NFL: What Did We Get Wrong In 2017?

As sports writers that make predictions, some predictions will look great, others not so much. Usually it’s that time year where we look back and see what we’re thankful for. But for this article, we're looking back and seeing what we got wrong this year in sports and trust me, there was a lot to choose from. Below are 12 of our finest slip-ups from our writers: Caleb Henderson, Chinedum Wejinya, Charles Post, Greg Schwochow, and Chase Zayac. As well as some nods from our MLB Staff and NFL Staff, headlined by projections that had the Chicago Cubs upsetting the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Giants making the playoffs. Also, make sure to check out What Did We Get Wrong In 2016? from last year.

1. "Shea Patterson will win the Heisman" (January 18, 2017): I thought Shea Patterson would be due for a Johnny Manziel type rise in his sophomore season. Instead he had a decent season, but has announced that will he will transfer to Michigan after the violations were handed out at Ole Miss. Patterson threw for 2,259 yards, 17 touchdowns, and nine interceptions this past season before going out with an injury. In his freshman campaign, after being named the starter following Chad Kelly's injury, he threw for 880 yards on 54.5 percent passing, and six scores. Maybe Patterson will make a rise to stardom after heading to the Big Ten, but for now, this prediction was way off.

-Caleb Henderson.

2. "James Harden will win 2016-17 NBA MVP" (January 21, 2017): I predicted that Houston Rockets' superstar shooting guard would win the NBA MVP award because I thought with him playing more point guard, it would give him more freedom with the offense (and it did), but I didn’t think Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder would average a triple-double and break Oscar Robertson's record of triple-doubles in a single season with 42 of them. That was a once in a lifetime performance that deserved the MVP. Westbrook finished with 69 first place votes, but Harden did finish in second place with 22 first place votes. Kawhi Leonard, Lebron James, and Isaiah Thomas rounded out the top five.

-Chinedum Wejinya.

3. "Duke, UCLA, and Villanova will reach the Final Four" (March 16, 2017): The Final Four is one of the most difficult things to predict because of how many unexpected things happen in the world of college basketball, and that reigned true with our CBB Staff's projections. Charles Post, Tunde Aduroja, and Blake Stoll each released their own separate Final Four picks, and out of the 12 teams selected, only two of them actually reached the national semifinals, North Carolina and Gonzaga. Post had Duke reaching the national title game, losing to the Tar Heels, but they failed to reach the Sweet Sixteen. Aduroja picked UCLA to win it all, but they lost to Kentucky, and Stoll had Villanova making another Final Four run. Also wrong.

-CBB Staff.

4. "The Washington Wizards will eliminate the Boston Celtics" (May 1, 2017): I predicted that the Washington Wizards would beat the Boston Celtics in the second round of the playoffs because for part of the regular season and for most of the playoffs, the Wizards looked like the better team, even though they were the lower seed. Also it seemed like it was time for John Wall and Bradley Beal to take a big leap forward and it looked, to me, like this would be the playoff series that it finally happened. Unfortunately, it did not. After winning three games, all at home, and forcing a decisive Game 7, the Wizards failed to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Wall struggled mightily that game, scoring 18 points on a porous 8-23 shooting.

-Chinedum Wejinya.

5. "Michigan and Texas will be in CFP contention" (August 19, 2017): Really, really don’t know what I was thinking here. Michigan at least had a championship caliber defense, but were held back all year by the musical chairs at the QB position. Texas, on the other hand was simply nowhere close. I thought they’d be good enough for a meteoric rise with Tom Herman at head coach, but that’ll have to wait until next year at least. The two teams combined to have a 14-10 record, and neither were very competitive in their conferences. Michigan finished with an 8-4 spot and are going to the Outback Bowl to face South Carolina. Texas had a 6-6 record and are playing Missouri in the Texas Bowl two days after Christmas.

-Caleb Henderson.

6. "Florida State will make the College Football Playoff" (August 19, 2017): I predicted that Florida State would make it to the CFP field because I gave into the hype and didn’t know their starting quarterback, Deondre Francois, would get hurt in the first game of the season. He went down in the second half of a 24-7 loss to Alabama in Week 1, and the next day was ruled out for the entire year. Florida State was forced to start a freshman signal caller, James Blackman, and there was a learning curve for sure. The Seminoles would go on to lose five more games to NC State, Miami, Louisville, Boston College, and Clemson. A bright spot? They finished 6-6 and are going bowling ... although, head coach Jimbo Fisher has decided to leave.

