Hogs Haven 2017 NFL Season Predictions

It has been 214 days since the final whistle was blown in Super Bowl LI, 214 days without NFL Football in our lives. That's too many days to go without America's real pastime, about 214 too many, in my opinion.

But we've made it. The wait is over. That's right, the NFL is back tonight!

That means it's time for us to once again make our fearless predictions for the upcoming season. It's time to unveil Hogs Haven's fifth annual staff predictions.

This year we've got a baker's dozen of your favorite Hogs Haven writers making 27 picks each. As always, I'll save you the trouble and do the math for you. That comes to a total of over 350 combined predictions on everything from the winner of Super Bowl 52 to the Redskins' final record.

Check out our picks and be sure to share some of your own as you prepare for the kickoff of another glorious season of NFL football.

Category	Bill-in-Bangkok	Cadillactica	James Dorsett	Jennifer Filsinger
NFC East	Giants	Giants	Giants	Giants
NFC North	Packers	Packers	Packers	Packers
NFC South	Buccaneers	Buccaneers	Falcons	Falcons
NFC West	Seahawks	Seahawks	Seahawks	Seahawks
NFC Wild Card	Falcons	Falcons	Buccaneers	Buccaneers
NFC Wild Card	Cardinals	Vikings	Cardinals	Cardinals
NFC Champion	Packers	Giants	Seahawks	Packers
AFC East	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots
AFC North	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers
AFC South	Texans	Texans	Titans	Titans
AFC West	Raiders	Chiefs	Chargers	Raiders
AFC Wild Card	Chiefs	Raiders	Raiders	Chargers
AFC Wild Card	Titans	Titans	Bengals	Dolphins
AFC Champion	Patriots	Patriots	Steelers	Patriots
Super Bowl	Packers	Patriots	Steelers	Packers
1st Pick in 2018	Jets	Rams	Jets	Browns
Comeback POY	Rob Gronkowski	Navarro Bowman	J.J. Watt	J.J. Watt
Coach of Year	Mike Mularkey	Dirk Koetter	Mike Tomlin	Jack Del Rio
Offensive ROY	Deshaun Waston	Dalvin Cook	Christian McCaffrey	Mitch Trubisky
Defensive ROY	Haason Reddick	Charles Harris	Rueben Foster	Myles Garrett
Offensive POY	Mike Evans	Derek Carr	David Johnson	Tom Brady
Defensive POY	J.J. Watt	J.J. Watt	Joey Bosa	Von Miller
MVP	Aaron Rodgers	Tom Brady	Tom Brady	Aaron Rodgers
Redskins Off. POY	Kirk Cousins	Kirk Cousins	Kirk Cousins	Kirk Cousins
Redskins Def. POY	Zach Brown	Ryan Kerrigan	Zach Brown	D.J. Swearinger
Redskins Record	8-8	7-9	8-8	8-8
Playoff Finish	None	None	None	None

Category	Jamual Forrest	Tom Garrett	Chris Hess	Hog Hunter
NFC East	Giants	Giants	Redskins	Giants
NFC North	Packers	Packers	Packers	Packers
NFC South	Falcons	Falcons	Panthers	Buccaneers
NFC West	Seahawks	Seahawks	Seahawks	Seahawks
NFC Wild Card	Buccaneers	Vikings	Buccaneers	Falcons
NFC Wild Card	Cowboys	Cowboys	Giants	Cowboys
NFC Champion	Seahawks	Packers	Redskins	Seahawks
AFC East	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots
AFC North	Steelers	Steelers	Ravens	Steelers
AFC South	Titans	Texans	Titans	Texans
AFC West	Raiders	Raiders	Chiefs	Raiders
AFC Wild Card	Chiefs	Chiefs	Raiders	Chiefs
AFC Wild Card	Ravens	Ravens	Steelers	Titans
AFC Champion	Patriots	Patriots	Steelers	Patriots
Super Bowl	Patriots	Patriots	Redskins	Patriots
1st Pick in 2018	Jets	Jets	Cowboys	Jets
Comeback POY	Earl Thomas	Rob Gronkowski	Junior Galette	J.J. Watt
Coach of Year	Dirk Koetter	Bill O'Brien	Jay Gruden	Bill Belichick
Offensive ROY	Christian McCaffrey	Christian McCaffrey	Dalvin Cook	Christian McCaffrey
Defensive ROY	Myles Garrett	Jonathan Allen	Jonathan Allen	Myles Garrett
Offensive POY	David Johnson	David Johnson	Kirk Cousins	David Johnson
Defensive POY	Jadveon Clowney	Von Miller	Josh Norman	Von Miller
MVP	Aaron Rodgers	Aaron Rodgers	Kirk Cousins	Derek Carr
Redskins Off. POY	Jamison Crowder	Kirk Cousins	Kirk Cousins	Kirk Cousins
Redskins Def. POY	Jonathan Allen	Josh Norman	Josh Norman	Josh Norman
Redskins Record	9-7	9-7	12-4	7-9
Playoff Finish	None	None	SB Champion	None

