{"id":22256,"date":"2017-06-16T20:30:37","date_gmt":"2017-06-17T00:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=22256"},"modified":"2017-06-19T11:53:59","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T15:53:59","slug":"2017-division-champions-according-twitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2017\/06\/16\/2017-division-champions-according-twitter\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2017 Division Champions According to Twitter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As part of a social experiment, yours truly tweeted out eight different polls, asking fans of the NFL who they believed would be the 2017 division champions. After a slow start, the retweets started rolling in, and soon hundreds, even thousands of people had voted. Now that the polls are closed, this article will break down their picks, as well as whether this writer agrees.<\/p>\n<h2>The 2017 Division Champions According to Twitter<\/h2>\n<h3>The AFC North<\/h3>\n<p>According to the good people of twitter, the Pittsburgh Steelers will win the AFC North. This isn&#8217;t too bold of a claim, as the Steelers have won the division in two of the last three years. With <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/RoetBe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ben Roethlisberger<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=BrowAn04,BrowAn01&amp;search=Antonio+Brown&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Antonio Brown<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BellLe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Le&#8217;Veon Bell<\/a> returning for one last season, it&#8217;s no surprise that twitter voted this way.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Out of curiosity, I wanna see who everyone thinks will win the eight NFL divisions. Who will win the AFC North?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ryan (@RyanSmithLWOS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RyanSmithLWOS\/status\/875400209202851844\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 15, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Baltimore Ravens have improved this off-season, so it&#8217;s no surprise that they came in second. Many believe that if anyone is going to challenge the terrible towel, it will be <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/F\/FlacJo00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Flacco<\/a> and company. However, assuming they stay healthy, Pittsburgh will remain on top.<\/p>\n<h3>The AFC South<\/h3>\n<p>According to the good people of twitter, the Tennessee Titans will win the AFC South. Unlike the AFC North, where Pittsburgh had a 73% lead over the runner-up, the AFC South was the closest race in the NFL, with Tennessee edging out the Houston Texans by a single point. If <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/MariMa01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marcus Mariota<\/a> can come back from his injury, he&#8217;ll be returning to a much more talented squad.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Out of curiosity, I wanna see who everyone thinks will win the eight NFL divisions. Who will win the AFC South?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ryan (@RyanSmithLWOS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RyanSmithLWOS\/status\/875400304698765314\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 15, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Houston Texans could prove to be a serious problem for the Tennessee Titans. Tennessee&#8217;s passing attack is getting better, but they definitely still lean on the run-game. The Texans had the NFL&#8217;s best defense last year, and they did that without the services of their best defender, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/W\/WattJ.00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">J.J. Watt<\/a>. It&#8217;ll be an interesting race, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/L\/LuckAn00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andrew Luck<\/a>&#8216;s Indianapolis Colts shouldn&#8217;t be forgotten either.<\/p>\n<h3>The AFC East<\/h3>\n<p>According to the good people of twitter, the New York Jets are going to win the AFC East. That&#8217;s obviously a joke, as the New England Patriots ran away with the vote, just like they&#8217;ll run away with the division. They&#8217;re the defending Super Bowl champions, and they&#8217;ve only gotten better.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Out of curiosity, I wanna see who everyone thinks will win the eight NFL divisions. Who will win the AFC East?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ryan (@RyanSmithLWOS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RyanSmithLWOS\/status\/875400417131331586\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 15, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s no debate here. The Miami Dolphins are the biggest threat to New England&#8217;s throne, and that&#8217;s abusing the word threat. There would have to be major injuries to several of New England&#8217;s best and brightest, namely <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BradTo00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tom Brady<\/a>, for this division to end up anywhere but New England.<\/p>\n<h3>The AFC West<\/h3>\n<p>According to the good people of twitter, the Oakland Raiders will be claiming their first AFC West championship since 2002. The Raiders have been the talk of the off-season, planning a move to Las Vegas, luring <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/L\/LyncMa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marshawn Lynch<\/a> out of retirement, and preparing for their most exciting season in over a decade.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Out of curiosity, I wanna see who everyone thinks will win the eight NFL divisions. Who will win the AFC West?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ryan (@RyanSmithLWOS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RyanSmithLWOS\/status\/875400506243514370\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 15, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The reality is simple. The Oakland Raiders are the most complete and talented team in the division. On paper, they should absolutely win the AFC West. However, a very serious test still remains. Can <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/C\/CarrDe02.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derek Carr<\/a> and company beat the Kansas City Chiefs? If the answer is no, then their legendary trophy case may go another season without an addition.