Training camp is just under a week away. The regular season is well over a month away.
But predictions are fun, especially ones that come out way too early, like the one from the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective that tries to predict the outcome of the NFL season.
According to Kurt Bullard, the New England Patriots may finally surrender the AFC East crown to the...Miami Dolphins?
That's right. Bullard has the Dolphins with the third-highest probability of making the playoffs at 77 percent –- fifteen percentage points above the defending-champion Patriots -- and only behind the Seahawks (95 percent) and Packers (93) percent. The Chiefs are also ahead of the Patriots at 66 percent, while the Patriots, Colts and Broncos are all grouped together at a 62 percent chance of making the playoffs.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, they have just a one percent chance of making the playoffs. Better than zero, right?
The predictions rely on dense mathematic equations (it is Harvard, after all). The explanation and full rankings can be found here.