that every season I pick him to finish last, and he ends up winning 2 or 3 more games that I predict him to win. So what's the difference this season? Nothing. I once again predict the Patriots to finish in last place. To be honest I just really do not like the team that Shawty has. The name of this game is speed and the Pats don't have it. They did go and sign WR Jerry Jeudy away from Denver in the offseason, but the running game is lacking a star. Stevenson just isn't it with his 89 speed and 88 accel. They lost Ezekiel Elliott to retirement and they drafted Juan Dorsett but he is a Stevenson clone. The offensive line is solid, but they are being wasted by not having a speedy back or WR to take advantage and get down field. Last season they traded for LB TJ Watt and he remains the top player on that defense but you also have SS Kyle Duggar at x-factor and that secondary which is very nice. The Patriots need to make a wow move to make me change my tune on them, for now, I have them in the basement.
Biggest Off-Season Addition: DT Jonathan Allen - PIT (93 ovr)
Biggest Off-Season Subtraction: WR D.K. Metcalf - CIN (93 ovr)
Best Draft Selection: CB Sean Young - BAL (77 ovr)
The AFC North was no surprise once again as we saw the Ravens finish even better than last season, 16-1 and winning the Super Bowl for the 2nd time in a row over Atlanta for the 2nd time in a row. We saw BigReub take a little bit of a step back but still winning 11 games and earning a wild-card spot. We saw the Browns come out to a huge 4-0 start last season but then finishing 2-11 the rest of the way, and we saw Coach Canes again finish in last place with a 5-12 shocking record. We begin with the 2-time defending champion Baltimore Ravens. There's nothing wrong with this team and if there was Coach Mack would make up for it with his incredible stick skills. He has built a juggernaut out of a team that was already a juggernaut. It's simply not fair. Mack is in another stratosphere and we have to just hope that he makes 1 mistake that costs him a game when we play him while we make zero. We have not seen dominance in this league like this since OG Mack (MackDaddy) back in Madden '22 with the Green Bay Packers. I obviously am taking Baltimore to once again win this division, I would predict them to go 17-0 but I just cannot do that, they will get 1 loss maybe 2 not sure to who though. Oh and on top of having the best team, they also had the best pick in the draft with CB Sean Young. Like they needed any more help. The team is full of X-factors and Superstars and it's just going to grow more and more each season. Good luck to those facing the Mack who might just have a statue erected in Baltimore before this edition is over. Coach BigReub is being completely over shadowed here in the AFC North and I have to admit, I really didn't see that happening. The Steelers won 11 games last season and it was a bit stressful for them here and there, losing games that they probably shouldn't have and struggling when they shouldn't have. But again, see what happened there? They went 11-6 and I start off negative. BigReub is in the upper echelon of this league and there's no denying that. He is a playoff contender each and every season and this season will be no different. The Steelers will finish in 2nd place, it's just a question of how many games will they win? 11? 12? 13? It won't matter because they wont win the division, but I expect them to be the top wild-card team. The Steelers went out and grabbed Joe Mixon to spell Gilbert Wolff who has 95 speed and 93 accel, which was an underrated move. They also traded for DT Jonathan Allen to help stop this Ravens attack, which could help! I like their secondary and I like what they are doing at linebacker. Like I said, they will absolutely be there when the smoke clears. Will this be the season Coach Healy gets back on track? The Cincinnati Bengals have been absolutely decimated by trades. Joe Burrow, gone. Ja'Marr Chase, gone. Joe Mixon, gone. Oh D.K. Metcalf, they had him too, gone. Austin Ekeler yeah.. gone (but also back). What do they have to show for it? Kenneth Walker, Noah Fant, and Anthony Richardson. Far from Burrow, Chase and Mixon but it's not as bad as I made it sound either. The Bengals are in absolute need of receivers. They traded Metcalf in the off-season who they acquired from Seattle. The old ways of building your defensive line to be a beast of the past is gone. Sure, they have 4 x-factors at defensive line but the problem is these guys just do not get in like they used to. Like I said previously, the pass rush has been nerfed and hey maybe this is the way to get ahead of that. By literally having 4 x-factors at defensive line. Will that win him games? Yeah, I think it will. But the lack of receivers will lose him games too. I expect the Bengals to have a better season. Probably finish around 500 if they can go out and get a playmaker, then maybe these guys have a shot at returning to prominence. The Cleveland Browns. The tale of two teams last season. As I mentioned