2020-2021 NFL Season Predictions

Football is almost here! Just last month this seemed to be an almost impossibility, but I think we all have the NBA and NHL to thank for having successful seasons. MLB for the most part has had good success, just with some very questionable moments (lookup the Miami Marlins debacle).

Now, for this year, I am going to be doing my predictions a little different. I don't do the flashy, creative write up that Lance does (if you haven't read it yet, it is quite a trip in the beginning, click here). For this season I am going to leave my fate up to Madden 21 for all my predictions. That includes, but is not limited to, Season end predictions, weekly predictions, award projections and more. I know that this iteration of Madden has caught a lot of flak right from the get go, and rightfully so. But it still remains the only option at the moment (hurry up 2K), so we will just have to deal.

Now I will have some rules that I will abide by during the season, and I will outline them in this article, and for each subsequent article just as a reminder. For my season predictions, these are the rules:
- All-Madden difficulty
- 15 min quarters
- Injuries off
- Current rosters as of cut to 53 man rosters
- 5 simulations ran and averaged out

At the end of the season, we will look back at these predictions and see how well I/Madden did. For the weekly predictions, I will always use the most current roster of the week, and that will include the injuries that have occurred. I want these predictions to be an absolute best case scenario for all 32 teams. Now that we got that all squared away, let's dive into this thing.

AFC East

No Brady? Not a problem for the hooded Belichick, who leads his team to a 10-6 record buoyed by a resurgent Cam Newton attack we haven't seen since his rookie season.
The Jets and the Bills both made a strong push towards the end of the season, but could not get passed their early season sluggish start. Diggs made himself at home in Buffalo, posting a 76/1011/7 TD stat line. Le'Veon Bell gets himself back over the 1000 mark, going for 1044 yds and 6 scores on the ground.
The Miami Dolphins tap-in their rookie quarterback just after the first game, apparently not too thrilled with Fitz-magic throwing just over 50%, 200 yds, 2 touchdowns and an INT. Things worked out well for Tua though, throwing for over 3000 yds, 28 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions.

AFC North

After watching Patrick Mahomes win the Superbowl, Superbowl MVP, and lock on that record setting contract, Lamar Jackson set out to repeat those feats. The Madden cover himself threw for nearly 4000 yds, and tossed 33 scores to only 10 interceptions. Not bad for a running back (Note - this is a joke!).
Cleveland has finally decided to stop screwing around with everyone and play as good as they appear on paper, locking in a playoff berth for the first time since 2002. Nick Chubb carried the team on his back, rumbling ahead for over 1280 yds and found the end zone 16 times.
Was there ever a doubt the Joe Burrow would miss a beat, jumping from the best season as a college QB, to the NFL? He proved any doubters wrong, leading the Bengals to the postseason throwing for 3822 yds, 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Is this the end for Big Ben? After having already reportedly contemplated retiring after last season, missing the playoffs again for the third year in a row might just push him over the edge. Not to mention seeing the infusion of youth his division rivals have brought in the last few years has to be making him feel very old. All was not a total loss, as Conner and Smith-Schuster both eclipsed 1000 yds rushing and receiving, respectively.

AFC South

Tannehill and Henry were eager to prove the management right by trusting them with long term deals. Tannehill went for 4064 yds, 33 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, paired with Henry running it for 1183 yds and 8 rushing touchdowns, the duo had no problems clinching the division.
One of the dark horse teams this season, the Philip Rivers led Colts (still weird to see) went on a tear to close out the season and snatch one of the remaining wildcard berths.
To no ones surprise, the Texans happened to take a step back after letting Hopkins go for next to nothing. While Deshaun did all that he could, the offense was not able to stay stride for stride with the higher powered offenses they had to go up against.
Tank season was in full effect for the Jaguars, and it shocks absolutely no one. Chris Thompson and Devonta Freeman just could not replicate the production of the recently departed Leonard Fournette, which put all the burden on the young mustached hero.

AFC West

All that weight in Mahomes' wallet wasn't going to slow him down, taking the Chiefs to a league best 11-5 record. Clyde Edwards-Helaire stepped in beautifully after Damien Williams chose to opt out of the season.
Justin Herbert was able to shock many a doubter this season, while helping the Chargers exceed expectations and putting his name up there for Rookie of the Year consideration.
The Raiders started their season off with a win, and looked to maybe bring excitement to their new city. But all of that went down the pipe when they went into their bye on a 4 game losing streak, just to come out of it and lose their next 2 games.
The vaunted defense that used to be the Denver Broncos appears to be no more. Having given up the third worst points allowed in the League, which put more pressure on Drew Lock to try and win games by coming from behind.  

NFC East

After having failed to land a long term contract this off season, Prescott set out to make himself even more valuable, throwing for 3349 yds, 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions and leading the Cowboys to a division title. Zeke also found himself very well fed, rumbling for a league high 1535 yds and adding 11 scores on the ground.
After a full off season in the NFL, Daniel Jones was poised and ready to lead the NY Giants back to the postseason. Danny Dimes (I just discovered his nickname..) improved on his rookie season throwing for 3910 yds, 27 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Like with his division rival, his running back was also a big part of the offense. Barkley ran it for 1241 yds, and 12 touchdowns.
The question being asked now in Philadelphia is, is Carson Wentz our QB? Since Wentz became an Eagle, they've won the Superbowl, but he was injured before the playoffs even began that year. Questions about his durability and future are becoming deafening
I mean, what did we expect from a team without an actual name?

