- 1 week ago
Could the Washington Commanders pull off a massive shocker in the NFC this season? Kevin Sheehan and Producer Max give their predictions for the NFC conference where they select their Super Bowl participant, playoff teams and division winners in the 2026 NFL season. The guys analyze if Jayden Daniels along with a revamped defensive unit can shake up early division predictions by the media and pull off a huge surprise in the NFC in 2026.
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00:00All right, it is time for our NFC predictions, which will include the NFC East winner and three wild cards
00:10out of the NFC East, out of the NFC, including the North, West and South.
00:15Yesterday, Max and I both had different AFC title game matchups and different AFC champions.
00:24I had Kansas City over Houston, the Chiefs going to the Super Bowl, and Max had Denver over Buffalo and
00:34the Broncos going to the Super Bowl.
00:36All right, I'll start off. We'll save the East for last. I'll start off with the NFC North.
00:44I mean, I mentioned earlier in the show, seven of the eight division winners last year were not favored to
00:50win the division.
00:51Only one preseason 2025 division favorite won the division. That was Philadelphia.
00:57And of the other seven, five weren't even supposed to be close to winning the division.
01:02So picking favorites, picking teams that are even in the top two or three can be dangerous in the NFL
01:10year to year.
01:12Green Bay is not the favorite in the NFC North. Detroit is, followed by kind of Chicago and Green Bay.
01:19I'm picking the Packers to win the NFC North. Look, they don't have Micah Parsons to start the season, but
01:25they'll get him back at some point.
01:27They don't have Josh Jacobs. The running back position worries me right now in Green Bay.
01:32And Josh Jacobs is a situation, if you haven't been following it, it's a domestic situation.
01:39And there are reports out there that there might be a video, which whether he is, you know, he's got
01:46a court hearing this week, whether or not he ends up going to jail or not, he could certainly be
01:50suspended by all, you know, by the NFL for conduct detrimental.
01:54We'll see. I'm not counting on Josh Jacobs. He's a really good back.
01:59I'm a big Josh Jacobs fan as a football player. Let me be clear on that. I don't know him
02:04as a person.
02:06I just like Jordan Love, man. And I like that defense and I like that coaching staff.
02:11I like the Packers to be there at the end as the NFC North champs.
02:18They were so close last year. They should have beaten Chicago in the postseason.
02:21They should have beaten Chicago in that season finale at Soldier Field when Jordan Love got hurt and Malik Willis
02:28came in and made a bunch of money by playing well in that game.
02:31I'm going Green Bay in the NFC North in a very competitive division with Detroit and Chicago.
02:38I'm not a Minnesota fan because I'm not a Kyler Murray guy.
02:41If Kyler Murray ends up playing great this year, Kevin O'Connell, you should never even consider moving on from
02:48Kevin O'Connell because he can coach up offense and quarterbacks.
02:51But I'm going Green Bay in the North. Max, who do you have?
02:57I am also going with the Green Bay Packers.
03:00I just I they're going to figure it out.
03:03I think they're doing running back by committee to fill Josh Jacobs void at the moment.
03:09Now, you don't have Micah Parsons, but I think that defense is going to going to get things right heading
03:13into this year.
03:14So give me the Packers.
03:16You know, the running back, because I was looking at this.
03:19I mean, there are not a lot of options.
03:22They they signed that Caleb Johnson, who played at Pittsburgh last year and was the Iowa running back from two
03:28years ago.
03:29I actually like him.
03:30He didn't get a big opportunity last year because they, you know, Jalen Warren was a good back for them.
03:36And, you know, what's his face?
03:38Who was with Philadelphia before Pittsburgh the last couple of years?
03:43They want to run the football.
03:44Jordan Love is better when you've got a running game.
03:47I just like Jordan Love.
03:49I think that we're going to see the best out of him.
03:52I think we'll see the best out of Matthew Golden.
03:54We started to see it at the end of last year into the postseason game against Chicago.
03:58Christian Watson and yeah, they're well coached.
04:01I mean, no Halfley, but they they, you know, hired Jonathan Gannon from Arizona after he got fired to be
04:08the defensive coordinator.