above we saw Cleveland jump out to a 4-0 start with wins over Pittsburgh and the Giants before finishing the season on a 2-11 landslide. So who are the real Browns? Are they that 4-0 team that could make some noise in a division that seems to be impenetrable? Could they jump into a wild-card? 7th seed maybe? Are they good enough to do that? I don't know. I don't think so. They seem to have commitment issues with their Quarterbacks. Last season we saw Kirk Cousins and Miles Knott take about half of the teams snaps each. The season before that we saw Mike White, DTR and Deshaun Watson. So that's 5 QBs in just 2 seasons. When you have QB problems like that, it makes it extremely difficult to be competitive. Of course, you have all-world RB Nick Chubb at your disposal so anything is possible on offense, but when the defense knows what's coming things get harder. The Browns went and traded TE David Njoku in the offseason as well which was a move I was not a fan of. TE Dalton Kincaid is not ready for the production load that Njoku provided. The Browns did go out and sign the ever so MOF traveled Brandin Cooks who still can run with his 92 speed. I love Myles Garrett on defense, obviously. And the two CBs with 95 speed (Ward and Newsome) is just amazing. However is it enough to make any kind of noise? I don't think so.
Biggest Off-Season Addition: WR D.K. Metcalf - HOU (93 ovr)
Biggest Off-Season Subtraction: WR DeAndre Hopkins - TEN (86 ovr)
Best Draft Selection: WR Christian Hilton - JAC (77 ovr)
The AFC South was once again won by the Indianapolis Colts who I did not see coming, again. Instead for the 2nd season in a row I predicted Coach Roclo's Titans to come out on top, and I was wrong twice. The Jacksonville Jaguars finished strong last season going 11-6 and earning a playoff berth. The Titans, as we mentioned started off horrid but made up for it winning 7 straight games to finish the season. And the Texans finished 6-11 once again, like I predicted, in last place. We start off with Dre's Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags are becoming a perennial playoff team out of this division. They snuck in Season 72 at 8-9, and then last season they missed out on winning the division but then beat the division winning Colts in the wild-card round. The Jags wound up losing in the divisional but getting there was a nice job. I believe they will come out on top this season in the division. It won't be easy, because the Titans and Colts will be right there but I am giving the Jags the inside track. They Jags also drafted the best player in the division in Christian Hilton who should prove to be a big threat from day 1. The Jaguars are solid at pretty much every position on the field they have built themselves a strong team and I believe they can go far if they could somehow upset the other AFC juggernauts. The Tennessee Titans and Coach Roclo I have coming in finishing in 2nd place. I know I know, I should learn from my mistakes and stop predicting Roclo to win games and make the playoffs but something tells me this season is going to be different. The Titans finished last season winning 7 straight games to get to 9-8 and almost earning themselves a playoff spot. They seemed to figure it out during that stretch and they went out and improved their team in the offseason as well. Letting go of WR Hopkins but signing Kadarius Toney and trading for WR Garrett Wilson. Derrick Henry is another year older but still at x-factor and had himself a 2,000 yard rushing season. The secondary is legendary as well, with Hooker and Byard just picking people off left and right. They have been doing for for a few editions in a row now. Couple that with Caleb Farley and C.J. Henderson and you might have the best secondary in the league. The Titans are as they go. What does that mean? If Roclo can just keep the ball in his offenses hands without turning it over, he will be extremely difficult to beat. It's hard to come back against a team with that kind of secondary, so keep that in mind. The Titans will be a force this season. I have the Colts finishing 3rd and what is it going to take for me to pick the Colts to win the division? Am I still not a believer? I actually am a believer in Bengalsonly, however that schedule is going to be brutal. He has 7 or 8 games that could easily be losses that aren't even divisional. So say if he splits those and then splits vs Jags and Titans, that will keep him at about 500 which is exactly where I think they will fall. The division will be close, and the Colts won't be far out of it. Maybe 2 or 3 games back, so they are going to have to find a way to upset some teams and maybe even sweep the Titans and Jaguars if they want to win their 3rd straight AFC South title. I really like the signing of WR Amari Cooper and the draft pick of WR Alec Pierce. Those weapons should help that offense. The defense is also very nice with Devin Bush (x-factor) leading the way. I am predicting the Texans to once again finish in last place. Although I admire the moves Alex is making, acquiring DK Metcalf and Montez Sweat. Signing Jerome Baker, DJ Reed, and Tyrann Mathieu. I still don't think it will be enough to get over that hump. The teams in this division are just too strong and have been here too long. Dre and the Jags and Roclo and the Titans have been with those teams for editions, not just this edition, but EDITIONS. You start to become one with your team, and we all know this. Will the Texans upset some teams? Yes. They most likely will. However, I just don't see them getting to the postseason or competing for this division. Not this season anyway. If they can develop CJ Stroud a little more and get themselves a stronger HB they will then be a force.