<\/p>\n<h3>The NFC North<\/h3>\n<p>According to the good people of twitter, the Green Bay Packers are going to win the NFC North. In five of the last six seasons, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/RodgAa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Rodgers<\/a> and the Pack have taken the NFC North. With a laughably bad draft from the Chicago Bears, quarterback confusion with the Minnesota Vikings, and serious questions about the Detroit Lions, it seems very likely that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=MattCl00,MattCl99,MattCl20&amp;search=Clay+Matthews&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Clay Matthews<\/a> and company will win again.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Out of curiosity, I wanna see who everyone thinks will win the eight NFL divisions. Who will win the NFC North?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ryan (@RyanSmithLWOS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RyanSmithLWOS\/status\/875400607707877376\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 15, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Unless the Lions make some serious progress or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BradSa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sam Bradford<\/a> goes back in time to his Oklahoma days, the Pack have to be the favorites.<\/p>\n<h3>The NFC South<\/h3>\n<p>According to the good people of twitter, the Atlanta Falcons will be repeating as NFC South champions in 2017. It&#8217;s easy to see why, after all, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/RyanMa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Matt Ryan<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/J\/JoneJu02.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Julio Jones<\/a> are both coming back, and they&#8217;re coming back angry. Surprisingly, the race for this division was actually pretty close.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Out of curiosity, I wanna see who everyone thinks will win the eight NFL divisions. Who will win the NFC South?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ryan (@RyanSmithLWOS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RyanSmithLWOS\/status\/875400695633125380\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 15, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The NFC South was the only division in football that had three teams with at least 25% of the vote. The Falcons are the projected winners, but the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers also received a pretty substantial chunk of the votes. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BreeDr00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Drew Brees<\/a> and the Saints have a lot going offensively, but their defense needs a makeover. The Buccaneers have a lot of young talent, but it remains to be seen if they can put it together.<\/p>\n<h3>The NFC East<\/h3>\n<p>According to the good people of twitter, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/P\/PresDa01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dak Prescott<\/a> and the Dallas Cowboys will repeat as the NFC East&#8217;s champions. They managed to squeak past <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/MannEl00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eli Manning<\/a> and the New York Giants, even with all of the hype that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=MarsBr00,MarsBr01&amp;search=Brandon+Marshall&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Marshall<\/a> has brought with him. Are the good people of twitter correct? Will the Giants repeat?<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Out of curiosity, I wanna see who everyone thinks will win the eight NFL divisions. Who will win the NFC East?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ryan (@RyanSmithLWOS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RyanSmithLWOS\/status\/875400793565822976\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 15, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>When it comes to the Cowboys, there are a lot of question marks. Will Dak Prescott develop? With the changes on the offensive line, will <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/E\/ElliEz00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ezekiel Elliott<\/a> have the same success he had as a rookie? How will their battered secondary contend with a Giant receiving corps that includes Brandon Marshall, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BeckOd00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Odell Beckham<\/a> Jr., and Sterling Shephard? Only one way to find out.<\/p>\n<h3>The NFC West<\/h3>\n<p>According to the good people of twitter, the Seattle Seahawks will win the NFC West. After several years of being the NFL&#8217;s best division, the west has fallen on some hard times. The Arizona Cardinals have gotten very old on offense, outside of the injured <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=JohnDa05,JohnDa08&amp;search=David+Johnson&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Johnson<\/a>. The San Francisco 49ers are at least a year away from being competitive, and the Los Angeles Rams are praying that they get something out of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/G\/GoffJa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jared Goff<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Out of curiosity, I wanna see who everyone thinks will win the eight NFL divisions. Who will win the NFC West?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ryan (@RyanSmithLWOS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RyanSmithLWOS\/status\/875400913363619842\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 15, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Seattle Seahawks still have the best roster, coach, and stadium in the division. Unless all of the rumors about the dissension in the Seahawks locker room are true, it&#8217;s hard to imagine them being bad enough to lose this division. Look forward to at least one home game in front of the 12th man.<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/473860576\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 71.548822% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/473860576?et=mEJEw0FoSnJhdZ1erk6LFw&amp;tld=com&amp;viewMoreLink=off&amp;sig=UbAaQ2CCLRNqICVARd3tubOqFveUnLnBQBqnOWlb_Og=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"425\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>@RyanSmithLWOS took to Twitter to ask the fans who they believed would be the 2017 Division Champions in the NFL. Who did they pick?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1347,"featured_media":22259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[115,49,61,44,38,40,157,81,179,58],"class_list":["post-22256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-atlanta-falcons","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-football","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl","tag-oakland-raiders","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-tennessee-titans"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1347"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}