Predictions for 2010 NFL Season: Looking Back

by Ryan Alfieri on Nov 9, 2010 3:41 PM EST

I swear, I had this saved on my computer back in August. Really.

- The marquee matchup of week 9 would be the Chiefs vs. Raiders.

- Blair White is a legitimate fantasy option.

- The St. Louis Rams are the frontrunners to win the NFC West.

- The 49ers would win two games halfway through the season.

- Wade Phillips would lose his job because his defense is the second worst in the NFL.

- LaDanian Tomlinson, not Shonn Greene, would become the starter for the Jets.

- Darren McFadden would emerge as a top-5 back in the league.

- Randy Moss will be on three teams before the season is halfway over.

- Mike Vick would start for the Eagles and play better than he did before he went to jail.

- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers would battle for the NFC South title.

- One of the Patriots two losses would come against the Cleveland Browns.

- Colt McCoy would throw for over 250 yards in his NFL debut against the Pittsburgh Steelers, in Pittsburgh, coming off a bye.

- Arian Foster will lead the league in rushing.

-Tamba Hali will have as many sacks as DeMarcus Ware.

- Brandon Lloyd will lead the league in receiving yards.

- Ryan Fitzpatrick would throw for about 400 yards against the Ravens. And lose.

- Kyle Orton will have more passing yards than Drew Brees.

- Special teams are the only reason the Chargers are not winning their division.

- Ndamukong Suh will attempt an extra point.

- Cincinnati will start 2-6.

- The Rams' defense will rank higher than the Tennessee Titans.

Obviously, I'm only kidding when I say I predicted all of this. It just goes to show how crazy and unpredictable this league can be.

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Good read, Ryan.

I enjoy reading outside-the-box stuff like this. Nice idea for a post.

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by Matt Birch on Nov 9, 2010 3:48 PM EST reply actions

dam....

i was about to ask what this weeks Lotto Numbers were gonna be, then i read you were only kidding :( …anyways, great post man, and definetly something that shows how uncertain the NFL is..

by AFCxxBEAST on Nov 9, 2010 3:50 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

Excellent.

You had me going until the prediction about Randy.

by Gideon Jay on Nov 9, 2010 3:56 PM EST via mobile reply actions

Vick

I’ve been predicting he was going to come back big since before he got out of jail.

It’s a simple point, how often do you see someone come out of Jail in WORSE physical shape then when they went in?

Usually when a player misses a season it’s because of a huge injury, not due to jail. I think too many people put “Missing a season in the NFL” to equate to “Never being the same”

"...while Larry Brooks continues to be a sloppy disgrace, sigh" Quin8722
Contributor to Lighthouse Hockey not sure if I'm the Sniper or the Enforcer.

by Mark D on Nov 9, 2010 4:06 PM EST reply actions

History sometimes shows otherwise for those who are coming back from contract disputes. The best two examples are Sean Gilbert, who was never the same, and Revis, who strained his hammy probably due to not being in “football” shape. I think Vincent Jackson is lucky the Chargers aren’t letting him on for three games, or I have a feeling he would be in a similar predicament as Revis. If this makes sense or applies. Damn Four Loko.

by bobdolethesnapplelady on Nov 9, 2010 7:28 PM EST up reply actions

4 LOKO FTW

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by Ryan Alfieri on Nov 9, 2010 8:22 PM EST up reply actions

Holdouts = Madden Curse

If your holding out, your more then likely coming off a phenomenal season which would be near impossible to replicate. It’s the same problem as the Madden Curse, sure there were some injuries, but to get on the cover of Madden you have to have such an insane year that it’s hard to repeat that.

"...while Larry Brooks continues to be a sloppy disgrace, sigh" Quin8722
Contributor to Lighthouse Hockey not sure if I'm the Sniper or the Enforcer.

by Mark D on Nov 9, 2010 10:00 PM EST up reply actions

Great Post

On a different note, been reading the Brown fans post. They feel the Browns are going to steam roll the Jets. Figure if they can beat Drew Brees and Tom Brady, Sanchez shouldn’t be a problem. Also, the jets are not going to stop Hillis. I would love to shut them up with running the ball down their throat. Those other two teams didn’t have rushing offenses, and neither defense is as good as the Jets.

by BIG OH!!!!! on Nov 9, 2010 4:12 PM EST reply actions

I'm just saying

There’s a reason I grabbed Arian Foster for both of my fantasy teams :-)

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by John B on Nov 9, 2010 4:29 PM EST reply actions

Yeah

I took him in the 4th round and because my team is winning, everyone is assuming that Foster was just the luckiest pick ever. A bit, maybe, but maybe some of us were just smart in taking him, knowing he would be good (maybe not as good as he turned out to be).

by bobdolethesnapplelady on Nov 9, 2010 7:30 PM EST up reply actions

LT is on pace for 300 touches? Didn’t see that coming, but I didn’t think he would be this productive I hope he stays healthy.