Biggest Off-Season Addition: HB Christian McCaffrey - KC (97 ovr)
Biggest Off-Season Subtraction: WR Jerry Jeudy - DEN (87 ovr)
Best Draft Selection: CB Sean McMichael - LAC (78 ovr)
The AFC West saw a familiar face back on top. The Raiders brought Coach MackDaddy back to the postseason, where he belongs with a 11-6 record. The Kansas City Chiefs coached by MMX finished 10-7 and missed out on the playoffs due to some tie breakers. The Season 72 AFC West champ Broncos took a step back finishing 8-9 and in 3rd place and we saw the Chargers and Coach Remo go 0-17. We begin with the defending AFC West champs from last season, the Raiders. I believe the Raiders will repeat as division champs as MackDaddy has figured out a way to make his game style work with this edition of Madden. It also helps when you trade for QB Joe Burrow who is a 98 ovr x-factor QB. You also have Josh Jacobs an x-factor RB, Davante Adams SS WR, and they just traded for David Njoku at TE. That is a very very good offense right there. The Raiders defense isn't lights out, they do not have any ability players on defense but that won't stop them from getting this division. My eyes are on CB Jakorian Bennett who has a 97 speed and will probably be able to lockdown any WR in that division. The real question is can MackDaddy get back to the promise land in the AFC with "new" Mack standing in his way? I like the Kansas City Chiefs to finish in 2nd place once again with Coach MMX at the helm. The Chiefs went out and made the biggest move of the off-season trading for HB Christian McCaffrey who is rated 97 ovr and an x-factor RB. Of course he is going to be turning 30 and we know what happens to 30 year old RBs but he can absolutely still provide value this season and next season if they re-sign him. Mahomes did lose his x-factor and has been downgraded to superstar, it shouldn't matter rated 99 overall. They still have Travis Kelce who is now 35 yrs old and probably on his last leg. The Chiefs I believe will be a wild-card team this season, it will be a nice fight for the AFC West too, which I have given the edge to the Raiders, but the Chiefs with the addition of McCaffrey should get there. I have the Denver Broncos finishing in 3rd place again this season. With MackDaddy playing better and Coach MMX here in the AFC West now, things have changed for Big Reg. They are already dealing with an injured Russell Wilson, who at 36 yrs old might be taking a back seat to the more recently acquired Trey Lance. They did go out and trade for WR Cooper Kupp which was a huge move after they lost Jerry Jeudy to the Patriots. I like the emergence of TE Greg Dulcich as well, and I think he will be a nice target for whoever the QB is in Denver. I think they are lacking some play-makers on offense, you can say Marvin Mims is that player at 94 speed but that's about all they got in that department. Which hurts when you are trying to keep up with the Raiders and Chiefs offenses. The defense however, led by CB Patrick Surtain and FS Justin Simmons, very nice. Surtain can lock down any WR in the league with his 95 speed and 99 overall. That will be enough to get the Broncos to about 500 which if they can get there, they are definitely in play for a wild-card berth in the AFC. The LA Chargers and Coach Remo had a historic season 73, losing every game they played. Not only that but 5 of those 17 losses were by 1 score. The rest were blow outs. Ouch. On top of that QB Justin Herbert was downgraded to start development after his 7 TD 60 INT performance. That actually makes 117 interceptions in 2 seasons, that's why he was downgraded. With all that said, the Chargers are actually building a legendary secondary. They drafted CBs Sean McMichael and Greg Jackson to go along with Derwin James, Asante Samuel Jr., and JC Jackson. Each player with 91 speed or better. That's impressive. Obviously Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack are nice players, older, but nice players too. The name of the game for the Chargers is simple. Stop throwing so many interceptions. They have a good enough team to win games, but the turnovers are absolute killers. I would have liked to see them go after another RB in the off-season but Spiller will have to do along with Rashaad Penny. Good luck to the Chargers, I don't think they will go winless again, but.. you never know.
