You buying any of these bold predictions?

[TDs3nOut]

Here are 10 bold predictions from Ryan Wilson of CBS Sports (don't recall ever hearing of him):
Bold NFL Predictions for 2014: Chargers will win the AFC West - CBSSports.com

Some of them strike me as very unlikely. For example, I don't expect SD to win the AFCW, nor do I expect RG3 to get benched by Week 6.

A couple that seem reasonable to me are TN winning ten games and Steve Smith catching at least 80 passes for 1,000 yards in Baltimore.

Perhaps the funniest, and most likely, prediction on the list is that Manziel shoots the bird at least twice during the regular season.

 

[night]

Johnny Manziel giving more teams the finger seems like the most logical one to choose. He must have been running out of ideas if 2 of them are about Emmanuel Sanders.

 

[flyerhawk]

All of them are plausible although some require things to fall a certain way like the Chargers winning the NFC West because Manning gets injured.

 

[cdumler7]

Well for his first prediction about the Chargers winning the West...Anytime a bold prediction relies on a star player getting hurt it usually isn't a very well thought out prediction. For 2 years now us Bronco fans have been hearing that Manning is just one hit away from his career being over. Well I think he has shown he can take a hit and get up and be just fine. Doctors wouldn't let him on the field if he had more risk than other quarterbacks.


Also don't think this guy likes the Broncos when 3 of the 10 deal with them failing this year or at least other players outperforming their players.


I honestly don't see more than a couple of his predictions even being close. His Richardson one made me laugh a bit but he will get more than 400 yards if healthy. They have nothing else now with losing Brown in the off season and injuries to others.


The Manziel one I could definitely see happen if he actually ever makes it onto the field. Peterson one I could see being true because of Cassel being benched at some point.


I guess I just expected better predictions than this crap. At least make them fun if you are going to do something like this. Having 2 about Emmanuel Sanders who hasn't done a whole lot up to this point in his career just seems ridiculous. Did Sanders sleep with his wife or something?

 

[flyerhawk]

Well for his first prediction about the Chargers winning the West...Anytime a bold prediction relies on a star player getting hurt it usually isn't a very well thought out prediction. For 2 years now us Bronco fans have been hearing that Manning is just one hit away from his career being over. Well I think he has shown he can take a hit and get up and be just fine. Doctors wouldn't let him on the field if he had more risk than other quarterbacks.


Also don't think this guy likes the Broncos when 3 of the 10 deal with them failing this year or at least other players outperforming their players.


I honestly don't see more than a couple of his predictions even being close. His Richardson one made me laugh a bit but he will get more than 400 yards if healthy. They have nothing else now with losing Brown in the off season and injuries to others.


The Manziel one I could definitely see happen if he actually ever makes it onto the field. Peterson one I could see being true because of Cassel being benched at some point.


I guess I just expected better predictions than this crap. At least make them fun if you are going to do something like this. Having 2 about Emmanuel Sanders who hasn't done a whole lot up to this point in his career just seems ridiculous. Did Sanders sleep with his wife or something?

Well if you believe 538, the Broncos are not exactly locks to repeat what they did last year...

Can The Denver Broncos And Seattle Seahawks Possibly Be As Good As They Were Last Year? | FiveThirtyEight

 

[TDs3nOut]

Well for his first prediction about the Chargers winning the West...Anytime a bold prediction relies on a star player getting hurt it usually isn't a very well thought out prediction. For 2 years now us Bronco fans have been hearing that Manning is just one hit away from his career being over. Well I think he has shown he can take a hit and get up and be just fine. Doctors wouldn't let him on the field if he had more risk than other quarterbacks.


Also don't think this guy likes the Broncos when 3 of the 10 deal with them failing this year or at least other players outperforming their players.


I honestly don't see more than a couple of his predictions even being close. His Richardson one made me laugh a bit but he will get more than 400 yards if healthy. They have nothing else now with losing Brown in the off season and injuries to others.


The Manziel one I could definitely see happen if he actually ever makes it onto the field. Peterson one I could see being true because of Cassel being benched at some point.


I guess I just expected better predictions than this crap. At least make them fun if you are going to do something like this. Having 2 about Emmanuel Sanders who hasn't done a whole lot up to this point in his career just seems ridiculous. Did Sanders sleep with his wife or something?

