2024-25 SEASON REVIEW (and team needs)

Alright, here's the thing, hindsight is 20/20. You're going to see a lot of predictions that feel awful, yet you have to keep in mind what the expectations were for that team. And in this case, the Browns were coming off a playoff berth in the previous season, so having them sit at below .500 was risky for me. Obviously not risky enough however, as the Browns were by far one of the worst teams in the league.

I think only one thumbs down here is warranted though, as many had this team returning to the playoffs, as I thought they weren't good enough to, but I did also miss by 5 games. Not the hottest of starts, but let's see if we can turn it around.

I am a little conflicted on how I should grade the Bengals/myself here. On one hand, I was slightly more down on them this season than others, and it panned out to my favor. However, I said it would be because of Burrow's health, when in reality, it was the defense. The Bengals had a historically bad defense in 2024, and one of the best offenses.

Now, I did only miss the record by a game, so I do feel that my overall team prediction was accurate, although a very hard swing and a miss on the player to watch.

The biggest question with the Steelers going into the season was 'is the QB situation going to work?' and to that I would answer a confident yes. Justin Fields showed a lot of flashes as a starting quarterback, and played turnover free football. On the other hand, Wilson also played well and expanded the offense more. What exactly went wrong for the Steelers?

Well, the Steelers tend to have a ceiling that they can't quite climb past. they lack the offensive mindset that will actually help them get over any sort of hump, and when you are in the AFC loaded with elite QB's/Offenses, It is going to be a long road. As for 2024, essentially more of the same, but with far better QB play. Just that the offense and defense faltered late in the season.

And Here, I hit the record perfect. I had the Ravens going 12-5, and they went 12-5. To dive further into what I said, I think what this team was lacking was experience. They added Derrick Henry, and replinished their weaknesses in the offseason, and I wouldn't quite say that the roster was top 3, but it certainly was an excellent roster, especially defense down the stretch.

While I don't feel as good about getting this prediction right, as they were in the AFC Championship the previous season and everyone knew they were going to be good, I'm still going go take my victories when I get them.

Once again, I am in pretty good shape here. To be honest, in retrospect, giving the Patriots who had a bottom 5 roster, and going into their first season without Belicheck, 6 projected wins was a little bit of wishful thinking. Overall I liked a lot of their pieces on defense and Drake Maye, and those guys showed up.

Now while they still struggled a tad more than I thought they did, they also had a decently tough schedule, and with the right off-season moves, they definitely adjust.

This is almost starting to become a yearly tradition at this point. Last year, I was down on the Jets, when everyone had high hopes, then they were bad. Sure, you can chalk it up to Rodgers missing the whole year, but for everyone to buy into them again the next season? A little crazy. Objectively, this team didn't have the right coach or QB at the helm, so it would've been diffiult to even surpass the Bills in their division.

I am still going to give myself a single thumbs up for this one, as a good portion of people were high on the Jets this season, and they stunk even with Rodgers playing.

This is one I am pretty proud of. The Dolphins were the number 1 offense in the leage the year prior by a large margin. To me, it wasn't random to have them at below .500. The defense was injured going into the season, and they were pretty middle of the pack. I thought they would be worse, but I also thought that the offense would only lose a little bit of a beat, but I couldn't have anticipated Tyreek Hill and other key skill players declining.

However, it wasn't too shocking to see Tua spend some time on the shelf this season. In my article going into the year, I praised Tua, and how I thought that he would be the reason they would win games. I can't say he was great, but when he was hurt, this was one of the worst teams in the league.

Going into the season, many didn't have the Bills winning the division. Whether it was due to them thinking the Dolphins or Jets would win it, or if they really thought the Bills declined that much, many didn't have them on top. I may have missed the win total by 2, but honestly, what I wrote, "my ceiling for this team was 13 wins and a shot at hoisting the Lombardi." 

This team was a few misplays and iffy calls from at least being in the Superbowl, so I would say that they played up to their full potential, even with not the strongest of rosters. As for next year, I don't know if they will be as dominant, although i'm pretty sure Josh Allen still will be.

I'll admit, massive miss here. If I could give myself 3 thumbs down, I would. I projected the Broncos would be the worst team record-wise in the AFC, and instead they made the playoffs. Where did I go wrong? I think for the most part, I underestimated the roster. On paper, the previous seasons roster compared to the 2024 roster, you would say that they declined, but they didn't. The offensive line played extremely well, and the defense was arguably the best in the league.

I was also hesitant on Bo Nix. I still am, don't get me wrong, but he was at the very least serviceable this season. This is by far my biggest miss in the AFC.

Whenever writing about the Raiders last off-season, I kept it short and sweet. I said that this team is obviously 'tanking' due to their QB situation, yet there is enough talent on the roster for them to win a handful of games. 

So, I'll keep it brief here as well, and that was on the money. This team is geared up to draft a QB or acquire one, and with a new coach, maybe we could start to see the promise of the rebuild.

Going into the season, I was higher on the Chargers because I thought that they had their QB and head coach completely figured out, and there was enough talent on the roster for them to be competitive.

Well, I was right, but also not to the extent of success that they had this season. Despite their flop in the postseason, this team was consistent, and felt like they were a few key pieces away on offense from being elite. This team is a good offseason away from being a genuine threat to the Chiefs in the AFC West.

The Chiefs won 15 games in 2024. Did they play like a 15 win team all season? That's not what we're asking here. Did they play more like an 11 win team? Sure, but they also went to the Super Bowl. This was one of the strangest seaasons I've ever witnessed from an NFL team ever. But to put it simply, they over-achieved, and it showed in the Super Bowl. Out-matched in every way, plus they showed no clutch factor that they 'had' all season.

So i'm on the fence here with how to grade it. I'm between one and two thumbs down. On one hand, I missed their win total by 4 games, but on the other hand, they played like an 11 win team.

It's hard to take too much credit for this, considering the rise of the Texans in the AFC South, and the losing streak they ended the previous season on. It was kind of hard to pinpoint why they struggled so hard, other than just a really weak defense. I don't think Lawrence nor many of the offensive pieces were bad.

Nonetheless, they are back to being a team with a top draft choice, yet I think there is plenty to be hopeful about for Jacksonville, and I would consider a decent bounce back next season.

This is also one of the biggest swings and misses I had this season. Realistically, going into the season, I thought the Titans had a solid roster on paper. A solid group of skill position players, and some good players on defense. On paper, the defense was pretty solid, however, they had the worst QB situation in the league.

It was clear that they were gambling on Will Levis, trying to see if he was the QB of the future, and they got their answer very, very quick. But, now they possess the number 1 overall pick, and could get their QB of the future.

Another relatively decent swing and miss here. I had the Colts taking the next step and being a wild card team, and while they were on the fringe of a wlid card berth, they still under-achieved. It isn't all to blame, but the stints in Anthony Richardson's development are a massive reason why.

As for their future, it once again relies on Anthony Richardson's development. If they could've made the most of his abilities, which they still can.

Look on one hand, I had them winning the division, and they did that, and I only missed their win total by 3 games. Why the thumbs down? Because this may have been my pick to win it all in 2024, and they went 10-7.

The main reason for that is the regression by CJ Stroud. Sure, the offensive line wasn't great this season, but the roster around him was nothing short of great, and if he could've taken a step forward rather than backwards, then who knows. As of now, the roster has some holes, and you're hoping Stroud can bounce back.

This was a really, really bad prediction, by far the worst one I had for this season. I mean, I missed by 10 games, do I need to explain any further?

Why did I miss so many though? Well, I didn't think their defense would be as dominant as they were, and the QB play out of Darnold was terrific during the regular season. Truly a masterpiece of coaching. As for this team's future, as long as they have O'Connell, they will be just fine.

The Bears were a very hyped up team in 2024, and for obvious reasons. Caleb, new weapons on offense, to go with a solid defense? The only problem, was the head coach. The team was mishandled and miscoached, causing a disaster of a season.

I'm giving myself only one thumbs down here because I still had this team missing the playoffs, and giving them a slight break considering they were a pretty good 5-12.

Right on the money. I said that the Packers were a very high floor, low ceiling team, and they played like it. They were very solid, won the games that they should've, but when it came to the playoffs, they didn't feel like much of a threat. Was it easy to predict the Packers being good? Sure, but in a pre-season that had a lot of hype around the Bears and Lions, they managed to slip between the cracks.

I didn't hit too many predictions right on the money, so I will take this.

