2021 NFL Predictions Sure to Go Wrong

No drawn out intro this time.

I gotta keep this project going, right?  

Right.  Mark the tape.

1. Montez Sweat and Chase Young will be the #1 pass rush duo in the NFL. I had actually forgotten this fact, but the Washington Football Team are reigning NFC East champions.  Their defense under Ron Rivera will keep improving this year as Sweat and Young emerge as the premiere pass rush duo in the entire league, leading everyone else in sack totals for the season.  Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio knows how to maximize rushing the passer since he's coached the likes of Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller during their best days in Denver together.  Sweat and Young will become even better than that pair since Sweat is 25 years old and Young is only 22.  

2. The Pittsburgh Steelers will go first to worst in the AFC North.  It's always fun to pick a team going worst to first in a division since the NFL sees faster turnarounds than any other sports league.  It's not often when a team goes the other direction, but that's what will happen with the Steelers this year.  They still have playmakers on both sides of the ball, but I do not like their offensive line at all.  More than that though is the rest of the division is either on the rise or close to peaking.  Joe Burrow will show why he was the #1 overall pick last year with his young receivers while the Browns and Ravens fight it out for the division title.  The Steelers will be left at the bottom of the division and have to figure out what their future at QB will look like.

It's going to be a long, dark season for the Steelers and their fans this year.

3. Matthew Stafford will throw for his most yards and touchdowns since 2011.  Matthew Stafford will have a career renaissance now that he's on the Rams.  In 2011 he set career highs for himself by throwing for just over 5000 yards and 41 TDs.  His passing yards have mostly declined every year since then (with a couple small upticks here and there), and he hasn't thrown for more than 32 TDs in a season since.  He'll be a great late-round grab for fantasy players on his new team.  And he'll have a whole lot more to celebrate than just personal career stats (more on that later).

4. The Tampa Bay Buccanneers will be the only team in the NFC South to finish over .500.  This is just as much about how much better the Bucs are than their divisional rivals as it is who their opponents are this season.  The NFC South will face the AFC East and NFC East divisions this year, both of which are filled with teams better than the Saints, Panthers, and Falcons.  The Saints are arguably the best of those three teams, but still will take a huge step backwards without Drew Brees at QB.

5. Derrick Henry will be the first running back to lead the NFL in rushing yards for three straight years since Emmitt Smith from 1991 to 1993.  Not so bold, really.  Next.

6. Josh Allen will be the league MVP.  Allen took agiant leap forward last year, improving his completion percentage, passing yards, and total touchdowns from the year prior.  The Bills got all the way to the AFC title game with him under center, and he'll keep rocketing up the points to put himself toe to toe with Patrick Mahomes as the best QB in the AFC (which is somewhat painful for me to say as a Ravens fan).  It'll be bittersweet for Bills fans though, because....

7. The Los Angeles Rams will defeat the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl 56.  The Rams came oh so close to winning a championship a couple years ago but couldn't get anything going against the Patriots offensively.  Matthew Stafford will finally get a taste of not only winning a playoff game, but he'll be hoisting the Lombardi trophy as Super Bowl MVP.  Meanwhile, Bills fans will be left hoping this game isn't the start of a repeat of the early 90s when they got to the big game for four straight years and came up short every time.

2021 MLB Predictions Sure to Go Wrong

The world is starting to get back to normal, albeit very slowly.  I actually didn't expect the NFL season to be played in full, and it sure looks like the MLB season will not only begin on time but fans will be allowed into stadiums now.  We're still a very long way away from being totally back to normal, but at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel.  So unlike this time last year, there's a point to making my normal preseason predictions.

1. The Toronto Blue Jays will win the American League East. The last time the Blue Jays won the division, they were a surprise team that came largely out of nowhere.  While they made the playoffs last year as a Wild Card, they will take a major jump forward and steal the division away from the Rays and Yankees.  They added George Springer and Marcus Semien to their already stacked lineup, and Nate Pearson will join their rotation at some point once he recovers from his groin injury.  