-Chinedum Wejinya.

7. "The Giants will make the playoffs, and the Jaguars won't" (August 22, 2017): The New York Giants went to the postseason last year, losing in the Wild Card to the Green Bay Packers, but they were expected to make a similar run this year, behind Eli Manning. And we thought it was even more obvious that the Giants would reach the playoffs since Ezekiel Elliott would be out for the Dallas Cowboys. Boy did we get that one wrong! Instead, New York is 2-13, benched Manning, and has fired head coach Ben McAdoo. On the other side of things, we projected the Jacksonville Jaguars would finish with a 3-13 record and would be dead last in the AFC South. Guess what, though? The Jags have a 10-5 record and are in first place.

-NFL Staff.

8. "Derek Carr will win the NFL MVP" (September 7, 2017): Ugh ... I don't even know. This one might be the best of the bunch, or is at least near the top. I'll give you my thought process, though. The last two years have seen a pattern in which a good quarterback takes the next step forward, leads his team to success, and racks up the statistics, resulting in the MVP award for Cam Newton and Matt Ryan. With that said, this still looks like a horrible projection. Carr hasn't been bad, but he certainly hasn't been good, and it didn't help that he went down with an injury early in the year. He's thrown for 2,942 yards and 18 scores with a rating of 88.8, but his team is 6-8 and is likely out of the playoff race.

-Charles Post.

9. "Cubs will reach the World Series" (October 13, 2017): The Chicago Cubs won the 2016 World Series and then went 92-70 in the following regular season. It wasn't a bad year by any definition of the word, but they clearly weren't the same team as the prior year. In the NLDS, the Cubbies defeated the Washington Nationals in a thrilling Game 5, but they weren't prepared for what was coming next in the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately, three of our four writers picked Chicago to upset Los Angeles, including two that had the Cubs winning in six games. However, the Dodgers won the first three games of the series, and then ended the series in Game 5 with a blowout win fueled by Kiki Hernandez's three home runs.

-MLB Staff.

10. "Dodgers will win the World Series" (October 24, 2017): If many of you remember, I predicted the Dodgers to win in seven games. Looking back on it, I loved that the Dodgers had a complete rotation with the ace of all aces, Clayton Kershaw leading it. The Dodgers' bullpen still showed talent with Kenley Jansen and Brandon Morrow, but I severely underestimated the Houston Astros offense. I thought the Dodgers pitching would be able to hold them in place enough for their own offense to take the series. But performances from players Alex Bregman and George Springer took away my hopes and brought a much deserving championship to city that needed it in a time of need. So in this instance, I’m glad I was wrong.

-Greg Schwochow.

11. "The Cotton Bowl will be Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma State" (November 2, 2017): At the time of this projection, done by our CFB Staff - Charles Post, Chase Zayac, and Chinedum Wejinya - Notre Dame was ranked fourth and Oklahoma State was ranked just outside of the top-10. We gave the Fighting Irish a 67 percent chance to make the Cotton Bowl, and Oklahoma State a 33 percent chance to do so. But more than a month later, and neither team is headed to Dallas for their bowl game. Instead, they're both going to the state of Florida. Both teams struggled down the stretch and finished with 9-3 records. And the actual Cotton Bowl is going to be a thriller with Ohio State and USC, a pair of top-10 teams, going at one another.

-CFB Staff.

12. "I think that Auburn will beat Georgia" (November 29, 2017): My worst pick personally I believe I made this year was in the SEC championship game between No. 2 Auburn and No. 6 Georgia. Auburn had been rolling as of late with huge wins over two top ranked teams in two weeks, Georgia and Alabama. With all of the momentum in the world, I thought the Tigers would roll into Atlanta and beat up on the Bulldogs, saying "I think that Auburn will beat Georgia for the second time, by two touchdowns. Georgia has just not been impressive." However, Georgia had something else in mind. Instead, they smacked around Auburn and went on to make the College Football Playoff for the first time as the third seed.

-Chase Zayac.

Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated.