Welcome Back: National Football League
September 23, 2016
Waiting for the NFL season to start is one of the most excruciating things for any sports fan to put up with. In between the end of one season and the start of another, football fans are forced to make do by watching basketball or baseball. How does the NFL ease fans’ pain? They don’t. The NFL is constantly mocking fans by putting their franchised players in commercials for Hillshire Ham and HEB rotisserie chickens. Just as it seems like the craze for football season is dissipating, the media decides to cover the NFL draft, teams’ training camps, the preseason games and eventually, headlines for the first regular season games start to appear. How do football fans know when the NFL season is back? Tony Romo suddenly disappears from Papa John’s Pizza TV commercials; Jerry Jones needs him on the field to play quarterback. Duh.
Over the next 17 weeks, 32 NFL teams will play 256 games. Every game will help determine which 12 lucky teams get to advance to the playoffs and take their best shot at winning Super Bowl LI. In an effort to usher in this new season and honor the fact that we’ll be glued to our TVs from now until February here are some bold predictions for the 2016 NFL season:
Division Winners
AFC East – New England Patriots
NFC East – Dallas Cowboys
AFC North – Pittsburgh Steelers
NFC North – Green Bay Packers
AFC South – Indianapolis Colts
NFC South – Carolina Panthers
AFC West – Kansas City Chiefs
NFC West – Arizona Cardinals
Wildcards
AFC – Houston Texans and Cincinnati Bengals
NFC – Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks
Wildcard Games
AFC
Houston Texans v. Kansas City Chiefs
Winner: Kansas City Chiefs
Cincinnati Bengals v. Indianapolis Colts
Winner: Indianapolis Colts
NFC
Washington Redskins v. Arizona Cardinals
Winner: Arizona Cardinals
Seattle Seahawks v. Dallas Cowboys
Winner: Seattle Seahawks
AFC Divisional Playoff Games
Kansas City Chiefs v. New England Patriots
Winner: New England Patriots
Indianapolis Colts vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers
NFC Divisional Playoff Games
Dallas Cowboys v. Green Bay Packers
Winner: Green Bay Packers
Carolina Panthers v. Arizona Cardinals
Winner: Carolina Panthers
AFC Conference Championship
New England Patriots v. Pittsburgh Steelers
Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers
NFC Conference Championship
Green Bay Packers v. Carolina Panthers
Winner: Carolina Panthers
Super Bowl LI
Pittsburgh Steelers v. Carolina Panthers
Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers