The NFL released its schedule for the 2018 season. ESPN took a look at it and projected the won-lost record for every team in the NFL. If you read the article in its entirety, you might notice it seems optimistic for pretty much every team. There's a reason for that. If you combine the won-lost records for all NFL teams you'll notice their total record is 66 games over .500. With that in mind, I'll give my projections of NFL teams won-lost records for 2018. My projections will, generally speaking, be more conservative than ESPN. I'll do the NFC East and North in this piece.
ESPN seems too optimistic
The folks at ESPN seem very optimistic about the teams in the NFC East. The Cowboys are pegged at 10 wins. I don't think so. Questions about Dak Prescott surfaced last season, Dez Bryant is gone and Ezekiel Elliott's off-field activities could be an issue. Last season, The Cowboys went nine-seven. Look for them to regress a bit this season. I'm going with an 8-8 record. As for the New York Giants, ESPN has them going eight-eight. That's a real puzzler for me. The Giants are coming off a three-13 season. The team was in disarray and Eli Manning is winding his career down. The Giants figure to get an impact player with the second pick in the draft. On the basis of that, I have them going four-12 next season.
The Eagles are tagged at 11-five this season. That's about where I have them, too. Carson Wentz had an MVP caliber season in 2017 and Nick Foiles is probably the best backup in the league. The Eagles should be the class of the East. Next up, the Washington Redskins. ESPN projects the Redskins to go 8-8. I tend to agree with that.
Alex Smith figures to be an upgrade over Kirk Cousins, but I don't think it will lead to a big improvement over last year's seven-nine season.
The NFC North
In the NFC North, ESPN has the Bears at seven-nine. I'll buy that. The Bears have provided quarterback, Mitch Trubisky with tools and improvement should come. ESPN has Detroit coming in at nine-seven, the same as last season.
I'll go with eight-eight as I still don't see a Lions running game.
The Packers are slotted at 11-five by ESPN. That's achievable if Aaron Rodgers stays healthy. No team in the NFL is more dependent on their quarterback than the Pack. If Rodgers is moderately healthy, I look for them to get 10 wins. The Vikings were the class of the division last season, going 13-three. ESPN has them regressing to 10-six. I think that's about right. Case Keenum ha ad great season in 2017. He's gone to Denver and will be replaced by free agent signing, Kirk Cousins. If Cousins plays as well in 2018 as Keenum did in 2017, I'll be surprised. The Vikings have the look of a 10 win team to me also. I'm sure the folks at ESPN will be glad to hear that.
In looking at the NFC East and NFC North, ESPN seems to be bullish on the idea of the NFC East getting better. I really don't see the Giants, in particular, winning eight games.
