The 2022 NFL season is upon us. Will the Rams repeat as Super Bowl champions? Is Josh Allen destined for MVP honors? Can anyone stop Dameon Pierce’s march to the Offensive Rookie of the Year trophy? These are just some of the questions you are probably wondering right now.
Check below for The MMQB’s staff predictions for award winners, division winners and full playoff brackets, including Super Bowl LVII champions. Plus, our bold predictions cover everything from Trey Lance to Von Miller to the rookie receiver class.
Albert Breer
Super Bowl: Bills 27, Packers 24; Josh Allen MVP
Season awards:
MVP: Josh Allen
OPOY: Davante Adams
DPOY: Nick Bosa
OROY: Chris Olave
DROY: Aidan Hutchinson
Comeback: Christian McCaffrey
Coach: Dennis Allen
Sometimes, the chalk picks are the right ones—and what I saw in Rochester, N.Y., on my training camp tour stuck with me. The look the Bills had in the way they practiced wasn’t unlike how I remember the 2007 Patriots or the ’13 Seahawks looking in the summer, where it was clear how deep and competitive those rosters were, and how machine-like their practices became. So you can call down the ghosts of Scott Norwood, Don Beebe and Thurman Thomas from past Super Bowls, because my feeling is these Bills are going to—finally, all these years later—deliver an elite team that delivers in its final act. And I think we’ll see it all year long, too, which is why I have Josh Allen becoming the seventh player ever to sweep regular-season and Super Bowl MVP honors (joining Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Emmitt Smith, Steve Young and Kurt Warner). And I think it’ll come true, in part, because the final challenge will be winning the whole thing against the NFL’s best defense in ’22—the one with seven first-round picks in its starting lineup in Green Bay.
Bold prediction: Trey Lance is going to become a star. And yes, I’m saying this on the heels of the Niners taking out a $7 million insurance policy at his position. But I just think Lance is smart and tough and competitive, and talented enough, to figure it out—and I don’t think Kyle Shanahan will fail at figuring out the right way to use him. While health is a variable, to be sure, I have faith the 49ers’ staff will have the scheme to highlight what Lance does best and hide where he’s a work in progress, and it’s pretty easy to trust a supporting cast that has Trent Williams, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk in its ranks.
Conor Orr
Super Bowl: Ravens 28, Packers 24; Lamar Jackson MVP
Season awards:
MVP: Justin Herbert
OPOY: Cooper Kupp
DPOY: Aaron Donald
OROY: Chris Olave
DROY: Travon Walker
Comeback: Daniel Jones
Coach: Brandon Staley
You may have noticed that I changed my Super Bowl pick, and indeed, if I were running for some kind of sportswriting office, I may stand accused of flip-flopping. Well, guilty as charged. My 100 bold predictions were made 100 days out from the season, way back in May. It is now much closer to the season, and I’d like to adjust my selection based on my affinity for the Ravens’ offseason (and bird teams in general). The Bills are too common a Super Bowl pick. There is no room in the cosmos for the hot air generated by 100 pseudo-connected sportswriters puffing their chests in late January talking about how they knew the Bills would make it, as if selecting Josh Allen and Sean McDermott and a defense full of stars to succeed was some kind of bold stance. The earth simply cannot handle this kind of vibration. Whatever deity you believe in would not accept a football haughtiness that would crush generations of free thinkers.
That’s why we’re taking the Ravens all the way, with the Eagles as a spicy NFC upstart meant to make some noise. It’s time to start taking some chances around here. It’s time to start feeling things. It’s time we all reach a higher level of understanding. Say it with me: Super Bowl champion Lamar Jackson.
Bold prediction: I already gave you 100 of them, greedy readers. Can’t a man keep any of his hottest takes to himself anymore? If I have to pick one to put here (and I’m told that I do), let’s go with Von Miller breaking his own personal best mark with 3.5 sacks in a game … twice this year.
Greg Bishop
Super Bowl: Packers 34, Bills 31; Aaron Rodgers MVP
Season awards:
MVP: Aaron Rodgers
OPOY: Jonathan Taylor
DPOY: Aaron Donald
OROY: Chris Olave
DROY: Aidan Hutchinson
Comeback: Baker Mayfield
Coach: Matt LaFleur
Maybe it’s recency bias, but picking the field this year felt a little more like guesswork than normal. It definitely seems like much could change over the season, with many contenders bunched together near the top and everyone healthy—for now.
