It’s that time of year again to start to ramp up the predictions of where we think the 2014 NFL season will go. There is no better way to do that than to start with some predictions! We will begin with the NFC and make our picks for each winner in the South, North, East, and West.
NFC South
This division is one of the deeper ones in the NFL. The Carolina Panthers are the defending NFC South champions, but they are not the favorites to win the division this season. With the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons in the division, you can bet that both will play a role. And then there is also the fact that there hasn’t been a back-to-back division winner in the NFC South in several seasons. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the fourth team in the division, but there are a lot of unknowns coming out training camp with new coach Lovie Smith. This division will probably come down to the Saints and Falcons, and New Orleans has owned that rivalry over the last few seasons.
The Falcons are trying to rebound from a 4-12 season, and they might be the team to have the biggest turnaround from a year ago. Having said that, we think the Saints get it done in the South, with Atlanta likely winding up with one of the two wildcard positions.
NFC East
The NFC East is always compelling, but this season it’s clear that the Philadelphia Eagles are the favorites heading into the year. The Eagles will be in year-two under Chip Kelly, and that offense should be fun to watch again. With respect to the other three teams, the Dallas Cowboys will probably be a sub-500 team, while the Giants and Redskins have plenty of questions to answer as well. This one might be the easiest division to pick, with Philadelphia getting the edge.
NFC North
The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears lead the way in the NFC North, and that rivalry is always fun. We’ve got to go with the Packers in this division for 2014 to come out on top. The wildcard team in the division is Detroit. The Lions have the talent, but they seem to find a way to lose it every year and are on the outside of the playoffs looking in. That could be the same thing this season.
NFC West
The ‘Legion of Boom’ will be the team that everyone looks at this season as the defending Super Bowl champions. The Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers garner the majority of attention in the NFC West. But the consensus is that this is the best division in the NFL, with Arizona and St. Louis expected to be improved and contend for the playoffs. It’s hard to pick outside of the top-two favorites here. Seattle gets the slight edge here, and it’s almost a coin flip. The Seahawks pull ahead based on swagger; that counts for something!