#1 Arizona Cardinals:
2020 record = 8-8-0
2021 record prediction = 10-7-0
The Arizona Cardinals were a fringe playoff team during the 2020 football season, and their young talent has only gotten better over the past year. They acquired J.J. Watt and Malcolm Butler following their 8-8 season, which helps their already young and talented defense. Watt and Butler are going to be veteran leaders in the locker room for young, core players on the Cardinals defense. Buddha Baker, Isaiah Simmons, and the rookie Zaven Collins will be key pieces for the Cardinals defense and need to show improvement in order for them to reach the playoffs this season. However, I think they will be able to show growth as Baker and Simmons both showed flashes of greatness during the 2020 campaign. Not only do they have young talent, they also have Chandler Jones returning from an injury that made him miss a majority of last year’s season. In addition to their promising defense, the Arizona offense is looking frightening as they have Kyler Murray, DeAndre Hopkins and Christian Kirk returning for another season. I expect Murray to have a fantastic season, especially since he is coming in fully healthy and the team added A.J. Green to the roster to bolster their receiving core. I expect the Cardinals to make the playoffs as an NFC Wild Card because their division is one of the most competitive in the NFC.
#2 Atlanta Falcons:
2020 record = 4-12-0
2021 record prediction = 4-13-0
The Atlanta Falcons are in complete rebuilding mode, which was evident when they decided to trade star wide receiver Julio Jones to the Tennessee Titans for one 2nd round and one fourth round draft pick. Although they added notable tight end, Kyle Pitts, to their roster from the 2021 NFL Draft, they made no other moves to help improve upon their 4-12 season. Outside of the draft, the only notable acquisition would be running back Mike Davis who ran for 642 yards and 6 touchdowns with the Carolina Panthers last season. Apart from that, they acquired wide receiver Tajae Sharpe from the Tennessee Titans, but he did not even have a catch last year in the four games he played. Matt Ryan is 36 years old and is likely nearing the end of his career, and there is not a noteworthy backup on the Falcons roster. He will not be able to perform much better than last year due to the absence of Julio Jones, and it will likely take Kyle Pitts a couple years to truly become a notable tight end in the NFL. Ultimately, it will take the Falcons at least a few years to get back to the Super Bowl team they were just 4 to 5 years ago, so do not expect them to win more than five games this season.
#3 Baltimore Ravens
2020 record:11-5-0
2021 record prediction: 12-5-0
The Baltimore Ravens was a 5 seed wild card team from the AFC last season because the AFC North had three teams with 11+ wins. That division is likely to be the most competitive in the AFC again this season because the Baltimore Ravens will likely only improve alongside the Cleveland Browns. With Lamar Jackson getting another year of experience, including his first career playoff win, I think Jackson will play with much more confidence than in recent memory. Not only will Jackson improve, but he has numerous weapons around him that will continue to develop a rapport with the quarterback: Mark Andrews (TE), Marquis Brown (WR), (Sammy Watkins (WR), J.K. Dobbins (RB). All of the aforementioned players showed that they were quality players over the past year or two, and they will only improve upon what they accomplished last season. The last half of the schedule is definitely more difficult for the Ravens, so I expect them to get out to an 8-2 or 9-1 start, depending on the result of their game against the Indianapolis Colts. Although I think the Cleveland Browns will win the division due to discrepancy in schedule difficulty, the Ravens will be a frightening team to play in the Wild Card Round of the AFC Playoffs. I see them landing a top wild card seed, much like last year and possibly going on a legendary playoff run.
#4 Buffalo Bills
2020 record: 13-3-0
2021 record prediction: 14-3-0
The Buffalo Bills surprised the entire NFL with their breakout season last year. They seemingly came out of nowhere, and Josh Allen performed well above expectations. He nearly doubled his passing touchdown total from 2019 to 2020, and I do not see him regressing going into his fourth year in the league, especially with the major acquisition of wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders. Allen already had a great relationship with wide receiver Stefon Diggs , but adding another lethal weapon to their wide receiving corp will bolster the prominent passing game from last season. Although their division contains the improving Miami Dolphins and renowned New England Patriots, the Buffalo Bills looked unstoppable last year… until they ran into the Kansas City Chiefs. I see them handily winning the AFC East for the second straight season and making a deep run into the playoffs.
