Scott Van Pelt’s preseason NFL predictions did not age well

There’s a reason some of us aren’t professional sports bettors. Predicting what’s going to happen before it actually does is hard.

ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt learned that for himself on Tuesday’s late-night edition of SportsCenter. Joined by his in-house betting expert Stanford Steve, SVP was served some humble pie on his 10 preseason NFL predictions.

Before the NFL season began, @notthefakeSVP made his predictions on how the season would unfold 🔮

Let’s check in and see if any came true 🤔 pic.twitter.com/JrISaQZBJl

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 12, 2025

Here were Van Pelt’s 10 NFL predictions for the season:

1. The Atlanta Falcons would win the NFC South (wrong)
2. Brock Purdy would throw for the most touchdown passes in the league (wrong)
3. Trevor Lawrence will surpass 4,263 passing yards (wrong, but injured)
4. There will be six wide receivers to surpass 1,500 yards (wrong, there were two)
5. There will be fewer than ten 1,000 yard rushers in the league (wrong, there were 16)
6. A kicker will set the record for longest field goal, extra credit if Brandon Aubrey (wrong)
7. The Detroit Lions will have home field in the NFC playoffs AND go to the Super Bowl (wrong, but closer)
8. The Baltimore Ravens will win the Super Bowl (wrong)
9. There will be at least two rookies to pass 1,000 receiving yards, but they won’t match Puka Nacua’s 1,486 his rookie year (correct!)
10. The Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins will both miss the playoffs (correct!)

To be fair to Scott Van Pelt, a lot of these were reasonable predictions. The Ravens winning the Super Bowl? Totally possible. A kicker setting a new record? Also seemed likely. The Lions making the Super Bowl as the NFC’s No. 1 seed? Not too far off.

But man, if that doesn’t encapsulate just how difficult it is to prognosticate the National Football League, what will?