How Is NFC Going To Look Like In 2018?

   NFC is loaded with great teams. Which NFC team is going to finish first in 2018? Who is going to finish last? Who is going to the playoffs? Which team will go through a rough losing streak? Who is going to dominate the regular season? Who will make it to the Super Bowl from NFC? So many players, teams, coaches, rivalries, and storylines to cover from just the National Football Conference this year. It is not easy to predict standings for an NFL season, but every year experts try to do their best predictions. I will give the best details possible for what NFC is going to look like in 2018. In this post, we will discuss the division champs, four-teams in contention for the wild-card round, and two teams that will finish at the very bottom of the NFC.

2018 Division Champions.

  In 2017, the Philadelphia Eagles finished first place, Minnesota Vikings finished second, Los Angeles Rams finished third, and the New Orleans Saints finished fourth. All four teams won their respective divisions with at least eleven wins. This year, they are in a prime position to repeat as division champs. Of the four teams, I see the Rams losing their division to Seattle Seahawks and the Vikings losing NFC North to the Green Bay Packers. Let's go over these four teams.

Philadephia Eagles - At the start of the 2017 season, no one predicted the Eagles to win the NFC East division, let alone the Super Bowl. They finished the regular season as the number one seed with a 13-3 record. This year, I don't see the Eagles finishing as the number one seed. Not saying that the team isn't going to be as good as it was in 2017, but they are going to face much tougher competition this year. In 2016, the Dallas Cowboys surprised the world by winning the NFC Conference with a 13-3 record. Since they completed the 2016 season as the number one seed, they had to face four-division champs in 2017. Cowboys win totals went down by four and they ended up missing the playoffs in 2017. So the Eagles this year are going to face four teams who finished 2017 with the best record in their respective division. I see them losing to the Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints, LA Rams, and maybe to the New York Giants once. Philadelphia Eagles will go 11-5 and win their division for the second-straight year.

Minnesota Vikings - In a way, the Vikings surprised a lot of people last year too. Most of us expected Aaron Rodgers and the Packers to win the NFC North, but Rodgers suffered a season-ending injury to the Vikings before mid-way into the season. Then, Vikings with their third-string quarterback and backup running back went all the way to the NFC Title game as the number two seed. They finished the regular season with a 13-3 record. This year for the 2018 season, the Vikings are going to get their running back Dalvin Cook back. Almost all of their defensive studs from last year will return. The Vikings are also going to have their top two receivers, Stephon Diggs and Adam Theilen from last year. Finally, they have added a top-ten quarterback in Kirk Cousins who is going to be an upgrade over Case Keenum from last year. All of this is pointing that the Vikings are going to do better in 2018 than they did in 2017. However, Aaron Rodgers of the Packers won't miss the entire season again and the Vikings will face several good teams. The Minnesota Vikings will lose to Eagles, Packers, Patriots, Seahawks, and maybe to the Lions once. Like the Eagles, I have them going 11-5 and winning their division again.

New Orleans Saints - I have always respected what Drew Brees brings to the table, but three to four years prior to last season, New Orleans Saints were doing their best to force Brees to retire. That changed last year when they added Alvin Kamara and Marshawn Lattimore to their roster. I thought that the Atlanta Falcons will repeat as NFC South Champs last season since I didn't see anyone in their division as a threat. The Saints after 0-2 start took over NFC as one of the top three teams with an eight-game winning streak. The Saints finished 2017 season with an 11-5 record and as the fourth seed. This year, I believe they are going to win the NFC as they are going to have the best record in the conference. How are they going to win their conference in 2018? With their solid defense, a great duo of running backs who now have one full year of experience of playing together, and with Drew Brees who is still playing at an elite-level, the Saints will dominate NFC. I see the Saints lose only two games this year. One to Atlanta Falcons and the other to the Pittsburgh Steelers. New Orleans Saints will go 14-2 and they will finish as the top seed in NFC.

Los Angeles Rams - I don't feel strongly about the Rams winning in the playoffs this upcoming season. In 2017, they finished the regular season as the third seed with an 11-5 record. Yes, Jared Goff took a major step forward in year two as a quarterback. Todd Gurley ran wild and scored nineteen times. The offense is loaded with playmakers and defense got stronger with the additions of Aqib Talib, Marcus Peters, and Ndamankug Suh. But there is a great chance that the Rams might get overconfident by the second half of the season. Players on the Rams' roster, especially on defense, can cause trouble in the locker room when things don't go their way. Plus, the Rams' coach, Sean McVay is too young of a coach to deal with players like Talib, Peters, and Suh. On paper, the Rams have the most talented team in the league, but they are going to face issues in terms of chemistry and discipline. Even though I don't feel good about the Rams for this upcoming season, I still say they win their division simply because it isn't that strong. San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals are talented, but both are young teams, and the Seattle Seahawks don't have enough firepower to dethrone the Rams as the NFC West Champs. The Rams will lose to Seahawks once, Vikings, Saints, Packers, Chargers, and maybe to the Broncos. Rams will go 10-6 and barely win their division.

