Reviewing My 2021 NFL Predictions

Photo credit: nfl.com

All 272 games for the 2021 NFL Season have concluded, meaning it’s time to see which teams I hit on, and which teams I absolutely whiffed on this NFL Season.

Before the season, I predicted every team’s record for the 2021 season based on their over-under win totals in Vegas. You can check out my season predictions here. In that article, the bold next to each teams’ record is the over/under set for each team for the 2021 season. “O” meant I thought the team will go over their projected win total. “U” meant I thought the team will go below their projected win total. A star (*) meant those would be teams I would bet on if I was a betting man.

In this article, a check mark emoji (✔️) means I correctly predicted the teams’ over/under for the 2021 season. A red X emoji (❌) means I was wrong on the teams’ over/under for the season. If the team is bolded, that means they were on my best bets list for the season.

AFC East:

1. Bills (O/U: 11–0) ❌
2. Patriots (O/U: 9.5- O) ✔️
3. Dolphins (O/U: 9.5- U) ✔️
4. Jets (O/U: 6- U) ✔️

AFC West:

1. Chiefs (O/U: 12.5- O) ❌
2. Chargers (O/U: 9.5- U) ✔️
3. Raiders (O/U: 7- PUSH) ❌
4. Broncos O/U: 8.5- U ✔️

AFC North:

1. Ravens (O/U: 10.5- O) ❌
2. Browns (O/U: 10.5- O) ❌
3. Steelers (O/U: 8.5- U) ❌
4. Bengals (O/U: 6.5- U) ❌

AFC South:

1. Titans (O/U: 9.5- O) ✔️
2. Colts (O/U: 9.5- U) ✔️
3. Jaguars (O/U: 6.5- U) ✔️
4. Texans (O/U: 4- U) ❌

AFC TOTAL:

8/16 teams I predicted correctly

3/7 on best bets

AFC Analysis:

My biggest whiff of the season was by far the AFC North. The Browns and Ravens may be two of, if not, THE two most disappointing teams of the season while the Bengals may have been the biggest surprise. The Raiders surprised me with their resilience in the AFC West, especially after all the tragedy they went through in the middle of the season. Kansas City and Buffalo weren’t as dominate as I thought they would be, but they still each won their divisions.

NFC East:

1. Cowboys (O/U: 9.5- U) ❌
2. Eagles (O/U: 6.5- O) ✔️
3. Washington O/U: 8- U) ✔️
4. Giants O/U: 7- U) ✔️

NFC West:

1. Seahawks (O/U: 9.5- O) ❌
2. Niners (O/U: 10- O) ❌
3. Cardinals (O/U: 8.5- O) ✔️
4. Rams (O/U: 10.5- O) ✔️

NFC North:

1. Packers (O/U: 10.5- O) ✔️
2. Vikings (O/U: 9- U) ✔️
3. Bears (O/U: 7.5- U) ✔️
4. Lions O/U: 5- U) ✔️

NFC South:

1. Bucs (O/U: 11.5- O) ✔️
2. Saints (O/U: 9- PUSH) ✔️
3. Panthers (O/U: 7.5- O) ❌
4. Falcons (O/U: 7.5- U) ✔️

NFC:

12/16

4/5 best bets

NFC Analysis:

The National Football Conference was a lot easier to predict and had a lot more clarity than the American Football Conference. Before the season, I predicted all four of the NFC West teams would make the postseason, with the Cowboys, Packers and Bucs following along as division winners. Swapping Seattle with Philadelphia, I got every other playoff team correct, including hitting on all four NFC North teams.

I laughed when Vegas set the Philadelphia O/U at 6.5, Washington at 8 and the Giants at 7. Jalen Hurts was always the second-best quarterback in the division behind Dak Prescott. Philly was an easy shoe-in for second, though I didn’t think Dallas would be as good defensively as they were.

TOTAL:

20/32 correct predictions (63%)

7/12 best bets (58%).

TOTAL Analysis:

As stated above, the AFC was a lot harder to predict than the NFC. The AFC North took my numbers down, but that might have had more to do with Lamar Jackson’s injury. Overall, I thought I did not do too bad for the 2021 NFL Season, and I’m looking forward to the 2022 Season Prediction column.