Inside the Brain of E.C. Henry

2024 NFL Season Predictions by E.C. Henry

The player I'm looking most forward to seeing in 2024 is Houston's CJ Stroud.

The NFL regular season kicks off this Thursday when the defending, two time champions Kansas City Chiefs host the Baltimore Ravens.  GREAT way to kick off the season, as the football world has been enamored with Patrick Mahomes for YEARS now, while Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens has steadily built his reputation as a top-5 quarterback.  Then the next day the NFL comes back with Packers/Eagles in Philadelphia and that should be another great game.  My Seahawks start off with Denver in Seattle on Sunday.  I JUST re-upped with U-Tube TV so I'll be able to watch that game.

Lotta reasons to be optimistic IF you're a Seahawk fan this year.  For starters there's fresh blood for the first time in 15 years, as Pete Carroll is OUT as the head coach, and the former defensive cordanator of the Baltimore Ravens: Mike McDonald; is in.  Now we all know OLD McDonald had a farm (e-i e-i ohhh), but OUR McDonald: Mike McDonald; has a FRESH defensive philosophy that's supposed to be cutting edge where defensive players line up in different positions.  There's also the former U.W. Husky offensive cordanator Ryan Grubb who's supposed to have an innovative offense.  

Player wise I can't wait to see how --

Texas's Byron Murphy II plays as a pro.  Byron was the first defensive player taken in the 2024 draft, and appears to be exactly what the Seahawks needed, an ELLETE defensive lineman.  I've been bemoaning the Seahawks's weakness on the defensive and offensive line for YEARS, and a least this year a real attempt was made to shore those units up.  Offensive line wise the Seahawks will have FOUR new starters for week one: left guard Laken Tomlinson, center: Connor Williams, right guard Anthony Bradford, and right tackle George Fant.  Not sold on Anthony Bradford, but the rest are all upgrades.  The Seahawks are still hoping get back Abe Lucas, but he's got a bad knee that appears chronic and potentially career shortening.  

Best moment of the 2023 season:

Jaxson Njgiba-Smith's last minute catch to beat Philadelphia on Monday Night Football

Schedule-wise I think my Seattle Seahawk have a relatively easy schedule, that should inflate the victory total higher than their talents warrant.  Looks like the Seahawks are very strong in the cornerback position.  But they remain shaky at back-up running back, starting quarterback, and their linebackers on defense are all unproven.  In the end I don't think the Seahawks have enough yet to overtake the 49ers, but they should be able to overtake the Aarron Donald-less Los Angeles Rams, and the chronically snake-bitten Arizona Cardinals franchise.  

NFC West predictions:

San Fransisco 12-5, Seattle 11-6, Los Angles Rams 9-8, Arizona Cardinals: 6-11

As for the rest of NFL.  I really like the Houston Texans, and CJ Stroud especially.  I think Buffalo is in for a rough year.  And I expect Kansas City to come back to the pack considerably.  Really hoping Jim Hardbaugh can make the Los Angeles Chargers relevant again.  Caleb Williams has looked OUTSTANDING in the pre-season, but I'm still more interested in Jaden Daniels of the Washington Commanders.

Only a couple teams come to mind who have absolutely NO HOPE for success in 2024.  The New England Patriots looks fall-of-the-map bad and made a HUGE MISTAKE drafting Drake Maye out of North Carolina.  GONE are the Belicheck days of glory and in are the in-ept times of the early 1980s when the Patriots where routinely in the NFL dog house.  Carolina also looks really, really bad; as Brice Young looks like Kyler Murray of the East Coast.  Finally the New York Giants look like a team still headed in reverse in what should be Daniel Jones last hurrah.  Minnesota doesn't have much of a chance.  Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo all look like teams that will be on the outside looking in come playoff time.  The whole NFC south looks bad to me, and should provide THE WORST football to watch week-in, week-out.  

NFC best (as E.C. Henry sees it): Philadelphia Eagles: 14-3, Detroit Lions: 13-4, San Francisco 49ers: 12-5, Green Bay Packers: 11-6, Seattle Seahawks: 11-6, Atlanta Falcons 8-9, Dallas Cowboys 9-8, L.A. Rams: 9-8, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 8-9, New Orleans Saints: 8-9, Chicago Bears 7-10, Arizona Cardinals 6-11, New York Giants 5-12, Minnesota Vikings: 5-12, Carolina Panthers: 1-16  

AFC best (as E.C. Henry sees it): Houston Texans: 15-2, Cleveland Browns: 13-4, Los Angeles Chargers 11-6, Kansas City Chiefs 10-7, Baltimore Ravens: 10-7, Miami Dolphins: 10-7, New York Jets: 9-8, Jacksonville Jaguars: 9-8, Cincinnati Bengals: 8-9, Pittsburgh Steelers: 8-9, Los Angeles Raiders: 7-10, Buffalo Bills: 7-10, Denver Broncos 5-12, Indianapolis Colts: 5-12, Tennessee Titans: 4-13, New England Patriots: 2-15.  

