Deshaun Watson is the biggest reason Houston is the pick for a three-peat, despite big offensive change minus DeAndre Hopkins and a defense breaking down behind J.J. This year, there's room for only one playoff team from this weak division. This division is tricky, given the Texans have won two consecutive titles but have seen the two runners-up, the Colts and the Texans, go farther in the playoffs in both years. Cincinnati also invested to improve the defense, but that will remain its key liability. 1 overall pick, to build on his historic passing season at LSU in an offense tailored to his strengths. The Bengals will compete harder with Joe Burrow to make this division arguably the best in the NFL. Defensively, with Myles Garrett up front and an improved secondary, Cleveland can find enough complementary success. Kevin Stefanski's offensive scheming and influence will be huge on Baker Mayfield, and so will having a more diverse, balanced and explosive attack. Watch for the Browns becoming a third playoff representative from this division, even with a. Even with some running back, wide receiver and tight end personnel issues to iron out, they should feel confident they can be at least two games better with Big Ben to make the playoffs another time with Mike Tomlin. The Steelers somehow managed to get to 8-8 without Ben Roethlisberger because of their elite defense led by T.J. They won't as easily win the division, but the Ravens should enjoy a comfortable repeat. They also continued reshuffling the defense to an improved front seven. Dobbins and got more explosive options for their passing game, which is good extra support for reigning MVP dual-threat QB Lamar Jackson. They reinforced their running game with J.K. The Ravens lost only vital player in the offseason, right guard Marshal Yanda to retirement. So why are the Jets dropping to last? Do you really believe Adam Gase running the offense his way with his guys will yield much better results with Sam Darnold? Do you really trust anything they have defensively under Gregg Williams without Jamal Adams? Darnold might save some face for them, but they're really not that good overall in relation to the other three. Getting out of last place is just as important. Brian Flores' team might have to take a one-game step back, however, before turning the corner to realize a brighter future. The Dolphins spent a lot of money trying to accelerate their rebuild and have tabbed Tua Tagovailoa as their near-future franchise quarterback. Belichick's new coaching mission will be helping his team to grind out enough wins to simply make the playoffs. But this is Bill Belichick, who still has a deep secondary to lift the defense and the blockers and running backs to pound out enough complementary offense. The Patriots, beyond Brady, also lost a lot defensively and still don't know whether Jarrett Stidham or Cam Newton will replace Brady.

Everything is right in front of them to elevate from wild-card status and dethrone the Tom Brady-less Patriots. When examining both sides of the ball, the Bills have the few questions of any roster in the division. The Bills rewarded Sean McDermott for strong work with a defensive-minded team and there are now bigger offensive expectations with quarterback Josh Allen going into his third season with a new No. WEEK 1 NFL PICKS: Straight up | Against the spread NFL predictions 2020 Here's how Sporting News predicts the order of finish in all eight NFL divisions and the playoff results leading up to a final, official Super Bowl pick. 1 seed carrying the home-field edge also getting the advantage of a bye, the division and wild-card races will get a little wilder.

There's one more curve ball - the league expanding the playoff field from 12 teams to 14, with 7 teams each from the AFC and NFC instead of 6. What that adds up to is a fine blend of familiar and fresh teams making the tournament for Super Bowl 55. For the predictors, there is less second-guessing. The 2020 NFL season might bring more predictability to the unpredictably of predicting the final records for every team in the league. In an unusual year of change with a virtual offseason and a vacant preseason, in some ways, it's more difficult to project what teams will make the playoffs and what teams won't.īut then again, in a year when the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing the NFL to adapt to new procedures, it might favor the teams who are most established with the best ability to adjust.

Nfl standings last year