The Underrated

WAY TO EARLY NFL PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS FOR 2024

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Duration:: 24m
Broadcast on:: 20 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

What's up North America, I'm Dave Dibaugh and welcome to the underrated pod. Now on today's show I'm going to attempt to pull a David Blaine on my hat. I'm going to try to do the impossible which is actually predict who's actually going to win the NFC divisions as well as the AFC divisions as well as attempt to tell you who the wild car teams are going to be in the National Football League. Now I'm doing all of this as preseason training camps actually open up, literally they are opening up this weekend. Now I will do a follow up show to this you know post preseason before the start of the actual season but I wanted to go ahead and sort of get this show out of the door at this point because when you look at all of the off season changes it is pretty interesting to sort of take a look at this. Now as we know basically half of the teams half of the 14 teams that made the playoffs last year will probably not make the playoffs this year that's what the statistics tell us. That being said I'm going to do my best to take that in mind as we go on a trip around your national football league we are going to begin in the NFC East and North America. Now America's team, not the Green Bay Packers, America's team, the Dallas Cowboys. Do any of you actually believe that the Dallas Cowboys are not actually going to win this division? Ultimately when you look at what the Cowboys have done and not done this off season you might come to the conclusion that the Cowboys organization is a bit of a mess. But the reality is Stephen Jones and Mike McCarthy as strangers it might sound actually work really well together. We also know that Dak Prescott if he can remain healthy is certainly one of the best regular season quarterbacks in the national football league. He could have easily won last year's most valuable player. We are not here to talk about what happened in the playoffs. We are just simply here to predict who's going to win these divisions. I do not see the Philadelphia Eagles with that head coach and the Saquan Barkley edition actually really paying off in the way the Philadelphia Eagles fans hope it does. In terms of the New York Giants, come on, don't you like me believe that Brian Dayball is probably going to be one of the first coaches fired this particular season. Look, I don't wish a coach is to be fired, but Dayball is extremely lucky to still have another shot at this and what kind of legitimate shot does he really have. Let's be fair with Daniel Jones as his starting quarterback. I don't want to get into the defensive side of the ball with the New York Giants right now. It's too frustrating, especially if you are a Giants fan. In terms of the Washington commanders single handedly the worst name for a football team in the history of football, one of the first things I've been saying they needed to do with the new ownership group was change that name. Now I know that they are actually working on it. Despite all of that, they actually have, I think, maybe the second best roster in this division. They certainly have one of the strongest wide receiver corps and I believe they are the sleeper team to potentially pull off a wild card spot this particular year, which would mean that the Philadelphia Eagles don't make it. So I'm going to go ahead and call the long shot right now, which is the Washington commanders actually finding a way to, if you will, make the playoffs as a wild card. In terms of the best division in football, the NFC North, look, Detroit is strong and as long as Jared Goff stays healthy and doesn't regress back to the way he played with the Los Angeles Rams in the last year he was there, I think the Detroit Lions are set up for success. This roster, this program, this head coach and this general manager have all done a superb job with the Detroit Lions. Who would have ever thought that the Detroit Lions were literally like a player to away from going to the Super Bowl last year? You've got to give Dan Campbell the benefit of the doubt that he will have no major drop off with this Detroit Lions team this upcoming season. In terms of the Jordan Love Green Bay Packers, it's hard for me to imagine that Jordan Love is as good as he looked during that 10 game stretch towards the end of last season. I did see him in the playoffs, I thought he played pretty good. I think Jordan Love might be the real deal. Assuming that's true, the Green Bay Packers should absolutely make things interesting for the Detroit Lions, though I don't think they'll take down the Lions in the division this year, but to the wild card round go the Green Bay Packers. Now the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears. If JJ McCarthy is the week five starter of this Minnesota Viking team, then they will have an outside chance at making the playoffs. Now here's my logic on this. Another words, if JJ McCarthy is good enough to actually make and take over for San Clemente's very own Sam Darnold, it will