The Yankees have a bear in Gerrit Cole, but their lineup is extremely unbalanced.  DJ Lemehieu and Gleyber Torres are certainly reliable, but Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are injured far too often to count on them.  And is Gary Sanchez really expected to still be the primary catcher?

As for the Rays, they were a stunning team to go all the way to the World Series against the Dodgers.  However in years past they play way over their heads one season and quickly return to Earth the following season.  They'll still be good, but not good enough to win the division again.

2. The St. Louis Cardinals will finish with the best record in the National League.  I still don't know how the Cardinals acquired Nolan Arenado without having to give up any prospect of significance.  Adding him to their lineup makes them the best team in the NL Central by a fairly wide margin; only the Brewers avoided dismantling their roster over the off-season.  Both the Cardinals and Brewers will beat up the other three teams in the Central, and the Cardinals will win enough games head to head against Milwaukee that they'll finish with over 100 wins this year.

3. The Philadelphia Phillies will finish last in the NL East.  It's already been an ugly, ugly year for Philly sports fans, considering everything the Eagles have dealt with in the last three months.  Baseball will bring them no relief, with the Phillies finishing dead last in their division.  They just don't have the talent to keep up with the rest of the division, especially the Braves and Mets.  Consider the following:

• Their rotation after Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler is projected as Zach Elfin, Matt Moore, and Chase Anderson.  That's just....ugh.
• Their bullpen consists of Hector Neris, Jose Alvarado, Tony Watson, Connor Brogdon, and Brandon Kintzler.  Of this bunch, only Alvarado had an ERA under 4.00 last year.  And they signed Archie Bradley to be their new closer.
• Bryce Harper, Zack Wheeler, Andrew McCutchen, Jean Segura, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Nola, and JT Realmuto will make nearly $120 million combined this year.  McCutchen, Segura, and Gregorius are all over 30 years old and will show their age this year.  It's a lot of money wasted for a team that had tanked several years ago with the expectations of competing now.

5. Zac Gallen and Lucas Giolito will be the Cy Young winners. Gallen hasn't pitched more than 80 innings in a season thus far, but he will quickly emerge among the best pitchers in the NL.  I thought about picking Jack Flaherty for NL Cy Young, and while I still expect a big year from him Gallen will still have the superior season.

Speaking of young pitchers emerging among the league's elite, the same can be said about Giolito.  The White Sox are ready to be a true contender now that their young core players are established major leaguers, and Giolito will headline their rotation.

6. Ronald Acuna will have a 40/40 season. Acuna came only 3 stolen bases shy of having a 40/40 season in 2019, and he's only going to keep getting better.  He and Fernando Tatis, Jr, are two of the most exciting players in baseball, and they will have an MVP race for the ages this year.  Tatis will come up just a little short this year, because....

7. Ronald Acuna and Vlad Guerrero Jr will be league MVPs. Acuna will edge out Tatis for NL MVP for the reason discussed above.  Meanwhile in the AL, Vlad Guerrero, Jr, will break out and show why he was the former #1 overall prospect in baseball with an 80-grade hit tool.  Plus it's no fun to keep picking Mike Trout for AL MVP.

8. The San Diego Padres will defeat the Chicago White Sox in the World Series.  Even though Fernando Tatis, Jr, will miss out on winning league MVP, it won't matter since he will hoist up a World Series trophy in October.  It'll be a series filled with some of the best young talent the league has to offer, starting with Tatis and including Manny Machado, Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, and Luis Robert.  If this isn't enough to be a huge ratings win for MLB, then nothing will.

2020 NFL Predictions Sure to Go Wrong

It dawned on me over the weekend that we have only a few days to go until the NFL season starts.  I've barely given football any thought at all since I'm used to watching preseason games, but eliminating them thanks to COVID-19 has me left with an "out of sight, out of mind" feeling.  I don't think anyone can really know what to expect given what we've seen in the other major sports, but since the season kicks off a week from Thursday, here goes.....

1. We are in for some bad football for the first month of the season.  I have no doubt that players across the league are in shape, but there's a huge difference between being in shape and being in football shape.  The preseason normally gets players there, but since they've been limited to practices this month we are probably bound to see plenty of slopping mistakes and missed tackles for the first few weeks.