The NFC in particular seems wide open. I like the Bays for the obvious reason: quarterbacks. But while I think there’s something special brewing with Rodgers in Green Bay, I believe that Brady’s age and retirement-unretirement will catch up to Tampa Bay in the playoffs. The 49ers, with one of the most complete rosters in pro football, make sense for a January upset, as long as their major question mark—Trey Lance’s development—proceeds as Kyle Shanahan’s history with developing signal-callers suggests it will. But I’ll take Rodgers over Lance in the conference title game, easy.
As for the AFC, the depth there is pretty striking. For my money, the Bills, Chiefs and Chargers are the three best teams, but the first six teams in my bracket are all capable of making a deep playoff run. Just ask last season’s Bengals. I see the Chiefs as a notch below their level from previous seasons, and I view the Chargers as an elite team that’s on the rise. I probably like them more than most. But that’s how I laid out the AFC playoffs—Bills roll and Chargers upset Chiefs, only to lose to the more experienced team in the conference title tilt. The Bills—the Bills!—get back to the Super Bowl in this scenario. But more heartbreak awaits.
Why? I just have a feeling about Rodgers this season. Yes, Davante Adams is gone. But we—media, analysts, fans—continue to doubt the LaFleur-Rodgers partnership, which has produced “only” a pair of MVP awards. This season, both will flourish, and in part due to a counterintuitive notion: With Adams gone, Rodgers won’t need to force the ball his way. He’ll spread it around, they’ll run more and their defense appears to be elite. Hence Rodgers for (yet another) MVP and LaFleur for Coach of the Year.
As for the other awards, I see Jonathan Taylor at the beginning of a run of dominance we haven’t seen from a running back since Todd Gurley before the injuries. I see Aaron Donald near the end of his top-level, wreck-offenses career. He could play for 10 more seasons if he wants to, but this year, he’ll summon another season-changing performance.
Bold prediction: Baker Mayfield will lead Carolina to the playoffs, win Comeback Player of the Year and make the Pro Bowl.
This ties to my award predictions. Because among the typical candidates for Comeback Player of the Year—Chase Young, Derrick Henry, Michael Thomas, Christian McCaffrey, Jameis Winston, etc.—one less-popular candidate is the Panthers’ new quarterback. While it’s fair to criticize Mayfield’s uneven career so far, to me the bigger concerns in that calculus are his locker room impact, which can be negative, and his leadership, which has been lauded and criticized in equal measure. But when he’s healthy, Mayfield is an elite thrower of the football. And in Carolina, he has Christian McCaffrey, Chuba Hubbard and D’Onta Foreman to hand the ball to, along with a bevy of targets—D.J. Moore, Rashard Higgins, Robbie Anderson, Terrace Marshall Jr., etc.—to throw the ball to. Will the offensive line hold up? Who knows. But the bet here is that a healthy and motivated Mayfield, combined with a healthy and motivated McCaffrey, pushes Carolina toward a surprise playoff push. If they get in, after everything, Mayfield slides into the conversation for the award. Could this be horribly wrong? Of course. Disaster or euphoria, that’s the bet here. But we’re going all in.
Michael Rosenberg
Super Bowl: Packers 27, Bills 23; Aaron Rodgers MVP
Season awards:
MVP: Russell Wilson
OPOY: Ja’Marr Chase
DPOY: Myles Garrett
OROY: Chris Olave
DROY: Aidan Hutchinson
Comeback: Christian McCaffrey
Coach: Brian Daboll
The worst quarterback situation in the league belongs to the Seahawks, who will start Geno Smith in Week 1 and back him up with Drew Lock. I see no hope there. This means A) Seattle will probably be terrible and, B) the Russell Wilson narrative train is going to put him in the MVP conversation as long as the Broncos are good—which I believe they will be, though the Bills will be a bit better. Over in the NFC, the Packers will have a much more boring season than last year. There will be no Aaron Rodgers drama. They’ll win their division, but the division will be lousy, and people will reserve judgment until the playoffs. But Rich Bisaccia will fix Green Bay’s special teams. I gave the Packers a bye and then a matchup with old coach Mike McCarthy to help them get over their playoff failures. Then I have them going into the Super Bowl as underdogs to the Bills and winning it.