The Lions had one of the most fun seasons, yet with a very sad ending in the playoffs. Look, I had them winning the division, like many did, but I was hesitant to go past 12 wins considering their schedule. However, this was one elite team, just plagued by injuries on defense.

I am giving myself one thumbs up, because I still had them as the one seed and division winner, with 12 plus wins.

This is one I really can't give myself too much credit for. The Giants were going to be bad, then they were bad.

I gave myself two thumbs up because I missed the win total by 1. Other than that, I am still amazed that Daboll still has his job.

In my defense, no one had the Commanders winning 12 games. If you did, you're lying. A rookie QB with a new head coach and a lot of uncertainty on defense? I thought 5 was a solid prediction, even maybe a tad generous.

Obviously, I was very, very wrong. Everyone knows that Daniels was the reason they were good. We'll see how they adjust their defense and skill positions in the offseason, but I'd imagine many players want to play with Daniels.

Objectively, the Dak Prescott injury was massive in setting this team back in 2024. However, they put up a little more of a fight than you would initially think, almost to the point where if they had Dak, 11 wins would've been more than reasonable.

In terms of them competing in the future, I think they absolutely can. If they add say Jeanty, then it will be nasty on offense, with a solid defense. I'm not crazy about the HC hire, but I think their roster will be good enough for them to be a middle of the road team at worst.

The Eagles were coming off an absolute masterpiece of an offseason, and honestly, should've been my super bowl pick because of it.  I think one thumbs up is good here, especially considering I had only missed by 2 games, and still had them winning the division.

As for this offseason, it's not like they have a laundry list of needs. However, they will still find a way to knock it out of the park.

So I'll explain why there's neither here. I missed their win total by 2 games, however, it is an awkward difference in record. Technically, I was close, and it was still a slightly a below .500 team.

However, this team performed pretty well at times this season, and were considered a wild card threat for most of the season. I don't think this prediction is worthy of a thumbs down, considering I barely missed by 2, but it certainly isn't a thumbs up.

You might be wondering why this is a one thumbs up. Well, They were exactly as I described: A fringe wild card team, but will ultimately not good enough to make it. I missed the game margin by 2, which is pretty close, plus in both predictions they narrowly miss the playoffs.

As for the future for this team, As much as I hate to say it, Geno is not the answer. I've said it for a couple years now. Sure, he's not the biggest issue on the club right now, but he is also keeping them from their potential full potential.

This is my other money pick. Giving the Rams the right amount of respect is something I can be prideful about. They were sort of in this limbo, where going into the season, you could've said they were gonna be a 6 win team, or you could've had them being a dark horse superbowl contender.

Now, I didn't pick them to win the division and they did, but that is because of a result of how the division layed out. I think the QB situation is going to be very fascinating this offseason.

Look, I think you can definitely chalk this season up to injuries... or can you? They weren't quite as injured as you may remember, and even CMC being out, they still had a good rushing back in Jordan Mason. I think the reality is also that they just simply underperformed, and sort of gave up on the season a little bit.

I think regardless of the why, I still missed by a lot, and deserve two thumbs down.

This one is also on the money. As much as I love Bryce Young, expectations were still low for this team, where as I can't take much credit for this one as well.

As for the core of this team, I think they are improving for the first time in awhile. I like what they are building a little bit, and although I think they are still a year or two out, I think there is some room for some great improvement.

Well, The emotional and overall state of an entire franchise compared from right after week 2 to right now, is nothing short of crazy. The future of this franchise is shaky at best, unless Rattler can play some good ball.

As for my prediction, I said they would be slightly under .500, and they were a not bottom of the league team. As for the future, it's that of a bottom of the league team.

This may seem like a thumbs down, but keep in mind two things. I missed by 2, and this is the NFC South, where teams have and will win the disvision with about 9 wins. The Bucs played a tad better than their record showed, playing key games with key injuries.

This team's offseason outlook will be to create a better defense for sure, to pair with their elite run game.

The Falcons were dissapointing. They were expected to win this easy division, but they shot themselves in the foot by paying Kirk Cousins. Now, they weren't horrible, in fact, they did almost win the division. Now, I think it's still a thumbs down, but I didn't give them a high win total in the first place.

As for their future, they just need some talent on defense, and see what Penix can do on offense. They've invested a lot of early picks on offense, I'd like to see the opposite this year.

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