#5 Carolina Panthers:
2020 record: 5-11-0
2021 record prediction: 6-11-0
The Carolina Panthers are in the same boat as the Atlanta Falcons, and they have been this way since their 2017-2018 playoff appearance. Since that season, the organization has been in complete disarray and have yet to win half of their games in any of the past three seasons. Cam Newton departed to New England, and the Panthers have still not found a definite franchise quarterback to replace him. For now, they have acquired Sam Darnold to see if a change of scenery will help him emerge into a good starting quarterback in the NFL. However, if the Darnold experiment does not work, the Panthers will be back to square one and in need of a capable quarterback to head their offense. The return of Christian McCaffrey is some of the only good news for the Panthers upcoming season, as he missed all but three of their games in the 2020 campaign. He was a major reason the Panthers have been able to win any games over the past few seasons, and he is a much needed weapon for Darnold due to the lack of firepower in the wide receiving corps. If McCaffrey can stay healthy all season, I can see the Panthers winning an extra game or two, but they need to acquire some notable players in the next couple of drafts and free agency windows to cement themselves as a good team in the NFL.
#6 Chicago Bears:
2020 record: 8-8-0
2021 record prediction: 6-11-0
After looking at the Chicago Bears schedule, it was difficult to find six games where they had a decent chance of coming away with a victory. However, they do have a few games where they should be favorites to win, and they have a relatively bad division excluding the Green Bay Packers. The Bears defense is capable of being a playoff team with names like Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, Robert Quinn, and Eddie Jackson. Upon looking at the offense the Bears are putting onto the field, you have to wonder how they are going to consistently score points. Andy Dalton as the starting quarterback is already a question mark, but then you look at the weapons he is throwing to, and the only proven receiver is Allen Robinson II. In all fairness, the Bears have drafted Justin Fields, who looked really good in his first preseason action. However, we have to remember that it is a preseason game against most, if not all, backups in the game. Fields definitely has a promising career ahead of him, but the Bears are likely going to stick with Dalton for the first five or six games of the year. Additionally, if Fields sees decent playing time this year, I think he will have a lot of areas to improve, much like Lamar Jackson. After his first two the three years, I think the Bears will be back on track to playoff conversations.
#7 Cincinnati Bengals
2020 record: 4-11-1
2021 record prediction: 5-12-0
Joe Burrow looked like a franchise quarterback for the Bengals last year, but he did get injured at the halfway mark of the season. If the offensive line can protect Burrow for the entire season, then I can see the Bengals improving by a couple of wins this season. However, that is asking a lot from their offensive line because Burrow was taking big hits every other time he dropped back to pass. With the addition of rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase from LSU, I expect Joe Burrow to have a great season and put up top 10 quarterback numbers. In addition to the talented rookie, Burrow has a few other weapons in C.J. Uzomah, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, and Joe Mixon. All of these weapons have showed why they deserve to be in the starting lineup and can all reach a pro bowl level this year. One major issue with the Bengals is their lackluster defense, they finished in the bottom ⅓ of team defense during the 2020 season. If their defense is able to finish just a few spots better than last year, then I can see the Bengals taking a step forward and getting closer to a respectable record sooner rather than later.
#8 Cleveland Browns:
2020 record: 11-5-0
2021 record prediction: 13-4-0
The Cleveland Browns clinched their first playoff appearance since 2002, while simultaneously winning their first playoff game since 1994 during the 2020 postseason. Looking ahead to the 2021 regular season, I am picking the Cleveland Browns to win the AFC North by a game or two ahead of the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns are a phenomenal team with the best running back tandem in the entire NFL. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt complement each other extremely well because Chubb brings power and strength, while Hunt brings the breakaway speed most defenses struggle to contain. If one of those running backs is having a bad game, the team can always rely on the other back to get the job done and then some. Not only do they have a great running game, but Baker Mayfield has just gotten more and more confidence over the course of his young NFL career, and that will only continue after leading the team to a playoff win. With weapons like Odell Beckham Jr., Rashard Higgins, Jarvis Landry, Austin Hooper, and even Donovan Peoples-Jones. They have major depth at the wide receiver position, which will help Mayfield immensely. Not only is their offense great, but they have great players on defense to help make plays and keep them in games when needed. Myles Garrett is the most notable of these players, but they also added a struggling Jadaveon Clowney to try and resurrect career that was once full of promise. They also have Denzel Ward in the secondary to try and lead the unit behind Garret and Clowney. The Browns have a chance to win six or more in a row after possibly losing the season opener to the Kansas City Chiefs, which will be needed as the Ravens can go on a similar run.