LOL I don't know about that, but Wilson certainly seems to be down on Sanders.

I was very excited about signing Sanders last spring. I saw him play in college several times and thought he had a lot of potential. I also thought that he was quite underrated in Pittsburgh, where he was overshadowed first by Mike Wallace and then by Antonio Brown.

Since signing Sanders, however, drafting Cody Latimore and what he brings to the table, I am less certain that Sanders will be a huge contributor. I also think that both Ben in Pittsburgh and Smith (or Vick) in NYJ are likely to be more productive than they were last year, so I'm not convinced that the predictions about Sanders are based solely on the possibility that Sanders slept with Wilson's wife.

 

[evolver115]

Some of them strike me as very unlikely. For example, I don't expect SD to win the AFCW, nor do I expect RG3 to get benched by Week 6.

A couple that seem reasonable to me are TN winning ten games and Steve Smith catching at least 80 passes for 1,000 yards in Baltimore.

I agree with you about SD. Don't see them knocking the Broncos out of the top spot in the AFCW.

I don't agree with Steve Smith catching 80/1,000yds. There are a ton of very, very good cornerbacks in the AFCN. Listen to some of these names:

Joe Haden, Justin Gilbert, Leon Hall, Darqueze Dennard, Dre Kirpatrick, Cortez Allen

^^That's a ton of talent^^

Not to mention, but Cleveland, Cinci and Pittsburgh are all expecting big seasons from their defenses. Smith is on the descent of a very good career, but he's not playing in the NFCS anymore. It'll be real interesting to see how he handles the defenses and weather that make up the AFCN.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Well if you believe 538, the Broncos are not exactly locks to repeat what they did last year...

Can The Denver Broncos And Seattle Seahawks Possibly Be As Good As They Were Last Year? | FiveThirtyEight

I think that the most persuasive point in that piece supporting the claim that Denver's offense won't match the numbers it put up last year is that it figures to face better defenses than it did last year, a point that is pretty obvious. But I don't think anyone thinks it's a "lock to repeat what they did last year" offensively, nor do I think it's necessary for them to do so in order to have a more successful season than they did last year.

 

[TDs3nOut]

I agree with you about SD. Don't see them knocking the Broncos out of the top spot in the AFCW.

I don't agree with Steve Smith catching 80/1,000yds. There are a ton of very, very good cornerbacks in the AFCN. Listen to some of these names:

Joe Haden, Justin Gilbert, Leon Hall, Darqueze Dennard, Dre Kirpatrick, Cortez Allen

^^That's a ton of talent^^

Not to mention, but Cleveland, Cinci and Pittsburgh are all expecting big seasons from their defenses.

You might be right about Smith. Always been a fan of Smith and my opinion that he has a big season is also based on my belief that Kubiak is an outstanding coordinator who will figure out ways to get the ball to the play-making Smith.

 

[Wamu]

I think that the most persuasive point in that piece supporting the claim that Denver's offense won't match the numbers it put up last year is that it figures to face better defenses than it did last year, a point that is pretty obvious. But I don't think anyone thinks it's a "lock to repeat what they did last year" offensively, nor do I think it's necessary for them to do so in order to have a more successful season than they did last year.

What kinda year are you expecting from Montee Ball?

 

[Wamu]

I agree with you about SD. Don't see them knocking the Broncos out of the top spot in the AFCW.

I don't agree with Steve Smith catching 80/1,000yds. There are a ton of very, very good cornerbacks in the AFCN. Listen to some of these names:

Joe Haden, Justin Gilbert, Leon Hall, Darqueze Dennard, Dre Kirpatrick, Cortez Allen

^^That's a ton of talent^^

Not to mention, but Cleveland, Cinci and Pittsburgh are all expecting big seasons from their defenses. Smith is on the descent of a very good career, but he's not playing in the NFCS anymore. It'll be real interesting to see how he handles the defenses and weather that make up the AFCN.

One thing I am expecting from the Browns is at least 10 losses. Making bad Draft Day decision & losing at least 10 games a year are the only things they do right.

 

[TDs3nOut]

What kinda year are you expecting from Montee Ball?

Have to figure he will have a very big year. Denver pretty clearly went all in on both competing for the SB this year and doing so with Ball. I think that his performance during the latter part of last season warrants that expectation.

 

[cdumler7]

Well if you believe 538, the Broncos are not exactly locks to repeat what they did last year...

