PredictionMachine.com: New York Giants go .500, bounced in divisional round

Oh, if the games were played on paper ... then what would happen?

Well, we have an answer.

PredictionMachine.com, considered to be the one of the more accurate and trusted sources for predicting sports outcomes, has made its picks for the 2013 season and playoffs.

The New York Giants will win about eight games en route to earning a No. 3 seed in the NFC, but the team will fall short of making too deep of a run in the postseason as the Green Bay Packers will beat them by seven points in the divisional round, according to PredictionMachine.com.

Spoiler alert? For sure.

Game-by-game

PredictionMachine.com expects the Giants to get off to a rocky start, losing their first three games and entering the Week 9 bye with a 4-4 mark. The losses include the season opener to the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears. The wins include the Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings and both first-half meetings against the Philadelphia Eagles.

After the bye, the Giants are expected to match their first half with another .500 record, ending the season on a high note with a victory over the Washington Redskins. The other wins include contests against the Oakland Raiders, Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers, while the losses include the Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions and the aforementioned 'Skins.

In all, the Giants have a projected win total of 8.5 games.

NFC East

The Giants are expected to win the division, according to PredictionMachine.com, with their 8.5-win total slightly better then the Redskins, projected to win 8.3.

The Cowboys and Eagles are projected to win 7.6 and 7.3 games, respectively.

Of course, according to the game-by-game projections, the Giants will split the season series with both the Skins and Cowboys, but win both matchups against the Eagles.

Postseason

In the NFC, the San Francisco 49ers are projected the take the No. 1, according to PredictionMachine.com, with Green Bay, New York, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle and St. Louis Rams in the Nos. 2-6 spots.

On the flip side, it's Denver in the AFC's top spot, with Nos. 2-6 as follows: New England Patriots, Houston Texas, Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.

After defeating the Rams by two points in the Wild Card Round, New York is projected to be bounced by Green Bay, 31-24. The Packer are expected to fall to the 49ers in the NFC Championship.

The Niners are expected to continue their success, topping Denver, 31-27, in the Super Bowl.

According to PredictionMachine.com, the 49ers have a league-best 20.1 percent chance of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy at season's end. Behind them: Denver (14.6 percent), Green Bay (10.5 percent), New England (8.9 percent), Seattle (7.2 percent) and Houston (7.1 percent).

No other team -- including the Giants, has better than a 3 percent chance to win the Super Bowl.

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