NFC North

**Side note, of all the simulated divisions, this one shocked me the most. Madden only had the Vikings with one winning season out of all 5 runs. **
Aaron Rodgers played this season the way the Packers wanted him to after selecting Jordan Love in the draft. Rodgers led the Packers to an NFC best scoring offense, while throwing the ball for 4295 yds, 39 touchdowns and throwing 12 interceptions. Hopefully Love picked out a comfortable spot on the bench. Davante Adams was a catching machine this year. He managed to pull in 90 receptions for 1182 yds and 14 touchdowns.
Trubisky continues to remain an enigma for the Bears. While he did throw for 4262 yards and 32 touchdowns, he also threw a league high 17 interceptions.
It seems that Cousins misses his friend Stefon Diggs, as he was only able to find the end-zone 23 times, which was bottom five for all starting QBs. Cook had a very nice season, going for 1192 yards and scoring 5 times. He saw a fair number of touchdowns vultured by his handcuff, Mattison.

NFC South

With the newly added Todd Gurley returning to his former glory, Matt Ryan was able to switch on the magic that saw him win a league MVP. 4474 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions was just what was needed to clinch a first round bye.
With this more than likely Drew Brees' last season (according to Madden it is, as he retired after every single season that was simmed), would the Saints be able to exercise those demons that have been plaguing them? Michael Thomas saw a drop in production (90 receptions, 1055 yards and 11 touchdowns - its funny this is a drop in production for someone), which was to be expected with the addition of Emmanuel Sanders, and the coming out party for Tre'quan Smith.
For the first time since 2008, we will have a postseason with no Tom Brady. No longer in the confines of the weak division known as the AFC East, and despite having the best weapons he has ever had in his career, Brady found that the grass on the other side was most definitely not greener.  

NFC West

Pete Carroll stated they were going to rely on the run this year, and boy did they. This ground and pound team went for over 2000 rushing yards, while Russ still did his thing and threw for 3700 yds, 31 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Kyle Shanahan down in San Francisco, decided that his team was going to follow suit. Not quite hitting 2000 yards on the ground as a team but close, while Jimmy G added slightly more yards through the air at 3963 yards. Both teams failed to have a 1000 yard receiver.  
Kyler Murray seems to have made a jump from being a rookie as he was able to go for 3646 yards, 29 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The addition of Hopkins and the consistency of Larry Fitz has Murray going down the right path
Honestly, I have no idea what happened with the Rams. Goff was a little bit turnover happy, throwing 17 interceptions (tied for league worst). They also ran their RBs by a split committee, where neither of them totaled over 700 yds rushing.

Wildcard Weekend:
Bengals @ Patriots - Bengals win 31-24
Colts @ Titans - Colts win 27-17
Browns @ Ravens - Ravens win 27-24

Giants @ Cowboys - Giants win 21-17
Saints @ Packers - Saints win 31-30
Niners @ Seahawks - Niners win 23-20

Divisional Round:
Colts @ Chiefs - Colts win 35-31
Bengals @ Ravens - Ravens win 24-23

Giants @ Falcons - Falcons win 31-27
Saints @ Niners - Niners win 34-27

Conference Championship:
Colts @ Ravens - Ravens win 27-17

Niners @ Falcons - Niners win 31-24

Superbowl:
Niners vs Ravens:
Looks like we'll have a repeat in history as the Niners take on the Ravens. I said earlier that Lamar Jackson was looking to repeat the feats of Patrick Mahomes, and he will. He takes the Ravens to a 34-28 come from behind win over the Niners, handing the Niners their second consecutive Superbowl loss.

Awards:
The awards listed below were just who won it during the simulations and how many times they won it.

MVP:
Matt Ryan (2)
Cam Newton (2)
Patrick Mahomes (1)

Coach of the Year:
Mike Vrabel (1)
Kevin Stefanski (1)
Bill Belichick (1)
Zac Taylor (1)
Doug Pederson (1)

Offensive Player of the Year:
Matt Ryan NFC (3)
Aaron Rodgers NFC (1)
Kyler Murray NFC (1)
Ryan Tannehill AFC (2)
Baker Mayfield AFC (1)
Patrick Mahomes AFC (1)
Cam Newton AFC (1)

Defensive Player of the Year:
Khalil Mack NFC (3)
Roquan Smith NFC (1)
Bobby Wagner NFC (1)
Tremaine Edmunds AFC (1)
T.J. Watt AFC (1)
DeForest Buckner AFC (1)
Joe Schobert AFC (1)
Bradley Roby AFC (1)

Offensive Rookie of the Year:
CeeDee Lamb NFC (2)
Justin Jefferson NFC (1)
Jalen Reagor NFC (1)
D'Andre Swift NFC (1)
Justin Herbert AFC (3)
Joe Burrow AFC (2)

Defensive Rookie of the Year:
Isaiah Simmons NFC (2)
Terrell Burgess NFC (1)
Chase Young NFC (1)
Logan Wilson AFC (2)
Kenneth Murray AFC (2)
Patrick Queen AFC (1)

And that concludes our look inside the Madden crystal ball. It was fun to see how everything played out, and how some teams got totally screwed from sim to sim. But that's football for you, any given Sunday. Luckily for some, this was all just predictions. Fortunately, we no longer have to wait as kickoff is just a couple of days away and we can finally see this thing unfold in real life! I will pay a visit to this post again once we reach the mid way point of the season to see how things are coming, and then again once the season is over.  Be sure to go to our social media pages and let us know what your predictions are for the year, or your thoughts on the Madden predictions.