On top of that, all the undrafted free agents who normally use the preseason to fight to make the final rosters won't have that option.  Coaches will only have practices on tape to evaluate who should stay and who should go.  That's not even close to being enough to properly evaluate everyone.  The overall quality of play on the field across the league will be shoddy at best.

2. Kyler Murray and Josh Allen will be the next young QBs to take a huge leap forward.  Two years ago Patrick Mahomes set the world on fire.  Last year it was Lamar Jackson.  Murray and Allen will be neck and neck in carrying that torch in 2020.  Both QBs had very middling stats across the board in 2019; in fact, Allen had finished dead last among starting QBs in completion percentage.  However, Murray will now have DeAndre Hopkins and Allen has Stephon Diggs to help them stretch the field.  Their dynamic play will be exciting to watch for fans of both teams, though Buffalo has a better chance at reaching the postseason than Arizona does.

3. The New York Giants will be that sub-.500 team from last year who comes out of nowhere.  Much of this prediction depends on just how good QB Daniel Jones will play now that he's the Week 1 starter under center.  Just how well he plays depends on what new head coach Joe Judge and OC Jason Garrett can do with him, but there is a lot of talent on both sides of the ball.  Jones has a stud RB in Saquon Barkley and two quality WR in Golden Tate and Darius Slayton.  

Meanwhile the defense looks to be a whole lot better than it has been the last couple years.  Dexter Lawrence, the Giants' first round pick in 2019, has a full season to play alongside Leonard Williams on their defensive line.  They also added Kyler Fackrell at DE for pass rush who knows DC Patrick Graham's system.  

The Cowboys are still the class of the NFC East, but the Eagles look far too shaky to keep pace and Washington is mired in football hell for reasons everyone already knows.  The Giants could be a whole lot better than most people think.

4. The Atlanta Falcons will be forced to have a fire sale by the trade deadline and Dan Quinn will (finally) be fired.  The Falcons had peaked a few years ago when they had reached the Super Bowl against the Patriots, and then....well, you know the rest.  Now they are mired in salary cap hell, and the bottom will finally fall out underneath them this season.  Over the first eight weeks of the season, their opponents include Seattle; Dallas; Chicago; Green Bay; Carolina (twice); Minnesota; and Detroit.  Things could get ugly very quickly for them and the season could spiral out of control.  

While moving contracts like Julio Jones or Jake Matthews would be next to impossible, they could look to trade guys like Alex Mack, Deion Jones, or Ricardo Allen.

5. Joe Burrow will be the first quarterback taken #1 overall to win his NFL debut since 2010.  There have been five other QBs taken #1 overall in the last decade to start Week 1 of their rookie season, and they've either lost or tied (Sam Bradford; Cam Newton; Andrew Luck; Jameis Winston; Kyler Murray).  It would be fun if Burrow faced off against another first round QB drafted this year in Justin Herbert, but the Chargers are going with Tyrod Taylor under center to start the season.  However, Bengals fans will have something to genuinely get excited about when Burrow takes the field for the first time with a win.

6. It's the final swan song for Ben Roethlisberger.  Ben has hinted at retirement in the past; this year all his injuries will finally catch up to him.  Frankly, I'd be impressed if he's able to walk around comfortably in his post-NFL career days considering his various injuries.  Something will happen to him this season (not that I root for a player to sustain an injury), and it'll be enough that Ben will have to hang up his cleats for good.

7. The Baltimore Ravens will defeat the the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl 55. Chalk, chalk, chalk.  How monumentally boring of a Super Bowl prediction.  Conversely, how fun will this game be, too.  The Bucs had loaded up for this season, starting by signing Tom Brady and bringing Rob Gronkowski out of retirement.  On the flip side, the Ravens are a team stacked with young talent led by Lamar Jackson.  The youth will win out over the vets, and Lamar will continue the trend started by Patrick Mahomes last year of a league MVP winning the Super Bowl in his third season (and live up to the promise he had made the night he was drafted by the Ravens).

