Ah, the Super Bowl. With the start of the new season, all NFL teams share the same goal and all of them have a chance at it: hoisting the legendary Lombardi trophy at the end of the season. Some teams, like Eagles, 49ers and Bills have better chances than teams like Panthers, Cardinals and Raiders. But who knows? Maybe the Jets and Zach Wilson will win the super bowl. