I have a controversial opinion within the world of NFL media: An analyst’s preseason predictions should be celebrated and confirmed as correct if they hold true over the first four weeks of the season.
While I understand your immediate and vehement pushback—had I nominated the Saints as a Super Bowl contender last year, I would not have looked inaccurate after early blowout wins over the Panthers and Cowboys—my reasoning is that beyond this point in time most of what we have gleaned in calls, research and film watching melts into the inevitability that only four or five teams can win the Super Bowl based on the overall depth of their rosters and the talent level of their quarterbacks. It would be quite boring if, every summer, we just went on television and podcasts and in our written columns and said: “None of this matters because of Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes.”