Biggest Off-Season Addition: LB Nick Bolton - PHI (90 ovr)
Biggest Off-Season Subtraction: DT Jonathan Allen - WAS (93 ovr)
Best Draft Selection: QB Jamie Nowak - DAL (81 ovr)
The NFC East was a bit of a surprise last season as we saw Coach Pettigrew's Eagles take down the crown. We also saw Coach Betts' Commanders finish at 8-9 and miss the playoffs, in a shocker! SonGoku's Giants also finished 8-9 and the Dallas Cowboys again finished at 4-13. We begin with the defending NFC East Champ Eagles who I believe will once again win this division. The team is just too good. Top to bottom. They also went and added LB Nick Bolton for good measure. Jalen Hurts is x-factor at QB with 90 speed! You got WR AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith. D'Andre Swift at HB with Goedert at TE. The offensive line is one of the best in the game, and how about these linebackers? Nolan Smith 93 speed. Dean 87 speed, Bolton 87 speed. He's got defensive backs at linebacker! So much speed, so much talent, these guys are going to be really tough to knock off. However, the Washington Commanders have something to prove don't they. None of us saw an 8-9 season coming out of Betts after Season 72, but that's exactly what happened. They lost 5 straight games from Week 10-14 and that pretty much put them out of contention. They were able to get a little hot at the end of the season to carry it over to this season but not enough. So what did they do in the off-season? They got rid of Tua and traded DT Jonathan Allen to receive picks to trade up to the 3rd overall pick and grab Mark Schaffer out of Colorado. He is a hidden dev and will be the starting QB moving forward. I love Antonio Gibson, I expect a huge season out of him as they transition their rookie QB. I also love TE Noah Harrison with his 89 speed and 92 accel, he's a threat period. The receivers are also nice. Of course they lost Allen but Payne will fill in fine. I really like the Commanders to bounce back this season and earn a wild-card spot. They will absolutely challenge for the division but I think will just fall short. The return of SonGoku last season was nice for a bit, he had a chance to really make a run but lost a couple important games that left him out of the playoffs. This season I believe they will finish exactly where they did last season, 3rd place. Unfortunately in the NFC you really have to win your division if you want to be in the playoffs. The Giants have a nice offense built around Saquon. They went out and drafted HB Nick Brooks to probably be his replacement after this season. They also got WR Jerome Clifton to x-factor with his 96 speed. The defense is led by Isaiah Simmons with his 93 speed and 93 accel at MLB. Thibs also got his x-factor as well. The Giants have a lot of nice pieces and are a good team. They are just in a tough division and an even tougher conference. It's going to be tough for Goku to take that next step, but he definitely has the talent and skill to make some noise. The Dallas Cowboys and Mindenplaya finished 4-13 again last season and I honestly see about the same finish this season too. The talent in Dallas is there. I say it a lot and I will keep saying it. They have stars and playmakers at every single position. I'm not exactly sure what they are doing with the QB position. They drafted QB Jamie Nowak with the 5th overall pick out of Kentucky, but they still have Dak on their roster. Now are they trading Dak? Are they trading Nowak? It's going to be interesting to see. Micah Parsons, obviously, one of the top players in the league rated 99 overall x-factor, leads that defense. I think the formula for success is simple in Dallas. Run the ball and play defense. Once Dak or Nowak starts throwing the ball, bad things happen. This team is too good to be 4-13. I don't see any improvement though, not in this division.
