2023 Season Prediction Thread - So How Many Games Will We Win?

[88Comrade2000]

6 wins won't be the worst in the league.  The Worst in the league is likely 4-13 or 3-14.

 

Week 1: Cards

Week 2: @Broncos

Week 3: Bills

Week 4: @Eagles

Week 5: Bears

Week 6: @Falcons

Week 7: @Giants

Week 8: Eagles

Week 9: @Pats

Week 10: @Seahawks

Week 11: Giants

Week 12: @Boys

Week 13: Dolphins

Week 14: Bye

Week 15: @Rams

Week 16: @Jets

Week 17: 49ers

Week 18: Boys

 

So for us to be the worst in league, we would probably have to be 3-14. Meaning only wins against Arizona, Chicago and Los Angeles.

 

Cardinals- win 1

Broncos would beat us- possible if Russ cooks.

Bills would beat us- likely.

Eagles would beat us. Likely

Bears- Win 2

Falcons would beat us. This mean Desmond Ridder is the real deal or if Taylor starts, he kills us.

Giants would beat us, likely.

Eagles would sweep us at home. Possible.

Pats. Matt Jones is revived under Bill Obrien.

Seahawks beat us, likely.

Giants sweep us at home, possible.

@Boys- Dallas beats us, likely.

Dolphins- Tua is healthy and beats us.

BYE

Rams- Win 3

Jets- Rodgers has them heading to playoffs, loss is possible,

49ers- Brock is back and 49ers are rolling.

Boys- Dallas sweeps us, to take East. Possible.

 

If we go 4-13, then a win would come from either Falcons or Giants.

 

So, if we were truly the worst team in the league; our opponents have to be playing on a real high level and Ron would just have to suck. Ron never has won fewer than 6 games, in the seasons he coached the full season.  So, it just seems unlikely; we will have the worst team in the league under Ron.  He likely would be fired before that and if he lasted the whole season, it would have to be historic catastrophic for that to happen under him.   

 

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by 88Comrade2000

[Warhead36]

I can't see us going 4-13 unless we're just absolutely ravaged by injuries. We've had legitimate bottom 5 play at by far the most important position in the sport the last three years and still managed to be in playoff contention every December. I'd expect nothing less this year at the very least.

[XxSpearheadxX]

I'm excited out of nowhere for this season not sure what got me but I'm as excited for this year as any recently and I was pretty checked out end of last year.

 

Real excited for the defense and I always liked Sam Howell

[Jericho]

I'm not sure any team should be predicted to win 3-4 games. Some team almost certain will, probably due to some combination of bad luck and injuries. But even bad teams are likely "expected" to win 5-6 games on paper. It's just some of them will have seasons that go worse than average. That said, I'm predicting 6 games for Washington. As well as Rivera has done with nothing at QB, this team still likely has nothing at QB and eventually that will probably catch up with you.

[Skinsinparadise]

10 hours ago, Renegade7 said:

 

I only see 3 games in the first 8 I wouldn't bet on us to win.  The problem again is the slow start habit, but hard as overall schedule is, games like SF and finale to close it out are at home.

 

I think they win 4 out of the 5 versus Arizona, Denver, NY, Chicago, Atlanta.  so in my mind somehow they win 4 of those 5 games I mentioned.  

 

10 hours ago, Conn said:

Imagine a qualified GM (and his hand-picked coach and their staff) inheriting this roster and immediately getting to draft Caleb Williams at 1.01 after spending some FA money on the OL. That would be a dream scenario and worth a very miserable final season of Rivera. We’d rise even faster than the Bengals did after selecting Burrow—in a much weaker conference. 

 

It woud be too good to be true. 

 

Clinton Portis eons ago (I mention it every now and then) when asked why hasn't this team ever pulled out of the doldrums -- he said something along the lines of they never fall apart before the right draft season.  This would be in theory the perfect season to fall apart as to the draft.

 

I don't expect it to happen but if it did talk about losing the battle to win the war. 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Skinsinparadise

[Skinsinparadise]

18 hours ago, 88Comrade2000 said:

6 wins won't be the worst in the league.  The Worst in the league is likely 4-13 or 3-14.

 

Week 1: Cards

Week 2: @Broncos

Week 3: Bills

Week 4: @Eagles

Week 5: Bears

Week 6: @Falcons

Week 7: @Giants

Week 8: Eagles

Week 9: @Pats

Week 10: @Seahawks

Week 11: Giants

Week 12: @Boys

Week 13: Dolphins

Week 14: Bye

Week 15: @Rams

Week 16: @Jets

Week 17: 49ers

Week 18: Boys

 

 

 

 

For it to go that south. Which I don't think it would.  

 

I think the best shot of it is an early funk.  The first two games is arguably the softest part of the schedule.  They'd have to lose both IMO to get there.  The Cards are so bad.  Plus the stadium should be packed with Dan being gone, etc.  I'd e shocked if they lost that one.

 

The other tricky part of the schedule is weeks 5,6,7.  That's arguably the weakest 3 game stretch.   I think they should beat the Bears but its not impossible to lose that one.  If they lost and then followed with two loses on the road to Atanta and the Giants, the season could get out of hand early. 

 

Conversely, to the optimists their best shot of having a winning season IMO are those same stretches of games.  To go 10 wins plus as some predict -- they'd likely need to win 4 out 5 of those games.  

 

My prediction

 

Week 1: Cards -- win

Week 2: @Broncos -- win

Week 3: Bills -- loss

Week 4: @Eagles -- loss

Week 5: Bears -- win

Week 6: @Falcons -- win. (a healthy dose of I told you so at this point from the optimists)

Week 7: @Giants -- loss

Week 8: Eagles -- loss

Week 9: @Pats -- win

Week 10: @Seahawks -- loss

Week 11: Giants -- win

Week 12: @Boys -- loss

Week 13: Dolphins -- win

Week 14: Bye

Week 15: @Rams -- win (this is the point of the year where we think Rivera got us to the playoffs again, until just like the last 2 years it falls apart)

Week 16: @Jets -- loss

Week 17: 49ers -- loss

Week 18: Boys -- loss

Edited July 10, 2023 by Skinsinparadise

[zCommander]

I just don't see us losing to the Eagles in week 4 or being swept by the boys. Our 4th or so ranked D this year will give them fits. Dak can be rattled real quick too. 

[samy316]

50 minutes ago, zCommander said:

I just don't see us losing to the Eagles in week 4 or being swept by the boys. Our 4th or so ranked D this year will give them fits. Dak can be rattled real quick too. 

I’m the opposite.  I can easily see us losing to Philly 2x.  Their D-Line actually got BETTER this offseason, and we remember what they did to us here at Fed-Ex Week 3 last year.  Our O-Line will be no match for that Eagles D-Line, they will terrorize Howell.  We never sweep any NFCE team at full strength, so I see us being either 2-4 or 3-3 in the division.  We’ll get swept by Philly, and split with Dallas.  I could see us sweeping NYG, since I believe they’ll regress back to the mean this year., but it’s more than likely we’ll split with them too.

Edited July 10, 2023 by samy316

[Skinsinparadise]

1 hour ago, zCommander said:

I just don't see us losing to the Eagles in week 4 or being swept by the boys. Our 4th or so ranked D this year will give them fits. Dak can be rattled real quick too. 

 

Eagles and Cowbous really good D lines and really good O lines.

 

We also have a really good D line but also IMO a crap O line.

 

Hence its a mismatch.  Greg Cosell who actually likes a lot of the pieces on this team did a nice job delving into the matchup versus the Eagles and more or less said the bottom line is he doesn't think this O line can handle the Eagles D line and that's the X factor.  I see it the same way.

 

The NFL is fluky so anything can happen.  David sometimes beats Goliath.  But at least on paper, I think Dallas and the Eagles match up perfectly to this team -- their strength perfectly matched to our weakness.

Edited July 10, 2023 by Skinsinparadise

[Chris 44]

2 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

Eagles and Cowbous really good D lines and really good O lines.

 

We also have a really good D line but also IMO a crap O line.

 

Hence its a mismatch.  Greg Cosell who actually likes a lot of the pieces on this team did a nice job delving into the matchup versus the Eagles and more or less said the bottom line is he doesn't think this O line can handle the Eagles D line and that's the X factor.  I see it the same way.

 

The NFL is fluky so anything can happen.  David sometimes beats Goliath.  But at least on paper, I think Dallas and the Eagles match up perfectly to this team -- their strength perfectly matched to our weakness.

I think I watched the same breakdown by Cosell, yeah it was a good listen. His biggest issue with the Eagles is their O line, mentioned its not very big and may have trouble protecting Hurts.

[Skinsinparadise]

7 minutes ago, Chris 44 said:

I think I watched the same breakdown by Cosell, yeah it was a good listen. His biggest issue with the Eagles is their O line, mentioned its not very big and may have trouble protecting Hurts.

 

It might have been a different one.  I don't recall that part of it. But maybe I missed that part of it or forgot. The one I listened to it a breakdown of this team.

Edited July 10, 2023 by Skinsinparadise

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

I see likely 6 total wins.  

I see potential for a 2-7 start making way for the end of Ron’s tenure.

 

Obviously, hope I’m wrong - I can’t think of a much better way to celebrate new ownership than to take the league by surprise and win games nobody believes we should.  Beyond that, a 2-7 start would likely mean the end of Howell starting and 6-11 doesn’t put us in place to draft the QB of the future.

 

 

[samy316]

9 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

I see likely 6 total wins.  

I see potential for a 2-7 start making way for the end of Ron’s tenure.

 

Obviously, hope I’m wrong - I can’t think of a much better way to celebrate new ownership than to take the league by surprise and win games nobody believes we should.  Beyond that, a 2-7 start would likely mean the end of Howell starting and 6-11 doesn’t put us in place to draft the QB of the future.

 

 

Yeah, if we start out horrendous, like 1-6 or 2-7, I would hope that we just rip the band-aid off, and tank fully.  If you have a shot a a Top 3 pick in the draft, go for it.  I don’t want us to start out bad, and then trip ourselves into 6-11 or 5-12.  We won’t have a shot at Drake Maye or Caleb Williams if we win more than 5 games.

[AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy]

Why is everyone afraid of the rest of the division? People keep squirting themselves over the other draft classes/FA/etc. 

 

Daniel Jones ain’t the guy. I don’t care what kinda scheme they run. Dak sucks. McCarthy calling plays is a step backwards. 
 

And teams who lose the Superbowl have a  historically difficult time making the playoffs. I’m still not sold on JHurts being the next football legend. Let’s see him do it a couple more times. And let DCs adjust to his skill set. 
 

Our defense should be formidable. If Howell can get us in the endzone, we will have a chance to win a lot of games. All these low predictions are ridiculous given our roster. 
 

The grass ain’t always greener. When we get solid QB play from Howell, people will be reminded of how good this current roster really is. 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

17 minutes ago, AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy said:

Why is everyone afraid of the rest of the division? People keep squirting themselves over the other draft classes/FA/etc. 

 

Daniel Jones ain’t the guy. I don’t care what kinda scheme they run. Dak sucks. McCarthy calling plays is a step backwards. 
 

And teams who lose the Superbowl have a  historically difficult time making the playoffs. I’m still not sold on JHurts being the next football legend. Let’s see him do it a couple more times. And let DCs adjust to his skill set. 
 

Our defense should be formidable. If Howell can get us in the endzone, we will have a chance to win a lot of games. All these low predictions are ridiculous given our roster. 
 

The grass ain’t always greener. When we get solid QB play from Howell, people will be reminded of how good this current roster really is. 

The division doesn’t have me shaking in my boots as far as how they stack up against the rest of the league, but a case can easily be made that each team is in a better place than ours.

 

I don’t expect this team to just roll over and get its butt whipped.  They likely play very close games.  But we have an unknown at QB, playing in a new system behind at best, an unproven offensive line.

[AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy]

39 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

 

I don’t expect this team to just roll over and get its butt whipped.  They likely play very close games.  But we have an unknown at QB, playing in a new system behind at best, an unproven offensive line.

All of these are valid points. But, acting like our team is hot garbage (in a year where our team prospects are more exciting than the last decade) is over the top lunacy. 
 

Let other teams deal with our DL and our young secondary. Let them cover TMac/Gibson/Dotson/Turner/Samuel. 
 

I think the odds are better that we have a break out season vs a disaster season. But I’m in the minority. Most geniuses are. 🤣🤣

[Conn]

1 hour ago, AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy said:

Why is everyone afraid of the rest of the division? People keep squirting themselves over the other draft classes/FA/etc. 

 

Daniel Jones ain’t the guy. I don’t care what kinda scheme they run. Dak sucks. McCarthy calling plays is a step backwards. 
 

And teams who lose the Superbowl have a  historically difficult time making the playoffs. I’m still not sold on JHurts being the next football legend. Let’s see him do it a couple more times. And let DCs adjust to his skill set. 
 

Our defense should be formidable. If Howell can get us in the endzone, we will have a chance to win a lot of games. All these low predictions are ridiculous given our roster. 
 

The grass ain’t always greener. When we get solid QB play from Howell, people will be reminded of how good this current roster really is. 

 

Kinda nice to start seeing homer views around here again as the post-Snyder sun peaks out from behind the clouds lol. Can’t say I agree with you though.

 

Daniel Jones could just as easily improve as regress or stay the same. He’s gotta be one of the biggest enigmas in the NFL right now but would anyone really be surprised if he keeps growing the way that Geno Smith eventually did? They are certainly standing by him again.

 

Dak does not suck lol, but McCarthy does so that could be a wash. 
 

Hurt doesn’t need to be “the next football legend” to kick our ass, so who knows.

 

The NFCE is tough to read but your outlook on all these teams feels about as homerish as I’ve seen around here in a while. If you’re right then this could actually be a fun season. But I don’t see it. 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Conn

[Renegade7]

It's not about fear of our division, it's about respect.

 

We haven't been in 2nd round this century...all three of our rivals were there last year at the same time.

 

We could be good but not good enough to sneak around it, the entire division in playoffs same time is not normal.

[AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy]

2 hours ago, Conn said:

 

Kinda nice to start seeing homer views around here again as the post-Snyder sun peaks out from behind the clouds lol. Can’t say I agree with you though.

That’s a reasonable take. 
 

But the fact that we have a new OC, a stout defense, an exciting young QB, weapons on offense, AND Snyder is selling the team…yet people are bellyaching about the upcoming season doesn’t feel quite right to me. 
 

And for the record, I haven’t really been excited about a season since RG3. Cousins and Jay didn’t move the needle for me. 😆

Edited July 10, 2023 by AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy

[Conn]

10 minutes ago, AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy said:

That’s a reasonable take. 
 

But the fact that we have a new OC, a stout defense, an exciting young QB, weapons on offense, AND Snyder is selling the team…yet people are bellyaching about the upcoming season doesn’t feel quite right to me. 

 

That's fair. I think more people will feel the positivity if the training camp reports are positive on Howell. Right now for a lot of us it feels like blind belief, with a few flashes to point at. Many of us are waiting to see what he’s looking like in EB’s new offense, at least in camp, I think. The practices against the Ravens will be very telling. 

[samy316]

25 minutes ago, AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy said:

That’s a reasonable take. 
 

But the fact that we have a new OC, a stout defense, an exciting young QB, weapons on offense, AND Snyder is selling the team…yet people are bellyaching about the upcoming season doesn’t feel quite right to me. 
 

And for the record, I haven’t really been excited about a season since RG3. Cousins and Jay didn’t move the needle for me. 😆

For me the cautiousness and pessimism is more to do with my negative outlook on our HC, and our lack of moves this offseason with regards to the O-Line and at TE.  If we had been more proactive in trying to drastically upgrade both positions, I might be there with you as far as being optimistic about this upcoming season.  Since we did next to nothing, I’m not feeling so great about our chances.  We kind of left our young QB out to dry with our lack of activity.  EB has a LOT on his plate, and I’m worried that our mediocre HC/FO left the cupboard bare for him.

