100 bold predictions for the NFL's 100th season

You probably didn't expect the storylines leading up to the 2019 NFL season to include Andrew Luck's sudden retirement, or Antonio Brown flirting with his own permanent exit from football simply because he couldn't wear his favorite helmet, did you?

But the unending parade of the unexpected is what makes the NFL so great, from the slightly weird to the OMG is that headline real?

As the league begins its 100th season, here are 100 bold predictions for what will transpire next. We bet you won't see some of these coming:

Best of the best

1. The Eagles become the second team to go undefeated in a 16-game season.

2. Aaron Donald wins his third straight Defensive Player of the Year award.

3. Odell Beckham Jr. leads the league in touchdown catches.

4. Carson Wentz plays all 16 games for the first time since his rookie year and earns First-Team All-Pro honors.

5. JuJu Smith-Schuster leads the NFL in receptions.

6. Christian McCaffrey becomes the third player to record 1,000-plus rushing and receiving yards in one season.

7. Cam Newton sets career highs in passing yards and TDs while leading the Panthers to a playoff berth.

8. The Browns lead the league in sacks.

Worst of the worst

9. Miami executes a flawless tank job, becoming the third team to go 0-16 and earning the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

10. The Raiders finish last in sacks for a second straight year.

11. The Dolphins allow the most sacks after trading Laremy Tunsil.

12. The Giants' Pat Shurmur is the first, and only, coach fired during the season, but ...

13. ... Jay Gruden and Matt Patricia are axed hours after the campaign ends.

14. The Redskins bench Case Keenum and replace him with rookie Dwayne Haskins after Week 1.

15. Marcus Mariota is benched for Ryan Tannehill before Week 6.

16. Andy Dalton is benched for rookie Ryan Finley prior to Week 10.

17. The Chiefs cut LeSean McCoy before the end of September.

18. The Broncos' Joe Flacco loses his starting job. Not to second-round pick Drew Lock, but to Rams cast-off Brandon Allen.

19. The Bears finish with a losing record, and fans sour on Mitchell Trubisky as a franchise passer.

20. Jason Witten doesn't record more than four catches or 40 receiving yards in any game.

21. After another season of paltry attendance, the Chargers begin exploring a move back to San Diego.

Not what you expected

22. Patrick Mahomes throws "only" 35 TD passes.

23. Tom Brady records less than 4,000 passing yards and 25 TDs.

24. Todd Gurley makes it through the season without injury issues, but he splits time with rookie Darrell Henderson and finishes with less than 1,000 rushing yards.

25. The Packers miss the playoffs for the third straight season.

26. Olivier Vernon notches more sacks than Myles Garrett.

27. Ryan Fitzpatrick starts twice as many games as Josh Rosen.

28. Eric Ebron is held without a touchdown over the first eight weeks after scoring 14 times in 2018.

29. Josh Allen completes less than 50% of his pass attempts, but he still leads the Bills to a winning record.

30. Michael Gallup, not Amari Cooper, leads the Cowboys in receiving.

31. Josh Gordon earns his first Pro Bowl nod since 2013 after dominating as Tom Brady's No. 1 receiver.

32. A rusty Ezekiel Elliott fails to top 100 rushing yards in a game until the second half of the season.

33. The 49ers double their win total from a season ago ...

34. ... But still finish last in the NFC West.

35. For the first time this century, no running back finishes the season with 300-plus carries.

High-flying offenses continue to soar

36. Saints-Rams in Week 2 is the highest-scoring game in NFL history.

37. The record for league-wide scoring in a week is broken ... twice.

38. Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins shatter the single-season fantasy scoring records for their respective positions.

39. Matt Ryan breaks Peyton Manning's single-season passing yards record (5,477).

40. Kirk Cousins tops Drew Brees' single-season completion-percentage record (74.4%), but ...

41. ... Brees also breaks his own completion-percentage mark for the second straight season, leapfrogging Cousins and retaining the record.

42. The Chiefs and Eagles meet in Super Bowl LIV and combine to score 80 points.

Player movement

43. The Browns go all-in and trade for Trent Williams at the deadline.

44. The Chargers trade Melvin Gordon to the Buccaneers.

45. A.J. Green gets traded to the Packers after returning from his ankle injury.

46. The Jaguars turn down the Eagles' offer of a first-round pick for Jalen Ramsey.

47. Jacksonville also rejects the Chiefs' offer of Tyreek Hill for Ramsey.

48. Adrian Peterson requests his release from the Redskins and the team grants it, and then ...

49. ... He signs with the Texans.

