Well, it’s time to face the music. Every summer, I get on this here website, and I make a barrage of preseason predictions for the upcoming NFL season. Since I believe in transparency and accountability, I like to revisit this piece at the conclusion of every season to take my victory lap on what I got right, and own up to what I got wrong. You can take a look at my preseason predictions piece here if you’re so inclined. Otherwise, let’s get to my 2021 accountability post.
What I Got Right
*The Los Angeles Rams – for the second time in three seasons, I nailed the Super Bowl champion in the preseason…I called the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019, and now the Rams in 2021 (we can ignore my “Saints over Titans” pick from 2020). It was pretty simple – I said that with that defense and the talent on offense, the Rams were just a quarterback away from legitimate contention. They trade for Matthew Stafford, and lo and behold, we’re here in February, and the Rams are hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
*The NFC final four – This almost never happens, but I got the final four teams in the NFC right, just projected in different seeds and match-ups. The Rams, Bucs, 49ers, and Packers all made it do the NFC’s Divisional Round.
*The AFC East – I nailed the Buffalo Bills winning the AFC East, even pegged ’em for an 11-6 record. Then, I called the order of finish Pats > Dolphins > Jets. I was off by ONE game in the win column on each record prediction to boot.
What I Got Wrong
*The Cleveland Browns – As usual, the list of shit I got wrong is a lot longer than the list of shit I got right, starting with my Super Bowl representative for the AFC. I really bought into what the Browns did in 2020, thinking they were shaping up to be the most complete team in the AFC. News flash: they finished 8-9, tied with the Baltimore Ravens at the bottom of the AFC North.
*The Cincinnati Bengals – Okay, I won’t beat myself up too badly over this one – I had the Bengals finishing 3-14 in 2021. But, let’s be real. No one saw this Bengals run coming.
*The Indianapolis Colts – I was one of the rare believers in Carson Wentz, thinking he had the potential to make some noise if everything went perfectly according to plan. It did not. This should’ve been a playoff team, but the Colts shit the bed against the Jags to close out the season.
*All of the awards – Remember when everyone said Ja’Marr Chase couldn’t catch the football? I do. I went with Kyle Pitts for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Perhaps my biggest miss was the complete and utter whiff I made on Zaven Collins, calling him the Defensive Rookie of the Year and thinking he could be the best defensive player to come out of the 2021 draft when we look back at it in a few years. Yikes. Not only did Patrick Mahomes not really even sniff the MVP discussion, he looked like he regressed a bit this year….something just wasn’t right from the jump. And, LOL at Frank Reich winning Coach of the Year. Maybe I put a voodoo curse on these guys for picking them all to win their respective awards. I haven’t thought of that until now, but maybe I should be a bit more cognizant of that when making my predictions for 2022.
*The New York Giants – Honestly, who the hell thought that this team was capable of winning 10 games? Why didn’t one of y’all smack me?
There were some more minor picks that I got wrong/right, but those are the big ones, and the laughable ones. What crazy shit did you guys say that makes you look dumb now? Chime in in the comments.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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