be a good sign for the Minnesota Vikings. It will mean that the Minnesota Vikings draft pick that they moved up a spot and gave up a bunch for is actually a legitimate starting quarterback in the national football league in his rookie season. If he doesn't start the majority of the games for the Minnesota Vikings, do any of you really believe that Sam Darnold is going to lead the Vikings to the Promised Land? The Promised Land in this particular case would be a playoff berth. And I think the answer to that question is no. Now in terms of the Chicago Bears, and it's just so hard to believe that you might actually theoretically have two or three teams coming out of the NFC North actually making the playoffs because they're going to beat each other up. But on paper, on paper, the Chicago Bears have arguably maybe the top three or four roster in the entire national football league. On both sides of the ball, God, and take a look at this roster on paper. Look at Keenan Allen being the number two wide receiver for this team. Look at their draft picks. Look at how confident Caleb Williams actually looks. Look, I'm telling you the Chicago Bears team absolutely should make the playoffs, you know, the big difference between like a Los Angeles Rams team and Sean McVay and the Chicago Bears where the Bears have more talent. The Rams have less talent. The Rams have a KG veteran quarterback in Stafford. But the coaching matters in the national football league. And I think Ebert Flus is in way over his head, you know, despite being in over his head, the Chicago Bears should still hover at least around 500. If Sean McVay were the head coach of this team, I would absolutely be predicting they would go to the playoffs this year. Ebert Flus has to get this right for the Chicago Bears this particular season. All right. Moving on to the NFC South and and you look at the NFC South and you say Tampa, New Orleans, Atlanta, and the only thing that you can really confidently say is David Tepper is the best owner in the national football league to watch hands down. If they just put a camera on David Tepper throughout those home games of the Carolina Panthers, that right there is priceless television. I am telling you the anger that comes out of his head. You can literally feel the heat come through the TV. That is how mad David Tepper gets. Look, he'll get mad once again this year. The team should be a little bit better, but they're still not even going to come close to scratching the surface of what he wants them to be someday. Look, New Orleans, Tampa, Atlanta, like you can pick any of these teams. I'm just going to go ahead and take Kirk Cousins and Atlanta to actually win this division with with Baker Mayfield right behind him in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I have very little faith in the New Orleans Saints at this point. I think this is Atlanta's division to win. It's Atlanta's division to lose. Baker Mayfield is a gamer. I'm sure the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be in the mix for a playoff spot as well. And finally, the NFC West. Now there have been some people in the media actually going out on a limb and taking Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay as the team that's actually going to win the NFC West. This particular year outside of some major breakdown in Brock Purdy's performance. And I'm not talking about Brandon, I you being or not being on the team outside of some major Brock Purdy breakdown. The San Francisco 49ers on both sides of the ball are still a Super Bowl caliber team. I do not see Kyle Shanahan not handling his business this particular year. Let's just put it that way. San Francisco should win this division with the Rams two to three games below it. In terms of Seattle, who knows at this point, new regime in place. We will have to see really what happens with Seattle. If you're a Seattle Seahawks man, certainly you've got to say in Geno, we trust. And if Geno doesn't deliver better than he did last season, the Seattle Seahawks are not going to be anywhere close to a playoff spot this particular year. They're going to be hanging out with the Arizona Cardinals. So when you look at this, you've got your division winners. San Francisco, Atlanta, Detroit and Dallas. In terms of the wildcard teams, you've got Green Bay. You should have Chicago, Chicago should be in the playoffs this year, which leaves us with one remaining spot. And either you go with Tampa or you go with the Rams. I'm just going to go ahead and take Tampa Bay. I just love Baker Mayfield's game at this point. All right, quickly moving on North America to the AFC, which I feel like is easier to understand than the NFC this particular year. We're going to begin in the AFC East and the debate about the New England Patriots is over right now. What you hope to see if your Patriots fan is a team that might be able to get you into the playoffs next season, not this season. Those are the New York Jets and Aaron Rogers. Come on. Seriously, it's a train wreck waiting to happen. You know, Robert Sala is not going to be the head coach of this New York Jets team come the off season. You know, there's going to