50. Dez Bryant rejoins the Saints for the stretch run and makes several clutch catches.

Breakout stars

51. Lamar Jackson breaks Michael Vick's single-season quarterback rushing record and finishes among the top five overall in rushing yards.

52. Jacoby Brissett leads the Colts to the playoffs following Andrew Luck's retirement.

53. Sony Michel breaks LeGarrette Blount's Patriots record for single-season rushing TDs (18).

54. Chris Godwin outproduces Mike Evans in Tampa Bay's offense.

55. Frank Clark posts 20 sacks in his first season with the Chiefs.

56. Bradley Chubb matches Broncos teammate Von Miller's sack total.

57. The Bosa brothers, Joey and Nick, combine for 25 sacks.

58. Nick Chubb leads the NFL in rushing. His emergence as an elite tailback makes Kareem Hunt's return from a suspension irrelevant.

Stars in new colors

59. Antonio Brown breaks the single-season Raiders records for catches (104) and yards (1,408).

60. After being traded to Seattle, Jadeveon Clowney records his first season with double-digit sacks.

61. Nick Foles throws more INTs than TDs during his first season as the Jaguars' starting pivot.

62. Blake Bortles starts and wins a game for the Rams.

63. Le'Veon Bell leads the Jets in rushing, catches, and targets.

64. Ndamukong Suh posts a career single-season low three sacks in Tampa Bay.

65. Jared Cook leads all Saints pass-catchers in touchdowns.

66. Mark Ingram easily tops his career single-season high of 12 rushing TDs as the Ravens' lead back.

Dazzling rookies

67. Kyler Murray is named Offensive Rookie of the Year after dominating his first NFL season.

68. Daniel Jones starts and wins more games than Eli Manning.

69. T.J. Hockenson becomes only the second rookie tight end to exceed 900 receiving yards.

70. Deebo Samuel leads all rookies in receiving yards and touchdowns.

71. Patriots third-rounder Chase Winovich leads all rookies in sacks.

72. Nasir Adderley paces the league in interceptions.

73. Devin Bush leads the league in tackles.

74. Chiefs sixth-rounder Darwin Thompson leads the team's crowded backfield in touches.

The return of parity?

75. The Patriots fail to reach the AFC Championship Game for the first time since 2010.

76. The Rams go from Super Bowl runner-up to out of the playoffs.

77. There are fewer than three undefeated teams left by the end of Week 3.

78. An 8-8 team earns an AFC wild-card spot.

79. Six playoff teams from 2018 miss the postseason this year.

80. Since 2010, only three teams haven't played on Wild Card Weekend (Browns, Buccaneers, Patriots). All three play and lose on that weekend this year.

Coaching matters

81. Vic Fangio helps Denver field a top-10 defense ...

82. ... And the Bears fall out of the top 10 with Chuck Pagano taking over as their DC.

83. Kliff Kingsbury becomes an instant star as the Cardinals score 30-plus points in each of their first three games.

84. Aaron Rodgers finishes with 40 passing TDs for the third time as Matt LaFleur reinvigorates the Packers' offense.

85. The Falcons reemerge as Super Bowl contenders, with returning OC Dirk Koetter revitalizing their passing attack.

86. Dallas finishes 8-8 despite possessing one of the league's most talented rosters.

87. Bill Belichick, the NFL's best coach, is once again passed over for Coach of the Year honors.

Odds and ends

88. Football fans grow sick of pass interference challenges by the end of the Thursday Night Football opener ...

89. ... And the league emphasizing holding penalties gets old even sooner.

90. The NFL considers measures to prevent tanking after Miami's disastrous season.

91. Baker Mayfield and Odell Beckham Jr. mock Eli Manning and the Giants after hooking up for their first TD celebration.

92. After losing the starting quarterback job to Daniel Jones, Manning announces he'll retire at the end of the season.

93. Kirk Cousins finally wins a game on Monday Night Football after losing his first seven.

94. A GM getting fired sets the stage for NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah to follow in Mike Mayock's footsteps and make the jump from broadcasting to running a team.

95. After Jon Gruden fit perfectly on HBO's "Hard Knocks," Amazon Prime selects the Raiders for its "All or Nothing" series this season.

96. Al Michaels hangs up his headset at the end of the year, handing NBC play-by-play duties over to Mike Tirico.

97. Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull team up for the Super Bowl LIV halftime show.

98. The NFL announces London as the host of Super Bowl LIX in 2025.

99. Video of Rob Gronkowski working out fuels speculation he's nearing a return to the Patriots, but instead he announces a deal for a match at WrestleMania.

100. Most of these bold predictions will be wrong. In many cases, the actual outcomes will be even more surprising.