NFC MVP: Jalen Hurts from Philadelphia

Hugs in 2023:

I read the T.S. is drawing up plays as her encore in 2024!  Taylor Swift is EVERYWHERE.  No one can stop her!

AFC MVP: C.J. Stroud from Houston, with Taylor Swift a CLOSE 2nd 'cuz you gotta believe she's gunna get a lot of air time whenever the Chiefs are featured.  

AFC playoffs: (Wildcard round) Baltimore at Kansas City: 13-34, NY Jets at Cleveland: 21-30, Miami at Los Angeles: 44-19.

NFC playoffs: (Wildcard round) Dallas at Detroit: 16-37, Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco: 6-39, Green Bay at Atlanta: 22-20.

AFC Divisional: Miami at Houston: 41-46, Kansas City at Cleveland: 23-21.

NFC Divisional: Green Bay at Philadelphia: 27-24 OT, San Francisco at Detroit: 30-28

Championship games: Kansas City at Houston: 26-30, Green Bay at San Francisco: 20-36

2025 Super Bowl: Houston Texans vs. San Francisco 49ers: 38-29  

 Start  of the 2023 campaign looked something like this --

What will  2024  bring? 

We'll hafta wait and see...

 

 

Gino Smith: 2022 NFL Most Improved Player

Never thought I'd be saying this, but the biggest surprise of the 2022 NFL season has got to be the play of the Seattle Seahawks' Geno Smith.  Even in the pre-season most people were more intreaged by Drew Lock than they were Gino, even tough Gino had been Russell Wilson's back-up for the past three years. 

But the fact was prior to this year, Gino really hadn't done much to inspire confidence that he was good enough to be the Seattle Seahawks starting quarterback.  Sure, he was a starter for the New York Jets back in 2013-14, but was benched there; and then bounced around the league before landing in Seattle only to be a bench warmer under the reliable and successful, Russell Wilson.

But Russell wanted out of Seattle, and eventually John Schneider found a good trade partner in the Denver Broncos.  The Broncos were looking for what they thought would be the final piece that pushed them over the top so they could complete against the likes of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Chargers who were showing promise with Justin Herbert as their quarterback.  

For Russell Wilson the Seahawks got two number one picks, two number picks, a 5th round pick, QB Drew Lock, TE Noah Fant, and DE Shelby Harris.  

The funny part is, this year the Denver Broncos have really struggled with Russell starting all but one of their games up till now compiling a 3-8 record so far which included an opening week loss of 16-17 on Monday Night Football where Russell Wilson made his return to Seattle -- only now as an opponent.  

What's happened so far is nothing short of miraculous.  Remember E.C.'s pre-season predictions?  Well, in them I picked my beloved Seahawks to finish at 3-14, while the Broncos were supposed to be much better at 7-10; both in last place in their respected divisions.  

With Gino and Russell the starters on the respective teams it is fair to compare their 2022 statistics so far so this is how they stack up:

Games played: 

Russell Wilson: 11

Gino Smith: 12

Completions/Attempts/%:

Russell Wilson: 215 / 358 / 60.1%

Gino Smith: 285 / 392 / 72.7%

Passing Yards: 

Russell Wilson: 2,558

Gino Smith: 3,169

Touchdowns / Interceptions:

Russell Wilson: 8 / 5

Gino Smith: 22 / 6

Sacks:

Russell Wilson: 37

Gino Smith: 31

Rushing Yards (Attempts / Yards / Average per rush / longest rush / rushing TD / fumbles):

Russell Wilson: 37 rushing attempts / 158 yards / 4.3 rushing average / 1 TD / 2 fumbles

Gino Smith: 52 rushing attempts / 243 yards / 4.7 rushing average / 1 TD / 3 fumbles

I thought Denver was supposed to be an offensive juggernaut this year?!  But if you compare their stats this year Gino Smith is CLEARLY the better quarterback.  Towards the end of Russell's tenure in Seattle I soured on him.  But I still thought he was a better quarterback than Gino was/is.  Now, I'm not so sure.

One thing is for sure, Gino Smith throws a better slant route than Russell Wilson ever has.  Check this clip from last week.  The throw that won the game against the L.A. Rams in the last minute.  Gino Smith to D.K. Metcaff:

Don't know how the 2022 season will turn out, but so far so good.  The 2022 Seattle Seahawks have been wayyy more competitive than I thought they would be.  They are one of the pleasant surprises in the NFL this year -- and the play of Gino Smith is one of the primary drivers of their success.