So we rolled out our 2012 NFL Playoff Predictions on NFL.com. Marc Sessler, Dan Hanzus and myself all pitched in. You can view our takes here, along with 13 other writers on the site.
Here were some big-picture thoughts:
- The New England Patriots were the only team unanimously picked to win a division. I was the lone writer to pick the Seattle Seahawks to win the NFC West. (Sessler gets shotgun on the bandwagon, picking them as a wild card.) Ian Rapoport was the only writer not to pick the Houston Texans in the AFC South, opting instead for the Tennessee Titans.
- More writers picked the Buffalo Bills to make the playoffs (4) than the New York Jets (3). Hanzus and I were two of the Jets backers. I can't believe I just wrote that. (My logic: The defense should actually be better. I trusted their defense more than any aspect of the other wild card teams. More importantly, the AFC East schedule is ridiculously easy. The North and West look tougher out of division.)
- Eleven writers picked the Green Bay Packers to win the NFC North. Five picked the Chicago Bears. No one took the Detroit Lions.
- The San Diego Chargers were surprisingly as popular a pick (3 votes) in the AFC West as the Denver Broncos. The Kansas City Chiefs got the most picks with 10.
- I was one of only two writers to put the Carolina Panthers in the playoffs. Only three writers had the Dallas Cowboys making the postseason.
- These picks were way too vanilla. This happens every year. A consensus forms, and it's never remotely right. We know that the season is going to be more unpredictable than we can possibly imagine, and yet no one even tries.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.