| Warning! Warning! Warning! If
you do not want to know how the 2000 NFL season will turn out, please leave this column
immediately. Do not read on unless you would like to learn who will win and who will lose
this season. I repeat, avert your eyes if you are afraid of seeing the results of the
upcoming 2000 NFL campaign.
OK. Now that we have lost the people who actually want to wait 10 months to find out
who wins Super Bowl XXXV, we can proceed.
As you probably know, the NFL released the 2000 schedule on Tuesday. We here at Pro
Football Weekly, in all of our infinite football wisdom, decided to play the season in
our minds. Three swami-like editors, including myself, went game by game, week by week,
through the entire 2000 schedule. We predicted winners for each game, which of course
resulted in final records for each team.
Of course, I can’t list the results from each and every game. So instead,
I’ll divide the season in fourths and explain the interesting nuggets gleaned from
our exercise.
After the first four weeks of the season are played, there will be no undefeated teams
remaining. However, there will be a glut of 3-1 teams, including Baltimore, Jacksonville,
Kansas City, Oakland, Seattle, Dallas, Washington, Chicago, Green Bay and Tampa Bay. Your
Super Bowl teams from last season, St. Louis and Tennessee, will be 2-2 and 2-1,
respectively. Three teams will be winless — San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Arizona.
Another sidenote: The Steelers will be the lone winless team after Week Six, as
Pittsburgh drops to 0-5. If you think head coach Bill Cowher gets angry when someone takes
the last can of Dr. Pepper, you won’t want to be around this man come early October.
After Week Eight, it’s interesting to note that the Seahawks have gone in the
tank. They open the season 3-0 but then lose the next five straight.
We feel safe in predicting that Bengals head coach Bruce Coslet will be relieved of his
duties following Week Nine, when his Bengals fall to 1-7. Mike Brown will have to decide
whether to promote defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, making him the interim head coach,
or whether to lure Sam Wyche out of the announcer’s booth for a return to the
sideline. We put our money on LeBeau as the guy who inspires the Bengals in their usual
"We-know-it’s-too-late-to-make-the-playoffs,
but-we-will-win-a-few-meaningless-games-late-in-the-season-anyway" run.
Halfway through the 2000 schedule, here is the way things will shape up:
AFC East: Indianapolis, 7-1; Buffalo, 5-3; N.Y. Jets, 4-4; Miami, 2-6; New England,
2-6.
AFC Central: Jacksonville, 6-2; Tennessee, 5-3; Baltimore, 5-3; Pittsburgh, 2-6;
Cleveland, 2-7; Cincinnati, 1-7.
AFC West: Kansas City, 6-2; Denver, 5-3; Oakland, 5-3; Seattle, 4-5; San Diego, 3-5.
NFC East: Washington, 7-2; Dallas, 5-3; Philadelphia, 5-4; N.Y. Giants, 3-5; Arizona,
2-6.
NFC Central: Green Bay, 6-2; Tampa Bay, 5-3; Chicago, 5-3; Detroit, 3-5; Minnesota,
3-5.
NFC West: St. Louis, 5-3; Carolina, 5-3; Atlanta, 4-5; New Orleans, 3-5; San Francisco,
1-8.
After going through the matchups in the second half of the season, we were able to
determine the final records for each team.
Here’s the way things will shake out:
AFC East: Indianapolis, 12-4; N.Y. Jets, 10-6; Buffalo, 8-8; Miami, 6-10; New England,
5-11.
AFC Central: Jacksonville, 13-3; Tennessee, 12-4; Baltimore, 9-7; Cincinnati, 5-11;
Cleveland, 5-11; Pittsburgh, 4-12.
AFC West: Kansas City, 10-6; Denver, 10-6; Oakland, 8-8; Seattle, 8-8; San Diego, 7-9.
NFC East: Washington, 12-4; Dallas, 9-7; Philadelphia, 7-9; N.Y. Giants, 6-10; Arizona,
5-11.
NFC Central: Tampa Bay, 11-5; Green Bay, 10-6; Chicago, 7-9; Minnesota, 7-9; Detroit,
7-9.
NFC West: St. Louis, 10-6; Carolina, 9-7; Atlanta, 6-10; New Orleans, 6-10; San
Francisco, 4-12.
I feel the need to point out, at this point, that these are not the official Pro
Football Weekly predictions for each team. They are just the way three crackpot
editors see season shaping up.
That said, let’s move on to the postseason.
Here’s the way your playoff teams will be seeded.
In the AFC: 1. Jacksonville (bye); 2. Indianapolis (bye); 3. Kansas City; 4. Tennessee;
5. N.Y. Jets; 6. Denver.
In the NFC: 1. Washington (bye); 2. Tampa Bay (bye); 3. St. Louis; 4. Green Bay; 5.
Carolina; 6. Dallas.
We see Kansas City beating the Broncos and the Titans beating the Jets in the AFC
wild-card games. In the NFC wild-card round, the Packers will get past the Panthers and
the Rams will beat the Cowboys.
In the AFC divisional round, the Jaguars avenge their 1999 misfortunes vs. the Titans,
eliminating Tennessee from the playoffs. Also, the Colts won’t be one-and-out this
year, as they will handle the visiting Chiefs. In the NFC, the Rams will shock the
Buccaneers in Tampa Bay, thus dashing the Bucs’ hopes of playing a Super Bowl in
their home stadium. The Redskins will beat the Packers.
In the conference title games, the Jaguars will hold off the Colts to advance to their
first-ever Super Bowl, while the Redskins will deny the Rams a chance at repeating.
And finally, your winner of Super Bowl XXXV is Washington.
By the way, we aren’t predicting a final score. Our brains are tired enough as it
is. Not to mention, the draft and future free-agent signings could have an impact on it.
Go to NFL weekly schedule
Editor's note: Let us know what you think of this exercise, or the results we came up
with, by e-mailing us at editors@pfwa.com |
