Now that the season is over, I thought I would go back and review my predictions and see how I did. It was an interesting season for sure with many bright spots and many very low spots which I will talk about in my 2008 in review blog later.
Here is what I predicted along with the actual results for the Denver Broncos 2008 season.
2008 Regular Season Schedule
Week 1 Prediction: Monday, September 8th @ Oakland – Win, this is a match up of the unproven vs. the unproven. We have the better QB and WR corps though.
Actual Result: Win. Denver beat the Raiders 41 – 14 and really gave me some hope. Rookie Eddie Royal absolutely torched the Raiders for 146 yards and a score.
Week 2 Prediction: Sunday, September 14th San Diego – As much as it will pain me to say it, Loss. We got raped last year at home by the Chargers, no reason to think that will change this year until the Broncos prove it.
Actual Result: Win. Maybe high on the return of suspended Brandon Marshall and with the infamous Ed Hochuli call, Denver beat the Chargers 39 – 38 after a gutsy 2-point conversion call. At this point I seriously thought Denver might turn some heads…fortunate call or not.
Week 3 Prediction: Sunday, September 21st New Orleans – Win, our home woes won’t continue this year after the San Diego loss and the Saints just don’t have enough to scare me into thinking loss here.
Actual Result: Win. Denver beat new Orleans 34 – 32 in a major shootout. Thanks to a missed field goal from the Saints, Denver moved to 3 – 0 on the season. Although I was pretty excited, I was concerned about the defense at this point. 2 games in a row the opposition had their way with us. If only I knew what we were in for.
Week 4 Prediction: Sunday, September 28th @ Kansas City – Win, the Chiefs will be the worst of the division this year. The improved their defensive line in a big way but not enough to make me think they are that far removed from last year.
Actual Result: Loss. Denver turned the ball over and was embarrassed by one of the worst team in the NFL. Larry Johnson ran all over the defense and the Chiefs beat Denver 33 – 19. This one was painful to watch.
Week 5 Prediction: Sunday, October 5th Tampa Bay – Win, our defense will win this one (wow, after last year that is hard for me to say or realistically think) and Pittman will get a TD against his former squad.
Actual Result: Win. Denver beat Tampa Bay in a defensive standoff, 16 – 13. This might have been Denver’s best defensive effort this year and made me feel slightly less pissy about Week 4.
Week 6 Prediction: Sunday, October 12th Jacksonville – Loss, I think Garrard is going to eat us for lunch again.
Actual Result: Loss. The Jags beat Denver 24 – 17 and I was petty close to being right. What I did not account for was Jones-Drew also going off on us. This is when I realized that we were in trouble. I also hate when I am right, for more on that see Week 17.
Week 7 Prediction: Monday, October 20th @ New England – Win! We have taken the last 2 from the Pats with lesser teams, no reason to think that is any different now. Especially now that they cannot cheat.
Actual Result: Loss. Monday night, national stage and the Pats destroyed Denver 41 – 7. And I even made this prediction before their best player was lost for the year. Ouch.
Week 8 Prediction: Bye Week – I predict we will not lose this week
Actual Result: I was all over this one. I needed the break as much as the team did after the loss to New England.
Week 9 Prediction: Sunday, November 2nd Miami – Win, c’mon it is friggin’ Miami and it’s November in Denver.
Actual Result: Loss. I underestimated the Phins this year and they ended up with the win by a final of 26 – 17.
Week 10 Prediction: Thursday, November 6th @ Cleveland – Loss, I personally think Cleveland is the sleeper of the AFC this year.
Actual Result: Win. I thought the Broncos played well but in particular had a tremendous second half to come back and beat the Browns 34 – 30. I was also wrong about Cleveland, they sucked this year.
Week 11 Prediction: Sunday, November 16th @ Atlanta – Win, Atlanta is going to have a fun year rebuilding. Jason Elam will score their only points.
Actual Result: Win. This was a very exciting road win also because the Falcons were surprisingly good. Denver won 24 – 20 and seemed to be back on track.
Week 12 Prediction: Sunday, November 23rd Oakland – Win, the Raiders suck. By this time Russell will have won at least 3 eating championships and Javon Walker will have blown out his knee. But hey, they have Robert Gallery…..BWAHAHAHAHAHA.
Actual Result: Loss. Not just a loss but much like the Kansas City game it was domination…at home…by the Raiders. Denver lost by a final of 31 – 10 and I wanted to cut my wrists.
Week 13 Prediction: Sunday, November 30th @ New York Jets – Loss, this will be a great game if both teams are healthy.
Actual Result: Win. I was a little surprised, but Denver really took it to the Jets and played a very complete game. They won 34 – 17 and showed that they seemed to be playing to their opponent’s ability.
Week 14 Prediction: Sunday, December 7th Kansas City – Win, if it was at Arrowhead this time of year I might sway the other way. The Chiefs will be well on their way to another good draft pick by now.
Actual Result: Win. It was a little closer than it appears, but Denver pulled this one out 24 – 17. They needed the win and once again seemed to be on the right track.
Week 15 Prediction: Sunday, December 14th @ Carolina – Loss, these “cats” (hahaha see what I did there!) are going to be tough as hell on the ground.
Actual Result: Loss. I figured they would lose, but man they needed to win. Carolina beat the Broncos 30 – 10 in a game that could have locked up the AFC West for the Broncos.
Week 16 Prediction: Sunday, December 21st Buffalo – Win, and not by a last second field goal this time.
Actual Result: Loss. This one hurt. Denver lost to the Bills by a final of 30 – 23 and again, pissed away an opportunity to seal up the division. Coupled with a San Diego victory, this set up a week 17 showdown for the division.
Week 17 Prediction: Sunday, December 28th @ San Diego – Loss, and a painful one because it might mean the division. With any luck Philip Rivers dies in a fire during the game at some point.
Actual Result: Loss. 52 – 21. “it might mean the division”. That is all I am saying about this.
My Predicted final record: 10 – 6
Actual final record: 8 – 8
My picks against the actual results for Denver this year: 8 – 8
The moral of this story is, I have no idea what I am doing.
The 2009 schedule for Denver has already been announced and while I will post something for predictions around training camp time or shortly after, here it is:
Home: Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.
Away: Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins.
January 5, 2009 at 6:35 pm
I hate to say it, but I was so worried about the defense before the year started that I had us tanking at some point. 8-8 isn’t necessarily respectable, but it’s probably more than we actually deserved.
January 6, 2009 at 9:22 am
I agree Jason, 8 – 8 in our case was not too bad in the end