Unafraid Show’s 2020 Super Bowl Prediction: Ravens Over Saints

Donald Trump vs Bubba Wallace, NFL Problems

A different-looking NFL Season will start this season, as 2020 will feel a sense of normalcy. The regular season will begin on its scheduled day of September 10, as the Kansas City Chiefs will start their title defense against the Houston Texans. Super Bowl 55 is scheduled to take place in Tampa, Florida on February 7, 2021.

As with the MLB Season prediction, this NFL prediction was used with the aid of NFL Playoff Predictor. Anyone can input their prediction for who will win and predict their champion. However, there can only be one team that lifts the trophy at the end of the season.

Why the Baltimore Ravens Will Win the Super Bowl

The Baltimore Ravens were the story of the NFL last season until they weren’t. They are led by Lamar Jackson, the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player. However, Jackson and the Ravens’ regular season success did not translate into postseason success, as they lost to the Titans in a 28-12 clunker.

Many have criticized Lamar Jackson’s two postseason performances. The Ravens fell behind early in both games, which they did not experience a lot of, especially during the 2019 regular season. Some may label this team as frontrunners, but they made some adjustments in the off-season.

The Ravens had an eventful off-season because of one player: Earl Thomas. The team released him after he punched defensive lineman Chuck Clark in an altercation during practice. It will be interesting to see how the Ravens as a team respond to this, but they have the pieces to possibly make a championship run. If Lamar Jackson shows even more improvement in his throwing abilities, the Ravens will have a chance and should be the favorites to win the Super Bowl. My prediction is that they will beat the New Orleans Saints in Tampa Bay.

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Why the New Orleans Saints Are Too Easy of a Pick to Make the Super Bowl

It may be hard for fans to be confident in the Saints to win big games in the playoffs. They will be judged on their postseason performance this year. The past three years, they arguably should have gone at least one round further. It’s Super Bowl or bust in New Orleans.

However, the NFC has been an arena of unpredictability the past few seasons. The 49ers ended up making the Super Bowl last year, which was a surprise. While they had dealt with injuries, their running game proved lethal and almost vaulted them right to the top of the league. Some teams get to go from a losing record to the mountaintop, like the Eagles did in the 2017 NFL Season.

Others, such as the Saints, have to play the long game of making the playoffs every year and being disappointed. A Super Bowl has to happen for this era of Saints football, right? They have been among the NFC favorites for three seasons running now. This year may be the last chance with Drew Brees to win the championship.

Overall Standings Prediction For 2020 NFL Season

Here were the overall standings in the prediction:

AFC North

(1) Ravens 12-4

Steelers 8-8

Browns 7-9

Bengals 3-13

AFC South

(4) Titans 11-5

(5) Texans 11-5

Colts 8-8

Jaguars 2-14

AFC East

(3) Patriots 11-5

(6) Bills 10-6

Dolphins 5-11

Jets 4-12

AFC West

(2) Chiefs 12-4

(7) Broncos 9-7

Raiders 7-9

Chargers 4-12

NFC North

(3) Vikings 11-5

(7) Packers 10-6

Lions 5-11

Bears 5-11

NFC South

(1) Saints 12-4

(5) Buccaneers 12-4

Panthers 8-8

Falcons 4-12

NFC East

(4) Eagles 10-6

Cowboys 7-9

Washington 5-11

Giants 4-12

NFC West

(2) Seahawks 12-4

(6) 49ers 11-5

Cardinals 9-7

Rams 7-9

The Two Teams People Are Underestimating for 2020 NFL Season: Patriots and Cardinals

Apparently Bill Belichick is not the greatest coach of all time. All I am hearing is that the Patriots will not be as good this year. While on paper their roster is not necessarily scary, Belichick and his staff always get the best out of their players. They have simply made the Super Bowl too often to be counted out already.

In 2016, when Tom Brady was suspended, the Patriots went 3-1 with quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett making their first career starts. Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is one of the best in the league at maximizing his talent. Cam Newton is going to make the Patriots running back corps a bigger threat. While James White is no Christian McCaffery, he plays similarly. Also expect Sony Michel to have the best season of his career. If Cam Newton stays healthy, the New England offense will be a threat.

Another team that no one will want to play is the Arizona Cardinals. Kyler Murray is going into his second season and now has DeAndre Hopkins to throw the football to. Having both Hopkins and Larry Fitzgerald will help Murray build upon his first season. While the Cardinals may not make the playoffs due to a packed NFC conference, they will be a tough out every week. Their offense will be lethal.

Cowboys Among Mediocre Teams Looking to Break Through

The Cowboys might have four wins already against the Giants and Washington this season. However, they will still struggle to win their division. Expect their offense to be better, but the x-factor for them will be how the defense does under first-year head coach Mike Nolan. Everything this team does is scrutinized. It is hard to evaluate Dak Prescott as a quarterback because of the team he plays for. New head coach Mike McCarthy will be able to get more out of him this season. However, Prescott is not the type of player who can carry a team.

