Guest Opinion by Marcelino Barrell, Clarion staff writer (2023-2024)
Hello, and welcome back to my Forecasting Glory series, where I use my expert analysis to predict NFL games. Let's hop right into it.
I will highlight a few upcoming games for local teams this season, as always, these are unbiased picks, using my best judgment. You may remember me from this series of articles last NFL season, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be back for more Forecasting Glory this season!
(Week 7) Kansas City Chiefs @ San Francisco 49ers
This will most likely be an embarrassing loss for the 49ers. I’ll put my prediction as 31-19 with Kansas City winning. I think the Chiefs are a very good team, as they have started 5-0, which is very impressive. The 49ers are very riddled with injuries, including Jake Moody (K) and Talanoa Hufanga (S).
I would like to remind everyone that the 49ers have lost to the Chiefs in the last 4 times they have played, which includes 2 Super Bowls. Kyle Shanahan is very good at blowing leads, especially in the second half, and not knowing playoff overtime rules (which was very funny).
(Week 8) Arizona Cardinals @ Miami Dolphins
I’ll say Arizona escapes Miami with maybe at most, a 4-point win, 17-13. This game is still going to be in a very humid Miami, but Arizona will be used to that heat. Arizona has been somewhat surprising this season, beating an impressive team like the Rams, and also the unimpressive 49ers, which was well deserved for them. Not too much else to say about this game.
(Week 11) Seattle Seahawks @ San Francisco 49ers
Seattle will win this one, for sure. After they got robbed of a win in week 6 on Thursday Night Football, I am sure they will win this one, as it is their turn to win. My prediction is 27-24, Seattle wins. The Seahawks haven’t had their defense fully up and running this season, including notable absences of Byron Murphy II (DT), Uchenna Nwosu (LB), Derick Hall (LB), and Riq Woolen (CB), which has led them to use secondaries, but if they hopefully heal up, Seattle can easily crush San Francisco in their rival’s turf (even though Santa Clara is 45 miles from SF).
Along with this, now Seahawks HC, Mike Macdonald, beat the 49ers last season at Levi’s Stadium embarrassingly, when he was the Baltimore Ravens Defensive Coordinator. The final score was 33-19. This was also the evening NFL Christmas game, and this was a great Christmas present. Seahawks fans were definitely hyped seeing their main rival get stomped on by the Ravens.
One more thing, this week 11 matchup, is when the Seahawks will be fresh off their week 10 bye. Allowing and ensuring that the Hawks are ready to play at full potential and are well rested.
(Week 15) Atlanta Falcons @ Las Vegas Raiders
I’ll be honest, I just chose a random Raiders game. This one was the lucky one I guess. The Falcons have been very interesting this year, they got Kirk Cousins from Minnesota and he has been doing very well. Just in 5 games, he already has 1,373 passing yards this season (that's 5th place!) Meanwhile, the Raiders have lost to the Panthers, Chargers, and Broncos, by at least 12 point margins. While the Falcons may have the better players, the Raiders still have that home-field advantage, so I’ll give this game to Las Vegas, 24-20.
(Week 17) Detroit Lions @ San Francisco 49ers
The Detroit Lions are looking for a revenge win against the 49ers, who yet again robbed a team of a huge win. This win that San Francisco stole from Detroit was a ticket to the Super Bowl, something the Lions have never been to. I was very much rooting for the Lions that game. I think that San Francisco will lose this one, which they should, and give Detroit a win that may be needed for them to make the playoffs. I’ll say the Lions win, 38-24.
Overall, I hope you have enjoyed reading my non-biased expert analysis of select upcoming NFL games. I will be coming back to this article to see if I was right. Thank you for reading, and fear not, I hope I can publish another Forecasting Glory before the season ends. Go Seahawks!
Comments