usatoday.com S PECIA L EDITION Previews, projections and schedules for each team NNFFLL 22001188 PREVIEW Cowboys’ Dak Prescott USA TODAY SPORTS SPECIAL EDITION 2 2018 TEAM PREVIEWS AFC EAST Record NFC EAST Record Super Bowl LIII will be held Feb. 3 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. USA TODAY’s Nate Davis New England Patriots 11-5 Philadelphia Eagles 11-5 forecasts how he sees things unfolding through then. Miami Dolphins 7-9 Dallas Cowboys 7-9 For team-by-team previews, see the following pages. New York Jets 4-12 New York Giants 7-9 Buffalo Bills 3-13 Washington Redskins 7-9 AFC NORTH NFC NORTH Pittsburgh Steelers 10-6 Minnesota Vikings 12-4 Baltimore Ravens 7-9 Green Bay Packers 11-5 Cincinnati Bengals 7-9 Chicago Bears 7-9 Cleveland Browns 5-11 Detroit Lions 6-10 AFC SOUTH NFC SOUTH Jacksonville Jaguars 12-4 Atlanta Falcons 11-5 Houston Texans 11-5 New Orleans Saints 11-5 Tennessee Titans 10-6 Carolina Panthers 9-7 Indianapolis Colts 2-14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5-11 AFC WEST NFC WEST Los Angeles Chargers 10-6 Los Angeles Rams 12-4 Denver Broncos 9-7 Arizona Cardinals 7-9 Kansas City Chiefs 7-9 San Francisco 49ers 7-9 Oakland Raiders 7-9 Seattle Seahawks 4-12 AFC playoffs NFC playoffs Wild card Wild card (3) Steelers def. (6) Titans; (3) Falcons def. (6) Packers; (4) Chargers def. (5) Texans (5) Saints def. (4) Eagles Divisional Divisional (2) Patriots def. (3) Steelers; (3) Falcons def. (2) Vikings; (4) Chargers def. (1) Jaguars (5) Saints def. (1) Rams AFC Championship Game NFC Championship Game Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta will be the site of Super Bowl LIII. Will the (4) Chargers def. (2) Patriots (3) Falcons def. (5) Saints JASON GETZ/USA TODAY SPORTS SUPER BOWL LIII: Falcons def. Chargers USA TODAY SPORTS SPECIAL EDITION 3 Nate Davis’ Arizona Nate Davis’ Atlanta 2018 2018 prediction CARDINALS prediction FALCONS 7-9 Coach: 11-5 Coach: Dan Quinn, fourth year, 29-19 Second place in Coordinators: Mike McCoy (offense), Al Holcomb First place in Coordinators: Steve Sarkisian (offense), NFC West (defense), Jeff Rodgers (special teams) NFC South Marquand Manuel (defense), Keith Armstrong (special teams) 2018 SCHEDULE (ET) 2018 SCHEDULE (ET) Sept. 9 ............ Washington ............ 4:25 Sept. 6 .... at Philadelphia (Thu) .... 8:20 Sept. 16 ........... at L.A. Rams ........... 4:05 Sept. 16 .................. Carolina .................. 1 Sept. 23 ............... Chicago ............... 4:25 Sept. 23 .............. New Orleans .............. 1 Sept. 30 ................ Seattle ................ 4:05 Sept. 30 ................ Cincinnati ................ 1 Oct. 7 ......... at San Francisco ......... 4:25 Oct. 7 ............... at Pittsburgh ............... 1 Oct. 14 ............... at Minnesota ............... 1 Oct. 14 ................. Tampa Bay ................. 1 Oct. 18 ............ Denver (Thu)............ 8:20 Oct. 22 ........ N.Y. Giants (Mon) ........ 8:15 Oct. 28 ........... San Francisco ........... 4:25 Oct. 28 ......................... Bye ........................ Nov. 4 .......................... Bye ......................... Nov. 4 .............. at Washington .............. 1 Nov. 11 .............. at Kansas City .............. 1 Nov. 11 ............... at Cleveland ............... 1 Nov. 18 ................ Oakland ................ 4:05 Nov. 18 ..................... Dallas ..................... 1 Nov. 25 ........ at L.A. Chargers ........ 4:05 Nov. 22 ... at New Orleans (Thu) ... 8:20 Dec. 2 ................ at Green Bay ................ 1 Dec. 2 .................. Baltimore .................. 1 Dec. 9 .................. Detroit .................. 4:25 Dec. 9 ................ at Green Bay ................ 1 Dec. 16 ................. at Atlanta ................. 1 Dec. 16 .................... Arizona .................... 1 Dec. 23 .............. L.A. Rams .............. 4:05 Dec. 23 ................ at Carolina ................ 1 Coach Steve Wilks Dec. 30 .............. at Seattle .............. 4:25 Wide receiver Calvin Ridley Dec. 30 .............. at Tampa Bay .............. 