Predicting Every NFL Team’s 2019 Record

The NFL season is set to begin Thursday night when the Chicago Bears take on the Green Bay Packers. It’s the oldest rivalry in the NFL, which celebrates its 100th year in 2019.

In preparation for this, I’ve gone through and predicted every single game throughout the regular season and the playoffs, and the results are listed below. Only time will tell how accurate these are.

AFC North

Cleveland Browns: 10–6
Baltimore Ravens: 8–8
Pittsburgh Steelers: 7–9
Cincinnati Bengals: 4–12

The Browns are a trendy pick right now, and for good reason, but with a new coaching staff it’ll take some time before all the talent really starts to gel. Cleveland manages to win six of their last eight games to win the division and make the playoffs for the first time since 2002.

Baltimore, on the other hand, struggles to find consistency between a budding offense and a rebuilding defense and just narrowly misses out on a Wild Card spot, and Pittsburgh simply lost too much offensive firepower between Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown and finish with their first losing season since 2003. Cincinnati scores some upset victories over the Patriots and Ravens at home, but they’re still clearly rebuilding.

AFC South

Jacksonville Jaguars: 9–7
Tennessee Titans: 8–8
Houston Texans: 8–8
Indianapolis Colts: 6–10

I had the Colts going 10–6 before the Andrew Luck retirement. Now? They’ll go 6–10. Jacoby Brissett isn’t bad, but that’s a steep dropoff in talent at the most important position in football. The big question is if Frank Reich gets to stay for the rebuild.

While the Colts suffer, the Jaguars are the main benefactor. Adding Nick Foles in the backfield gives them a reliable, if underwhelming, offense to supplement their defense and get the team back into the playoffs. The Titans, on the other hand, make a late push by winning five of their last six but miss the postseason. By contrast, the Texans drop their last three in a row and end their season early.

AFC East

New England Patriots: 10–6
Buffalo Bills: 9–7
Miami Dolphins: 6–10
New York Jets: 6–10

As long as Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are there, the Patriots are winning the division. The Bills see improvement from Josh Allen and manage to get back into the playoffs. Miami scores an upset win over the Patriots in Week 2 and has a respectable 6–10 finish, with Josh Rosen cementing himself as the future at quarterback after going 5–5 as a starter. Still, the Dolphins need more talent elsewhere to really compete.

The Jets, on the other hand, come out flat. Le’Veon Bell has to readjust to the NFL and the evolving defense ends up costing plenty of games, with Gang Green starting out 0–7. After flirting with disaster, things start clicking and they finish 6–3 to give Jets fans lots of hope heading into 2020.

AFC West

Kansas City Chiefs: 11–5
Los Angeles Chargers: 10–6
Denver Broncos: 6–10
Oakland Raiders: 6–10

The Chiefs and Chargers are the teams to beat in this division, and it’ll come down to their Week 17 matchup to determine the difference between the AFC’s top seed and a Wild Card berth. Kansas City gets the win and the division crown, but the Chargers cannot be counted out, even without Melvin Gordon present.

Similarly, the Denver Broncos emerge as a tough-as-nails team under Vic Fangio. Their defense is stout and the offense has enough moments to reach six wins, though they all come at home. The Raiders improve to 6–10 and some of Jon Gruden’s new pieces look promising, but a total rebuild wasn’t the plan when Mark Davis backed up the money trucks to the coach’s front door.

NFC West

Los Angeles Rams: 12–4
Seattle Seahawks: 10–6
San Francisco 49ers: 7–9
Arizona Cardinals: 2–14

The Rams have to alter their offense a bit with Todd Gurley’s injury issues but the team is still dominant and secures the top seed in the NFC. The 49ers look like a legit contender with a healthy Jimmy Garoppolo but they drop five of their last six and just miss out.

Seattle, on the other hand, benefits greatly from Jadeveon Clowney. With a reliable pass rush, the defense is good enough to supplement the offense and make a Wild Card push. The Cardinals struggle all year long, as the offensive line is still a liability and the defense struggles with consistency. However, rookie Kyler Murray starts feeling it down the stretch and powers his team to consecutive wins over the Steelers and Browns. They’ll get to offer the first overall pick to the highest bidder.

NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles: 10–6
Dallas Cowboys: 9–7
Washington Redskins: 5–11
New York Giants: 4–12

This division is really a two team race right now. The Cowboys won the division last year but with a brutal second half schedule in 2019, they only muster a 9–7 finish despite an improved offense. That makes room for Philadelphia, who gets a decisive home victory over Dallas in Week 16 to reclaim the NFC East crown.

Washington has a lot of talent, especially on defense, but a brutal schedule does them no favors. Rookie Dwayne Haskins cements himself as the future of the franchise by season’s end. Meanwhile, the Giants get worse on offense without Odell Beckham and their defense hasn’t improved nearly enough to offset that.

