Ahead of the start of the 2024 season, which gets kicked off with Kansas City Chiefs vs Baltimore Ravens at 5:20 pm PT, I thought I’d do something I have never done before: Predict the entire NFL season. Now I am no oracle and I expect this to fall well short of perfection I think it’s a fun exercise to do as it gets you thinking about how the league as a whole has changed since the end of last year.

We’ll start with the most important to the Stormcloud community;

Chargers Schedule:

The Chargers season hinges on two areas of the field in my eyes; the corner group being good enough to allow the pass rush enough time to get home and the wide receivers being able to generate enough separation that teams can’t just sit in man all day long. My projection of 10 wins reflects those two areas being a success but not triumph. I think Palmer will shock people outside of the fan base and I think Hayden Hurst should be garnering more attention as a reliable inside the hashes target for Justin Herbert to find. The corners I am less confident in as I am not a big fan of Asante Samuel Jr., however I was impressed with Deane Leonard in preseason so if one of the starters does not pan out the way Minter and his staff are hoping then at least there is serviceable depth behind them.

A pair of standout projected results to discuss;

I think the Cardinals will be a lot tougher to play than everyone else seems to believe, Gannon is a fantastic defensive playcaller and his OC, Drew Pretzing, is highly underappreciated. Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr will be a force to deal with and with a solid running game they’ll surprise a few teams this year including our Bolts.

In juxtaposition to Arizona’s rise I believe the winning window is closing for the Bengals and they’re headed for a fall-off this season. I still respect what Burrow can do in a clean pocket even with his recent injuries but with Ja’marr Chase in a contract dispute and Tee Higgins in his final year in Cincinnati I think it won’t take much for the wheels to fall off plus I have some serious questions about their ability to last the season with holes all over their depth chart on both sides of the ball.

Division winners:

My biggest calls here; The Cowboys, Dolphins and Bengals to miss the playoffs plus the Lions and 49ers to NOT win their divisions seem to go against general consensus. I think the Cowboys and Dolphins both failed to improve this off-season and both teams were flat-track bullies last year playing some absolute cake walks at key points in the season. Their respective schedules are a lot tougher this year so expect to see a regression.

The Lions are everyone’s favorite team to be the NFC’s representative in the Super Bowl but in my eyes they have way too much hope pinned on the development of Jameson Williams becoming a reliable target to take coverage away from the middle of the field. I loved his Alabama tape but what he’s shown so far doesn’t reflect that. I wasn’t a fan of what the 49ers did this off-season either, Ricky Pearsall was a reach to me and they failed to bolster their secondary which was a weakness at times in the playoffs. I still think both teams will win playoff games but I have them being wildcard entries.

Additionally I really like what the Falcons have done since getting rid of Arthur Smith, they have the pieces in place to win an incredibly weak division and with those 5 easy wins (at minimum) in place they are in position to get a good playoff seeding.

To make the playoffs:

I will talk about the Colts later on in this article but I really like what they did in the first two rounds of the draft with Latu and Mitchell being inserted into an already solid team that is strong on both sides of the line so count me in especially in a division with the Jags and Titans handing them some wins.

I see the NFC West being one of the strongest divisions in football after both the AFC and NFC North. So the last NFC wildcard spot will be a battle between the third teams in each division; the Bears and the Seahawks, I could see both getting in but I am not a believer in the coaches in Chicago whilst I think Macdonald and Grub is a brilliant combination to give Seattle the slight edge.

Wildcard weekend:

I will begrudgingly pay my respects to Roger Goodell here; adding the 7th team has turned what used to be a weekend of chalk favorite wins into one that is genuinely fun for the neutral. I see three upset wins here with both 5th seeds beating the worst division winners and the Rams shocking their division rivals. Stafford and that receiving group are a force to be reckoned with when they’re all on the field.

Divisional Round:

Absolutely no shocks to see those four AFC teams in this spot with the Texans (everyone’s sexy pick for a deep playoff run) returning to the place of their loss last season but this time earning the win. C.J. Stroud’s 2023 season is the only rookie QB performance I would put up there with Herbert’s and the team he won a playoff game only got better on both sides of the ball so it’ll be hard to stop his Texans side especially as they somehow retained Bobby Slowik to call Stroud’s plays.

Championship Round:

I relent to say it but I think the Chiefs are a far better team now then 7 months ago when they won a Super Bowl… their second in a row. They have actual viable receivers who are both lightening fast and an improved offensive line and better depth all over the field. It is a scary prospect to think of an improved version of that defense too, I hate how much I love Spags.

Super Bowl:

Okay now I get to finally say it; The Packers are going to win it all. They were a few moments away from beating an imperious looking 49ers team and they went into overkill mode to fix the spots they lacked talent at; adding 6 potential starters to the back half of their defense is a smart way to support the youngest offense in football. I also really like the addition of Josh Jacobs. However, as always, their season hinges upon the play of their quarterback and if have you already peaked below you’ll see that I have Jordan Love as the MVP. Anytime you have an offense where absolutely no one can tell you which of their 6+ weapons will lead the team in targets but you know they’ll probably all have 800+ yards, that’s a potent weapon in anyone’s hands but in Matt LaFleur’s control? That’s potentially devastating.

Regular Season Awards:

I won’t ramble on about all of the predictions above but Maxx Crosby will be on the field forever as he never takes snaps off and the Raiders’ offense will be going 3’N’out so often they won’t ever need to reheat Minshew’s cup of coffee on the sideline. Wilkins will draw attention and Maxx will feast… after his blank on Sunday at the hands of Joe Alt. The Steichen and Richardson picks go hand in hand but I believe the best QB whisperer in the league will get the best out of the Cam Newton regen from Florida.

Jesse Minter to earn Assistant Coach of the Year is currently 150/1 with Betfair (+15000 to my American friends)…. needless to say but I am all in on this! If you have read what I have written about Minter’s brand of defense you’ll know just how good this price is. Get on it now before they get 5 sacks against the Raiders!

Right enough from me, let’s hear the bold and wacky takes that you all have to offer! The wilder, the better; I want to be shocked!