04:09You and I both have the Packers to win the NFC North.
04:14I'll let you go first with your NFC South pick.
04:17All right.
04:18My NFC South pick is the New Orleans Saints.
04:23I think Tyler Shuck showed a lot last year.
04:27I think it's going to be pretty much the same.
04:30You've added Jordan Tyson.
04:32Now he is dealing with some injuries at the moment, but you still have a lava and you still have
04:36a pretty solid offensive line up front.
04:39The Saints defense is underrated to say the least.
04:43I think it's going to be really good this year.
04:46Their back ends, they got Cooley McKinstry, Chase Young up front, and he has been performing quite well since he
04:53left Washington.
04:54So I think there's going to be another big year for him.
04:57Give me the Saints to win the NFC South.
05:01Well, you know, I'm picking the Saints, too.
05:03I've been talking about them since the end of last year as a team that was on the rise.
05:08I thought Tyler Shuck looked the part at quarterback.
05:11No Alvin Kamara to start the season, but they have Travis Etienne or however he's pronouncing it these days.
05:18They've got a lave.
05:20They've got a very underrated, I think, pass catching tight end in Juwan Johnson.
05:24And defensively, they added Caden Ellis from Atlanta.
05:28They've got now.
05:29I don't I think Cam Jordan is out for the opener on Sunday against the Lions.
05:34Chase Young.
05:35Did you forget about him?
05:37You shouldn't have.
05:38He had a good season last year.
05:39He's only 27 years old and he can get after the passer when he's healthy.
05:44And the thing that I like about the Saints is I like Kellen Moore as an offensive designer and play
05:52caller.
05:52And I think Brandon Staley is an excellent defensive coordinator.
05:56I think it's a really good one to combo to have Kellen Moore as the head coach slash OC play
06:02caller.
06:03And Brandon Staley, not as a head coach, but as a pure focused on defense guy.
06:09I could see Tampa winning this division because I'm a big fan of Todd Bowles and they were injured last
06:14year.
06:15And if they're healthy this year, it'll make a big difference.
06:17And Reuben Bain Jr.
06:19I think is going to certainly be a guy that vies for defensive rookie of the year.
06:22But I'm picking the Saints as well to win the NFC South.
06:28Let's go to the NFC West.
06:29I'm picking the Rams.
06:31I just look if what happened to Sam Darnold last night were to happen to Matt Stafford.
06:38But if it ended up being more serious, they're doomed.
06:42Like, you're not going to start Ty Simpson or Stetson Bennett for 12 games and end up winning the division
06:48or winning the Super Bowl.
06:50But you're looking for relative health when you make these predictions.
06:54And Matt Stafford being upright and healthy is the key because the rest of the roster is the best in
07:00the NFL on paper.
07:01However, I'm taking the Rams to win the NFC West.
07:05I think Seattle and I think the 49ers are still I think the 49ers, even though they're older, I think
07:11they're still very good.
07:13But, yeah, the Rams are my pick to win the NFC West.
07:17All right.
07:18I'm going the other way.
07:19I'm taking the Seattle Seahawks.
07:20I mean, we saw it last night.
07:21I am a full-blown believer in Mike McDonald's ability to it's in-game adjustments and just put pressure on
07:31any and every quarterback that they're going to face.
07:34I just it's it's a really good front from Seattle.
07:37And Darian Price showed a lot last night.
07:39JSN is still at the top of the game.
07:42He can any any play.
07:45JSN can score a touchdown.
07:47Rashid Jihad on the other side.
07:49Now, Drew Locke does give me, you know, a few qualms here and there.
07:54But I think, honestly, they're going to be fine.
07:57Sam Darnold was able to get it done.
07:59Drew Locke's going to be able to at least keep the ship afloat while he's out.
08:03So give me the Seahawks.
08:04I like that defense a lot.
08:07So, I mean, you're not picking the favorite in the division.
08:09So that's a good move.
08:11I'm picking the overwhelming favorite in that division.
08:14Not overwhelming.
08:15The Rams are the Super Bowl favorite and they're the NFC West favorite.
08:19They're the NFC championship champion favorite.