2019 NFL Predictions Sure to Go Wrong

And here we are, only 24 hours away from the start of the 2019 NFL season.  I still find enjoyment from writing these predictions, regardless of whether anyone out there in cyberspace even reads these things.  I promise to make no mention of Antonio Brown anywhere here because I refuse to give in to that circus (I don't even watch Hard Knocks for the same reason).

I find it amazing that I even tend to get one or two predictions right every year, which I have to believe is pretty close to what most talking heads on TV networks get right as well.

1. The Baltimore Ravens will be the first team since the 2009 Panthers with two 1000-yard rushers.  The Ravens had reinvented their offense last year when Lamar Jackson took over at QB from an injured Joe Flacco.  They had run the ball down opposing defenses' throats and only hit a wall when they had faced the Chargers for the second time in three weeks in the playoffs.  The Ravens added Mark Ingram in free agency and drafted Justice Hill, both of whom expect will be among league leaders in rushing yards in 2019.  This is the first time in years when Ravens fans have good reason to be excited about the team's offense.

2. The Kansas City Chiefs will miss the playoffs.  This prediction looks bona fide crazy at face value.  The Chiefs had gone all the way to the AFC Championship Game last year and took the eventual Super Bowl champion Patriots to overtime.  If not for Dee Ford lining up offsides, the Chiefs would have won that game and history would be quite different.  All that brings me to my point: this Chiefs team is bound for regression this year.  Their defense is still really, really bad, and losing Kareem Hunt (albeit for very justifiable reasons) will have heavy impacts on their offense.

Every year, there are one or two teams who had made the playoffs the previous season but stumbled the following year.  The Ravens went from 10-6 and reaching the Divisional Round of the playoffs following the 2014 season to 5-11 in 2015.  In 2016 the Packers went from NFC North champions to finishing 7-9 and out of the playoffs in 2017.  In 2017 the Jaguars went 10-6 and went to the AFC Championship Game but finished 5-11 last year.  I could keep going on, but I think I made my point.  And it's not just the Chiefs who struggle this year after making a deep playoff run last year because....

3. The Seattle Seahawks will be the only team in the NFC West to finish over .500.  Yes, this includes the NFC Champion Rams who still look as loaded as they did in 2018.  The Super Bowl Hangover is real, folks.  History has shown time and again that the team who loses the Super Bowl stumbles the following season.  There is no logical reason for it, really.  It just is.

And there is really no need to explain the 49ers nor Cardinals here either.

4. The Dallas Cowboys will be the first team in the NFC East to repeat as division champs since the 2003/2004 Eagles. This is more about the Eagles just not quite having enough to supplant the Cowboys this year.  I expect Jerry Jones will blink at some point and sign Ezekiel Elliot to the kind of deal Elliott desires so he will play the entire season.  And just like the NFC West, there is no need to say anything about the Giants or Redskins.

5. Alex Mattison will finish with more yards and touchdowns than Dalvin Cook.  Cook looked like a future superstar running back early in his rookie season two years ago, but a torn ACL brought his career to a screeching halt.  He didn't show much more last year, though it could at least be partially explained by his return from injury.  I still like Mattison to emerge as the Vikings' every down RB long term.

6. The Chicago Bears will start the season 5-0.  The Bears will show that last year's upstart team was not a fluke.  Their first five games are by no means a cakewalk (vs Packers; @ Denver; @ Redskins; vs Vikings; @ Raiders) but they are all winnable games.  They'll need those wins too, considering their schedule post-Week 6 bye includes the Saints, Chargers, Rams, and Cowboys.  In fact, with a second half schedule like that the Bears almost need to start the season 5-0 in order to have a shot at the playoffs again.

7. Ezekiel Elliott will be the league MVP.  This prediction was screwed up because my original call would have been Andrew Luck, and he....well....you know.  Elliott turned into my plan B, but even he was a dicey choice until earlier this morning, and Cowboys fans can all sleep much easier at night now heading into the season.  I expect Zeke will have a slow start since he wasn't with the team throughout the preseason, but by Week 3 he'll be all systems go and won't look back.