Did we get the prediction right? What team’s prediction did we butcher? Let us know by tweeting us @unafraidshow. Here’s to a safe and successful 2020 season.

NFL: Kliff Kingsbury, Cardinals Cell Phone Policy is a Non-Issue + So 2019

Kliff Kingsbury Cell Phone Policy Players social media

In an interesting twist, it wasn’t news coming from the NFL’s annual meetings that seemed to dominate the headlines on Wednesday, but Kliff Kingsbury’s cell phone policy.

Throughout the week, NFL personnel–including head coaches–have been in Arizona discussing and voting on rules chat could change the course of this upcoming season, and taking care of other pre-Draft business. But despite important discussions that were occurring, one seemed to dominate the headlines on Wednesday.

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First-year Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury announced on Tuesday that he plans to implement a cell phone policy that is commonly used among the college football ranks. “They’re itching to get to those things,” Kingsbury said. “You start to see kind of hands twitching and legs shaking, and you know they need to get that social media fix, so we’ll let them hop over there and then get back in the meeting and refocus.”

This shouldn’t come as a shock.

According to Statista, there are over 4.9 billion mobile phone users in the world. What’s more, the average cell phone user will check their phones up to 47 times per day, with 2,617 likes, taps, or swipes; and 22 percent of those surveyed ages 18-29 check their phones every few minutes. While the data supports obsessive and addictive traits, fans have to realize that it’s not a coaches’ job to mitigate these issues. For Kingsbury to understand these habits is a testament to his attention to detail, and considering the lucrative contracts these players hold, Kingsbury would rather give them a few minutes in between activities to center their focus and hopefully see a greater return on their investments as a result.

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Kingsbury is Forward Thinking

Throughout the day, fans were calling Kliff Kingsbury and the Cardinals out for supporting a “millennial culture,” but it’s hypocritical, considering every cell phone holds personal data patterns, and the negative responses were likely coming from people who weren’t paying attention to the tasks or people in front of them in order to craft their opinions.

The average age of an NFL player is much closer to the ages of the guys Kingsbury coached at Texas Tech. Moreover, Kingsbury, himself, is a former college and NFL player so he understands players on a deeper level than his cohorts. Cell phone breaks are even facilitated at the Ivy League level, so this isn’t groundbreaking or distracting, and shouldn’t be viewed as anything other than leadership understanding how to get the maximum output from their personnel.

From continued activism for benefits to former players, to concussion and CTE issues; domestic violence and drug incidents, to in-game protocol and reviews, the NFL has significantly larger issues to deal with than devolving to high school levels in terms of cell phone and attention management issues.

Kliff Kingsbury Interview: NFL is Ready for Bold Coaching Philosophies

Kliff Kingsbury Interview: The NFL is Ready for Bold Coaching Philosophies

As former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury transitions into the NFL, his thought process shows just how far he’s matured since becoming college football’s youngest head coach.

When Kliff Kingsbury was hired as Texas Tech’s head coach in 2013, he was coming off an exciting year. Kingsbury, then 32, had just coached the youngest Heisman winner in the award’s history in Johnny Manziel. As offensive coordinator at Texas A&M, the national spotlight was focused on a coach with a penchant for details, who proved his high powered offense could be successful in the SEC; which was viewed as the gateway to the NFL.

Fast forward to Texas Tech’s loss vs. Baylor on November 24, 2018, where Kingsbury’s head coaching record hit 35-40 (.467).

In Tech’s 24-35 loss in Dallas, it was pretty much guaranteed that he would not be returning to Lubbock in 2019. Days later, Kingsbury’s termination was confirmed, but just as the news came in, Kliff Kingsbury’s name escalated to the top of every offensive coordinator vacancy position available. Just as Red Raiders began embracing “The King’s” new destination in Los Angeles as the Trojans’ OC, USC allowed him to interview for the Arizona Cardinals’ head coaching position. While the idea of a coach with a losing record seemed insane at first, the Cardinals’ decision was on-trend with the NFL’s sudden shift to the very offensive installation that Kliff Kingsbury had become notorious for throughout his entire playing and coaching career.

Record-breaking numbers and fast-paced offenses are becoming the identity of the Big 12. Now it’s also trickling into the SEC and specifically Alabama with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. For years the Crimson Tide’s identity was in its defensive fortitude, but Tua’s arm strength and cerebral talents prove that to outmaneuver opponents means you have to outsmart them. This can be attributed to why Rams’ head coach Sean McVay has seen the success he has in Los Angeles. Just as defenses understand what “Halle Berry” means, quarterback Jared Goff catches them off guard with another audible. “Obama Obama. Ric Flair Ric Flair.” Score. It’s poetry.