NFC South

New Orleans Saints: 10–6
Atlanta Falcons: 9–7
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 8–8
Carolina Panthers: 8–8

The Saints were incredibly good last year and return almost the same team, with the two biggest changes being Latavius Murray replacing Mark Ingram and Jared Cook sliding in at tight end. More than that, New Orleans has a chip on their shoulder after their controversial playoff exit last year.

The Falcons see their offense return to the explosive ways of their Super Bowl run under new (old?) offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, but the defense just hasn’t improved enough and they fall short. Carolina starts off slow, going 2–4 while Cam Newton deals with yet another injury. They make a valiant effort in the end but come up short. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay starts 6–4 and Jameis Winston looks like his old self, but injuries down the stretch drop them to a .500 finish.

NFC North

Chicago Bears: 13–3
Minnesota Vikings: 11–5
Green Bay Packers: 8–8
Detroit Lions: 6–10

The Bears were a great surprise last year under new head coach Matt Nagy, and they’re now primed for a Super Bowl run. Losing defensive coordinator Vic Fangio hurts, but the defense will still be really good. The bigger concern should be the kicking game, which doesn’t seem to have gotten any better. It’ll cost Chicago some games, but they’ll still win their division in consecutive years for the first time since 2005–2006.

Minnesota will see an improvement in their offense and Kirk Cousins looking better than he did last year, although a tough schedule relegates them to Wild Card status. Green Bay makes a legitimate push under Matt LaFleur’s guidance, but their defense is still a year away from being good enough. Detroit has another rough year that sees Matthew Stafford’s window close that much more, and back to back 6–10 seasons is not what fans thought they were getting in Matt Patricia.

Playoff Predictions (winner in bold)

Wild Card Round

Chargers @ Jaguars
Bills @ Browns
Vikings @ Saints
Seahawks @ Eagles

The Chargers have a tough matchup against the Jaguars, but at the end of the day they have the more talented roster. Derwin James comes up big for the defense and limits what Foles can do, securing the win for the Bolts.

The Browns and Bills are a matchup of two great defenses with athletic quarterbacks, but Buffalo doesn’t have the offensive line to stack up against the likes of Myles Garrett and company. Josh Allen will get shook up, and he’ll end up making costly mistakes.

The Vikings are built to travel well, but playing in the Superdome is a different beast. A roaring crowd and a big day from Michael Thomas will help the Saints avenge their heartbreaking loss to this team two years ago.

The Seahawks and Eagles are a pretty even matchup on paper, and the Seattle defense should create a lot of problems for Carson Wentz, assuming he’s still upright at this point in the season. Nevertheless, Philadelphia can ride its homefield advantage to an uneasy victory.

Divisional Round

Browns @ Patriots
Chargers @ Chiefs
Eagles @ Rams
Saints @ Bears

The Browns are a good, young team with a lot of potential, but playing in Foxboro against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in the playoffs is a death wish. On the bright side, this is only the beginning for Cleveland.

For the Chiefs and Chargers, this one is a grudge match between rivals but with even bigger stakes. It could very well become an epic shootout, and if that’s the case, I’m betting on Pat Mahomes.

The Eagles eked out a win over the Seahawks, but the next NFC West team they face will be tougher. The Rams boast Aaron Donald and an unpredictable offense, two things Seattle didn’t have. In the end, though, Philly gets a late go-ahead score to steal a victory on the road.

The Saints beat out one NFC North team, but this time they’re traveling to one of the harshest environments: Soldier Field in the dead of winter. Khalil Mack and the Bears defense will throw Drew Brees off his rhythm early, and Chicago advances to its first conference championship game since 2010.

Conference Championship Round

Patriots @ Chiefs
Eagles @ Bears

In a rematch of last year’s AFC championship game, Dee Ford is no longer there to jump offsides. Nevertheless, this is the most successful dynasty in NFL history in the Patriots, and the Chiefs defense won’t have improved enough yet to stop Brady. Picking the Pats to make the Super Bowl is an easy bet.

In the NFC, it’s a different kind of rematch. The Bears host the Eagles for another playoff game, but this time there’s a Super Bowl berth on the line. After losing to the Eagles in the regular season, Chicago finally gets their revenge and advances to the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl

The Bears and Patriots face off in the Super Bowl. Matt Nagy could become the third Andy Reid disciple to win a ring, or Brady and Belichick could get their seventh. Last year the Bears lost by one touchdown and one yard to this team, and their offense put up 31 points on the defense that shut down the Rams.

With a stronger defense and a more comfortable Mitchell Trubisky, the Bears enter the Super Bowl better prepared to knock off the Patriots dynasty than last year. While the Patriots can never be counted out, their team is weaker than it was last year with so many new players. Down in Miami, Nagy’s team pulls out a thrilling victory with a strong performance from their defense, particularly Mack and Eddie Jackson.

Result: Bears 22 Patriots 18