8. It's the final swan song for Drew Brees.  It's quite shocking that Brees has never won a league MVP during his career to date.  I thought about taking him in light of Luck's retirement, and while Brees will have another typical season (and quietly, as he always seems to do), Zeke will be an even bigger difference maker for Dallas.  However, even though Brees will close out his final year in the NFL without a league MVP to his resume, it won't matter because....

9. The New Orleans Saints will defeat the Los Angeles Chargers in Super Bowl 54.  John Elway.  Ray Lewis.  Jerome Bettis.  Peyton Manning.  They all walked off the field as Super Bowl champions, and Drew Brees will join them.  The Saints defense typically starts out seasons shaky, but they turn things up by mid year, and that will carry them through January.

Meanwhile, the Chargers are primed for a disastrous start to the season with Derwin James on IR and Melvin Gordon nowhere to be found.  At least they can expect James to be back by mid-season, but Gordon is a major wild card.  Despite those (very justified) questions, Philip Rivers will still put his team on his back and put the team in the best position to finally win a championship.  They'll just come up a little short.

2019 MLB Predictions Sure to Go Wrong

This is, in fact, still a thing.  I have no idea who reads or cares about these predictions, but they're still fun to write after

*looks up blog history, gasps*

six years (!!!!!) of writing them.  Who cares about being right?  It's still fun.

1. No division champion in the NL will repeat in 2019.  Both the NL East and Central are incredibly deep this year.  The Braves and Brewers have done remarkably little over the winter to improve their clubs from last year, leaving the door open for their rivals to close the gap.  The Phillies made all kinds of moves, bringing in Jean Segura, Andrew McCutchen, and - oh yeah! - Bryce Harper.  The Nationals added Patrick Corbin.  The Mets brought in Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz.  While the Braves still have an incredible amount of young talent, they don't have enough to keep pace with their primary rivals.

Meanwhile, the Reds and Cardinals made numerous moves of their own to catch the Brewers.  I looked at the Reds late last season and felt if they had added to their starting pitching, they'd compete for the division in 2019.  Then they added Alex Wood, Tanner Roark, and Sonny Gray.  In what looks like a total slug fest, I actually like the Reds' chances at coming out on top based on their amazing lineup.

Then there's the NL West.  The Dodgers have owned that division for years and really never had much competition until last year when the Rockies made things interesting late.  I really like the Rockies to take the division outright this year with German Marquez and Kyle Freeland anchoring their rotation.  The Dodgers are getting old really fast and news broke today that neither Clayton Kershaw nor Walker Buehler will be ready for Opening Day.  They had plenty of windfall in their favor the last two years, but those were their best chances to win a title.

2. Aaron Judge will break the MLB record for most home runs during the first three years of a player's career.  Judge only needs 32 home runs to break this record, so it's less of a prediction than an inevitability.  He'll shatter the record currently held by Albert Pujols.

3. The Astros will be the first time in MLB history to win at least 100 games in three consecutive seasons.  It's fairly difficult to fathom, but no team has ever won 300 or more games in a three year span.  It's happened a couple times in back-to-back seasons, but the Astros will be the first to accomplish it for the third straight time.  They're just too stacked on offense, defense, and pitching.

4. The Diamondbacks will score the fewest runs in baseball this year.  I really didn't do this intentionally, but I've actually got a history of predicting which team will score the most or fewest runs in a season (here and here).  The Diamondbacks traded away Paul Goldschmidt and lost AJ Pollock in free agency, and only brought in Adam Jones as a replacement.  Calling that a barren lineup would be extremely polite.  The Marlins might give them a run for their proverbial money in offensive ineptitude, but at least Lewis Brinson and Brian Anderson have some upside for Miami.  There isn't anyone with real upside in Arizona at the moment.

5.  The Nationals' offense will be better without Bryce Harper than it ever was with him.  On the flip side of offensive firepower, the Nationals will score runs a plenty this season.  They'll have Juan Soto all year long, paired with Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner, and their top prospect Victor Robles.  They also have one of the better rotations in all of baseball now that they had added Patrick Corbin.  They won't miss Harper one bit, despite him playing for a divisional rival now.

