actually I guess I should do my quarter season (sort of, curse you 17 games) projections
AFC East- Bills
- Dolphins
- Jets
- Patriots
Am I just trolling? Maybe...! Seriously though, the Bills are still the best team in this division. The Dolphins will be fine with Teddy until whenever Tua gets back. The Jets might be...average? The Patriots might be...below average? Actually, the Patriots have some decent players on defense. I just don't trust their offense.
AFC North- Ravens
- Bengals
- Browns
- Steelers
The Ravens SHOULD be the best team in this division, but they've put some up head-scratching performances where the offense does nothing for long stretches and the defense is a big-play liability. The Bengals have the potential to be good, but they're still hard to trust. The Browns with Brissett are better than I thought, and hoo boy, the Steelers are way worse than I thought.
AFC South- Titans
- Jaguars
- Colts
- Texans
Gotta roll with the Titans out of fanboyism, but like I said, you should've bet on the Jags to win this division if you're a betting type. I said before the season that they'd be sneaky not terrible, but they're actually sneaky good (or maybe not sneaky now). The Colts under Matt Ryan are the same as the Falcons under Matt Ryan. The offense is completely unreliable while Matty Ice compiles meaningless stats. The Texans at least have an awesome running back, but that's about it.
AFC West- Chiefs
- Chargers
- Broncos
- Raiders
So this may not be the best division of all-time, after all. My opinions here haven't really changed. The Chiefs are still one of the best. The Chargers are still wildly overrated. Russ is playing like the last season and a half is the new norm, not a fluke or the result of injury. The Raiders are not for real.
NFC East- Eagles
- Cowboys
- Giants
- Commanders
I knew the Eagles were talented, but if Hurts can keep playing like this, they're the best team in the NFC. The Dallas defense is the most pleasant surprise I've had with this team in a while. The Giants are sneaky not terrible as long as Saquon is healthy. Carson Wentz is cooked.
NFC North- Packers
- Vikings
- Lions
- Bears
The Packers have serious issues on offense because they can't put anyone away, but I guess that just means Rodgers will have to win a lot of close games. The Vikings have the potential to be the best team here, but the minute I expect great things from them, Cousins will put up a stinker. The Lions are a lot of fun, but they'll be the opposite of the Packers in that they'll just lose a lot of close games because their defense is nonexistent. I don't know if Justin Fields is just not good or he's cursed by being the quarterback of the Bears, but it's not promising.
NFC South- Bucs
- Saints
- Falcons
- Panthers
Yeah, I think I was wrong about the Saints, although they might actually be better with Andy Dalton, so we'll see. The Bucs have all sorts of question marks, but no one in this division is good enough to make them pay for them. The Falcons are surprisingly fun, but as a Titans fan who watched four years of Mariota, I don't trust him to stay healthy for a full season. The Panthers should be better than this, but they're just...not.
NFC West- 49ers
- Rams
- Cardinals
- Seahawks
The 49ers are the best team in this division unless (and maybe even still) Jimmy G gets hurt. I don't think anyone wants to say this quite yet since they're the defending champs, but the Rams are in trouble. Their entire offense is Cooper Kupp and every team knows it, and they have zero depth on either side of the ball. I still think the Cardinals suck aside from Murray, and Kyler can't bail them out of every deficit. The Seahawks and Geno have been better than I thought so far, but I'm not sure they can keep it up.