NFL Playoffs Predictions

On Sunday, January 4th, the NFL regular season finally concluded after 18 weeks that felt like 18 days. While NFL fans were either upset that their teams missed the playoffs or ecstatic and rooting for their teams in the playoffs. I’m here to try and predict the outcome of these NFL Playoffs.

After a very unexpected season that almost felt like a rewind in time ten years, the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos sit atop of the AFC while the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears sit at the one and two seeds of the NFC. With these wild results and unexpected teams making a statement this year, it is going to be difficult to tell who may end up on top of the NFL world.

Starting off simple, two teams that I don’t think stand a chance of getting past the first round are the Carolina Panthers of the NFC South and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the AFC North. While these teams have looked decent all year, I believe that their competition is simply too good for them to keep up. I think the Houston Texans will beat the Steelers and our very own Los Angeles Rams will bounce back to defeat the Panthers in the first round.

To add on, I believe that the two-seeded New England Patriots will take down the seven-seeded Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC Wild Card and the six-seeded Buffalo Bills will upset the three-seeded Jacksonville Jaguars. I think the Patriots are just a better, more rounded NFL team than the Chargers and I feel like the Bills might finally prevail in the playoffs against a team and coach with less experience than them on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In the NFC, I believe there will be two upsets that occur in the NFC Wild Card. I think that Jalen Hurts and the Eagles do not have what it takes to defeat the San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card. The Eagles ended the year in a slump while the 49ers are red-hot as of right now. The other upset that I predict will happen is the seven-seeded Packers over the two-seeded Bears. I feel like the Bears’ offensive inconsistencies will shine in a big game like this against a tough opponent. The Packers will bring everything they have to this game to beat a divisional rival.

Moving on to the divisional round, I believe that the one-seeded Seahawks will take care of business against the Packers due to just a clear mismatch in the team and the Rams will narrowly beat the 49ers in a close matchup. Throughout the year, the Rams have simply looked like the better team and only lost to them earlier in the season due to a single costly mistake. I believe the Rams will clean it up and move on to the NFC Championship Game. In the AFC, I believe the Buffalo Bills will again win an upset over the one-seeded Denver Broncos, who throughout the year have just looked inconsistent and, honestly, a little bit lucky. Then, I think that the New England Patriots’ offense will prevail against the Houston Texans' great defense just barely in order for them to move on to the AFC Championship Game.

Furthermore, the NFC Championship Game between the division rivals, the Rams and Seahawks. I believe this will be one of the best playoff games we see this year as both of their games have come down to the wire between the two this season. The Rams beat the Seahawks once, and the Seahawks beat an injured Rams team once. Once the Rams come back healthy, I believe they have what it takes to take down their division rival and advance to the Super Bowl. In the AFC Championship Game, I sadly believe that the Patriots' eventful and great season will come to an end by their division rival, the Buffalo Bills, who will ride their Cinderella story all the way to the Super Bowl. I believe that Josh Allen and the Bills finally have what it takes to go far in the playoffs and they will pull off the upset to go to the Super Bowl.

On Super Bowl Sunday, I believe a matchup for the ages will go down. I think that Josh Allen will have the poise in him to finally win the Lombardi Trophy. However, Matthew Stafford and the Rams will shut him down in order to win their second Super Bowl in 5 years. I believe that the Rams, when healthy, are the best team in football and they have what it takes to win the Super Bowl, as we have seen in the past against the Bengals not too long ago. I believe that the local Los Angeles Rams will be the Super Bowl 60 champions.

Granted, anything can happen in these playoffs and it is honestly very hard to predict every winner correctly. This list is full of educated guesses and what I believe may happen, but we will not know until the playoffs kick off on January 10th!

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