Playoff Predictions After Week 16

[Yo Tee]

AFC:
1. Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 1) (15-1)
2. Buffalo Bills (LW: 2) (12-4)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 4) (12-4)
4. Tennessee Titans (LW: 5) (11-5)
5. Miami Dolphins (LW: 6) (11-5)
6. Baltimore Ravens (LW: 7) (11-5)
7. Cleveland Browns (LW: NR) (11-5)

OUT: Indianapolis Colts (11-5)

Wild Card:
Miami Dolphins vs. Tennessee Titans
Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Cleveland Browns vs. Buffalo Bills

Divisional:
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins vs. Kansas City Chiefs

AFC Championship:
Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs

NFC:
1. Green Bay Packers (LW: 1) (13-3)
2. New Orleans Saints (LW: 2) (12-4)
3. Seattle Seahawks (LW: 6) (12-4)
4. Dallas Cowboys (LW: NR) (7-9)
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 5) (11-5)
6. Los Angeles Rams (LW: 3) (10-6)
7. Chicago Bears (LW: NR) (8-8)

OUT: Arizona Cardinals (8-8), Washington Football Team (6-10)

Wild Card:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Dallas Cowboys
Los Angeles Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks
Chicago Bears vs. New Orleans Saints

Divisional:
Seattle Seahawks vs. New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Green Bay Packers

NFC Championship:
New Orleans Saints vs. Green Bay Packers

Super Bowl LV:
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Green Bay Packers

 

[RaZon]

Packers beat the Chiefs in the SB and it;s because of that Packers running game.

 

[Balljim55]

KC ain’t playing well enough to win their conference

 

[molsaniceman]

so the rams beat zona this week and u forgot the giants can still get in

 

[Clayton]

I'm of the philosophy that the Chiefs are going to rest up against a fairly physical Chargers team, the Bills will be motivated to get the 2 seed to potentially knock out their division rival and/or the Bills will simply overwhelm the Dolphins even playing their B game. Steelers/Browns is a more concrete 'play in' type of game for the Browns and I think the Steelers still have something to prove. Maybe its my old age messing with me but I remember quite a few final games where the Steelers are expected to lie down with everything taken care of and they do the opposite. Then again, I believe the Chiefs usually close out at the end of the season, too, but maybe they're more confident this year.

AFC:
1. Kansas City Chiefs (14-2)
2. Buffalo Bills (13-3)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (13-3)
4. Tennessee Titans (11-5)
5. Baltimore Ravens (11-5)
6. Indianapolis Colts (11-5)
7. Miami Dolphins (10-6)

OUT: Cleveland Browns (10-6)

Wild Card.
Ravens over the Titans by 3
Steelers over Colts in OT
Bills over Dolphins by 7

Chiefs over Ravens by 3
Bills over Steelers by 10
Bills over Chiefs by 4.

NFC:
1. Green Bay Packers (13-3)
2. New Orleans Saints (12-4)
3. Seattle Seahawks (12-4)
4. Washington Football Team (7-9)
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-5)
6. Los Angeles Rams (10-6)
7. Chicago Bears (8-8)

Wild Card
Saints over Bears by 13
Seahawks over Rams by 17
Bucs over Washington by 10

Tampa Bay over Green Bay by 3
Saints over Seahawks in OT
Saints over Tampa Bay by 10

Super Bowl
Saints over Bills by 6


Of course it will be nothing like that but its an interesting exercise.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

I think the Cardinals knock off the Rams this week. And I may be nuts here but for some odd reason, I think the Bears upset the Packers and throw the whole NFC picture upside down, topsy-turvy, bizarro world crazy. It's just a 2020 Covid kinda thing to happen.
And I think the Bills knock off the Chiefs in the AFCCG.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Oh, and I think the WFT gets in by beating the Eagles.

 

[Clayton]

And I think the Bills knock off the Chiefs in the AFCCG.

I kinda think thats the expected result. I would caution, however, that the Chiefs match up really well with the Bills. Chiefs are 5th in opposing QB passer ratings and mostly shut down Allen earlier in the season.

I do think the Bills are playing better football so I do think the Bills are the favorite in the AFC right now. Just dont be shocked if the Chiefs play them better than anyone else in the AFC would.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

I kinda think thats the expected result. I would caution, however, that the Chiefs match up really well with the Bills. Chiefs are 5th in opposing QB passer ratings and mostly shut down Allen earlier in the season.