1 JOE CAMPOREALE/USA TODAY SPORTS DAVID GOLDMAN/AP 2017 LEADERS 2017 LEADERS What’s new: Through free agency and the Pass Att Cmp Yds Pct TD Int Rtg What’s new: The Falcons reinforced their ros- draft, the Cardinals added quarterbacks Sam C Palmer 267 164 1978 61.4 9 7 84.4 Pass Att Cmp Yds Pct TD Int Rtg Bradford, Josh Rosen and Mike Glennon. They Rush Att Yds Avg Long TD early-round draft picks at wide receiver (Calvin M Ryan 529 342 4095 64.7 20 12 91.4 A Petersn 129 448 3.5 27 2 Rush Att Yds Avg Lng TD K Willms 120 426 3.5 25 1 Ridley) and cornerback (Isaiah Oliver). They also D Freemn 196 865 4.4 44 7 contract and RT Andre Smith to a two-year deal. E Penny 311 24 4.0 14 2 plugged a big hole at right guard by signing Bran- T Colemn 156 628 4.0 52 5 M Ryan 32 143 4.5 16 0 They added Brice Butler in free agency and drafted Rec. Rec Yds Avg Long TD don Fusco. However, in free agency they lost two L Fitzgrld 109 1156 10.6 37 6 Rec. Rec Yds Avg Lng TD Christian Kirk in the second round to address wide JJ Nelson 29 508 17.5 46 2 key starting defensive linemen, Adrian Clayborn J Jones 88 1444 16.4 53 3 receiver and traded for CB Jamar Taylor to shore Ja Brown 31 477 15.4 52 4 and Dontari Poe, who accounted for a third of the M Sanu 67 703 10.5 25 5 J Gresham 33 322 9.8 21 2 A Hooper 49 526 10.7 88 3 up their second cornerback job. They have a new Jo Brown 21 299 14.2 52 3 team’s quarterback pressures last season. T Gabriel 33 378 11.5 40 1 Kick PAT FG Pts What could go right: If Atlanta gets a breakout D Freemn 36 317 8.8 29 1 Kick PAT FG Pts tired Bruce Arians. P Dawson 23/26 32/40 119 Interceptions No. M Bryant 35/35 34/39 137 What could go right: A Bethea 5 McKinley, Clayborn won’t be missed much. The Interceptions No. T Mathieu 2 Falcons also moved Vic Beasley back to his natural D Jones 3 T Williams 2 D Trufant 2 should be more than decent. Bradford has never J Bethel 1 spot at defensive end, which should boost the pass K Neal 1 had a bad season, just injured ones. RB David Sacks No. rush. If Ridley adjusts quickly to life in the NFL and R Allen 1 Johnson returns healthy and could produce like he C Jones 17.0 Sacks No. O Pierre 5.5 A Clayborn 9.5 did in 2016. The defense can be among the best in H Reddick 2.5 going to be a nightmare for opposing defensive co- T McKinley 6.0 the league again. If everything goes right, the Car- F Rucker 1.5 ordinators. V Beasley 5.0 G Jarrett 4.0 dinals have the talent to compete in the division Tough season if … : With few weak position and for the postseason. groups and a ton of talent, the question mark for Tough season if … : Things could go awry if injuries become an issue again. Sarkisian to scheme for more big gains and get WR Julio Jones more involved in the Several projected start- year except Sarkisian. The Falcons scored the most points in the league in 2016 and And things will not be great defensively if no one steps up and plays at least ade- quately at cornerback opposite Patrick Peterson. Missed opportunities were the main reason they faltered in 2017. If they can force The call: While national expectations for Arizona are very low, the Cardinals more turnovers and drop fewer passes, they’ll be extremely tough to beat. should be at least a middling team. They have a talented defense. Johnson returns. The call: As long as the Falcons don’t have any major injuries, they should be in Bradford has never been bad. The Rams are unquestionably the favorites to win the NFC West, but the Cardinals should be in the mix for at least a wild card. They are Getting past the competition might come down to how much Dan Quinn grows in too talented to win fewer than six games and could win as many as 10. his fourth year as head coach. Jess Root, Cardinals Wire Tim Weaver, Falcons Wire 4 SPECIAL EDITION USA TODAY SPORTS Nate Davis’ Baltimore Nate Davis’ Buffalo 2018 2018 prediction RAVENS prediction BILLS 7-9 Coach: John Harbaugh, 11th year, 94-66 3-13 Coach: Sean McDermot, second year, 9-7 Second place in Coaches: Marty Mornhinweg (offense), Fourth place in Coordinators: Brian Daboll (offense), AFC North Don Martindale (defense), Jerry Rosburg AFC East Leslie Frazier (defense), Danny Crossman (special teams) (special teams) 2018 SCHEDULE (ET) 2018 SCHEDULE (ET) Sept. 9 .................... Buffalo .................... 1 Sept. 9 ............... at Baltimore ............... 1 Sept. 13 ..... at Cincinnati (Thu) ..... 8:20 Sept. 16 ............. L.A. Chargers ............. 1 Sept. 23 ................... Denver ................... 1 Sept. 23 ................ Minnesota ................ 1 Sept. 30 .......... at Pittsburgh .......... 8:20 Sept. 30 .............. at Green Bay .............. 1 Oct. 7 ................ at Cleveland ................ 1 Oct. 7 .................. Tennessee .................. 1 Oct. 14 ........... at Tennessee ........... 4:25 Oct. 14 ................ at Houston ................ 1 Oct. 21 ............ New Orleans ............ 4:05 Oct. 21 ............. at Indianapolis ............. 1 Oct. 28 ................. at Carolina ................. 1 Oct. 29 ..... New England (Mon) ..... 8:15 Nov. 4 .................. Pittsburgh .................. 1 Nov. 4 .................... Chicago .................... 1 Nov. 11 ......................... Bye ......................... Nov. 11 ................ at N.Y. Jets ................ 1 Nov. 18 ................. Cincinnati ................. 1 Nov. 18 ......................... Bye ........................ Nov. 25 ................... Oakland ..................