Holding Myself Accountable: Reviewing my NFL predictions)

With the NFL playoff picture now complete, it’s time to assess my preseason predictions. I managed to stay above .500, correctly predicting seven of the twelve teams qualifying for the postseason, including five of the eight division winners correct (New England, Indianapolis, San Diego, Dallas and Seattle).

But since my preseason Super Bowl pick of the New Orleans Saints failed to qualify for the playoffs altogether, it’s hard to give myself anything better than a C for my preseason picks.

In the NFC, I correctly placed Washington in the sixth spot, even matching them against Seattle in the first round of the playoffs. I also had Dallas as a division winner. But I badly underestimated Tampa Bay, Green Bay and the New York Giants. And I was much too optimistic about the 2007 season for San Francisco, St. Louis, Chicago and Carolina.

In the AFC, I expected a good year from the Patriots, but not 16-0. I had them winning the division, but I actually had San Diego pegged to go 15-1 as the best in the conference. Instead they went 11-5, which was still enough to win the AFC West.

I was on target with my pick of the Colts to win their division. I also had Pittsburgh in the playoffs, although I thought they’d sneak in as a wild card with Cincinnati winning the division. The Bengals finished 7-9 behind both Pittsburgh and Cleveland. I was way off on the Browns and Jaguars, picking them as cellar dwellers in their respective divisions.

However, I was close on the woeful Dolphins. I predicted two wins for Miami. As the worst team in the league, they managed just one victory this year.

With my Super Bowl champion gone before the playoffs even begin, my postseason picks will have to be taken with a grain of salt, but for those interested in my playoff predictions, I have a first round column coming later this week.

Until then, happy New Year and enjoy the bowl games!