Bold prediction: It will be a good year for quarterbacks named Jones. In New York, Daniel will show the Giants were right about him: With the proper coaching and infrastructure, he can be a winning NFL quarterback. A soft schedule will help, too. Meanwhile, in New England, Mac will continue to make doubters look silly. I suspect all the worries about who will call plays in New England miss the point: The Patriots have a brilliant and talented quarterback who can handle more responsibility at the line of scrimmage than just about anybody else in the league, and Bill Belichick knows it.
Andrew Brandt
Super Bowl: Packers 37, Chargers 27; Aaron Rodgers MVP
Season awards:
MVP: Aaron Rodgers
OPOY: Jonathan Taylor
DPOY: Myles Garrett
OROY: Christian Watson
DROY: Aidan Hutchinson
Comeback: Jameis Winston
Coach: Nick Sirianni
I am going to be right about the Packers one of these years with Aaron Rodgers at the helm (and I think this will be his last year there). I worry less than most about the loss of Davante Adams; with Rodgers there, the passing game will not suffer much, and the running game and defense will thrive. The NFC team that I see making a huge jump is the Eagles, now with an explosive No. 1 receiver in A.J. Brown and possessing top offensive and defensive lines. In going through the NFC, my sense is there are not many good teams, and the conference is clearly the lesser one in terms of top teams. As for the AFC, I now see no weaknesses with the Chargers, and I see weaknesses with every other team. Justin Herbert is this year’s Joe Burrow, with a bigger arm. I like the Dolphins more than most, despite mediocrity at quarterback, and I think they will challenge the Bills for that division. In the end, though, it will be tiny Green Bay slaying the giant from Los Angeles (in Phoenix).
Bold prediction: Deshaun Watson will not play in 2022. The NFL didn’t get what it initially wanted—a full year suspension for Watson—but it will avoid him seeing the field this year. Why? The most likely reason is the acclimation to “real” football and that training camp reps and a few clumsy throws against Jacksonville in the preseason are not preparation enough to play, especially after a three-month period of inactivity (the idea he will return to face his old team, the Texans, after a 15-week layoff is, to me, folly). The other reason? Watson needs sign-off from counseling and treatment to resume play. He has certainly shown no remorse or acceptance of responsibility at this point. Will he change more than just telling the counselors (and the public) what they want to hear? A counselor could easily see through that; I see a decent chance he is not “cleared” to resume football for continuing to believe—as he has for more than a year—that he did nothing wrong.
John Pluym
Super Bowl: Buccaneers 31, Bills 28; Tom Brady MVP
Season awards:
MVP: Josh Allen
OPOY: Justin Jefferson
DPOY: Joey Bosa
OROY: George Pickens
DROY: Sauce Gardner
Comeback: Jameis Winston
Coach: Brandon Staley
This will be Tom Brady’s last season, and he’ll raise the Lombardi Trophy for an eighth time. What’s the significance of an eighth championship for Brady? Well, it will tie him with his former coach, Bill Belichick. Two years ago, nobody gave Brady and the Buccaneers a chance against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. And we know what happened in that game. This time, he’ll leave no doubt he’s the greatest QB of all time with a win over Josh Allen and the Bills. It should be a dynamic season, with Justin Herbert and the Chargers finally living up to their potential. We’ll also see 23-year-old Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson become the first player to catch more than 2,000 yards’ worth of passes. And one last prediction: Joey Bosa will break the all-time sacks record of 22.5 held by T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan. Bosa will finish with 25 sacks and can thank Khalil Mack’s presence for putting him over the top.
Bold prediction: The Lions will make the playoffs.
The assignment was to be bold and think outside the box. Well, the Lions making the playoffs is definitely bold. I love Dan Campbell as long as I can stay far away from him and protect my kneecaps. In all seriousness, I would not be surprised if Jared Goff had a big season, especially if Jameson Williams lives up to his potential after returning at midseason from a torn ACL. And Amon-Ra St. Brown could be a future star pairing with Williams. Campbell’s team will never quit, and with Aidan Hutchinson on defense, this team definitely has the right attitude to compete week to week. Winning nine or 10 games is not out of the question and should get the Lions to the playoffs.
