We are weeks away from the start of the 2018 NFL season, which means we still have plenty of time to analyse predictions from the media.
CBS Sports analyst Pete Prisco recently put together his NFL predictions for every game and his Super Bowl champion. Sadly, San Francisco 49ers fans are not going to like his win total for the team at 7-9. This puts the 49ers out of the playoffs and gives the coveted wild card spots to the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints. To add to this, he has the Packers winning the Super Bowl.
The notable losses Prisco has for the 49ers are to the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle 30-23, the Arizona Cardinals in Arizona 31-21, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa Bay 28-20. None of which are outcomes or scores I agree with.
Seattle beating the 49ers is not out of the realm of possibility and I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened, but I don’t think either team is going to get past 24 points. And if it is, it’s the 49ers who do. The Seahawks don’t have anything in the secondary and the 49ers could theoretically feast on the patchwork backfield/offensive line.
Cardinals by ten is another score that makes no sense. The 49ers are favored in that road game, and while a Cardinals win wouldn’t be a complete shocker (they easily could surprise, even as bad they are) ten points seems like a lot for that squad.
And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Sorry, but no. The 49ers are not losing that game by eight points. I do think the travel may get to them and they could be surprised similar to the Cardinals, but not by eight points. The Buccaneers are going to be bad this year, and they’d be lucky if they lost by three points. The defensive interior is no joke, but the rest of the defense is atrocious on paper.
Beyond that, it’s the obvious losses; they lost to the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers (I think they’ll win, but the score of 27-23 makes perfect sense and very well could happen), Los Angeles Rams, etc.
Moving on, Prisco has the Packers winning the Super Bowl—that’s definitely not happening. The Packers are a strong team, but one that is rebuilding similar to the New Orleans Saints from a few years ago. They do not have the ammo available to make it to the Super Bowl. I do see them a tier ahead of the 49ers and making it to a divisional round, but not getting to the NFC Championship. Then again, I’ve been wrong before.
What do you think? Do you think this is a possible outcome?