Biggest Off-Season Addition: QB Tua Tagovailoa - DET (87 ovr)
Biggest Off-Season Subtraction: WR Tyler Lockett - MIN (85 ovr)
Best Draft Selection: TE Lucas Magana - MIN (78 ovr)
The NFC North was abysmal last season. There's no other word to describe it. The Lions wound up winning the division by default with an 8-9 record. The Packers were a week 18 win away from stealing that division from the Lions but couldn't get it done and finished 7-10. The Bears had a coaching change mid-season and finished just 1 game behind at 7-10. Then there was Krayzie's Vikings who finished 2-15 and we did not see that coming at all. I begin with the Detroit Lions, who I think will once again be your NFC North Champions and once again win it with a record under or right above 500. The division stinks. Let's just call it what it is. The Lions are probably the best team in the North with the addition of Tua who is replacing Goff this season. I expect to see a huge season out of Gibbs as Jfon figures out how to throw the ball with a lefty QB. I also see Nick Huntington waiting in the wings with his 93 throw power. Love love love Jameson Williams and his 99 speed, who wouldn't. He can score pretty much from anywhere on the field. Jfon's pride and joy is that safety though. CJ Gardner-Johnson is a super nice safety and to user someone like that, that must be fun if you're good at it, like Jfon is. The Vikings come into this season coming off a terrible 2-15 Season 72. They went out and made some nice moves though, first they acquired HB Cam Akers from the Rams who should immediately be the starter along with newly drafted Deon Bradley. Justin Jefferson obviously is a top receiver, and the addition of WR DeAndre Hopkins is also very nice. They draft pick of TE Lucas Magana could be the pick of the draft with his 89 speed and 90 accel. Then they went and traded for DJ Reader at DT and signed CB Kendall Fuller. This could be the best off-season of any team in the MOF. I think it will really show on the field and I wouldn't be shocked if the Vikings challenge the Lions for the division this season. I mean it might not take a bunch of wins to get there, but the Vikings I think have a small shot. The Packers and Coach Eddie are coming off a pretty good season, 7-10 isn't terrible it's not good either. But Eddie has been known to have some historically bad seasons, so for him to finish 7-10 that's a win in my book. The Packers defense is where it's at. They have a lot of playmakers including DT Kenny Clark, LBs Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness, and Quay Walker. Then you have CB Jaire Alexander along with Eric Stokes and 2nd year stud Paul Fox at SS. The Packers defense can run with anyone in this league, hear that. The offense however, that's a different story all together. They are hurting for star power. Their top rated offensive player is 82 rated Christian Watson. No ability players, and Jordan Love who is rated a 76 overall. They lost Aaron Jones and it looks like AJ Dillon will be the featured back. The offense will keep them down, but their defense will keep them in games. They need to make a big trade for a HB or WR or something someone that can make some big plays. I see the Packers finishing 3rd unless they can trade for something. The Chicago Bears and Coach Bearsbigd22 made his MOF debut last season. He coached the Rams until the Bears became open. He played 10 games with the Bears and went 4-6. Not terrible. Having a clean slate we don't know what's going to happen, we could see big things out of the Bears. Or we could see more of the same around 500 or a little below. I am picking the Bears to finish last but I'm not super confident in that. They have some burners at WR. DJ Moore, Darnell Mooney, and Joseph Reed all 93 speed WRs. HB Orlando Floyd, 93 speed HB. QB Justin Fields, 93 speed QB. Speed everywhere on offense, something we're not used to seeing in old black and blue Chicago. The defense outside of LB Tremaine Edmunds could use some help. CB Jaylon Johnson is a star CB but a little slow. Like I said before, Chicago is one of those teams, they could surprise us.
