Our 2014 NFL picks? Smart Guys were mildly smart
How smart were the Smart Guys?
Meh.
Now that the 2014 NFL season is over -- and what a finish, with New England holding off Seattle 28-24 in the Super Bowl -- it's time to look back at how Press-Gazette Media members who cover the Green Bay Packers predicted the season would turn out.
Frankly, the results are less than inspiring.
Pete Dougherty was the only one to correctly pick the Packers' final regular-season record at 12-4. Ryan Wood was slightly more optimistic at 13-3, while Weston Hodkiewicz and Robert Zizzo were on the cautious side at 11-5.
Hodkiewicz and Zizzo correctly predicted the outcome of the NFC championship game: Seattle beating Green Bay. Only Zizzo picked both Super Bowl teams, although he had Seattle beating New England.
Here's how they saw the season play out when they made their predictions in early September:
Dougherty
NFC East: Philadelphia
NFC South: New Orleans
NFC North: Green Bay
NFC West: Seattle
Wild cards: San Francisco, Atlanta
AFC East: New England
AFC South: Indianapolis
AFC North: Cincinnati
AFC West: Denver
Wild cards: N.Y. Jets, Baltimore
NFC championship: New Orleans over Seattle
AFC championship: Cincinnati over Indianapolis
Super Bowl: New Orleans over Cincinnati
Hodkiewicz
NFC East: Philadelphia
NFC South: New Orleans
NFC North: Green Bay
NFC West: Seattle
Wild cards: Arizona, San Francisco
AFC East: N.Y. Jets
AFC South: Indianapolis
AFC North: Cincinnati
AFC West: Denver
Wild cards: New England, Pittsburgh
NFC championship: Seattle over Green Bay
AFC championship: Denver over Indianapolis
Super Bowl: Denver over Seattle
Wood
NFC East: Philadelphia
NFC South: New Orleans
NFC North: Green Bay
NFC West: Seattle
Wild cards: San Francisco, N.Y. Giants
AFC East: New England
AFC South: Indianapolis
AFC North: Cincinnati
AFC West: Denver
Wild cards: Pittsburgh, San Diego
NFC championship: Green Bay over New Orleans
AFC championship: Denver over New England
Super Bowl: Denver over Green Bay
Zizzo
NFC East: Philadelphia
NFC South: New Orleans
NFC North: Green Bay
NFC West: Seattle
Wild cards: Chicago, Arizona
AFC East: New England
AFC South: Indianapolis
AFC North: Pittsburgh
AFC West: Denver
Wild cards: Cincinnati, San Diego
NFC championship: Seattle over Green Bay
AFC championship: New England over Denver
Super Bowl: Seattle over New England