The NFL season is an enigma. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to anything that happens in the first 17 weeks of the season, with all the injuries, busts, and surprise teams that surface by the time we reach Thanksgiving. Because of all this, these predictions are almost certain to be completely wrong, but here we go. Here are CCSports Weekly’s official AFC predictions for the 2018-19 regular season.
AFC East:
- Patriots 11-5 (2 seed)
- Bills 7-9
- Jets 5-11
- Dolphins 4-12
Nothing to see here. The only surprise is the Pats not winning 12 games for the first time since 2009. Boo hoo Pats fans, you still get a bye in the sorry AFC. You’ll just have to deal with not playing the AFC Championship in Foxborough. (FYTB) Meanwhile, the Dolphins shock all 14 of their fans to finish with the worst record in the NFL. The Bills and Jets end up about where they should be. They have their guys at QB, but it’ll be a few years before we see anyone dethrone the Pats.
AFC North:
- Steelers 12-4 (1 seed)
- Ravens 9-7 (5 seed)
- Bengals 6-10
- Browns 5-11
IF there’s one thing the NFL was missing, it was Joe Flacco marching into the playoffs and going Super Saiyan to reveal his true elite form. I think he’ll light a fire under his butt for the contract year and get it together. On the other side of the Mason-Dixon line, the Steelers claim their rightful throne atop the AFC. In God’s least favorite state, the Brownies get their first 5 wins of the Trump administration and the Bungals continue to be juuuuuuuuuust good enough to miss out on drafting a true star.
AFC South:
- Jaguars 10-6 (3 seed)
- Colts 9-7 (6 seed)
- Texans 8-8
- Titans 6-10
The AFC South is probably the division I’m most interested in this year. Anyone could win the division title, and there’s a good chance that we see a wild card sneak in with all he young talent the South has to offer. I think the Jags D will ultimately be enough to get them past their rivals, but a healthy Andrew Luck sneaks the Colts into January through the back door. The Titans overachieved a bit last year, so they’re probably due for a step back until Mariota can clean up his turnover game. And even though Deshaun Watson is healthy, people forget that he was only 3-3 as a starter. Another mediocre year in Houston, but it’s one of the last ones. They always have the Astros, anyway.
AFC West:
- Chargers 10-6 (3 seed)
- Broncos 6-10
- Chiefs 6-10
- Raiders 5-11
What a lousy division. Remember when the West had a legit shot at sending 3 teams to the playoffs in 2016? A lot can change in 2 years. As long as the Chargers can stay healthy (big asterisk) they should mop the floor with this group. It’ll be crazy to see a playoff game dominated by away fans. Case Keenum may have been great last year, but he’s still a career backup and the quality of his supporting cast has significantly decreased. The Chiefs will struggle, with a developing Mahomes continuing the tradition of meh QBs at Arrowhead. Last but not least, the Raiders will fail yet again to ignite the spark from 2016, only this time with John Gruden! Khalil Mack may as well already be gone.
So the AFC playoff picture is lining up like this:
- Steelers (bye, home field advantage)
- Patriots (bye)
- Chargers (h) vs. 6. Colts
- Jaguars (h) vs. 5. Ravens
There you have it. These’ll be toast by Week 5, but these are my AFC regular season predictions. Stay tuned for the NFC and playoffs later this week!
Anderson Burke
CC Sports Weekly 