be all sorts of New York football jets drama that entails. Some of it will be Rogers related. Some of it won't be. But at the end of the day, the roster's not nearly as good as they think it is, which is a problem. The Jets will not come close to sniffing the playoffs this year. In terms of the division winner, look, a lot of people will take Buffalo. Very few people are going to take Miami. I'm going to go ahead and take Miami. I'm going to assume that the Dolphins take care of two in his contract. They have more talent on this dolphins team right now. Hands down more talent across the board than the Buffalo Bills do. The Buffalo Bills, quite frankly, are in the midst of a minor rebuild. Look, they've got a good coaching staff and they understand how to play and use Josh Allen. As much as I love Josh Allen, I just don't think Josh Allen is Superman enough to actually win the division for Buffalo. However, I do think that the Buffalo Bills will make a comeback towards the second half of the season and you'll see them in the playoffs as a wild card. The AFC North is extremely interesting. You know, it's interesting, if you will, as the NFC North. Look, Joe Burroughs coming back, assuming Joe Burroughs 100% healthy, yeah, they went 9 and 8 last year without Joe Burrough there. They went 9 and 8 last year without Joe Burrough there. Look, I know T Higgins is upset about his contract and I know that it's going to be a bit of a, if you will, a cloud over his head throughout the season. But I still don't see it really affecting Cincinnati to that point. At the end of the day, the best team in this division is still the Baltimore Ravens. The Baltimore Ravens are a lot like the Dallas Cowboys. You can pretty much count on them having a really good regular season, can't you? Look, I expect the Ravens to win the division. I expect Cincinnati to find its way into a wild card spot in terms of the Cleveland Browns. You can't help but laugh. It's the Cleveland Browns. They've finished 11 and 6 after giving to Sean Watts and all that money to Sean Watson. Really, if you think about it, one of the oddest people in the national football league. Is there anybody otter in the national football league than you can think of when it comes to a player than to Sean Watson? Like you watch Deshawn Watson play and you think, why would you give him all that money? You watch Deshawn Watson. This is the post Houston Texans Deshawn Watson. This isn't Deshawn Watson in his prime. His prime is passed and by at this point. And yet they're on the hook for all of that money. Look, Kevin Stafansky, he is a wizard. He got that team to 11 and 6 last year and a big reason he was able to do that is because Deshawn Watson wasn't playing. This is an enigma season for the Cleveland Browns. I have to tell you, terms of the Pittsburgh Steelers. You just know Mike Tomlin's going to have him near and around 500 despite the fact that Russell Wilson is their starting quarterback. Do any of you really believe Russell Wilson is going to resurrect his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers? If the Pittsburgh Steelers did, they would have certainly given him a longer term contract than the one year deal they did give him. Look, at the end of the day, Russell Wilson is a rent a quarterback at this point. Maybe one of the better rent a quarterbacks in the league, but his decision making has slowed down significantly over the past couple of years, which is why he has not been as successful as he was early in his career. Look, the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line, I'm telling you, still not where it needs to be. They're offensive coordinator. I don't know. At the end of the day, there's going to be all sorts of questions and Mike Tomlin's still going to find a way to keep him in and around the playoffs. All right. Moving on to the AFC South, super quick on the AFC South. Look, how can you not be impressed by what the kid did with the Houston Texans? I am just saying from a quarterback perspective, the Houston Texans and that entire franchise are absolutely heading in the right direction. There should be no letdown with this Houston Texans team this year. There absolutely should be no letdown. I don't suspect we're going to see one either. I have them winning the division actually winning more games than they did last season. In terms of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Trevor Lawrence has to be one of the most overrated quarterbacks in the national football league in quite some time. Yes, he got himself a $200 and what $55 million contract for those of you that have been following the underrated the underrated for a while, you know, my belief on Trevor Lawrence. It's not that I don't think he has all the talent in the world. It's not that I don't think he can't be one of the top quarterbacks in the national football league. I question whether or not he's willing to put in the work and I'm not just talking about the work on the field. A lot of what happens in the national football league and a lot of the reasons some of these quarterbacks who don't have the best arms in the world, Tom Brady didn't have the best arm