6.  The Indians' starting pitching will be undone by their outfield.  I had to look up who was listed on the Indians' outfield depth chart because I had no earthly idea who was on there.  Even though there are a few days left to finalize rosters, the Indians currently have names such as Jordan Luplow, Leonys Martin, Greg Allen, Jake Bauers, and Tyler Naquin.  I had never heard of Luplow or Allen; I'm sure they're perfectly nice guys who must have done some good stuff to impress Terry Francona, but I can't figure out what he could possibly have seen in either of them.  All this leads me to suspect there will be some atrocious outfield defense for the Indians this year.  Their starting pitching is normally among the best in baseball, but it could be completely undermined by the guys tracking down fly balls in the outfield. 

7. Eugenio Suarez and Mike Trout will be the league MVPs.  Suarez has taken off the last two years, becoming a premiere bat in the middle of a loaded Cincinnati lineup.  He'll become even more of a household name this year by holding off other heavy hitters like Nolan Arenado, Manny Machado, Anthony Rendon, and Kris Bryant (and that's just among 3B in the NL).  The Reds are a team I really like heading into the season, even in what looks like an incredibly competitive NL Central.

And then there's Mike Trout.  Yawn.  Honestly, what could I possibly say about him that hasn't already been said thousands of times already?  Is there a stat that doesn't show him to be one of the greatest players of all time in the sport?  If there is, I have yet to find it. 

8.  Aaron Nola and Gerrit Cole will win the Cy Young Awards.  Nola came close to winning the Cy Young last year, finishing third in the voting.  The Phillies rewarded him with a four-year contract extension, and Nola will capitalize on that by taking the next step to becoming a true ace in a division filled with incredible starting pitching.

Meanwhile, Cole is in a contract year and will cash in big time as he approaches free agency.  He'll make the Astros have to push extra hard to keep him around the way they have locked up Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, and Justin Verlander.  Trouble is, they can't sign everyone on their team, so he could price himself out of Houston.  But that's okay because.....

9. The Houston Astros will defeat the Washington Nationals in the World Series.  Astroball is no joke.  I know this because a) I read the book as any Orioles fan should, and more importantly b) the Astros have already won a World Series using these tactics.  They're just too good of a team.

The Nationals would be a bit of a surprise team since they have yet to get past the NLDS, but there's no denying how successful they've been in building their team.  Like I said earlier, I think they are a more complete team across the board even without Bryce Harper.  Almost more importantly though, they will resurrect a stat that I had discovered last year that I felt doesn't get enough attention across baseball: For the period of 2001-2017, the World Series had featured at least one team every year who did not make the playoffs the previous season.  The Brewers came extremely close to keeping the streak alive in 2018 but fell short in Game 7 of the NLCS.  Washington will bring that trend back in 2019.

2018 NFL Predictions Sure to Go Wrong

You'd think that a guy who is less than two months away from tying the knot would have better things to do than make sports predictions.

You'd be wrong.  Priorities and such.

I only got one prediction right last year, that being Carson Palmer would call it quits.  I got relatively close with the Jets having arguably the worst offense in the NFL, though the Browns said, "Oh no, allow us," and took over from there.

Since I'm not one to break tradition, here goes for the 9th - yes, 9th - straight year.

1. The Los Angeles Chargers will win the AFC West.  I'm still getting used to referring to the Chargers as being from Los Angeles.  Geography issues aside, it's easy to forget how close they came to winning the division last year despite starting the season 0-4. I don't expect them to start so slowly this year, with four of their first six games being very winnable.  The only question is how packed will the StubHub Center be when the Chargers win the AFC West for first time since 2009.

2. Carson Wentz will struggle in his return from a torn ACL. There are just too many examples of quarterbacks whose first season back after tearing an ACL is below average at best.  See Brady, Tom; Flacco, Joe; Palmer, Carson; and Griffin III, Robert.  Griffin is pretty much a worst case scenario though since he hasn't played effectively since his rookie season in 2012.  It's worth pointing out that the rest of those QBs did eventually recover (especially Brady), but their first seasons back were mostly about working through the cobwebs and getting comfortable with taking a hit again.  Wentz was on his way to being league MVP last year before tearing his ACL, so he'll have to wait till at least 2019 before playing at an elite level again.