Category	Aaron Lesher	Ken Meringolo	Steve Shoup	Bryan Stabbe	Mark Tyler
NFC East	Giants	Redskins	Giants	Giants	Giants
NFC North	Packers	Packers	Packers	Packers	Packers
NFC South	Panthers	Falcons	Buccaneers	Falcons	Buccaneers
NFC West	Seahawks	Cardinals	Seahawks	Seahawks	Seahawks
NFC Wild Card	Saints	Seahawks	Falcons	Buccaneers	Falcons
NFC Wild Card	Cowboys	Cowboys	Redskins	Redskins	Cowboys
NFC Champion	Seahawks	Cardinals	Seahawks	Packers	Packers
AFC East	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots	Patriots
AFC North	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers	Steelers
AFC South	Titans	Titans	Titans	Titans	Titans
AFC West	Chiefs	Raiders	Raiders	Raiders	Raiders
AFC Wild Card	Chargers	Chiefs	Chiefs	Chiefs	Chiefs
AFC Wild Card	Broncos	Ravens	Texans	Ravens	Texans
AFC Champion	Patriots	Steelers	Steelers	Patriots	Patriots
Super Bowl	Seahawks	Cardinals	Steelers	Patriots	Packers
1st Pick in 2018	Jets	Jets	Jets	Jets	Jets
Comeback POY	J.J. Watt	Adrian Peterson	Josh Doctson	J.J. Watt	Keenan Allen
Coach of Year	Anthony Lynn	Bruce Arians	Mike Tomlin	John Harbaugh	Mike McCarthy
Offensive ROY	DeShone Kizer	Christian McCaffrey	Kareem Hunt	Mike Williams	Corey Davis
Defensive ROY	Derek Barnett	Jonathan Allen	Jonathan Allen	T.J. Watt	Jamal Adams
Offensive POY	Tom Brady	David Johnson	Antonio Brown	Le'Veon Bell	David Johnson
Defensive POY	Jason Pierre-Paul	J.J. Watt	J.J. Watt	Bobby Wagner	Landon Collins
MVP	Aaron Rodgers	Tom Brady	Russell Wilson	Aaron Rodgers	Aaron Rodgers
Redskins Off. POY	Terrelle Pryor	Kirk Cousins	Kirk Cousins	Jamison Crowder	Kirk Cousins
Redskins Def. POY	Zach Brown	Josh Norman	Jonathan Allen	Josh Norman	Josh Norman
Redskins Record	8-8	10-6	10-6	9-7	7-9
Playoff Finish	None	Divisional	Divisional	Wild Card	None

Redskins and NFC East Predictions

• Only 2 of the 13 Hogs Haven writers polled (Chris Hess and Ken) had the Redskins taking home the division crown in 2017. Steve Shoup and Bryan Stabbe also had the Skins making the tournament as a wild card, which brings the Redskins playoff pick total to 4 (31%). Those numbers are way down from last year, when 79% of the staff picked them to win the NFC East and 86% of us had them in the playoffs. The only time our outlook for the season was worse was in 2015, when Washington won the division.

• Last year, 11 HH writers had the Redskins winning the division, but this time around it was the Giants leading the way, with 11 votes to win the East. And if you crave more symmetry, then take note of the fact that only 4 of us picked the G-Men to make it to the postseason last year, the same number that have the Burgundy & Gold playing in January this season.