 

I’m not convinced we’ve done enough to see a drastic positive change on offense, and I blame our HC for that.

Edited July 10, 2023 by samy316

[AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy]

13 minutes ago, samy316 said:

For me the cautiousness and pessimism is more to do with my negative outlook on our HC, and our lack of moves this offseason with regards to the O-Line and at TE.  

Oh, I know. I read every thread. 😆

[kingdaddy]

3 hours ago, samy316 said:

For me the cautiousness and pessimism is more to do with my negative outlook on our HC, and our lack of moves this offseason with regards to the O-Line and at TE.  If we had been more proactive in trying to drastically upgrade both positions, I might be there with you as far as being optimistic about this upcoming season.  Since we did next to nothing, I’m not feeling so great about our chances.  We kind of left our young QB out to dry with our lack of activity.  EB has a LOT on his plate, and I’m worried that our mediocre HC/FO left the cupboard bare for him.

 

I’m not convinced we’ve done enough to see a drastic positive change on offense, and I blame our HC for that.

Charles and Cosmi need to step up and the O-line could surprise.....both are young and yet to produce to the level of their draft pick/expectations. TE is a key position and we have some potential there too.....that group has to stay healthy. 

[Simmsy]

On 7/8/2023 at 1:13 PM, Voice_of_Reason said:

My second team I root for, because my wife's family is from Louisiana, are the Saints.  I follow them casually.  My wife follows them more closely.

 

I agree Sean Payton is a better coach than Hackett.  No question. He's even a good coach.  

 

But, for 3 consecutive years, his teams went 7-9 WITH Drew Brees passing for 5000+ yards.  I'm not sure he's as good a coach as the reputation he got. 

 

What he did an unbelievable job of is getting Brees into a situation where he could thrive. And he and Brees were basically of one mind on everything all the time.  It's like they shared an offensive brain.  Can he do that with Wilson?  Maybe.  We'll see. I actually have my doubts it will work as well as people think it will, just because I have paid somewhat closer attention to Payton than others, and I'm not sure he and Wilson are going go mesh.  They might.  But I'd put the odds around 50/50.

 

It's possible everything works out great, and they turn it around and become a force in the AFC West.  But it's just as likely the whole thing falls apart.  

 

The greatest chance is they are somewhat improved but not by a heck of a lot, at least not early.

 

And again, our defense really should be able to shut them down.  We should be able to win that game 13-10 if we need to.  

 

Thank you! People look at Payton's career and think HOF coach, I see one SB win with Drew Bress as your QB. I'm not as up to date on Saint's lore, but did they ever even get close to the SB after that? From what I've heard, Payton came in and pretty much shut down any type of autonomy Russ had going at all. I wouldn't think that would make for a great relationship starter, but what do I know? At this point, Payton is just half a step above Mike McCarthy...should we fear him too? I can feel the ES members laughing at the thought.

 

We need to go 2-0, its totally doable and needs to be done. I don't expect the Broncos to be as bad as last year, but I don't think we will be either. Hopefully, the timing is right for week two and they're not quite ready to compete yet. I don't think EB will let the offense have a slow start to the season like Turner has allowed, I'm hoping we'll hit the ground running. I'll let you know how I feel after the Raven's preseason practice and game.

[Koolblue13]

17 hours ago, AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy said:

Why is everyone afraid of the rest of the division? People keep squirting themselves over the other draft classes/FA/etc. 

 

Daniel Jones ain’t the guy. I don’t care what kinda scheme they run. Dak sucks. McCarthy calling plays is a step backwards. 
 

And teams who lose the Superbowl have a  historically difficult time making the playoffs. I’m still not sold on JHurts being the next football legend. Let’s see him do it a couple more times. And let DCs adjust to his skill set. 
 

Our defense should be formidable. If Howell can get us in the endzone, we will have a chance to win a lot of games. All these low predictions are ridiculous given our roster. 
 

The grass ain’t always greener. When we get solid QB play from Howell, people will be reminded of how good this current roster really is.