NFL Coin Flip Season Predictions

AFC
1  13-3
2  11-5
3  11-5
4  9-7
5  10-6
6  9-7
7  9-7
8  8-8
9  8-8
10 8-8
11 8-8
12 7-9
13 7-9
14 7-9
15 5-11
16 4-12

NFC
1  11-5
2  9-7
3  9-7
4  8-8
5  10-6
6  9-7
7  9-7
8  9-7
9  8-8
10 8-8
11 7-9
12 6-10
13 5-11
14 5-11
15 5-11
16 4-12

Playoffs
Wild Card Round
4) over 5)
6) over 3)
4) over 5)
6) over 3)

Divisional Round
1) over 6)
6) over 1)
2) over 4)
2) over 4)

AFC Championship
2) over 6)

NFC Championship
2) over 1)

Super Bowl XLVIII
 over 

     Well, there you have it. I'm not saying that any of these outcomes will actually come to fruition, but you never know. It will be interesting to see if an unbiased, random predictor can predict anything about this year's NFL season. One might say that this experiment is meaningless because, for example, the Oakland Raiders are apparently going to unseat the Denver Broncos as AFC West champs. I don't think that will happen, but I do believe one last place team from a year ago will become a division champion in 2013. It almost certainly won't be the Raiders, but it could very well be either the Detroit Lions or Carolina Panthers, two teams that finished last in 2012 that are in the coin flip playoffs.
     Though it is unlikely that there will be seven new playoff teams as the coin flip simulation would indicate, it is not unheard of for, say, five "new" teams make the playoffs that did not make it last year. What's interesting about the turnover in the NFL playoffs is that it at least a couple of the playoff teams seem to come out of obscurity. The 2012 Minnesota Vikings were nowhere on the playoff radar's of nearly every NFL "expert." Coming off a 3-13 season in which their best player, Adrian Peterson, was a serious question mark coming off injury, I understand why Vikings shocked the NFL world by making the playoffs. However, as the last few seasons indicate, the Vikings trip to the playoffs after a 3-13 season is not a random occurrence. Last year's Colts were 2-14 in 2012, yet managed to make the playoffs in 2013 with relative ease. Multiple 4-12 teams, including the 2010 Broncos, 2010 Bengals, and 2007 Falcons, all came off of poor seasons to make the playoffs the following year. Perhaps the most extreme case is the 2008 Miami Dolphins, who went from 1-15 laughingstocks to AFC East champs.
     So, what's my point in all of this? The point is that the Eagles, Lions, Cardinals, Chiefs, Chargers, Raiders, Jaguars, Bills, etc. all could go from league afterthoughts to playoff teams. And maybe, just maybe, a coin might be a better at determining which of those teams makes the playoffs this year than the NFL experts who routinely shuffle around the same teams in their playoff predictions.