NFL Recap

Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks on finally bringing another championship to the Pacific Northwest. Not since the now defunct Seattle Supersonics took down the nearly defunct Washington Bullets (now Wizards) in five game in 1979 has Seattle had a chance to party. Oh marijuana is legal there you say? Forget that. I just hope the Denver Broncos don't suffer the same fate as a franchise the way that the Washington basketball franchise has seen. In the 34 full seasons (not counting the current season) since that loss to Seattle, Washington has won just 41% (1128-1612) of their games which would be a 6.5 win season in the NFL. Not only that but Washington has won just two playoff series and has had 16 head coaches. Times could get tough in the Mile High City.

You think this can't happen to a proud franchise like Denver? They're not going to have Peyton Manning much longer if at all anymore. If they don't find another franchise quarterback who knows how long it could take to get back to elite status. To bring it full circle, the Washington Redskins have played 22 seasons since their last Super Bowl appearance. They have won 149 games of the 352 played. That's a winning percentage of .42 or 6.7 wins per season. The Redskins have won just three playoff games and have had eight different head coaches (nine if you count Gibbs' second term). Welcome to my own personal hell Broncos fans.

So let's look back at my predictions from my 3rd annual NFL Crystal Ball and see how bad they were.

Breakout Candidates

T.Y. Hilton - He caught more passes, for more yards, but had fewer touchdown receptions. Even with teammate and default WR1 Reggie Wayne going down with and injury, Hilton never exploded on a consistent basis.

Daryl Richardson - UGH...he killed me here and in the fantasy football world. What a utter disaster. I was correct that the Rams would produce a fantasy sleeper darling at the RB position, but that went to Zac Stacy. Richardson was a bust in all senses of the word.

Ben Tate - It was a good bounce back season for Tate, but Arian Foster didn't stay injured long enough and even when Foster went down, so did Tate. His 2013 season was very similar to his rookie campaign, but not good enough to be a breakout player.

Dwayne Bowe - The KC Chiefs were my breakout team and they did very well. Dwayne Bowe on the other hand took a step back from his 2012 campaign. His style is just not a good fit for what Andy Reid wanted to do with the passing game. Maybe the Redskins will trade a future 1st round pick for him...I kid I kid.

So yeah not so good Jason.

Busts

C.J. Spiller - Now we're talking! Taken in the first round in most every fantasy draft, Spiller was relegated to backup status behind Fred Jackson in Buffalo. He had moments of glory, but he had fewer total yards this season than he had rushing yards last season and scored just two times.

Vincent Jackson - Right shape, wrong size. I thought the downfall of Josh Freeman would lead to the downfall of Vincent Jackson, but Freeman's departure only helped Jackson. He put up very similar stats to his 2012 campaign with rookie Mike Glennon at the helm.

DeSean Jackson - As we'll see I was dead wrong on the Eagles as a whole. DeSean would have been an ideal fit for my 'breakout' category. He nearly doubled his receiving yards and caught 9 touchdowns compared to 2 in 2012. I thought he had one foot out of the league and instead he was playing in the Pro Bowl.

Carson Palmer - I suppose the bar was relatively low for Palmer and he did a pretty decent job in Arizona. Sure the interceptions were there with 22, but he also started all 16 games and threw 24 touchdowns for a team that went 10-6. Not too shabby.

MVP

I had high hopes for Colin Kaepernick, but after Week 1's explosion is was mostly downhill for his stat line. My runner-up, Peyton Manning, took home the prize with his record breaking season.

Standings and Predicted Records (actual records in parenthesis) 

NFC EAST

Washington Redskins 10-6 (3-13)
New York Giants 9-7 (7-9)
Dallas Cowboys 8-8 (8-8)
Philadelphia Eagles 7-9 (10-6)

NFC NORTH

Detroit Lions 11-5 (7-9)
Green Bay Packers 10-6 (8-7-1)
Chicago Bears 7-9 (8-8)
Minnesota Vikings 5-11 (5-10-1)

NFC SOUTH

Atlanta Falcons 12-4 (4-12)
New Orleans Saints 11-5 (11-5)
Carolina Panthers 7-9 (12-4)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5-11 (4-12)

NFC WEST

San Francisco 49ers 12-4 (12-4)
Seattle Seahawks 11-5 (13-3)
St. Louis Rams 9-7 (7-9)
Arizona Cardinals 2-14 (10-6)

AFC EAST

New England Patriots 13-3 (12-4)
Miami Dolphins 6-10 (8-8)
New York Jets 3-13 (8-8)
Buffalo Bills 3-13 (6-10)

AFC NORTH

Cincinnati Bengals 11-5 (11-5)
Pittsburgh Steelers 9-7 (8-8)
Baltimore Ravens 8-8 (8-8)
Cleveland Browns 8-8 (4-12)

AFC SOUTH

Indianapolis Colts 13-3 (11-5)
Houston Texans 11-5 (2-14)
Tennessee Titans 5-11 (7-9)
Jacksonville Jaguars 4-12 (4-12)

AFC WEST

Denver Broncos 12-4 (13-3)
Kansas City Chiefs 10-6 (11-5)
Oakland Raiders 3-13 (4-12)
San Diego Chargers 2-14 (9-7)

I went 4 for 8 in Division winners taking an 0-fer in the NFC and going a perfect 4-4 in the AFC. That is two consecutive years going perfect in the AFC.

Biggest misses were Arizona, Washington and Philadelphia in the NFC and the Texans and Chargers in the AFC.

As for the playoffs my prediction of Denver over Atlanta didn't come true, but my Denver over Seattle from February of 2013 was much better.

As for my all too early Super Bowl 49 prediction (with the hopes of going back to back on picking the correct two teams) will be....Seattle becoming the first repeat champion since the Cowboys in the 90's err the Patriots in the 2000s over the New England Patriots who get their last Super Bowl run with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.