Can The Denver Broncos And Seattle Seahawks Possibly Be As Good As They Were Last Year? | FiveThirtyEight

I'm not saying they are locks to repeat what they did on offense. I honestly don't think they will. They set ridiculous records that will be hard for any team in the near future to match. Throw in they have a tougher schedule, most likely better defense so won't need to score 50 points to win a game (Dallas Game), and are planning on having the run game a little more featured this season. They also have a couple of new weapons on offense that will take some time to get the timing down with Peyton. So all of that to say they won't be what they were last year on offense in raw numbers at least. They hopefully won't need to be to win this year. I like to think the defense won't be as terrible as they were last year.

 

[Wamu]

Have to figure he will have a very big year. Denver pretty clearly went all in on both competing for the SB this year and doing so with Ball. I think that his performance during the latter part of last season warrants that expectation.

Do you think he'll get near the production of Moreno last year?

 

[Wamu]

I'm not saying they are locks to repeat what they did on offense. I honestly don't think they will. They set ridiculous records that will be hard for any team in the near future to match. Throw in they have a tougher schedule, most likely better defense so won't need to score 50 points to win a game (Dallas Game), and are planning on having the run game a little more featured this season. They also have a couple of new weapons on offense that will take some time to get the timing down with Peyton. So all of that to say they won't be what they were last year on offense in raw numbers at least. They hopefully won't need to be to win this year. I like to think the defense won't be as terrible as they were last year.

It'll be interesting to see if Decker gets anywhere near the #'s he had last year. 87 catches for 1,288 yards & 11 td's.

 

[evolver115]

One thing I am expecting from the Browns is at least 10 losses. Making bad Draft Day decision & losing at least 10 games a year are the only things they do right.

Cleveland is going to have a very good defense in 2014. There is 1st round talent at almost every position. The offense is the clear question mark. If that goof ball receiver Josh Gibson didn't screw up this off-season, he might have been the silver lining for them. Without him, though... yikes

 

[cdumler7]

Do you think he'll get near the production of Moreno last year?

Rushing wise yes he will. Over the 2nd half of the season Ball averaged almost 2 more yards per carry than that of Moreno. He also in half the carries had just as many broken tackles as that of Moreno. As a pure runner Ball was already showing his rookie year to be the more productive player. The question will be though the receiving end of things. I think Moreno had something like 60 catches and close to 600 yards. Ball has been working on his receiving and blocking skills all off season but I still don't expect him to quite match that production.

For me I think Ball will rush for around 1,300 yards with about 500 yards receiving on 45 catches this season. Touchdowns wise I think he will be better than Moreno as he is a better goal line runner so I expect something like 12-14 rushing touchdowns.

 

[Wamu]

Cleveland is going to have a very good defense in 2014. There is 1st round talent at almost every position. The offense is the clear question mark. If that goof ball receiver Josh Gibson didn't screw up this off-season, he might have been the silver lining for them. Without him, though... yikes

I expect the Browns offense to stuggle greatly this year, no matter who the QB is. If the Browns are smart (which they aren't) they'll sit Johnny Finger all year though. The kid simply isn't ready to be a starting NFL QB.

 

[Wamu]

Rushing wise yes he will. Over the 2nd half of the season Ball averaged almost 2 more yards per carry than that of Moreno. He also in half the carries had just as many broken tackles as that of Moreno. As a pure runner Ball was already showing his rookie year to be the more productive player. The question will be though the receiving end of things. I think Moreno had something like 60 catches and close to 600 yards. Ball has been working on his receiving and blocking skills all off season but I still don't expect him to quite match that production.

For me I think Ball will rush for around 1,300 yards with about 500 yards receiving on 45 catches this season. Touchdowns wise I think he will be better than Moreno as he is a better goal line runner so I expect something like 12-14 rushing touchdowns.

I hope you're right about Ball.

 

[cdumler7]

I hope you're right about Ball.

I do too...The fact that they let Moreno walk for pennies though should show the confidence they have in Ball to get the job done and how much they think Moreno was more a product of the system than anything else.

If you look at Manning and all the RB's he has played with they have all been pretty darn productive. He opens up the run game quite a bit with teams focusing so much on the pass game. Throw in Manning reads defenses better than anybody and knows when there is a great opportunity to run the ball on a defense with great success.