Gary Gramling
Super Bowl: Chargers 31, Packers 28; Justin Herbert MVP
Season awards:
MVP: Justin Herbert
OPOY: Justin Jefferson
DPOY: Jalen Ramsey
OROY: Garrett Wilson
DROY: Derek Stingley Jr.
Comeback: Saquon Barkley
Coach: Brandon Staley
Why are the Chargers a stone-cold lock to win the Super Bowl, you ask? On one hand, Justin Herbert is going to establish himself as the best quarterback on the planet, this season and probably for the next decade. On the other hand, Brandon Staley’s defense—while flawed (I’m begging you, upgrade those linebackers)—is built to wreak havoc and create takeaways. As we all remember from middle school health class, the NFL’s best defenses come from when an upper-echelon pass rush and an opportunistic secondary featuring DBs with elite ball skills love each other very much and make 30-plus turnovers. And on a third hand, it’s just easier for everyone involved if the Lombardi Trophy stays in Los Angeles—no one at the NFL wants to incur those shipping costs, and Roger Goodell has no room to fit it in his suitcase, what with his insistence on packing all of his Pokémon stuffies whenever he travels (I get bringing Charizard and Psyduck, but who ever needs a Wurmple?).
Other than that, the Lions are going to make the playoffs; there are only six good teams in the conference but, by rule, a seventh NFC team has to make it. Jared Goff, as he continues to relearn life outside Sean McVay’s highly schemed offense, will revive his career with his best season as a pro (even if he doesn’t quite match his statistical output from 2018).
Everything else I’m predicting is both correct and self-explanatory.
Bold prediction: This is the year when football fatigue—ever so slightly—sets in. For some it will be the watered-down 18-week schedule, for others the grossness of Deshaun Watson returning to the field after another round of mealymouthed nonapologies, and for many it is the pandemic (hopefully) lightening, creating opportunities to do things with family and/or friends that don’t involve staring dead-eyed at a screen in the hopes that Kenneth Gainwell picks up 11 yards in the fourth quarter of a December game at the Meadowlands so you stay in playoff contention in your fantasy league.
I’m not talking about millions of folks tuning out—the vast majority of the NFL’s fan base will continue to breathlessly, one might say ritualistically, consume The MMQB’s first-class NFL coverage on an hourly basis (let your local school board know: My podcast is an essential part of any public school curriculum)—but maybe for the first time in forever, we won’t get the torrent of press releases gleefully citing record-setting ratings for every national game.
Mitch Goldich
Super Bowl: Ravens 36, Packers 31; Lamar Jackson MVP
Season awards:
MVP: Josh Allen
OPOY: Ja’Marr Chase
DPOY: Micah Parsons
OROY: Dameon Pierce
DROY: Kayvon Thibodeaux
Comeback: Raheem Mostert
Coach: John Harbaugh
I’ve been excited all summer to pick the Ravens as my Super Bowl champs, and I’ll never forgive Conor for stealing my pick. But yes: the Ravens. They are well coached and in the hunt every year. With better health a near statistical certainty, they are a no brainer for a bounce-back season. Lamar Jackson poses unique problems for defenses, John Harbaugh will keep dialing up two-point conversion attempts whenever possible, Mark Andrews is chasing the career octopus record. Win it for Poe. All that.
The rest of my picks are … pretty boring, with most of the teams that are supposed to be good winning their divisions. I picked the Packers, but will admit I don’t feel great about it. I think the Rams are going to find out how hard it is to repeat, Trey Lance is still going to be a year away, and I couldn’t in good conscience pick a team from the NFC East. So between the Packers and Bucs, I went with Green Bay.
As for my award picks, I think Josh Allen and the Bills will have the regular season everyone expects them to, and that tidy narrative will help him to his first MVP award. (And boy the folks in Buffalo are going to be distressed when they lose yet another playoff shootout at the last second, this time one round deeper into the bracket and at home.) And I think you will regret filling your fantasy team’s bench with irrelevant nobodies instead of nabbing Raheem Mostert when you had the chance.