Four teams with a shot to get into the postseason.

  The Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks, and the New York Giants have a shot to sneak into the postseason from the NFC side. Of the four, I give the Packers and the Falcons the best chance to secure the wild-card spots. Why the Packers and the Falcons have the best shot to make it to the playoffs as wild-cards? Because both of them have two of the top five quarterbacks in the league. Aaron Rodgers is coming off an injury that had him miss nine games last year. Rodgers' Packers missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 2008. We know he is not going to let his Packers miss the playoffs in back to back seasons. Also with this year's draft, the Green Bay Packers completely re-tooled their secondary that has struggled in the last few seasons. Atlanta Falcons, on the other hand, have a roster full of good players on both sides of the ball. Matt Ryan in 2016 won the league MVP and led his Falcons all the way to the Super Bowl. Last year, Ryan and Falcons took a step back, yet they still made it to the postseason as the sixth seed. This year for the new campaign, they still have all of their key players from the last two seasons, and they have added another explosive weapon in Calvin Ridley. With so many weapons on offense and a fast-defense led by Dan Quinn, I could see the Falcons win at least ten games and make it to the playoffs for the third straight year.

  Seattle Seahawks are a good team, still have Russell Wilson as their quarterback and Pete Carroll as their head coach, but they are not the same as they were before the start of the 2017 season. They have several B-plus players on their roster and could make a run for the playoffs in 2018, but their locker room isn't the same. Seahawks lost key players on defense this past offseason, as Michael Bennett was traded to the Eagles and Richard Sherman signed with the rival San Francisco 49ers. Those two guys were getting old, but they can still play at a high enough level and their leadership is going to be missed by other players on defense. Also, Earl Thomas doesn't seem to be fully committed to playing for Seahawks in 2018, as he is looking to get a contract with more money. I still give the Seahawks an outside chance to get into the postseason.

  New York Football Giants! One of the most storied franchises in the NFL, with four Super Bowl trophies in their collection. The Giants missed the playoffs last year, but they had one of those offseasons that brings them right back into playoff contention. They have a loaded roster, got their star running back in the draft with Saquan Barkley, have a new coach with Pat Shurmur, have a new general manager with Dave Gettleman, and everything just feels good with the team. However, whenever the Giants give their fans hope of making it to the postseason and going deep in it, they end up going in the opposite direction. On paper, the Giants look like they are in a good shape, but they could turn everything upside down with bad plays and decisions throughout the regular season. If they keep their head straight and play the game the right way, they'll be able to beat out the Packers or the Falcons for the final spot in the playoffs in NFC.

Two teams who will finish at the bottom of the conference.

Washington Redskins and the Arizona Cardinals are going to have one of their worst years in a long time. The Redskins have no running game, have easily the weakest receiving core in the NFL with their main guy Jordan Reed always hurt, and their defense is suspect. Besides all that, the Redskins let go of their quarterback Kirk Cousins and brought in Alex Smith, who is older and will be playing on his third-team. Usually, great quarterbacks don't get passed on by two teams, especially when those quarterbacks could play for three to four more years. Cousins, on the other hand, was wanted by several teams. He decided to go to a team that is 'a quarterback away' from winning the Super Bowl. Redskins' fans cannot be happy with the management letting go of a top-ten quarterback and settling for a quarterback who never lived up to his expectations.

  The Arizona Cardinals made a splash in this year's draft by trading up to number ten overall to select quarterback Josh Rosen. While that was a good move and the Cardinals are certainly not as bad as the Redskins, they will most likely have a rookie quarterback under center. Yes, the Cardinals have the ageless Larry Fitzgerald, but who else is going to catch passes besides him? The defense has some good players, but it isn't as good as it was in 2015 or 2016. Bruce Arians isn't there anymore, as he retired as a head coach. So the Cards have a new head coach, a new quarterback, a receiving core led by a 34-year old, and they have David Johnson who is returning after missing all of 2017. How in the world are they going to compete against the LA Rams? I don't think the Cardinals could beat the San Francisco 49ers even once this season. I'm thinking of a 3-13 or a 4-12 season for the Cardinals. Yes, nobody wants to finish at the very bottom with a rookie quarterback who they drafted early in the first-round, but remember the great Peyton Manning and Indianapolis Colts went 3-13 in their first year, and then they started winning a whole lot of football games. The Cardinals will just need to get through this 2018 season!