NFL Midseason Review & Predictions

Believe it or not, the NFL has reached its halfway point. For the St. Louis Rams, the season has not gone exactly as most of us thought it would, an understatement. That makes for a good reminder as to how useless preseason predictions really are. In fact, they're so useless that they demand another round of updated predictions.

SB Nation NFL took a swing through the both the AFC and the NFC, reviewing each division, laying out likely winners and drafting a playoff scenario that's a bit more of an educated guess than those we made back in August. I handled the NFC, which means they're probably way off base.

Sadly, not even the Rams homer inside could project with any confidence a playoff appearance for the Rams. Even if they completely turned their season around and win seven of their remaining game, they cannot catch the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC West title. As for the wild card, there are teams elsewhere in the NFC that have already outpaced the Rams.

That doesn't mean the Rams cannot play the role of spoiler. Oddly enough, they could be spoiling things in the AFC North rather than anywhere in the NFC, thanks to a schedule that backloaded their division games.

In weeks 15 and 16, the Rams host the Bengals and then travel to Pittsburgh. Right now, the Steelers lead the Ravens and the Bengals by one game for the division lead, and it should be a tight race all season long, especially between Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Beating Pittsburgh on the road is a huge longshot, but injuries can change anything. A home win over the Bengals is a more realistic possibility, which could go a long way toward determining the AFC playoff picture.

Go check out the mid-season predictions. What do you foresee for the rest of the season?