08:23It's it's a it's a good division.
08:25Like if you if you end up in already Seattle's not at relative health, if they lose Darnold for a
08:31few games, we'll see.
08:32Maybe they won't miss him or lose him at all.
08:34Like if the 49ers are healthy, they're still an excellent football team.
08:40I don't care that they're older, but getting, you know, Fred Warner back and getting Kittle back at some point
08:46and adding even though he's older, but he was good last year.
08:49Mike Evans.
08:50He's hurt to the mix.
08:52They love the rookie stripling.
08:54They think he is a perfect fit for the offense.
08:57And at the end of last year when they played Chicago and they scored on almost every single offensive possession,
09:04I was like, wow, the Niners still even with the injuries, although, you know, their injury situation was different in
09:12that they lost some of their really good players, but they didn't lose all of their really good players.
09:17And they've got like seven or eight a plus players on that roster, but that was an incredible end of
09:24the season.
09:25And then speaking to your Seattle, the fact that Seattle destroyed them twice at the end of last season and
09:32the 49ers could barely score against Seattle in the season finale and then in the playoff game really speaks to
09:40how great Seattle was at the end of the year defensively.
09:43But, man, that division, you know, at least going into it, looks like if all the teams remain relatively healthy,
09:51you're going to have, I mean, you're going to have those six matchups, you know, head to heads between those
09:58three teams be some of the biggest games of the year.
10:02And one of them happens to be tonight in Australia.
10:07All right.
10:08NFC East.
10:09You ready?
10:11I'm ready.
10:12I'm ready.
10:13I've got Washington winning.
10:15Oh, no.
10:16Oh, no.
10:18Part of it is that you got to pick teams that aren't favored to win these divisions because that's the
10:25way it works out half the time.
10:27Last year, seven out of the eight were not favored to win the division.
10:31And most of them were way down the list.
10:33I don't know why this team isn't being given more of a sleeper label, at the very least, a sleeper
10:46label like this team two years ago was in the NFC championship game with a quarterback who was elite during
10:54the season.
10:54And last year, they went 5-12 because that elite quarterback didn't play for the majority of the season.
11:05I don't know why Washington isn't getting some of the same treatment that Kansas City or Detroit or Cincinnati or
11:13Baltimore is getting.
11:14You know, they lost key players, lost quarterbacks.
11:18Detroit didn't.
11:19But, you know, Baltimore lost, you know, had an injured Lamar at times, obviously Cincinnati without Borough, Kansas City without
11:25Mahomes.
11:27And look, I guess Philly and Dallas are part of that reason because both of those teams are thought to
11:35be, you know, really, really good teams.
11:37But I'm just surprised that there aren't more people nationally saying, why not them in the NFC East?
11:46Because we should be looking for teams that didn't win it last year because that's the way the NFL is.
11:53And this team didn't win the division two years ago, but they got to the NFC championship game after winning
11:5812 games.
12:00And you add to that that they shouldn't be anywhere near as bad as they were last year or in
12:082024 on defense.
12:10Now, there's no guarantee they're not going to be a bad defense, but I think there's a guarantee they're not
12:16going to be as bad as they were last year.
12:18That'd be almost impossible to duplicate.
12:22Even the 24 defense would be hard to really duplicate in terms of their inability, remember, to stop the run.
12:29They could not stop the run in 2024.
12:34And then you add to it, they've added a true number two receiver, we think.
12:38Yes, the Tunsil injury is real.
12:42That's impactful.
12:43But they didn't have him in 2024.
12:47I'm picking Washington to win the NFC East.
12:52You can say home or all you want.
12:54I've picked Washington to finish way down the list many, many years doing this.
13:00But I am a believer in the quarterback.
13:02Obviously, this prediction is contingent on number one, Jaden being healthy and playing 17 games.
13:10And then number two, the defense improving.
13:13I think if those two things happen, they're going to win more games than they lose.
13:18I don't play the schedule game.
13:19You guys know that.
13:20I don't do it for the exact reason we watched last night.
13:23Because it's not about who you play, it's when you play them.
13:26Sam Darnold may not be the quarterback here in week three.