It’s easy to understand why NFL purists who believe the offensive philosophies and avant-garde schemes in college should stay in their lane, but the NFL has to source talent from somewhere. And with two of the top producing conferences in college football transitioning, it’s the perfect timing for a Kliff Kingsbury-type coach.

Kingsbury might be young by NFL standards, but his playing resume spans from New Braunfels, Texas to Europe, so he’s cultured in a way that he understands his players. His coaching career started on a roll of the dice, and he’s been on a G6 ever since. Sure, there’s been turbulence, but like most successful people, adversity and struggles haven’t taken him off course. He’s learned from every role and opportunity he’s been given, and his work ethic combined with his detail-oriented mentality is why he’s now one of 32 NFL head football coaches.

But with the man responsible for coaching up six current NFL quarterbacks–including the frontrunner for the NFL’s MVP Award in Patrick Mahomes–suddenly in charge of a team worth $2.5B, questions have been raised, and rightfully so.

Thankfully, Kingsbury was kind enough to sit down with me to clear the air on some of those concerns.

Q: What was the most transformative event in your time as head coach at Texas Tech that let you know you were ready for this step?

KK: “I’m not sure you ever know that you’re ready, but having been fortunate to coach guys that have played at this level and seen the success they’ve had in similar offensive trends going on in the NFL, I’m just excited for this opportunity, and I’ll try to take what we’ve done at the college level into the NFL.”

Q: If you could break the internet with one unknown fact about you, what would it be?

KK: “I’m straight forward. What you see is what you get.”

Q: You’re one of the coolest and most composed guys on the sideline at every level. So, schematics aside, who influenced that aspect of your coaching philosophy?

KK: “I try to only show positive reactions. I think that when I was with New England watching Coach Belichick, he was the one where ‘great play or bad play’ [he was composed]. And I always thought that was good for the pulse of the team. You never really knew what he was thinking either way, but he never showed panic or any sort of overreaction, and I think that’s just a good mentality for a coach to show to his team.”

Q: Thoughts on angry coaches coming from a former players’ perspective?

KK: “Players respond differently. For me, I was just never a guy who fed off the coach losing it. I was more like, ‘Hey, let’s figure this out, keep our heads together,’ and come up with the best solution to whatever the issue was at the time.”

Q: You coached Pat [Mahomes] and were with him the night he was drafted, and you were drafted by the Pats and played with Tom Brady. How are you feeling about the AFC Championship game?

KK: “I’m pulling for both offenses, so… a high scoring affair. Hopefully, they tie! No… it’s tough because obviously, I have a lot of respect for the head coaches and the teams and Tom and Pat, so I just want them both to play really well, and I’m sure it will be a heckuva a game.”

Q: So you have no rooting interest?

KK: “I don’t. I’m just trying to stay neutral and hope everyone plays well and stays healthy.”

Q: What was the biggest challenge in your first few years as head coach at Texas Tech? Did you face any issues or setbacks that might have throttled Tech’s progression, and ultimately your win-loss record?

KK: “I’m sure there were specifics, but just as a young coach, I think I was probably a little too ambitious on some things. Instead of just really trying to build it from the ground up, I thought we could make some quick fixes here and there. It probably set us back, and I think it’s just something that you learn as you go. There isn’t anything that can prepare you for that, but I think that probably pushed us back a little bit in the beginning.”

Q: Did you think your limited time in the coaching profession had an impact on your coaching tree?

KK: “No…I’m not sure. Obviously, I hadn’t been a coach for very long when I was given that opportunity and probably had some limited connections as opposed to others. I think that’s something that moving forward, I’ve really tried to be thorough in the hiring process, and making sure that we’re always getting the best candidates possible. I’ve been fortunate to coach with a bunch of coaches who have done a tremendous job for us, but that’s one of the biggest things I took from [that job]; you have to get the right tools for that program at that time, regardless of your relationship with people. It’s just about getting the right people.”

Q: What’s your favorite quote?

KK: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, and live the life you’ve imagined.” — Henry David Thoreau

Q: You haven’t announced an OC yet, but noted that whoever you hire will help you mesh some traditional looks into your system. With how much the NFL is changing offensively, is it important to bring in traditional coaches to transition veteran players into new schemes more efficiently?

KK: “The experience factor in this league is [what’s] important for me, to be able to learn from everyone that has been here before and dealt with an NFL schedule, game planning, and break downs. There are just different aspects that will be new to me, so the more experience you can rely on, the more ideas you can get from people who have done it at a high level from different organizations, the better off we’ll be.”

Kliff Kingsbury is an anomaly–especially to the coaching world. He’s a charismatic guy with Texas swagger but places a great deal of emphasis on intelligence. From his custom suits to one of his favorite books, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, the details he pays attention to are a nod to old school elements of the game; it’s his system that provides an upgrade. And with another NFL team getting on board, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if the ‘Year in Football’ in 2019 includes an increase of “system experimentation.”

Want More? Check Out: Preseason Polls are Worthless and Mess Up the College Football Playoff