The Guys' 2017 NFL Picks Revisited!
Shaun Cordingley
Oh boy.
We haven't done anything in the {SPORTS} section since I did this recap of our picks last year.
Sorry about that...we will take a look and see if there is something that we want to put in here on the more regular.....or....get rid of this section, maybe....we will see.
Anyway, longtime listeners of The Guys From Podcast know that Dave and I always make our NFL picks every year before the season starts, and then to make us feel terrible about them (and this year, I feel it is totally my turn to feel awful) I recap them here.
It was...a year. I have no idea what a catch is anymore, refereeing was all over the place (I mean come on now, even if it worked out well for you team (good year for mine) the referees were SO INCONSISTENT), and there were a lot (A LOT) of boring as hell games this year, but hey, they can't all be winners right?
Anyway, here is how we did:
AFC EAST: Patriots
Dave's Pick- Patriots
Shaun's Pick- Patriots
Is anyone surprised?
Then they don't watch NFL football.
AFC NORTH: Steelers
Dave's Pick- Steelers
Shaun's Pick- Steelers
--A weird year for the Steelers, even though they did end up dominating the division, they lost some strange games this year.
Plus I just want to give a shouout to Ryan Shazier, and I hope that his recovery is on-track and that he keeps getting better. We are not the same team without him, and that was a really, really scary day watching him get carted off.
AFC SOUTH: Jaguars
Dave's Pick: Titans
Shaun's Pick: Titans
-- Frankly I don't think anyone saw this one coming. We've all been talking about how we thought that the Jaguars would finally be better year after year, and this year they finally pulled it off to great effect. That defense was a beast, it's just too bad that they have such a crazy inconsistent quarterback or they could be in the Super Bowl.
AFC WEST: Chiefs
Dave's Pick: Radiers
Shaun's Pick: Raiders
--What a mess this division ended up being this year. A huge step back by the Raiders (leading to the return of Jon Gruden in the off season), the Broncos couldn't move the ball, the Chargers made noise late but ultimately fell short, and the Chiefs looked like the best team in the world, then the worst, then pretty OK...So....yay?
AFC Wildcard Teams: Titans & Bills
Dave's Picks: Chiefs & Texans
Shaun's Picks: Bengals & Chiefs
-- This is something of a draw for the two of us, we both had the West division winner in the playoffs (so that's nothing to sneeze at), and then we both took teams that ended up being inconsequential to the season as our second. I didn't hate Dave's pick, and I feel like it had a better shot if Watson had been able to stay healthy, and the Bengals were awful.
But don't worry everyone, Cincy re-signed Marvin Lewis, so it's going to be great next year.
So great.
However, shoutout to the Bills for finally ending their playoff drought....sure they did not look great in their (terrible) playoff game...but that's beside the point. It looks like there's finally some progress in Buffalo! Yay!
NFC EAST: Eagles
Dave's Pick: Cowboys
Shaun's Pick: Giants
--I promise to stop believing in the Giants next year. I cannot believe how shit they were this year, and it comes as literally no surprise considering how terrible their coach seemed to be. Dave's pick? I still don't think he was that crazy, injuries and suspensions altered their trajectory pretty heavily...and those Eagles. Man...that offense (that Ajayi trade!) and the defense is real, real good....super impressive year for them.
NFC NORTH: Vikings
Dave's Pick: Packers
Shaun's Pick: Packers
--I think we both did not feel like Minnesota had figured out their quarterback situation, but Keenum played like a beast all year, and I still think they have one of the best defenses of any team in the league this year (even though the Eagles made them look silly).
Plus, we said in the Podcast even, if Rodgers goes down, the Packers are done...and he did...and they were. C'est la vie.
NFC SOUTH: Saints
Dave's Pick: Buccaneers
Shaun's Pick: Falcons
--WHY DO YOU SCREW US AROUND NFC SOUTH?! EVERY YEAR WE TRY AND FIGURE YOU OUT AND YOU TREAT US LIKE THIS.
