My 2011 NFL Season Predictions In Review

Time to see how stupid (or smart) I was when I made my predictions for the 2011 NFL season back in September. Was I really smart on my out-of-the-box picks? Or did I over-estimate too many teams? Time to find out.

In both conferences, I got 4 out of the 6 playoff teams right, including 5 out of those 10 with their seeds correct. The playoff teams I missed: Rams, Eagles, Chargers, and Jets. 3 of those 4 are on the NFL's all underachievement stars for 2011, so I don't feel that bad about missing those predictions. I guess I really over-estimated the Rams though. I also got 7 teams' records perfectly right, including my personal favorites with the Giants at 9-7 and Cowboys and 8-8.

Aside from the 4 playoff teams I over-estimated, I also aimed a bit too high on teams like Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, and Minnesota. I low-balled some notable teams, like Denver, Cincy, and San Francisco. Not many people saw those teams having all the success that they did, and I sure didn't.
My Super Bowl prediction was Saints over Chargers, so I at least can get half of it right.

Onto the awards prediction, where my predictions were on target, but my picks likely won't be the winners at all. Jim Schwartz was my Coach of the Year pick, and while that is a good pick, Jim Harbaugh will run away with that award. I picked Philip Rivers as the MVP, and I'm pretty sure he has no shot at that. For my rookie of the year picks, I chose Julio Jones and Von Miller. Miller may win his award, even though he has stiff competition from San Francisco's Aldon Smith, and Julio Jones will likely lose out to the other major SEC WR prospect from the 2011 NFL Draft, A.J Green.

So, I'm not perfect, and I'll never claim to be. Let's just hope my playoff predictions are slightly better.