The regular season for NFL football has come to an end and that can only mean that all eyes are set on the playoffs. I’m not gonna lie, this was a ROUGH year for the National Football League in my humble opinion. From constant refball to controversies on and off the field to a good chunk of teams not being particularly good despite their winning records, this made for one long and sloppy year of football. While it certainly made for plenty of amusing memes and trash talking, the product on the field was just way below par. Because of that and more, that makes this year of playoff predictions a bit easier to rank than prior years. I think I got a good indication as to who are truly the teams that have a shot at taking home the super bowl trophy. Could I be dead wrong on all of these? Absolutely! However, I think I’m gonna be more right with my predictions than ever before.
Anyways, time to start what will undoubtedly be my FLAWLESS predictions for the NFL postseason!
American Football Conference Wild Card Rounds
Cleveland Browns (#5 Seed) at Houston Texans (#4 Seed)
Date: Saturday, January 13th, 3:30 PM CST
Pick: Cleveland Browns
Reason: The Browns have the firepower from both offense and defense to shut down the Texans. Cleveland allowed the fewest yards per game and Flacco and Cooper was able to make good work out of Houston earlier this year. Not to mention, Flacco is tied with Tom Brady himself for the most road playoffs win by a QB with seven. If my prediction is anything to go by, he shall beat that record come Saturday. Hats off though to the Texans for completing in an impressive worst-to-first turnaround but they will likely not do any damage in the playoffs this year.
Miami Dolphins (#6 Seed) at Kansas City Chiefs (#3 Seed)
Date: Saturday, January 13th, 7:00 PM CST
Pick: Kansas City Chiefs
Reason: These are two teams that are coming into the playoffs ice cold. However due to more playoff experience and proven winning veterans, the Chiefs should be able to take care of business against the Dolphins. Kansas City has been struggling big time offensively as of late but Miami has lost 10 straight games in a row when the game starts off less than 40 degrees, which is likely going to be cold by Saturday. Thrown in the fact that Miami is dealing with a ton of injuries on defense, Kansas City is the favorite for me to win this game.
Pittsburgh Steelers (#7 Seed) at Buffalo Bills (#2 Seed)
Date: Sunday, January 14th, 12:00 PM CST
Pick: Buffalo Bills
Reason: Once again, the Steelers was able to use their devil magic to secure another winning record and another playoff spot. However, like with prior seasons, this is where that magic will run out. The Bills have been a hot team as of late, winning their last four games and finishing the season strong despite their early struggles and inconsistency. Also, losing T.J. Watt on defense is going to hurt BIG TIME for Pittsburgh. While it likely won’t be as embarrassing of a lose for the Steelers as their humiliation to the Browns three years ago, I don’t see a scenario where Buffalo won’t come away with the victory here.
National Football Conference Wild Card Rounds
Philadelphia Eagles (#5 Seed) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (#4 Seed)
Date: Monday, January 15th, 7:15 PM CST
Pick: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Reason: This has the chance to be the most one-side game in the entire playoffs. The Eagles have been playing like absolute crap for the past six weeks while the Buccaneers have been playing great for the past six weeks. Everything has gone wrong for Philadelphia from an offense and defense standpoint and things have just clicked better for Tampa Bay all around. Unless the Eagles view the playoffs as an absolute reset for themselves and play like the team that started off 10-1, this should be all Bucs for the divisional rounds.
Los Angeles Rams (#6 Seed) at Detroit Lions (#3 Seed)
Date: Sunday, January 14th, 7:15 PM CST
Pick: Los Angeles Rams
Reason: I think this will result in the biggest upset of the playoffs. While the Lions were able to make it back to the playoffs and win their first divisional title in a while, I can see the Rams shocking everybody and coming the way with the win. The Rams despite a lacking defense, have a very underrated offense and the Lions have struggled quite a bit in their own home stadium. There always comes a shocking upset every year and I believe the Rams trumping the Lions in their own home stadium will be the biggest shock of them all.
Green Bay Packers (#7 Seed) at Dallas Cowboys (#2 Seed)
Date: Sunday, January 14th, 3:30 PM CST
Pick: Dallas Cowboys
Reason: Dallas has been a dominated team this year and has been EXTREMELY dominated at home, with a perfect 8-0 record for the year. While Jordan Love and the Packs have been impressive as of late, they are still a relatively young and inexperience team, likely still a few years away before making any real noise in the postseason. Yes, Cowboys have been a laughing stock in the postseason in recent years but if there is any time to turn that exact narrative around, it’s with this game right here. By the end of the night on Sunday, Jerry Rice will leave the stadium with a big smile on his face.
