{"id":48801,"date":"2026-08-21T16:34:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T22:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gambyl.com\/?p=48801"},"modified":"2026-08-21T16:34:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T22:34:56","slug":"nfl-bold-predictions-after-two-weeks-of-preseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gambyl.com\/pt\/nfl\/nfl-bold-predictions-after-two-weeks-of-preseason\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Bold Predictions After Two Weeks of Preseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

Preseason football on the NFL tells you almost nothing and occasionally tells you everything. The trick is knowing which is which.

Two weeks are complete. A 42-year-old quarterback has not taken a snap. A third-round rookie was the best player on the field in Canton. The first overall pick posted a 100.3 rating in his debut and still is not starting. And the defending champions have an entirely empty running back room.

Here are eight predictions that will look either sharp or ridiculous by December. No hedging.

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1. Aaron Rodgers does not finish the season as Pittsburgh’s starter<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

He has not played a preseason snap. Not against Green Bay, not against the Jets. Mike McCarthy said publicly for weeks that he wanted Rodgers on the field, then held him out of both chances and rested Mason Rudolph alongside him.

Meanwhile, the alternatives keep performing. Pittsburgh beat Green Bay 28-9 with Will Howard and Drew Allar running the offence, and McCarthy described both as “very poised” afterwards. Howard has the first half against the Jets. Allar has the second.

Add a line breaking in first-round rookie tackle Max Iheanachor, who has missed over a week himself, and a secondary that has been ravaged (Jalen Ramsey on PUP, Joey Porter Jr. not practising, Jaquan Brisker out more than a week), and the error margin for a 42-year-old to be merely adequate is thin.

The prediction:<\/strong> Rodgers starts Week 1 and is not the starter by Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Carson Beck starts an NFL game before Halloween<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The single most impressive individual performance of the preseason belongs to Arizona’s third-round pick: 15 of 19 for 188 yards, a touchdown, no interceptions, a 125.4 rating<\/strong> in the Hall of Fame Game.

He then missed the following week with a rib injury, which is the only reason this is still a bold call rather than an obvious one.

Arizona is rebuilding under a first-year head coach. Third overall pick Jeremiyah Love is out with a high ankle sprain. Second-round guard Chase Bisontis is on injured reserve for the year. This is not a roster built to win now, and rebuilding teams do not leave a quarterback playing like that on the bench for long.

The prediction:<\/strong> Beck makes his first NFL start by the end of October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Fernando Mendoza starts before Week 6<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first overall pick went 10 of 16 for 97 yards, with a touchdown and a 100.3 rating<\/strong> in his first NFL action. Las Vegas lost the game 27-14, and nothing about the result was on him.

Klint Kubiak has been consistent in saying that he wants a veteran from day one, with Kirk Cousins penciled in and a Drake Maye-style timeline in mind. Maye did not start until Week 6 of his rookie year.

Here is the problem with that plan: the Raiders are not good enough for patience to pay. The roster around Mendoza is not competitive, and a team going nowhere in October has no reason to protect a veteran’s job.

The prediction:<\/strong> Mendoza starts on or before Week 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Denver wins the AFC West<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not a fashionable pick, and the case is simple.

Denver had the third-best scoring defence in the league<\/strong> last season. They put up 359 total yards<\/strong> in their last outing with 162 on the ground and a thirteen-minute advantage in time of possession. Bo Nix is healthy after the ankle problem that dogged his playoffs. Jaylen Waddle has been added.

Across the division, Patrick Mahomes tore both his ACL and LCL on December 14 and is targeting Week 1 on September 14; a genuinely fast recovery, but eight months is eight months. Kansas City’s receiver room is thin with Rashee Rice recovering from June knee surgery.

The caveat:<\/strong> Denver’s centre position is a disaster. Luke Wattenberg only returned to practice this week, Alex Forsyth is out, and third-stringer Michael Deiter is gone for the year with a torn quadriceps. If that does not stabilise, this prediction dies early.

The prediction:<\/strong> Denver wins the division outright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Seattle does not repeat<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The defending champions have one hole and have spent the entire summer failing to fill it.

Kenneth Walker III left in free agency. Zach Charbonnet, Jadarian Price, and Emanuel Wilson are all currently injured<\/strong>; that is the whole room. Fullback Robbie Ouzts is out for the season with a neck injury. Six of Seattle’s eight players on the availability report are soft-tissue injuries, which is usually a workload story rather than bad luck.

They open at home against New England on September 9 in a Super Bowl rematch. There is no soft landing.

Repeating is close to impossible in the modern NFL, even from full health. Doing it while handing significant carries to a rookie who was Notre Dame’s second-choice back is a different proposition entirely.

The prediction:<\/strong> Seattle wins fewer than eleven games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Washington misses the playoffs, and Laremy Tunsil is the reason<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The most damaging single injury in football, and the numbers make the case better than any argument.

Tunsil allowed 15 pressures on 449 pass-blocking snaps<\/strong> in 2025. Brandon Coleman, the man replacing him, allowed 11 on 203<\/strong>. Scale that across a season, and it is a different offence.

Tunsil tore his triceps, has had surgery, and the consensus is he misses most of the year; recovery for that injury runs four months at minimum and can reach seven. Around him, projected starting centre Nick Allegretti has not practised fully since July, and starting cornerback Trey Amos is only now off PUP.

The prediction:<\/strong> Washington finishes below .500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Green Bay is under .500 when Micah Parsons returns<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Parsons tore his ACL and meniscus on December 14 (the same day as Mahomes) and is targeting a Week 6 return<\/strong>. That is five games without the best defensive player on the roster.

The supporting cast is not intact either. Javon Bullard has a foot problem, Carrington Valentine a hamstring, Lukas Van Ness a shoulder. Josh Jacobs has been dealing with a groin injury on top of the investigation hanging over him.

They lost 28-9 to Pittsburgh and are a six-point underdog in Denver on Friday.

The prediction:<\/strong> Green Bay is 2-3 or worse when Parsons comes back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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