As we have seen,  what looks like a very difficult opponent in April often turns out to be an injury depleted team that ends up with a top 10 pick.  The 2013 Falcons come to mind.   On the other side of the coin,  who would have predicted the 2001 Patriots to even reach .500,  let alone win the Super Bowl? 

 

 It's interesting to predict how a season will turn out before the draft,  after the draft,  and during training camp/  pre-season.   Yet,  there are too many unknown variables to truly gauge a game so far in advance.    The 2013 Packers with Aaron Rodgers vs.  the 2013 Packers without Aaron Rodgers come to mind immediately.    If the Colts have the misfortune of losing Andrew Luck for one or both games against the Jaguars,  w/o question the Jaguars chances of winning those games increases substantially. 

---