ESPN "Panel of Experts" Pick Chiefs to win SB

[T-post Tom]

With the NFL's 100th season upon us, we had a panel of experts from ESPN's NFL Nation give us their predictions for the year and checked them against Football Power Index's prognostications.

PANEL PREDICTS ...
Forty-five writers and editors from ESPN's NFL Nation weighed in with their predictions for the 2019 season. And they foresee another TD-packed Year of Mahomes.

AFC division champs: Patriots, Steelers, Colts, Chiefs

Wild cards: Chargers, Texans

AFC Championship: Chiefs over Chargers

NFC division champs: Eagles, Bears, Saints, Rams

Wild cards: Falcons, Packers

NFC Championship: Saints over Eagles

Super Bowl winner: Chiefs

MVP: Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs

Offensive player of the year: Mahomes

Defensive player of the year: Aaron Donald, Rams

Rookie of the year: Kyler Murray, Cardinals

FPI PROJECTS ...

Football Power Index is right there with the experts, giving last season's semifinalists a major leg up on the pack.

AFC West
Kansas City Chiefs (Projected wins: 10.4 | Overall FPI rank: 1 | Offense rank: 1 | Defense rank 15)

Los Angeles Chargers (Projected wins: 8.8 | Overall FPI rank: 6 | Offense rank: 6 | Defense rank 9)

Denver Broncos (Projected wins: 7.0 | Overall FPI rank: 22 | Offense rank: 28 | Defense rank 2)

Oakland Raiders (Projected wins: 6.5 | Overall FPI rank: 23 | Offense rank: 21 | Defense rank 27)

AFC East
New England Patriots (Projected wins: 10.4 | Overall FPI rank: 4 | Offense rank: 4 | Defense rank 12)

New York Jets (Projected wins: 7.2 | Overall FPI rank: 26 | Offense rank: 26 | Defense rank 22)

Buffalo Bills (Projected wins: 6.7 | Overall FPI rank: 27 | Offense rank: 31 | Defense rank 11)

Miami Dolphins (Projected wins: 5.6 | Overall FPI rank: 32 | Offense rank: 32 | Defense rank 28)

AFC North
Cleveland Browns (Projected wins: 8.8 | Overall FPI rank: 15 | Offense rank: 17 | Defense rank 7)

Baltimore Ravens (Projected wins: 8.5 | Overall FPI rank: 16 | Offense rank: 23 | Defense rank 4)

Pittsburgh Steelers (Projected wins: 8.5 | Overall FPI rank: 17 | Offense rank: 8 | Defense rank 25)

Cincinnati Bengals (Projected wins: 6.0 | Overall FPI rank: 29 | Offense rank: 27 | Defense rank 31)

AFC South
Indianapolis Colts (Projected wins: 9.1 | Overall FPI rank: 5 | Offense rank: 10 | Defense rank 6)

Houston Texans (Projected wins: 8.6 | Overall FPI rank: 8 | Offense rank: 12 | Defense rank 8)

Tennessee Titans (Projected wins: 8.0 | Overall FPI rank: 13 | Offense rank: 16 | Defense rank 10)

Jacksonville Jaguars (Projected wins: 7.5 | Overall FPI rank: 18 | Offense rank: 25 | Defense rank 1)

NFC East
Philadelphia Eagles (Projected wins: 9.3 | Overall FPI rank: 10 | Offense rank: 9 | Defense rank 19)

Dallas Cowboys (Projected wins: 8.3 | Overall FPI rank: 19 | Offense rank: 14 | Defense rank 16)

New York Giants (Projected wins: 6.3 | Overall FPI rank: 24 | Offense rank: 24 | Defense rank 32)

Washington Redskins (Projected wins: 6.2 | Overall FPI rank: 28 | Offense rank: 29 | Defense rank 26)

NFC North
Chicago Bears (Projected wins: 9.1 | Overall FPI rank: 7 | Offense rank: 13 | Defense rank 3)

Green Bay Packers (Projected wins: 8.6 | Overall FPI rank: 12 | Offense rank: 5 | Defense rank 20)

Minnesota Vikings (Projected wins: 8.5 | Overall FPI rank: 11 | Offense rank: 20 | Defense rank 5)

Detroit Lions (Projected wins: 7.0 | Overall FPI rank: 24 | Offense rank: 22 | Defense rank 30)

NFC South
New Orleans Saints (Projected wins: 10.1 | Overall FPI rank: 2 | Offense rank: 2 | Defense rank 23)

Atlanta Falcons (Projected wins: 8.4 | Overall FPI rank: 9 | Offense rank: 7 | Defense rank 17)

Carolina Panthers (Projected wins: 7.7 | Overall FPI rank: 20 | Offense rank: 15 | Defense rank 18)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Projected wins: 6.4 | Overall FPI rank: 25 | Offense rank: 19 | Defense rank 29)

NFC West
Los Angeles Rams (Projected wins: 10.0 | Overall FPI rank: 3 | Offense rank: 3 | Defense rank 13)

Seattle Seahawks (Projected wins: 8.3 | Overall FPI rank: 14 | Offense rank: 11 | Defense rank 14)

San Francisco 49ers (Projected wins: 7.7 | Overall FPI rank: 21 | Offense rank: 18 | Defense rank 21)

Arizona Cardinals (Projected wins: 5.5 | Overall FPI rank: 31 | Offense rank: 30 | Defense rank 24)

Super Bowl chances (make, win):

Chiefs (27.80%, 16.00%)

Saints (26.45%, 15.74%)

Patriots (23.12%, 12.06%)

Rams (21.87%, 11.49%)

Colts (10.73%, 5.55%)

Eagles (9.80%, 4.36%)

Bears (9.55%, 4.48%)

Chargers (7.68%, 3.76%)

Texans (6.74%, 3.32%)

Packers (5.91%, 2.62%)

FPI is a forward-looking measure of team strength based on the expected points added from offense, defense and special teams. Using preseason FPI as of July 29, ESPN Stats & Information has projected each team's strength of schedule rank as well as its chances to win each game on its schedule.

https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/27348060/2019-nfl-predictions