13:29A game that everybody chalked up as a loss already when you play the schedule game.
13:36I just think that they can win the division.
13:38I'll save my record prediction for tomorrow's show and the NFC East in general, how I see the records shaking
13:47out.
13:48Max will have that as well.
13:49But I'm going with, you know, New Orleans and Washington as surprise division winners, along with in the AFC.
13:57I've got Pittsburgh.
13:58Nobody's picking them to win the AFC North.
14:01You got to pick some surprises when you do this.
14:04Washington's probably my biggest surprise.
14:07They win the NFC East.
14:09Max?
14:10All right.
14:11Last year, you and I both had the Commanders winning the division.
14:15No, I, oh, I did.
14:16Yeah, I did.
14:16Yeah, this year, going the other way.
14:19The Dallas Cowboys are going to be, their offense is going to be incredibly potent.
14:25I mean, CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens both healthy coming into the season.
14:29Pickens is playing on the tag.
14:30So he's going to try his damnedest to have one hell of a year for all these teams that are
14:35going to be looking at him.
14:36And then on the other side, the defense, it was the worst in the league last year.
14:41Next to ours.
14:44But it's just got to be, it's got to be okay.
14:47It's if, can they go from bottom half or last in the league to somewhere in the middle, like maybe
14:53high 20s.
14:54And I think the Dallas, the sky's the limit for the Cowboys.
14:57Well, the NFC championship game is the limit for the Dallas Cowboys.
15:01I look at Dallas and Washington similarly in that it's all about, you know, the quarterback being healthy.
15:08And Dax had unhealthy seasons and has missed big portions of seasons.
15:12And it's all about whether or not their defense, as you said, can at least approach kind of a middle
15:18of the pack defense.
15:20And if those two things happen, Jaden Daniels and Dak Prescott play all 17 games and the two defenses move
15:29towards the middle of the pack,
15:31rather than being near the bottom of the league, in Washington's case, dead last on a lot of the key
15:36numbers at the end of last season,
15:37not to mention takeaways next to last, then both teams are going to be improved significantly.
15:46All right, my wild cards in the NFC are Detroit, and I think they could win the division, but I
15:52picked Green Bay.
15:53Tampa, I think Tampa could be in a good position, too, battling it out with New Orleans and the AFC
15:59South.
16:00And I'm going to stick with the 49ers and assume that they can't possibly be as injured as they've been
16:05in their off years.
16:07Last year, they survived for the first time their injuries by making it to the postseason,
16:11but they were non-competitive against Seattle.
16:14I like the 49ers to be that last wild card following Detroit and Tampa Bay.
16:20Who are your wild cards?
16:21My wild cards are first one's going to be the Rams.
16:24I think they finished like very close with the Seahawks.
16:26I mean, it's going to come down to those last two games at the end of the year,
16:28and I'm not sure how healthy Matt Stafford's going to be by the end of the season.
16:33So I just kind of have the Rams taking up that first wild card spot.
16:38Number two, I got the Lions.
16:39I also think that they can contend for the division, but it's going to be quite a race up there
16:44in the north for that second wild card spot.
16:46And then wild card three, the Washington Commanders.
16:50Ooh, okay.
16:52We'll save our record predictions for the team for tomorrow.
16:56I will tell you that I've got the Rams as the one seed, Green Bay as the two,
17:01Washington as the three, and New Orleans as the four.
17:04And my NFC championship matchup and winner, I've got the Rams over the Packers in the NFC championship game.
17:17Who is your NFC championship winner and matchup?
17:21I've got the Rams taking on the Seahawks again.
17:24I'm giving the game to the Rams right now at the beginning of the season,
17:27but ask me closer to game week and I'll give you the right pick.
17:31I'm not going to ask you.
17:31This is your prediction.
17:33You're going to have to stick with it.
17:35Rams over Seattle.
17:36I've got Rams over Packers.
17:38That means your Super Bowl matchup is Rams-Denver.
17:43My Super Bowl matchup is Rams-Chiefs.
17:46We'll give you our Super Bowl winner later on in the show.
17:50All right.
17:51And we'll give you our MVP selection later on in the show.
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