Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I recall that some magazines picked the 1984 Vikings to win the NFC Central, and they finished in last place with Les Steckel as the head coach.

I had a tradition for years of predicting records for all teams in the preseason then going back to see how close I was at the end of the year. I had some bad ones for sure.

Worst was for sure thinking the 2005 Texans would break through and make the playoffs and surprise everyone by winning a game or two to make it to the Divisional or possibly AFCCG. I did not have internet or cable to follow along with roster moves that offseason and was basing that on what they looked like in 2004, had no idea that they got rid of Jamie Sharper and Aaron Glenn both. Not only did that not happen but they were historically one of the worst teams in NFL history that year. I always believed they tanked that season and lost on purpose, there was no reason for them to be that bad. They were clearly looking to get back into the top 5 of the next year's draft(Bush/Leinart/Vince Young draft). In doing so I felt/and still feel that they really hurt the whole culture of the team for a long time, easily set the franchise back a full 5 years. The 2004 team was a very fun team that looked like they had a bright future, they had some great games, the near 21 point OT comeback loss to Minnesota, the 2 wins over Tennessee(came back from 21-3 in one), and Carr looked like he was on track to be good when they got off to 4-3 start.

Maybe even worse I predicted the Mike Munchak Titans to be really good one of those years possibly make it to the Super Bowl. Eek.

Game Plan magazine seemed to be real high on the Colts in 1972. They said that they could win with Molly Putz at QB because of their defense. They also weren't really in love that much with the Dolphins. They said that they only had an adequate pass rush, and that they will struggle with their zone defenses because the field will be wider with the hash marks moved in.

The 2008 Lions that went 0-16? I thought they were going to win the NFC North

CSKreager wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2026 12:57 pm The 2008 Lions that went 0-16? I thought they were going to win the NFC North

I guess the 1-7 finish in '07 should have been the main thing to look at, but the 6-2 start I thought was a sign of good things to come at the time. I dismissed the collapse, simply, as growing pains/taking another step back before further success the following year. We were wrong.

RRMarshall wrote: ↑Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:31 pm I recall the Giants went 6-0 during the preseason in 1973 and since the Jets were coming off Joe Namath's last healthy full season (1972) there were those publications touting an all NY Super Bowl. BTW Namath got hurt in Week #2 and the 'Jints when 1-12-1. [Insert Debbie Downer music here...[]

Yeah, Jets being above-500 most of '72 along with the G-men actually finishing above-500 had to have produced some Big Apple optimism going into 1973.

And the KNICKS just having done what they did...(and have a chance to do again for the first time since)...

I didn’t make any predictions at the time myself, but I’m sure I would’ve been far off for the 2017 Jaguars; probably the team that performed the best relative to what I most likely would’ve thought of them at the time.