American Football Conference Divisional Rounds
Cleveland Browns (#5 Seed) at Baltimore Ravens (#1 Seed)
Date: TBD
Pick: Baltimore Ravens
Reason: The Ravens were easily the best team in the American Football League this year, firing on all cylinders in terms of offense and defense. While the #1 seed has proving to be a curse in recent years for just about every major sport, I don’t see that outcome here against the Browns. Cleveland has some impressive pieces, especially from an offense standpoint, but Baltimore will just be too good and dominate for them to handle. While the Brownies will no doubt go down with a fight, they will go down regardless and the Ravens will be taking their first steps to securing their first Super Bowl title in just over a decade.
Kansas City Chiefs (#3 Seed) at Buffalo Bills (#2 Seed)
Date: TBD
Pick: Kansas City Chiefs
Reason: These are two very good teams that perhaps should have better than they were in the regular season. So much so that it’s baffling that one of these two will likely make it to the second-to-last round. However, between the two teams, the Chiefs just speaks to me as the kind of team that can turn the tide around once January rolls around. With the Bills, however, in spite of their recent hot streak, their inconsistency in their offense and defense will be on full display throughout this game and will likely cost them another chance at a Super Bowl run. No offense to Josh Allen but you are no Patrick Mahomes!
National Football Conference Divisional Rounds
Los Angeles Rams (#6 Seed) at San Francisco 49ers (#1 Seed)
Date: TBD
Pick: San Francisco 49ers
Reason: The 49ers were the best team in the National Football league this year and there is no reason to think they won’t show that against the Rams. Despite Los Angeles being a worth opponent against San Francisco in the past, there’s too much vulnerability on that team that can easily be exposed by the 49ers. San Fran is just a team that can be you in many different ways and that will likely be the main outcome here. Kyle Shanahan has been 10-5 in his career against Sean McVay and will no doubt use those favorable odds to his advantage.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (#4 Seed) at Dallas Cowboys (#2 Seed)
Date: TBD
Pick: Dallas Cowboys
Reason: The Bucs will be fortunate enough to take down an ice cold Eagles but a red hot home-friendly Cowboys will be their brick wall that they will hit. If the stars align perfectly for Dallas, they will continue to be undefeated at AT&T stadium, with an impressive 10-0 record combined with the regular season and postseason. Tampa Bay will certainly try but sometimes, trying is no where near good enough, especially when facing off a team you are way out of league with in the Dallas Cowboys.
American Football Conference Round
Kansas City Chiefs (#3 Seed) at Baltimore Ravens (#1 Seed)
Date: Sunday, January 28th, 2:00 PM CST
Pick: Baltimore Ravens
Reason: While a big part of me can see the Chiefs pulling off an unexpected victory, I can’t help but feel like this will be the end of the road for the defending champs. There is too much holes in this roster compared to last year’s winners that the Ravens just don’t have. Mahomes and Kelce will give everything they have but Baltimore excellent defensive lines will shut them down and their offensive lives will be too much for Kansas City to handle. It’s not always wise to pick a #1 seed to make it to the Super Bowl but the Ravens can easily break that curse with a steady win against the Chiefs here.
National Football Conference Round
Dallas Cowboys (#2 Seed) at San Francisco 49ers (#1 Seed)
Date: Sunday, January 28th, 5:30 PM CST
Pick: San Francisco 49ers
Reason: This will be the better and more competitive match-ups between the two conference games but I see 49ers edging out victory against the Cowboys. Dallas is slightly more vulnerable on the road than they are at home and have been San Francisco’s daddy in their last three match-ups. The 49ers just has the Cowboys number all around and that alone can lead this to a very expected outcome. But hey, congrats to good old Jerry for his first NFL championship appearance in nearly 30 years. That should amount to something.
Super Bowl LVIII
Baltimore Ravens (#1 Seed) vs San Francisco 49ers (#1 Seed)
Sunday, February 11th, 5:30 PM CST
Pick: San Francisco 49ers
Reason: Yes, I have the two top seeded teams making it to the Super Bowl! Yes, I have the same match-up that we got on Christmas day making it to the Super Bowl! And yes, I see the 49ers marching their way to their very Super Bowl title in the 21st century against the Ravens. Kyle Shananhan will at long last get his redemption arc after the brutal results of his prior Super Bowl failures against the Patriots and Chiefs. And speaking of revenge, the 49ers are just a team that likes to have revenge for breakfast (just look at that brutal beat down against the Eagles earlier this year that basically broke them). I don’t know how close or one-sided this game will be since these are two teams will similar strengths and weaknesses but I believe the San Francisco 49ers will walk away with the big trophy hanging over their head. Will this be one of the more predictable outcomes? Possibly, but with the way this year has gone, I’m going with predictability all together.
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