• Technically we were pretty split on what exactly the Redskins final 2017 record would be; but, in reality, we were all pretty much in the same ballpark with our estimates. The top pick was an 8-8 record (4 votes), which just edged out 7-9 and 9-7, with 3 votes each. That means that 10 of the 13 participating writers had the team between 7-9 and 9-7. Ken and Steve went with 10 wins, which has essentially been the Redskins' ceiling since the first Joe Gibbs administration. Chris Hess, on the other hand, foresees a 12-win campaign through his burgundy-colored glasses.

• Kirk Cousins received 10 votes to be the team's offensive MVP for yet another season. Jamison Crowder (2 votes) and Terrelle Pryor (1 vote) also got some love here. I know we have all grown weary of Jordan Reed's injury woes, but I am still a bit surprised to not see him show up on this list at all. With 6 votes, Josh Norman was the top choice to be the Skins' best defender in 2017. Zach Brown and Jonathan Allen were the only other selections made by multiple staffers.

Super Bowl Picks

• I was expecting to see the Patriots be almost unanimously chosen to repeat as Super Bowl winners, but, surprisingly, that is not what happened. Only 5 Hogs Haven writers picked Brady and Belichick to take home their sixth Lombardi Trophy. Don't be fooled though, the Pats were our most popular choice to win it all next February in Minneapolis.

• Mark Tyler, Bill-in-Bangkok and Jennifer Filsinger had the Packers adding to their trophy case, while Steve and I picked the Steelers to win a seventh Super Bowl title. Ken and Aaron Lesher looked towards the west, and went with the Cardinals (last year's top choice) and Seahawks respectively. Shockingly (sarcasm font), Chris Hess said that the Redskins will win their sixth NFL championship this season. We can only hope that Chris knows something that we don't.

• Like the Panthers before them, the Atlanta Falcons are yet another runner-up out of the NFC South that we wrote off. Not one of us picked the Falcons to make it to the big game after allowing the Patriots to engineer a historic comeback in last year's Super Bowl. Don't be shocked if MVP Matt Ryan and company have us eating crow by season's end.

• The Steelers and Seahawks were not the most popular choices to win it all, but many of us would not be surprised if they at least made it to the doorstep with a Super Bowl appearance. They each got 4 votes to make it to Minneapolis.

Other Prediction Trends

• The only things that we could all agree on were that the Patriots would win the AFC East and the Packers would remain kings in the north. The next most popular picks were that the Seahawks and Steelers would win their respective divisions, with only one writer dissenting from the majority in each case.

• Some of our other favorites were: the Giants winning the NFC East (11 of 14 votes), the Jets sucking their way to the number one pick in the draft and whichever quarterback torpedoes his stock the least (10 votes), the Patriots making it back to a second straight Super Bowl (9 votes), the Redskins missing the playoffs (9 votes), the Titans winning the AFC South (9 votes) and Raiders taking the AFC West (9 votes).

• For the third straight season we could not agree on who would be named Coach of the Year. Mike Tomlin and Dirk Koetter led the way with just two selections each. We were also nowhere near a consensus on the Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Rookie of the Year awards. The top choices in those categories (J.J. Watt and Jonathan Allen), were each only picked by 4 of us. The final tally for NFC's last wild card spot was deadlocked at 5 votes a piece for both the Falcons and the Buccaneers.

Writer Pick Trends

• Chris "iH8Dallas" Hess led the way with 9 unique picks. This is the norm for Chris, who has now been the clubhouse leader in off-the-wall predictions for the third straight season. If Chris had hit on his last few MVP and Coach of the Year calls then I think Jay Gruden and Kirk Cousins would already have busts in Canton. But then again, I can't hate too much on iH8, because he is one of the only writers left that has made the most correct picks in a season before.
  

• Tom Garrett found himself on the other side of the spectrum, with only one pick that he could truly call his own: Bill O'Brien winning Coach of the Year honors.

• Cadillactica went with the chalk this year by picking 12 repeat winners from last season. Steve Shoup and Ken, on the other hand, foresee the most change on the NFL landscape; they each only picked 5 repeat winners from 2016.

We'll check back in February to revisit our picks, at which time you will be invited to either tar and feather us in the virtual streets for our lack of foresight or exalt us as certified football fortune tellers in honor of our Nostradamus-like vision.

In the meantime, let us know what you think about our picks and share your own predictions in the comments section.  Happy season kickoff day!