Most teams have played eight games this season with a few exceptions, but for the majority about half of the games have been completed. With that in mind, we felt it to be a great time to take the opportunity to make some predictions at the halfway mark of the 2013 NFL Season.
We’ll pick the Division Winners, Conference Winners, and Super Bowl winner as we see it from this point heading into Week 9 of the season.
- 2013 NFL Division Winners – NFC
NFC East- Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys are on top of the NFC East by one game over the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles are having problems with keeping quarterbacks healthy and it’s hard to see them make a run. As for Washington, they don’t have the defense to string together some wins, nor the consistency on offense. Surprisingly the Giants are just two games behind at 2-6, but don’t expect them to get back to .500 on the season. Dallas should win this division rather easily.
NFC North – Green Bay Packers
We were close to going with the Detroit Lions here, and think that the Lions will get a playoff spot. But it’s the Packers who will take the NFC North division this season and earn at least one home game in the NFL playoffs.
NFC South – New Orleans Saints
Perhaps our easiest division to pick this season, and we wouldn’t have said that starting out. With the Falcons out of it, New Orleans has to contend with only Carolina. The Panthers aren’t ready to win the division this year, and the Saints are playing too good.
NFC West – San Francisco 49ers
We expect San Francisco to get back at Seattle and win the second matchup of the season, and then continue from there in a close NFC West division championship. The 49ers are back in the grove and have rather quietly won five games in a row. We expect that momentum to carry over in the second half.
- NFC Champion – New Orleans Saints
If the Saints get home field advantage in the playoffs, which we think they will, they will be very hard to beat. With the improved defense and an offense that can score on anyone, New orleans is built for a Super Bowl run. It won’t be easy, but the Saints will get it done in the playoffs to reach Super Bowl 48.
- 2013 NFL Division Winners – AFC
AFC East – New England Patriots
Sure, the Jets are pesky and the Patriots aren’t the Patriots of old. But New England should win this division by a couple of games down the line with 10 or 11 wins on the season. Whether or not this team goes far in the playoffs remains to be seen.
AFC North – Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals are one of our favorite teams right now, and if Andy Dalton plays like he did against the Jets in Week 8 , Cincinnati will be darn near unbeatable. We expect the Bengals to continue forward with their foot on the case to an AFC north title and perhaps a first-round bye.
AFC South – Indianapolis Colts
With the Tennessee titans in second place right now, it’s easy to say that the Colts are oging to win the AFC South. Indianapolis will be a team to contend with in the Super Bowl talk, already with the best resume of wins of any team in the NFL to this point.
AFC West – Denver Broncos
Who would have thought that at 7-1 through eight games Denver would be trailing? And to the Kansas City Chiefs no less at 8-0. While the Chiefs are good, we think that they will end up losing out in the division race to the Broncos, but still make the playoffs as a wildcard team. Kansas City and Denver could end up with the two best AFC records when all said and done.
- AFC Champion – Denver Broncos
Even with an off day Denver should still be in every ball game. As long as everyone stays healthy, we expect the Broncos to get home field in the postseason and then eventually win the conference championship to make it to Super Bowl 48.
- Super Bowl 48 Winner – Denver Broncos
Peyton Manning will exact revenge on Drew Brees and the Saints from the loss last time around in the Super Bowl. The Broncos will defeat the Saints outside in a cold environment that neither will be comfortable in.