3 minute read

NFL is Back...and It's Gonna be Fantastic!

Patrick: Bears all the way. 2022-23 NFL champions! Kidding, kind of!

Donald: Actually, I have the Bears making it to the Super Bowl…but losing to the Cincinnati Bengals. I know I’m going to get it with both of those picks, but especially with our Bears.

Patrick: And, now, although I was kidding…somewhat… with my opening Bears’ championship proclamation, I do believe in them. I have a hard time allowing my brain to function when calling it, but doing this job, I know I have to get analytical with it and treat this as if I don’t have a favorite; I am able to look beyond my team and see without bias.

Russ: I do have the Bears not doing that poorly this year. Actually, I have them in 2nd, behind the Green Bay Packers, ahead of Minnesota, with Detroit bringing up the rear.

John: I hear you all…but I’m definitely not agreeing with what I’m hearing. Listen, despite a 3-0 preseason record, the Bears will be the ones bringing up the rear. And I don’t see the Packers even making the playoffs.

Russ: Oh, wow.

Patrick: Agreed. It’s hard to imagine that, of these four teams, the Packers wouldn’t make the playoffs. Always possible, but hasn’t felt likely in friggin’ eons.

John: Well, I feel the loss of Davante Adams will be too much to overcome for them. Now, not necessarily saying they’ll fall to third, but I feel the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions have improved big-time from last season. Both have better depth than the Packers and definitely more than the Bears.

Donald: I like Justin Fields. I believe he can be the quarterback Chicago’s been looking for. I mean, he may always keep that college-quarterback air about him, but I feel he’ll excel as his confidence grows.

Russ: The Bears have to embrace that thought.

Patrick: Yes, let him be the college-style quarterback that he is. Shoot, down the line, as he gets stronger and more comfortable with it, he could mess around and be a new-age Warren Moon or something.

Donald: So, yeah, I truly believe the Bears could win that NFC Championship trophy; the right growth, the right matchups, a call here or there, and we might be rolling down Michigan Avenue come February.

Russ: True. All right, so let me give y’all a quick rundown of what I feel for this upcoming season. In the NFC, I have Green Bay from the North, Dallas Cowboys out the East, L.A. Rams from out west, and Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers from down south.

Patrick: Can’t wait to hear your AFC picks.

Patrick: Can’t wait to hear your AFC picks. Russ: All right, so, from the AFC North, I have Cincinnati; out of the East, I have the Buffalo Bills; from the AFC West, I have the Kansas City Chiefs rolling there and, then, from the South, I'm going with the Tennessee Titans.

Donald: So, who do you have at the end?

Russ: I have Kansas City taking it all the way against whoever. Patrick Mahomes is The Man.

John: Well, I believe for only the 2nd time in Super Bowl history, there’s going to be a rematch of the previous Super Bowl: the L.A. Rams vs. the Cincinnati Bengals. The two quarterbacks here—Matthew Stafford and Joe Burrow—are good enough to get it done.

Patrick: Fellas, I have to roll with my guy, Mr. Tom Brady. So, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it is for me.

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