NFLBy Matt Yoder on

Recently, we chronicled the best cold takes from the 2016 college football season including gems like “Texas is back” and “Notre Dame will go undefeated” or people picking Georgia to make the College Football Playoff.

Now it’s time to transition into the world of professional football and open up the treasure trove of great Freezing Cold Takes from the 2016 NFL season. Given the 24/7/365 obsession that America and the sports media as a whole has over the NFL, and the obsession made with predictions, proclamations, and prognostications about the NFL, there is nearly an infinite number of cold takes to choose from.

These are some of the very best.

The Dallas Cowboys Division

These are three of the best Cold Takes you’ll ever see given the Cowboys are in first place in the NFC and QB Dak Prescott and RB Ezekiel Elliott are on their way to the Pro Bowl. Shoot, Elliott may even be on his way to winning the NFL MVP award in his rookie season. Cowherd’s Prescott tweet isn’t necessarily from 2016, but that may be on the short list of Coldest Takes of All-Time given what he’s accomplished in his rookie season. He hasn’t done too bad for a backup tight end playing quarterback.

Colin Cowherd on Matt Ryan

Another leading MVP candidate is Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan, and hey, what do you know, it’s another cold take from Colin Cowherd! The Fox radio host tweeted this all the way back in September. While the NFC South is absolutely loaded with quarterbacks (Brees, Newton, Winston, Ryan) all Ryan has done in 2016 is lead the Falcons to a likely division crown while leading the NFL in QB rating and having one of the best seasons ever in that regard.

The Vikings are the team to beat in the NFC

Well, at least they were in October. The Vikings bandwagon was getting pretty full after a 5-0 start. Since then? They’re a dismal 2-7 and are now struggling to stay in the hunt for a Wild Card berth.

Brock Osweiler is a real QB, a real backup QB

Many were rightly skeptical when the Houston Texans handed Brock Osweiler a huge wad of bills to be their franchise quarterback. After months of mediocre play, the former Broncos QB was benched in favor of the unheralded Tom Savage, who led the Texans to a comeback victory against the Jaguars and will start for them in Week 16. It’s not quite the same as getting benched for Peyton Manning…

Jay Cutler: NFL MVP?

Cutler’s former teammate Brandon Marshall spoke highly of the Bears quarterback before the season, saying he could win the MVP this year. Cutler battled injuries all season and has less passing attempts than Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley. When he did play, he looked as “Jay Cutlerish” as ever before, throwing 4 TDs and 5 INTs and maybe finally bringing his time in Chicago to an end.

Ryan Fitzpatrick is a STAR!

Fitzpatrick’s stats this season:

56.8%, 2364 yards, 10 TDs, 15 INTs, 69.1 QB Rating

That last one makes Fitzpatrick statistically the worst quarterback in the NFL in 2016 among all qualified signal callers. In December, he was mercifully benched for Bryce Petty. But at least he’s still got that beard and plays in New York, right? I guess anyone can be a star these days, just ask those two Flip or Flop people.

But the better Jets-related cold take may be this one from noted Jets homer and ESPN Radio host Mike Greenberg…

If it weren’t for just a couple of those pesky early season wins, the Jets would have an extremely good chance of finishing with the exact opposite record this season.

Finally, we’re just going to assume this tweet from mid-September was a joke…

https://twitter.com/SC_Cleveland/status/777568137759907840

What’s your favorite Cold Take from the 2016 NFL season?

About Matt Yoder

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