7 Bold Predictions for 2018 NFL Season

With exactly 30 days until the 2018 NFL Season kicks off, I give you my 7 BOLD PREDICTIONS for the upcoming year.

Bold Prediction #1: Arizona Cardinals will be playoff-bound – The Arizona Cardinals are picked by most to finish at the bottom of the NFL while going through their “rebuild.” The problem is that this team returns a top-ten defense, the best running back in the game in David Johnson, and still-amazing, future Hall-of-Famer Larry Fitzgerald, not to mention newly acquired QB Sam Bradford who is poised for a huge season. This Arizona Cardinals team will shock everyone but me by making the playoffs this year.

Bold Prediction #2: Tom Brady will act his age – Tom Brady is old. The five-time Super Bowl champion turned 41 last Friday, and this will be the year he and the Patriots drop a few notches. Now let’s be honest, playing in the lackluster AFC East has greatly benefitted his career. And although the Pats may still win their division, they will show that their run is over. Cheating will only be able to carry Brady and Bill Belichick so far this year.

Bold Prediction #3: Jacksonville will finish with the NFL’s best regular season record ­– Last season, Blake Bortles went from the chopping block to being a few minutes away from the Super Bowl. Jacksonville’s stellar defense will propel this team to the top seed in the playoffs. I know that Minnesota, New England, Philadelphia, and the LA Rams might be the popular choices to finish atop the league, but don’t sleep on Jacksonville. They are for real.

Bold Prediction #4: Jon Gruden will shine outside the booth – We’ll all miss Coach Gruden’s one-liners on Monday Night Football, but Gruden has signed a huge deal with the Oakland / Las Vegas Raiders and is set to lift Raider Nation to new heights. Gruden will win the division getting the most out of QB Derek Carr, WR Amari Cooper, and newly added wide-outs Martavis Bryant and Jordy Nelson. Here’s hoping his press conferences will be as entertaining as his commentating.

Bold Prediction #5: Jimmy Garoppolo will lose plenty of games this season – There’s no question San Francisco robbed New England when they only gave up a second-rounder for their franchise quarterback. And last season, Garoppolo proved that he’s their man, going 7-0 as a starter. But this year, defensive coordinators across the league will figure him out and slow the Niners offense. The Niners will be in contention for a playoff spot, and while their future looks promising, they’ll return to reality this year.

Bold Prediction #6: Atlanta Falcons will flourish or flounder – Ok, this may not be a bold prediction, but it’s the team I’m most intrigued to see this season. There’s no doubt they’ve assembled an explosive offense, but we’ll have to wait and see if Julio Jones remains committed to Dan Quinn and Matt Ryan, or if there’s more drama in the A-T-L. If the team can in fact get on the same page, rookie Calvin Ridley will flourish lining up opposite Jones, creating nightmares for defenses.

Bold Prediction #7: Philly will fly high once again and repeat as Super Bowl Champions. Following the Chip Kelly debacle, who I affectionately refer to as the worst football coach in the land, the Philadelphia Eagles have been on a roll. Last year, they looked stellar under second-year QB Carson Wentz, and didn’t miss a beat with backup QB Nick Foles under center. And the fact that the Eagles aren’t paying much to their two QBs, allowed GM Howie Roseman to make some offseason moves including adding veteran defenders Haloti Ngata and Michael Bennett. It appears to me that the Philadelphia Eagles have the inside track to be making it to Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta. The NFL season kicks off with Philadelphia hosting Atlanta on September 6.

Ok, what did I miss? How wrong am I on any of these seven bold predictions?

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