By JUSTIN VINK
Editor
By JUSTIN VINK
I’m not going to write about COVID. About how it’s making the 2020 NFL season seem very shaky and uncertain. In fact, I don’t feel the need to, as the whole corporate system of the NFL needs money WAY too much to cancel the season for a disease that probably won’t affect almost any of their able-bodied players. So I won’t. Instead, I am going to write as if this season is just like any other, as it very much could be. This season, to me (this is my first prediction), will be one of the closest things to “normal” that this country has seen in awhile.
Prediction Number 1: Boldness level – 3/10
Patrick Mahomes takes back his position as the number one quarterback in the league, and wins his second League MVP in the fourth season of his career. It seems that he will most likely always be a top quarterback, but last season he was topped by Lamar Jackson as the league’s Most Valuable Player. A confidence boost from a Super Bowl win and the extra season of experience he has over Jackson will help Mahomes stay strong, while Jackson will be figured out by opposing defenses. This does not mean Jackson won’t be great, because he will most likely be a top 5 quarterback in 2020, but I believe that Mahomes will prove that he is the league’s best quarterback once again in 2020.
Prediction Number 2: Boldness level – 6/10
The 49ers do not win the NFC West. In fact, they get third in the NFC West. The Seahawks and Cardinals both have better records, and both beat them twice, in this upcoming season. The Seahawks topped the Niners last year in one of their two matchups, and lost on the last play when they did. The Cardinals kept close when they matched up with San Francisco, and improved their defense, along with their offense, in major ways, ways that may be enough to dominate the 49ers like they did for four years straight before last season.
Prediction Number 3: Boldness level – 10/10
The top two teams in the NFC, the two teams that battle in the NFC championship, are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Arizona Cardinals. Two teams with losing records in 2019. One going to the Super Bowl. To add on this, I believe that the team that wins this battle, will win the Super Bowl. It’s bold, but it’s possible. Both of these teams have stacked their offenses and improved their defenses, and both teams lost very close games throughout last season. Both were on the brink of a good season last year, and this year, they cruise to the top of the NFC, after years of struggle and heartbreak, struggle and heartbreak that only made them stronger.