How are the Predictions from WhatIfSports Looking Now?

I wrote a post back in September at the beginning of the NFL season relating the predictions of WhatIfSports with regard to the division winners, wild card teams and Super Bowl participants and winner. Since ten weeks have transpired, let's take a peek at how accurate WhatIfSports' predictions are appearing to be.

They claim that in the AFC the division winners would be the Jets, Ravens, Chargers and Texans, with the wild cards being Tennessee and Indianapolis. The Jets and Ravens seems like decent picks to win their divisions, but the Chargers seem to be behind the 8-ball with regard to winning the AFC West and the Houston Texans are at the bottom of their division. The prediction that New England and Pittsburgh would NOT make the playoffs in the AFC also seems off base as well as their prediction that the top 3 teams in the AFC East - New York, New England and Miami would all finish with 8-8 records. Both New York and New England already have 8 wins.

In the NFC, WhatIfSports predicted that the division winners would be Dallas, Green Bay, San Francisco and New Orleans. Of this set, Dallas is totally out and it looks tough for San Francisco. The other two teams have a good chance but have strong competition in their division races. The wild card picks, Minnesota and Carolina only have 4 wins between both teams - they're not going anywhere.

Overall, the accuracy of WhatIfSports predictions is seriously lame. If they used their typical methodologies that they use for their core business to make these preditions, I think you know all you need to know about these guys. Maybe WhatIfSports needs to be renamed WTF Sports?

It's NFL Kickoff Weekend, But Someone Knows the Results Now!

Yes, indeed. Although the Week 1 games are still in progress, WhatIfSports thinks they know who will make the playoffs and even win the Super Bowl. Here's the teams WhatIfSports think will go to the playoffs, win the conference championships and win the Super Bowl:

AFC East - New York Jets
AFC North - Baltimore Ravens
AFC West - San Diego Chargers
AFC South - Houston Texans
Wild Card - Tennessee Titans
Wild Card - Indianapolis Colts

NFC East - Dallas Cowboys
NFC North - Green Bay Packers
NFC West - San Francisco 49ers
NFC South - New Orleans Saints
Wild Card - Minnesota Vikings
Wild Card - Carolina Panthers

AFC Champion - San Diego Chargers
NFC Champion - Green Bay Packers

Super Bowl - Green Bay Packers

They predict the New England Patriots don't even make the playoffs. We'll see. The company is touting its simulation technology, but I'm not convinced that it is that useful. I've done posts in the past which predicted fantasy rankings, based on the premise that stating what happened last year would happen this year. Individual performances may not vary significantly, but teams' performances can vary significantly from year to year. The recent Super Bowl loser slump is a great example.

Do you think WhatIfSports is correct? Do you think the top 3 teams in the AFC East will all finish with 8-8 records? I have doubts as to the usefulness of this approach with regard to team performance.