Biggest Off-Season Addition: RE Aaron Donald - ATL (96 ovr)
Biggest Off-Season Subtraction: HB Alvin Kamara - NO (86 ovr)
Best Draft Selection: HB Zhaire Fulcher - NO (76 ovr)
Once again the entire league was in awe of the NFC South. Just as we predicted the division dominated the NFC featuring 3 out of the 4 divisional playoff teams. The Atlanta Falcons, who won the NFC once again, won the division at 15-2. You had the Panthers at 13-4 finish in 2nd place and then the Saints who finished 12-5 in 3rd place. The Tampa Bay Bucs won 4 games, which I'm shocked they won that many, and finished in last. We start with your 2-time defending Super Bowl runner up the Atlanta Falcons. Nothing and no one is going to tell me that the Falcons aren't winning this division. They continue to get better they continue to add pieces to a team that doesn't really need anything. This season, they added RE Aaron Donald, yes that Aaron F'n Donald. They also signed Haason Reddick, what? They have 8 x-factors out of 22 position players. That's almost half the team. Couple that with the fact that they only have 3 receivers on their roster, what? Kind of odd, but I guess it doesn't matter when you are that good you can simply throw the ball to yourself 50 yards downfield and catch it like Mr. Perfect (Google it). The Carolina Panthers and Coach Betroit enter this season with a shocking end to last season that no one saw coming. They beat the Lions in the wild-card round and then had to forfeit the next round because they went on vacation. Who knows what could have happened if they played the Saints. Anyways, the Panthers are going to finish 2nd, and at worst 3rd but don't worry they will be in the playoffs because they're going to win 13 or 14 games. The Panthers didn't do much in the off-season, well because they were on vacation, but they didn't really have to. They already got their QB Bryce Young to x-factor and they have some nice weapons on offense as well. Defense is where these guys shine. Coach Betroit is just a mastermind on developing rookies into superstars. Look for DT Tavarius Hughes to be the next one to win DROY. Lots of speed at DB as well, 93, 95, 93 in Horn, Chin and Hawkins. The defense is fantastic, and Betroit is simply top notch. If he can get passed Wilky there's nothing stopping him from winning it all. The New Orleans Saints and Coach Boobie I have finishing 3rd, but honestly these three teams are all going to win 13-16 games and all finish 1-2-3 and be in the playoffs, does it matter? The Saints come into the season with Malik Cunningham at starter, and he's still at a star dev which im kind of surprised about with the season he had. They did trade Alvin Kamara to Seattle so they will be going with rookie Zhaire Fulcher with Jamaal Williams as a spell. Levi Jenkins is a stud TE who earned his x-factor last season. They also went and signed OBJ away from Atlanta who can still play with his 90 speed and 96 jumping ability. Olave is Olave. Cam Jordan is back for another season but I'm betting this will be his last. The Saints d-line isn't great but he knows that defensive line doesn't mean much anymore. The LBs are fast. He went out and traded for Byron Young from the Rams who has a 93 speed and 93 accel, watch out. I love Lattimore at CB as the Saints defense just makes plays. The Saints are lesser of the three juggernauts but he's still a juggernaut and can easily beat the other two any given Sunday, it will be fun to watch again. The Tampa Bay Bucs are just hanging on by a thread here. Poor ELBuccs in this division, it's like playing basketball against Kareem, Shaw, and Olajuwon and you're Mugsy Bogues (Google him). The Bucs won 4 games last season. Zero against the NFC South. In fact they lost all 6 games by a combined score of 240-54 that's not a typo. The Bucs didn't do too much to improve this team in the off-season. They did draft TE Chip Ellis who might get the start over Otton and Okwuegbunam. Godwin and Evans are still trucking at WR as well. But no ability players on offense for these guys. They have 1 superstar on defense, RE Calijah Kancey, but that's all. It's a tough one for ELBuccs, he has his favorite team, but he's arguably in the best division in this history of the league.