In an Ideal world I would have all ten fingers on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching./ Free Free

by BL3ACH on Nov 9, 2010 5:04 PM EST reply actions

Great post, Ryan!

By the way, I predicted you would write this.

and the home of the... JETS!!!
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by dvdvil on Nov 9, 2010 5:45 PM EST reply actions

Fun post.

This league is crazy. Would also add, who woulda thunk that the Cowboys and the Vikings would be as bad as they’ve been?

by Crackback on Nov 9, 2010 6:39 PM EST reply actions

I did!

At least I figured the Vikings would be pretty terrible, pretty much because there was no way Favre was going to come close to duplicating last year’s performance and in fact would probably break down and such. Plus, uhhh… Brad Childress. So with every other team in the division improving, I figured they would be 8-8 at best.

The Cowboys—while their fall was way more precipitous than I anticipated—I think it was easy to see they were being way overhyped. That offensive line… it was mediocre last year and is even worse this year. Did anyone actually buy Doug Free as a legitimate left tackle? And that secondary, I knew it was propped up by that front-7, but wow they definitely turned out to be even worse than I figured. But more than anything… Wade Phillips. Is there a worse head coach left in the league? He rivals Norv Turner in his ability to give away games and lack of motivational abilities, but he doesn’t have any awesome scheme on either side of the ball to make up for it.

by Exystence on Nov 10, 2010 10:12 AM EST up reply actions

Craziest and most unbalanced season I can remember.

You guys agree?

by JetKing55 on Nov 9, 2010 7:24 PM EST reply actions

I dunno, is it really unbalanced?

I mean craziest probably for sure lol. But like… there are the 0~2-win teams that are obviously bad, but then it really seems like every other team has a chance to make it to the playoffs. The Packers are the only team that seems to be a relative lock to win their division. It’s a tight race at the top in every single division otherwise. I love it!

by Exystence on Nov 10, 2010 10:17 AM EST up reply actions

The Dos Equis guy did.

"People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring. " ~Rogers Hornsby

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by Jeterian 2 on Nov 9, 2010 7:40 PM EST reply actions

I had two of these. McFadden was going to get a lot of touches, and be a central part of an offense I believed in, and come on, who didn’t see Tampa competing after the way they closed out last year?

by SioneBAAOOOHA on Nov 9, 2010 10:58 PM EST reply actions

I figured right (at the very least close to right) on 3 of these before the season

Michael Vick becoming the starter
Wade Phillips getting fired
Tamba Hali being super awesome

And I sort of predicted LDT being the main guy at first, but not really the way he blew up, so I’m not counting that. I did also predict that Arian Foster would be pretty good, but not nearly to the degree that he has turned out to be.

Stuff that really makes no sense at all—first, I could believe the Rams leading the division simply because the NFC West is awful, but I really am stunned that the 49ers are that bad. They really seemed to be a lock for 1st place all offseason. I knew that Singletary could be a liability on the sidelines, but I figured that they had enough talent and he was enough of a motivator and teacher to get them past that. And I dunno, I thought maybe Alex Smith really DID finally turn the corner. WRONG AGAIN BOB lol

Second, Cincy being that bad. I guess I was one of the few that really thought they would do good this year. They looked fairly stacked on paper, but I guess I didn’t figure that a healthy(?) Carson Palmer could be that mediocre given the abundance of talent around him, especially now with a (supposedly) legitimate TE target and Jordan gosh darned Shipley in the fold. They didn’t lose anyone in the defense either afaik and that was a pretty damn stout unit last year. Also, I dunno, I never bought Marvin Lewis as a legit NFL head coach and he’s done nothing imo to prove otherwise. ::shrug::

But most of all… Brandon Lloyd and Kyle Orton. I mean, okay I thought that Kyle Orton proved that he was a good QB last year, but that he’s stepped up to the degree he has is remarkable. But even MORE amazing is that his main guy is, huh, Brandon friggin’ Lloyd? What!? And not just that… he’s leading the league in receiving yards!?!?!? Wtf!?

by Exystence on Nov 10, 2010 9:59 AM EST reply actions