2(a). Ditto for DeShaun Watson. See above.

3. The San Francisco 49ers will be get one of the two Wild Cards in the NFC.  The 49ers went 5-0 in their final five games of last season, largely because they got their first real QB since Colin Kaepernick's brief dominance in 2012.  They also have a head coach and GM who are on the same page for what feels like the first time in over a decade.  The NFL always has s couple upstart teams who take significant leaps forward from the previous season.  The Cardinals and Seahawks are both going to be bad teams this year, so the 49ers have a great opportunity right in front of them.

4. The Cleveland Browns will give up at least 70 points in their first two games of the season.  There's literally nowhere to go but up for the Browns after an 0-16 season last year.  While they'll win a few games at least - which will feel like a Super Bowl championship for fans of the Factory of Sadness - they won't look so hot in their first two games of the season. They open at home versus the Steelers, and then they head to New Orleans in Week 2.  That's two powerhouse offenses in the first two weeks, each of whom can put up at least 35 points on the Browns defense. 

5. Eric Decker will catch at least 80 passes for the Patriots.  The Patriots have this super weird and unique talent for turning white guys into productive wide receivers (I'm looking at you, Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman).  It's worth pointing out that Decker has been very productive over the course of his career; he caught anywhere from 74 to 87 passes during his peak years of 2012-2015.  He had only played in three games in 2016, and then bounced back a bit last year in Tennessee.  In New England, he'll resurface as a favorite target for Tom Brady.

6. Stefon Diggs will be a top-5 wide receiver in the entire league.  While we're talking wide receivers, Diggs had a breakout year last year for the Vikings and was the hero of the wild Divisional Round playoff game versus the Saints.  This production came with Case Keenum playing at QB in 15 games, no less.  Now that the Vikings have Kirk Cousins as their permanent QB, Diggs will be among the league leaders in both receiving yards and touchdowns.

7. The Buffalo Bills will score the fewest points in the league.  Meanwhile, on the other end of the offensive spectrum, the Bills are starting their franchise over.  They drafted the guy they hope to be their primary QB long term in Josh Allen who will have the likes of Kelvin Benjamin, Andre Holmes, Corey Coleman, Zay Jones, and Jeremy Curley for his receivers.

Ugh.

LeSean McCoy is still their primary running back, but he's 30 years old now.  He may still be productive despite his age, but the elephant in the room is whether he'll be suspended for his ex-girlfriend accusing him of breaking into her home.  He's an X factor for now, but opposing offenses could stuff him in the box since the wide receivers leave little to defend.

8. Kirk Cousins will be the league MVP.  Getting back to more positive predictions, Kirk Cousins will really get an opportunity to show off what he can do with real talent around him like Dalvin Cook and the aforementioned Stefon Diggs.  The Vikings will be one of the big dogs in the NFC again and will look to avenge the egg they had laid in last year's NFC Championship Game.  They'll make the playoffs again, but they'll come up short yet again because....

9. The Los Angeles Rams will defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl 53.  This matchup sounds like it comes from the 1970s.  Fans of classic smash-mouth style football will salivate over a pair of teams like these, with stars like Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald, Brandin Cooks, Jared Goff, Cooper Kupp, Michael Brockers, Dominique Easley, Ndamukong Suh, and Marcus Peters taking the stage.

And that's just the Rams.

Add in Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, David DeCastro, Joe Haden, Cameron Heyward, Juju Smith-Shuster, and Stephon Tuitt, and this game has all the makings of one of the great Super Bowls of all time. 

Sean McVay will wind up having the last laugh and vault himself among the top coaches in the NFL as the Rams take home the Lombardi trophy in only their second season back in LA.

2018 MLB Season Predictions Sure to Go Wrong

I'm neck deep in my annual March Madness marathon, so I'm using the opportunity to make my season predictions for Major League Baseball this season.  It's been the most bizarre offseason for baseball across the board that I can recall, and at this writing free agent SP Alex Cobb still hasn't signed a deal.  Regardless, it's time to make my predictions that will look absurd a month into the season, if not sooner.