I have no idea...it was the best division in football this year. Somehow.
*sigh*
NFC WEST: Rams
Dave's Pick: Cardinals
Shaun's Pick: Seahawks
--Wow. The Rams on offense were a blast to watch again, and that was a lot of fun to see Los Angeles start to get behind (one of) their team(s). Dave was...well just crazy, and the Seahawks started to come apart a little bit this year, between injuries, and a weak offensive line...I just didn't see the Rams being this good....although....more on that later.
NFC WILDCARD: Falcons & Panthers
Dave's Picks: Seahawks & Falcons
Shaun's Picks: Cowboys & Buccaneers
--Well...Dave got the Falcons here (and I had them winning the division...so they did make the playoffs).
Look...it's the NFC South...What are we supposed to do? Next year none of them will win 8 games or some stupid shit just to throw us off again.
AFC Championship: Patriots v. Jaguars
Dave's Pick: Patriots v. Steelers
Shaun's Pick: Raiders v. Steelers
--I did say I picked the Raiders because "why not, it'd be different than last year" but I suppose I wasn't taking the referees into consideration, and should've just stuck with my original Patriots pick, but hey, Dave's homerism worked again, and mine didn't (because them Jaguars just beat us good in the divisional round).
NFC Championship: Vikings v. Eagles
Dave's Pick: Falcons v. Seahawks
Shaun's Pick: Giants v. Packers
--Ouch. At least one of Dave's teams made the playoffs....but I have to say I really liked the (on paper) championship we got...though the game itself was pretty terrible.
WORST AFC TEAM: Cleveland
Dave's Pick: Cleveland
Shaun's Pick: NY Jets
--I thought the Jets were going to be super bad, and Cleveland slightly-less bad.
Turns out the Jets were slightly less-bad and Cleveland could not have been worse.
Live and learn.
Don't bet against Cleveland fail Shaun....they're like the inverse PIXAR at the Oscars....
WORST NFC TEAM: Giants
Dave's Pick: 49ers
Shaun's Pick: 49ers
-- What a fall from grace the Giants made this year. It was ugly in New York this year...and that trade for Garappolo from New England looks like a genius move in San Francisco, because they really went on a bit of a tear at the end of the year to pull their record to....well progress. There's visible progress.
Biggest Surprise Team: Jaguars
Dave's Pick: Eagles
Shaun's Pick: Rams
--I feel like either of our picks could also be considered the biggest surprise, but to not call Jacksonville winning the division, making it to the AFC Championship, and being "not have all the games' bad-calls go against them, plus Tom Brady" away from making the Superbowl the biggest surprise. However Dave's pick did make the Superbowl (which is a surprise too), and
Biggest Disappointment: NY Giants
Dave's Pick: Bengals
Shaun's Pick: Colts
--I feel like the Giants are the biggest disappointment, because I don't think there was anyone (present company included) who thought they were going to be the worst team in the NFC...how is that not the biggest disappointment of the year?
I think Dave had some good points to make about the Bengals, and they were pretty disappointing this year (considering they usually, somehow, get to the playoffs), and I am still pretty proud of my call of the Colts being a disappointment. Not because I revel in their being poor (I'm relatively indifferent to the Colts), but because I was reading some previews at the beginning of the year that had them competing for the division. Come on now. No. Just No. Especially with Luck down all year.
Well there you go. We were both worse than last year I think (though I was much, much worse...thanks New York), but that's what is supposed to make the sport fun, right? Surprises.
Sweet, sweet surprises.
Hope you enjoy the Superbowl tomorrow; Dave says "Go Pats", and I Say "SUPERBOWL COMMERCIALS! and I hope that the referees don't decide the game either way...no index cards, no ten-minute "catch" reviews, no phantom PI's....two really good teams, let 'em play football?"
-S (@Shauncord)