Next year is a transitional year regardless of who we play. We'll be replacing our entire offensive line, 3/4 of our starting defensive line, possibly our quarterback, a number of receivers can declare pro (Mumpfield, Means, Barden, Wayne... not saying they would all get drafted, but sometimes you just get to the "now or never" point nonetheless), possibly Izzy, potentially some secondary guys, etc.
I'm not saying we don't have capable guys behind them (e.g. Baer-Zubovic/Jacoby-Moore-Goncalves/Kradel-Taylor sounds decent), but there's still something to be said about A) Having so many first-year starters and B) Finding new depth behind those guys.
I think the analysts got it wrong about this being our "fall back into the pack" season, but the next one could be. It might look a lot like 2017.