Guaranteed!

Time to revisit my pre-season prediction post and see just how wrong I was!  I’m going to grade myself, giving out anywhere between +1 to -1 for each prediction.  This will be entirely arbitrary.  I’m hoping for a positive score, I guess…?

NFC East
Eagles 12 – 4 (+0.  The Eagles led the division most of the way and finished with 10 wins.  But they proved to be a paper tiger and never a real threat for the Super Bowl.)
Giants 7 – 9 (+1.  I was one game off but they proved to be an inconsistent, mediocre team… exactly as I expected.)
Cowboys 6 – 10 (-1.  12-4.  I still don’t think they’re that good, but they have a great O-line, revamped their offense around the running game, and the defense was solid enough to get them a division crown.)
Redskins 5 – 11 (+1.  4-12.  Putrid… just as expected.

NFC North
Packers 11 – 5 (+1.  They notched one more win than I anticipated but did take the division crown and proved to be one of the best teams in the league.  They aren’t without question marks — which is why I predicted them for ‘only’ 11 wins — but they are a legit contender.)
Bears 10 – 6 (-1.  Oy.  I was high on this Bears team.  And they were godawful.  I don’t even know how they won 5 games.  Bad on and off the field.  Good riddance.)
Lions 9 – 7 (+.5.  They notched 11 wins behind arguably the best defense in the league.  I didn’t expect that but I did expect them to be a quality team.)
Vikings 4 – 12 (+0.  This looked like a lock when they lost Peterson for the year.  But they rallied behind their rookie quarterback and a better-than-expected defense to post a respectable 7 wins.)

NFC South
Saints 13 – 3 (-1.  Ugh… if I could give less than -1, I would.  I guess I’ll lose more points on them based on my playoff predictions.  They utilized a ‘stars-and-scrubs’ approach but with the exception of Brees — whose numbers were depressed by the lack of production around him — everyone played like scrubs and they netted just 7 wins.  Whoops!)
Bucs 8 – 8 (-1.  Another big whiff.  At times they looked better than a 2-14 team that will be picking first in next year’s draft but… yea… I was wrong.)
Falcons 7 – 9 (+1.  They went 6-10 and showed that no rebound was in order since they simply aren’t that good of a team.”
Panthers 5 – 11 (-.5.  They were bad, which I predicted.  But they did slightly better, notching 7 wins — and a tie! — and, more importantly, somehow winning the division and making the playoffs.)

NFC West
Seahawks 11 – 5 (+.75.  I had planned on scoring points in half-point increments, but I feel like I missed on them a bit since I thought they’d regress.  They really didn’t and got themselves back to their Super Bowl-caliber level of play by the end of the year.  They paced the conference with 12 wins.)
49ers 9 – 7 (+.5.  They won 8 games and were a disappointment, as I predicted.  But they were a far bigger disappointment than I anticipated with injuries taking a toll on the field, the QB showing zero progress, and the off-field drama surrounding the couch ultimately dooming their season.)
Cardinals 7 – 9 (-1.  Wrong.  Wrong wrong wrong.  Despite starting an 18th string QB, they still won 11 games, made the playoffs, and were in contention for a bye right up until week 17.  I could point out that advanced stats support my opinion of them as an average team but games aren’t played on computers, nerds!)
Rams 3 – 13 (-.5.  Not a great team, but their 6 wins belie a team that was significantly better than I expected.  They’d have dominated the NFC South.)

Wildcard Round: Packers over 49ers; Seahawks over Bears
Divisional Round: Saints over Seahawks; Packers over Eagles
Championship Round: Saints over Packers

(-1.  I had just two NFC Playoff teams correct: Packers and Seahawks.  None of the match ups I predicted are even possible.  I do think it likely that the Packers play in the conference championship game, but I otherwise I was way off here.)

AFC East
Patriots 11 – 5 (+1.  Better overall than I expected, but there remain some question marks about this team.  Still, they won 12 games and earned a #1 seed.)
Dolphins 8 – 8 (+1.  I predicted 8-8 and they finished 8-8.  They were impressively average when it was all said and done.)
Jets 7 – 9 (-1.  I could probably make the case that I only deserve to lose half a point here, but given that this team was so bad they couldn’t even tank well — winning two of their four games in December and dropping several spots in the draft — I can’t take any credit for anything having to do with them.
Bills 2 – 14 (-1.  Another big whiff.  They far exceeded my expectations thanks in large part to Kyle Orton.  Yes, you read that sentence correctly.)

AFC North
Bengals 11 – 5 (+1. When they decided to kiss their feline sisters from Carolina en route to a tie, they mucked up all the numbers.  That said, they were within half a win of my prediction, had a winner-takes-all battle for the division in week 17, and still made the playoffs.)
Steelers 9 – 7 (+0.  They exceeded my prediction by two wins and, more importantly, made the playoffs as a division winner, locking up the 3-seed.)
Ravens 8 – 8 (+0.  They won 10 games and, more importantly, made the playoffs.  I’m still not sure they’re good.  This whole conference is hard to assess given that they got to play the cruddy NFC South.)
Browns 5 – 11 (+.5.  They were better than expected, winning 7 games, but still feel like a failure given how their season ended.  I don’t think they were ever a legit playoff contender — despite leading the division at times — and watching the Manziel experiment blow up in their face was fun.

AFC South
Texans 10 – 6 (+1.  They didn’t win the division or make the playoffs, but I correctly predicted that they’d rebound from a disastrous — and horribly unlucky — 2013 and contend with the big boys which is exactly what they did.  9-7 with their QB situation is a remarkable achievement.)
Colts 10 – 6 (+1.  They notched one more win and took the division, but they certainly seem like an overrated paper tiger which is exactly what I thought about them.)
Titans 8 – 8 (-1.  Nope.  This team sucked.  Hard.  I don’t know why I thought otherwise.  Moving on…)
Jaguars 5 – 11 (+.5.  Their on field play does suggest a team moving ever-so-slightly in the right direction.  But they remain in the cellar of the league, going just 3-13.)

AFC West
Broncos 13 – 3 (+1.  They’ve been shaky over the past month but still won 12 games, earned a 1st round bye, and posted the fourth best point differential in the league.  They aren’t the odds-on favorites I thought they’d be, but they’re right up there with the Patriots, Packers, and Seahawks as the creme-de-la-creme.)
Chargers 12 – 4 (+0.  At times, they looked like the under-the-radar juggernaut I thought they’d be.  But, ultimately, they won just 9 games and squandered away a chance at the playoffs by failing to beat Alex Smith’s backup.)
Chiefs 6 – 10 (+0.  They did slide backwards from last year, as I anticipated, but won 9 games and had an outside shot at the playoffs going into the final week.)
Raiders 4 – 12 (+1.  3-13.  Cruddy, just like anticipated.  Carr looks like he might have a future but, yea, the Raiders are going to be bad for a while.)

Wildcard Round: Chargers over Texans; Colts over Bengals
Divisional Round: Chargers over Broncos; Patriots over Colts
Championship Round: Patriots over Chargers

(+.5.  I got four out six playoff teams correct in this division.  And I still think the Patriots represent this conference in the Super Bowl.)

Super Bowl: Saints over Patriots

(-1.  Even if the Patriots make it, having my Super Bowl champ miss the playoffs means you have to take the lowest possible score.  For what it’s worth, I think the Seahawks repeat.)

Final tally: +1.75  Hey!  Not terrible!