in the world. For a lot of the reasons those guys are so successful and Trevor Lawrence is in is they put in the work watching film and I'm not sure Trevor Lawrence loves it to the point that other quarterbacks who have significantly less talent than he does actually do so with Trevor Lawrence is my concern. At the end of the day, the Jacksonville Jaguars should still be in and around 500 as a football team. I don't know what to say about the Indianapolis Colts at this point. In terms of the Tennessee Titans look, they could be the worst team in the national football league or they could be a mediocre team in the national football league. Letting Mike Verable goes ultimately going to prove to be a huge mistake for the Tennessee Titans. I'm not sure what week they're going to figure that out, but it will certainly happen at some point. There will be somebody inside that front office that says, we probably shouldn't have let Verable go anyways, the Indianapolis Colts sort of rushed over it. We know that, you know, they've got their quarterback. I mean, he's not as good as a CJ Stroud is in with the Texans, but he is an interesting quarterback and it will be interesting to see. Plus Shane Stikens is a really good coach. So I wouldn't be surprised to see Indianapolis in and around the playoffs this year. First off of that, in terms of the AFC West, look, the Kansas City Chiefs and tell their dethroned as the champions of the AFC West, you'd be crazy not to pick them. I'm not going to sit here and try to tell you that the Denver Broncos are going to come out of nowhere and win the division or the Las Vegas Raiders are actually going to find a way to win this division. That's not going to happen and I don't think it will in any way come close to happening. Look, I like what the Raiders are attempting to do. I feel bad for Devontay Adams, at least from a perspective of wasting his talent away with an organization that has proven one thing over the last 10 years, it's good at getting to the playoffs occasionally. And the rest of the time, it's an utter train wreck in terms of Sean Payton and his coaching staff there with the Denver Broncos. I expect Sean Payton to put in another solid season with the Denver Broncos. Probably have him in and around 500 again. At the end of the day, they have one of the weaker teams on paper, and I'm not really sure they have enough talent actually. Like the Chicago Bears have all the talent in the world. If Sean Payton had that, I'd have a completely different story about this Denver Broncos team. But Sean Payton, like a Mike Tomlin is a very good coach and good at understanding what he has. I mean, they went eight and nine last year and they lost a football game where they gave up over 70 points at one point during the season. I am just saying Sean Payton will figure things out. So Kansas City wins the division coming in second and actually making the playoffs. Of course, will be Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers. Harbaugh is just that good of a coach. That's the reality. He's just that good of a coach. Look, if there was some other coach coaching this Los Angeles Charger team and they lost Keenan Allen and they lost a couple other key weapons, I would have a different perspective. But at the end of the day, sometimes you have to put your money down on the actual coach. And in this particular case, Harbaugh is that good as a head coach. Expect the Los Angeles Chargers, you know, if they're able to somehow go out and get Brandon Ayuk without giving up any of their rushes on the left side or the right side. In other words, you know, are they going to have to give up a Mac or are they going to have to give up somebody else to bring Ayuk in because the 49ers will hold whoever wants Ayuk hostage, not necessarily just for draft picks, but for players that can help them win the Super Bowl this year. That's the organization that the San Francisco 49ers have. But at the end of the day, when you look at it, come on. Do you really think that a Jim Harbaugh coach team is going to finish like with five wins this year, like they did last year, like, you know, the Chargers are going to be in the playoff mix. In fact, I'll just go out and say it. They will be in the playoffs division winners out of the AFC or Kansas City, Houston, Baltimore and Miami Buffalo and Los Angeles and Cincinnati are your wild card teams. All right, North America, those are my thoughts on the national football league. Now remember, I'm giving you these as training camp is opening up things. Things are going to change a lot between now that first preseason game and the last preseason game. Tell me what you think, North America, I want to hear from you dropping your comments. All right, if you haven't had a chance to subscribe yet, please go ahead and subscribe and of course, like this video, we are over 1 million views in the past 12 months. So thanks for all of your support for the underrated. I am Dave DeBaugh wishing you all a tremendous rest of your sports viewing day to the guitar refs. We go. You can listen to the underrated podcast with Dave DeBaugh presented by underrated.media. [MUSIC] . . (upbeat music)