I have Cleveland winning its first game of the Deshaun Watson era because Watson can spend the next three months preparing for it specifically. Pickett has shown a sharp amount of accuracy in the short and middle range, which should help him fare especially well against the blitz-averse Bengals and Colts, aiding the Steelers in a few win-ugly contests. And … by then it will be Kenny Pickett time.
How can you have them going 2–6 before the bye and 7–2 afterward? Two reasons: A Mike Tomlin team doesn’t lay down. Pittsburgh has an absolutely gruesome slate before the bye and a not-so-friendly slate afterward. Picking the Steelers over the Browns is perhaps the most controversial move of this exercise. If they throttle the Ravens again like they did last year, it might be time to run-not walk-to your nearest sportsbook. The Steelers will be difficult but undermanned at the quarterback position. In the weeks preceding, they should have no trouble taking care of the Jets and Dolphins. Winning their initial showdown against the Ravens in Baltimore should show us where exactly this team is early on. While a return is always difficult, their remade defense and rebuilt offensive line should help buck the trend of Super Bowl losers making it back. The Bengals will be pleased at the idea that the world has left them largely on the cusp of Super Bowl contention, and not among the elite ring of surefire candidates, following their surprise run in 2021. Wins over the Jets, Dolphins, Patriots and-yes-Bills over the first four weeks should back up just how serious we really are in making the Ravens a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Not everyone has roundly celebrated Baltimore’s offseason as tirelessly as I have, which is why you see some unbridled enthusiasm here. After the Jets notched wins against the playoff-bound Titans and Bengals last year, we’ve built in room to be surprised.Īll right, so maybe you weren’t sitting around trying to pen the perfect told you so text when Isaiah Likely racked up 100 first-half receiving yards against the Cardinals. The question is whether these games will be close or not. Their schedule is unforgivable, with the Ravens, Bengals, Packers, Broncos and Bills all before the bye week. This isn’t necessarily about wins and losses yet.
The Jets, last but not least, should be judged this year as they were last season. As accurate as Tua Tagovailoa might be, a quick-strike passing game isn’t exactly going to thrive against four of the best and rangiest secondaries in the NFL to start the season. Even with an extended 17-game schedule, an 0–4 start is a death sentence in the NFL. While I think new Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel will fare better than most people unfamiliar with his background in-and role creating-the Kyle Shanahan system, if he doesn’t beat the Patriots in Week 1, he then has to face a good Ravens team, the Bills and the Bengals in Cincinnati. There are deeper pockets of theoretically easy games (Lions, Browns without Deshaun Watson, Bears and Jets) where they can rack up both momentum and critical victories. By comparison to the Bills, New England’s schedule is a bit more generous at the outset. I mentioned back in my annual early-July post on the 12 teams that can actually win the Super Bowl, which also left the Patriots out of the postseason, that doing so almost guarantees a Super Bowl run. An earlier version on the table had them at 10–7, which, in a crowded AFC field, was still not good enough to get them into the playoffs. The Patriots were another subject of great strife during this process.
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