1. The Minnesota Twins will win the AL Central.  I realize that I had made this same prediction two years ago.  I had jumped the gun on the Twins big time since they were one of the worst teams in baseball that year.  Now they are coming off a Wild Card berth and they've added Lance Lynn and Jake Odorizzi to their rotation.  Those two additions will make any rotation better, and their starting pitching will be even better for a reason that I'll get into later.

The Indians are still the big dogs in the AL Central, but I expect them to fall backwards a little this year. The baseball gods doth giveth as they did the last two years for Cleveland, and now they shall taketh away a little (albeit not by much, since the rest of the division is very weak).

2. Shohei Ohtani will make more starts as a pitcher than he will as an OF/DH for the Angels.  My logic here is two-fold: First, The Angels have a crowded outfield as it is led by perennial MVP candidate Mike Trout, expensive new arrival Justin Upton, and Kole Calhoun.  Albert Pujols will be their DH at least most of the time, so that doesn't leave much room for Ohtani's bat. Secondly, the Angels will need him to pitch regularly anyway since the rest of their rotation includes Garrett Richards, Andrew Heaney, Parker Bridwell, Tyler Skaggs, and Matt Shoemarker, all of whom have dealt with various injuries during their respective careers. Ohtani will get his fair share of at bats during the course of the season, but he will be far more valuable as a pitcher.

3. The Atlanta Braves will finish over .500 for the first time since 2013.  The Braves are still at least a year away from competing in the NL East, but considering how bad the Marlins will be and how bad the Mets could be, the Braves will benefit from beating up on some bad teams.  The Phillies could be in a similar position for the same reason.

4. Tommy Pham will be a top-10 center fielder in baseball.  Pham came out of nowhere last year with a slash line of .306/.411/.520 over 128 games.  He just turned 30, so he's fairly old for a guy entering his 5th season but only now expected to play every day.  He will be a sleeper wonder this year for the Cardinals who now have one of the better outfields in all of baseball.

5. Nolan Arenado will compete for the Triple Crown.  Last year, Arenado finished third in the NL in HRs, second in RBI, and eighth in batting average.  With Giancarlo Stanton now in the AL, Arenado has a great opportunity to lead the NL in all three categories.  Even if he comes up short in average, he is primed for career bests across the board.

6. The Tampa Bay Rays will score the fewest runs in baseball.  It's really shocking to see how the two Florida teams dismantled themselves during the offseason.  Six of the the Rays' top seven home run hitters from last year are no longer with the team, whether by trade or free agency.  They lost over 140 home runs from those departures, so how they expect to score any runs is beyond me.  They will be a really hard team to watch offensively this year.

7. Nolan Arenado and Jose Ramirez will be the league MVPs.  Arenado will be the NL MVP for the reason I had outlined above, especially if he does win the Triple Crown.  Ramirez was a late candidate for the AL MVP last year as the Indians went on their 22-game winning streak, and that momentum will carry over into this season.  He still has plenty of upside for himself, offensively and defensively.

8. Chase Anderson and Jose Berrios will be the Cy Young winners.  Anderson would have finished 4th in the NL in both ERA and WHIP last year, had he pitched enough innings.  He and Zach Davies form a very underrated 1-2 punch in the Brewers' rotation and will lead the team to a postseason berth with the beefed up offense behind them.  Anderson's primary challenge will be whether he can keep his 2017 HR/FB rate and increasing his strikeout totals.

Berrios is only entering his second year as a full time starter, but he's the Twins' best pitcher.  He will emerge as the Twins' #1 guy over the course of the season as they narrowly edge out the Indians for the AL Central title.

9. The Chicago Cubs will defeat the New York Yankees in the World Series.  I doubt there is a bigger chalk pick for the World Series than this choice, but I just don't see anyone topping the Cubs in the NL or anyone beating out the Yankees in the AL.  The Astros are reigning champs, but there is a reason why no one has repeated as champions since the 1999/2000 Yankees (though in fairness, the Giants won 3 championships over the course of 5 years, and that is arguably more impressive).