I do think the Bills are playing better football so I do think the Bills are the favorite in the AFC right now. Just dont be shocked if the Chiefs play them better than anyone else in the AFC would.

Oh, absolutely @Clayton . It wouldn't surprise me a bit if the Chiefs come out of the bye red hot. It's just that right now the Bills seem to be on such a hot roll. It's hard to bet against them because they might be the only team that can score enough points to overcome what the Chiefs put up. And I know all the pundits are talking about controlling the T.O.P vs the Chiefs as a way to win but I don't think that matters. Mahomes can light teams up in 30 seconds. The clock is largely irrelevant. Imho, the only way to beat the Chiefs is a close shootout and hope you get the ball last. You can't beat the Chiefs playing conservative and you can't count on mistakes.

 

[DJ]

The Browns will lose to the Steelers in the final game of the regular season.

 

[DJ]

so the rams beat zona this week and u forgot the giants can still get in

Goff has a thumb injury, think the Cards win.

 

[Clayton]

Oh, absolutely @Clayton . It wouldn't surprise me a bit if the Chiefs come out of the bye red hot. It's just that right now the Bills seem to be on such a hot roll. It's hard to bet against them because they might be the only team that can score enough points to overcome what the Chiefs put up. And I know all the pundits are talking about controlling the T.O.P vs the Chiefs as a way to win but I don't think that matters. Mahomes can light teams up in 30 seconds. The clock is largely irrelevant. Imho, the only way to beat the Chiefs is a close shootout and hope you get the ball last. You can't beat the Chiefs playing conservative and you can't count on mistakes.

The key to beating the Chiefs will be finding their weak links on defense. Chiefs linebacking core isn't the strongest and there may or may not be injuries or rookies playing there. Chiefs Thornhill is a wild card in the secondary and is either going to make the secondary scary or he'll be a step slow like he has been for much of the season. Without Thornhill you'll see teams go after Sorenson like they always do.

Chiefs make a lot of late adjustments so I think a team would be wise to run no huddle a couple of times. Chiefs defense isn't nearly as scary when it has to play the run first. Chiefs only allow 2.7 red zone attempts per game as a defense and thats at the top of the league....but they allow 2.1 red zone TDs a game which means their d is usually gassed or just bad when they have to worry about quick slants and run plays.

A team really can't control Mahomes. Some days he'll be one of the best players to ever play the game and some days he'll force some bad throws. A playoff team can't rely on Mahomes having a bad game because he can turn around a bad game in a couple of throws (or runs).

 

[Yo Tee]

The Browns will lose to the Steelers in the final game of the regular season.

Ben is sitting out so I don't think that's gonna happen.

 

[DJ]

Ben is sitting out so I don't think that's gonna happen.

The Browns lost to the Jets so anything is possible.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Goff has a thumb injury, think the Cards win.

Honestly, I think the Cards were gonna win anyway unless the Rams D scores points or Murray plays awful.The Rams are reeling right now and frankly, Goff isn't any good. And teams have caught up to McVay. He hasn't coached well down the stretch. When you can't even muster a single TD vs a below avg defense like the Hawks, that's a problem.

 

[DJ]

Honestly, I think the Cards were gonna win anyway unless the Rams D scores points or Murray plays awful.The Rams are reeling right now and frankly, Goff isn't any good. And teams have caught up to McVay. He hasn't coached well down the stretch. When you can't even muster a single TD vs a below avg defense like the Hawks, that's a problem.

The Hawks defense is playing a lot better lately.

 

[Wamu]

The Browns lost to the Jets so anything is possible.

What was a worse loss- Browns losing to the Jets or the Colts losing to the Jags?

 

[Clayton]

Ben is sitting out so I don't think that's gonna happen.

Ben's backup playing better than Ben wouldnt be too shocking

 

[DJ]

Honestly, I think the Cards were gonna win anyway unless the Rams D scores points or Murray plays awful.The Rams are reeling right now and frankly, Goff isn't any good. And teams have caught up to McVay. He hasn't coached well down the stretch. When you can't even muster a single TD vs a below avg defense like the Hawks, that's a problem.

Murray may not play either.

 

[DJ]

What was a worse loss- Browns losing to the Jets or the Colts losing to the Jags?

Both were bad but the Colts are in the playoffs.....