We did it. We actually made it to Week 1.
Football is fully in the air and all of the collegiate action we enjoyed this past weekend is plenty proof of it. Monday marked only the very first day of September and we have already been treated to plenty of incredible games and matchups. The NFL hasnāt even started!
That will all change on Thursday when the Dallas Cowboys visit the Philadelphia Eagles. Hopefully you are prepared and your fantasy team has been drafted before it all falls apart.
As we get set for the season to fully begin it is time for divisional predictions here at The Skinny Post. We, Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa, have famously never been wrong before and never will be in the future.
Who wins the NFC East and AFC East?
You have probably not heard this enough so I will save youā¦ nobody ever repeats as a division champion within the NFC East.
The Philadelphia Eagles were the last team to do it and did so over 20 years ago. This is the type of statistic that doesnāt mean anything, but itās a large enough sample size that it kind of means something. Iām going to go out on a limb here and say that they find a way to do it again, but let the record show I qualified it!
On the AFC side of things I donāt know how this thing belongs to anyone but Buffalo. They have turned into the gold standard there and life has to be very difficult for the Jets and Dolphins as the transfer of power went right from the Patriots to the Bills.
Yeah Iām all-in on the Eagles to repeat as champs of the NFC East. I think the Commanders push them, but I actually believe Washington takes a step back from what I feel was an outlier season in 2024. The Eagles are just too complete, in my opinion
As for the AFC East, how do you bet against the Bills? They managed to win the division last season when many felt Josh Allen had a very weak receiver room. That group is now better and Allen is coming off an MVP season that saw him realize how much of āthat guyā he really is. When I look around the division, I donāt see any of the Dolphins, Jets, or Patriots coming close.
Who wins the NFC North and AFC North?
I think the NFC North is going to the most competitive division in the NFL this year. The Bears are almost certainly going to be better this year and I donāt see how the Lions, Vikings, or Packers take much of a step back. I think they all finish the year .500 or better. Now as for who I think ends up on top? I think the Vikings end up taking the crown as long as the teamās big free agents perform up to their contracts and quarterback J.J. McCarthy is merely a fine-to-good leader of the offense.
AFC North is always a tough one. I think itās open for the Bengals and Ravens with the Steelers as a dark horse assuming Rodgers plays more like his Packers form than the Jets version. If I had to choose one, Iām going Ravens unless the Bengals can consistently score 35 per game to overcome their defensive shortcomings that seem to still be there despite a full offseason of opportunities to fix them.
The Green Bay Packers just changed this conversation with their trade for Micah Parsons and it is hard to bet against them. I fully acknowledge that.
Ultimately I am pretty confident that someone other than the Detroit Lions wins this division, but I am not ready to say that I think itās Green Bay. If I had to power-rank all things within the division that I trust the most I think it would be Kevin OāConnellā¦ so I am taking the Vikings.
Over on the AFC side I know that the Ravens have been putting on a clinic for forever now, but it really does seem like the Bengals are out to prove a point. Iām going to believe in Joe Burrow and his friends and feel pretty good about it.
Who wins the NFC South and AFC South?
These are by far the most boring divisions in the NFL in my opinion, but Michaelās doppelganger Baker Mayfield plays in one of them so they will get some nice words from me.
I do think that Tampa finds a way to win this thing again which will be quite dull, but home playoff games are always moderately cool. When it comes to the AFC South it sort of feels like Houston has had a real chance going for a while now, but I am zigging away from them and to the double-position direction of Travis Hunter.
Give me the Jaguars. Give me Trevor Lawrence. Give me Liam Cohen. Duval.
I think the Bucs end up taking the division yet again with that high-powered offense in a division that is lacking an elite defense to stop them. I do not foresee some massive leap for Michael Penix and the Falcons while both the Saints and Panthers will be middling offensively, themselves.
Looking at the AFC South, I donāt know how anyone thinks this wouldnāt be the Texansā division to win for the third-consecutive season. I predict a bounceback season for Stroud in Year 3 with the defense once again being one of the best units in the NFL. I love their young talent mixed with impact veterans.
Who wins the NFC West and AFC West?
I say the same thing every offseason when someone asks me to predict the winner of the AFC West: This is the Chiefsā division until someone outright takes it from them. I donāt know if it will be the Chargers or Broncos first, but those are the two with the best chances of doing it in 2025. But for now, the Chiefs are king and theyāre my pick. No matter how much worse their roster looks compared to some of their recent Super Bowl teams, Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes find a way. It will look different on the field, but the win-loss record remains sterling.
Now the NFC West will be a fun one to watch this year. The young talent on the Rams are intriguing, especially Jared Verse and that defense. Offensively, they added Davante Adams which I believe is one of the best FA fits this offseason.
The Niners have a TON of defensive turnover from a year ago and are now without Deebo Samuel on offense. Iām not sold on them being in the upper tier of teams this year. Seattle was the only 10-win team in 2024 not to make the playoffs. I do think they repeat as a 10-win team and make the postseason this year, but will that also be enough to win the division?
I think the Rams take it again this year.
For my last answer I am going to start on the AFC side of things and be incredibly chalk. Until the Chiefs are not who they are they are going to get my benefit of the doubt. Lock it up.
The NFC West really fascinates me, though. I have said all offseason that I believe we are sort of forgetting how dominant the 49ers were before everything broke, and on the other side of the coin I think we tend to overlook anything that happens with the Rams (positive or negative) since nobody really cares about them. Matthew Stafford has had this insane back thing going on and it has gotten just a teeny bit of attention.
Iām going somewhere else, though! I think the Cardinals have sneakily built their team back from bottom to top in an efficient manner and have long stood by Kyler Murray as someone who has the potential to get it all done. AZ, baby.
