The 2017 Midseason NFL Report

The NFL season is about to hit the halfway mark and that means it’s time for the (almost) midseason report. Here’s what to keep an eye on as we head into Week 8 and over the second half of the season.

Playoff Projections

We’ll start with what matters most — playoff projections for each conference.

The AFC

As things stand, there’s a 3-way tie for the #1 seed between the Patriots, Steelers, and Chiefs. Even at 40 years old, we can’t bring ourselves to bet against GOAT Tom Brady, so the prediction here says the Pats and Steelers win the top two seeds and the Chiefs slip to the three-seed as rookie Kareem slows down a bit and Alex Smith returns to his mean.

Look for the Titans to edge out the Jags in the AFC South for the final division champ slot and for the Bills and Bronco to grab the two wild-cards.

The NFC

The NFC seems a little tougher to call, but the Eagles look strong enough to hold onto the #1 seed unless Carson Wentz falls quickly back to earth. Things get muddy after that, but we’re going to count on Russell Wilson to have a better second half and catapult the Seahawks into the #2 spot.

With all due respect to the Rams’ great start, it’s hard to see them holding up this well over the second half, so we’re going to go with the Saints and Vikings at #3 and #4 respectively and predict LA and the Cowboys to end up as the wild-card teams.

Midseason Individual Awards

Here’s how things stand so far in the race for the 2017-18 NFL Rookie of The Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and the MVP

Rookie of the Year

This could end up being a tight race, but Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt has the inside track right now over Houston QB Deshaun Watson and Jags’ RB Leonard Fournette. Averaging over 100 rushing yards a game and leading the league in yards from scrimmage, Hunt might need to hit some form of the rookie wall to relinquish the award.

Defensive Player of The Year

With JJ Watt out for the season, this race might end up being a little more wide open than it is right now, but the Jags’ Calais Campbell is having a monster year and stands head and shoulders above the rest of a crowded scene. It’s doubtful he’ll keep up this torrid pace, but Campbell has 10 sacks in just 7 games so far and nobody else seems close.

Most Valuable Player

The battle for MVP looks like a three-quarterback race right now, with the Eagles’ Carson Wentz at the head of a pack that includes (of course) Tom Brady and (surprisingly) the Chiefs’ Alex Smith. Smith is leading the league in passer rating and having a great season, but it’s hard to envision that lasting for eight more games, so we’re left to pick between Brady and Wentz if current trends continue.

So who will it be? It’s blasphemous to say so, but we’re going to go with young Carson Wentz, though mostly because of how important narrative is in the MVP decision. Brady will probably take his team further, but his story is just too familiar with everything else being more or less equal statistically.

Two Teams Whose Stock is Falling

We’ll finish up with two teams who are currently on downward trends– the Raiders and, yes, the Cowboys.

The Raiders

When Derek Carr’s season-ending injury dashed the Raider’s hopes last year, observers thought the best was yet to come for this young team, but their performance so far has been disappointing. Carr has played reasonably well, but Marshawn Lynch has done little to justify his signing and the Raiders’ 26th ranked defense has really sent their stock plummeting.

The Cowboys

The Cowboys look to get well against the slipping Redskins this week, but with such high expectations coming into the season, you still have to say the Cowboys are trending down right now. Like we said up above, we’ll think they’ll straighten things out enough to grab the final NFC wild-card, but that too will be disappointing with such a wealth of offensive talent.