Biggest Off-Season Addition: HB Isiah Pacheco - SF (86 ovr)
Biggest Off-Season Subtraction: HB Christian McCaffrey - SF (97 ovr)
Best Draft Selection: P Easton Turner - SEA (86 ovr)
The NFC West was exactly what I thought it would be last season. The Seahawks and 49ers in a dog fight for the division. The 49ers wound up winning it at 13-4. The Seahawks finished 11-6 and made their way into the playoffs. The Cardinals even finished 11-6 quietly and the Rams who were coached by a few different coaches finished 3-14. I begin this division with the Arizona Cardinals, yes I said it. Coach Hicks will win this division this season. The entire division's schedule is out of control. AFC North and NFC South head to head. Hicks took over the Cardinals last season and went 3-0. We all know Hicks can ball and the only thing stopping him from winning is usually himself or if he sells his PS5 again. If he doesn't and stays committed, he should win this division. It will be tough, but Kyler Murray with his pin point defensive reading skills, is going to be dangerous. WR Marquise Brown is going to have a huge season with his 97 speed. Keenan Allen is still strong at 33 yrs old, and Rondale Moore should also have a good season. Look out for HB Raheem Blackshear, he might get some of the carries as Dalvin Cook gets long in the tooth. The Cardinals defense needs some help. No ability players at all and that could hurt him down the road, I still think they win it, but it's going to be a nice division to watch. The Seattle Seahawks and Coach Q are next and I think they will be finishing in 2nd place. The Seahawks lost to the 49ers twice last season that cost them the division, but they got the last laugh as they took the 49ers out in the wild-card round. The Seahawks are built extremely well, and if we had an award for GM of the edition Coach Q would win it. QB Brian Hill is developing into the next Lamar Jackson. Najee Harris and Alvin Kamara is just not fair to have as a 1-2 punch. Then you have Mark Andrews and Michael Mayer at TE! Oh I'm not done. Ja'Marr Chase, Darius Slayton, D'Wayne Eskridge, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba at WR. All those weapons just on offense. Then you got reigning MOF NFC Defensive MVP Teair Tart who led the MOF in sacks last season on the line with Myles Murphy. The CBs are unreal too, Woolen with his 98 speed and and Dillon Price with his 92 speed, both x-factors at CB. There are no holes here. The only problem is their schedule. If they can knock off one of those teams in the NFC South, they definitely have a shot at the division. The defending NFC West champ 49ers are next. I believe they finish 3rd this season, just too tough of a schedule and the Seahawks are just a better team. The Cardinals are a better coach. So that leaves you in 3rd place. Brock Purdy had himself a very nice Season 73 surprisingly Commish did not throw more INTs than TDs. I think this season will be much different playing the juggernaut Falcons, Panthers, Saints, Ravens, Steelers, Seahawks 2x, Cardinals 2x. They went out and traded CMC as well, because they just cant afford him, and drafted HB Tony Barrett who might get the start over Isiah Pacheco. The 49ers have nice weapons on offense, Deebo, Kittle, Ayiuk, and newly drafted Tre Hatchett who has 96 speed. The defense is also nice, with the draft pick of DT Isaac Polk, Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw, DeAndre Davidson, and the newly crowned Superstar Talanoa Hufanga. The 49ers have the talent, there's no denying it. But they are going to have to play even better than they did last season to even compete for the division and I don't see that happening. The Rams come into the league with a rookie head coach in TSG_Lee34. We don't know much about TSG but we do know that he took over the Rams last season and went 0-3. Obviously, not good. They are doing everything in their power to rebuild which I admire. Trading Kupp, cutting Aaron Donald and trading Cam Akers. They still have Stafford under contract but drafted QB Bobby Dunalp to start the process. They also signed Ezekiel Elliott to finish his career in LA. Look we don't know enough about the Rams coach to really have an accurate prediction all we know is who he is playing and he's playing the best of the best in the NFC South and AFC North. The rest of this division is no picnic either.
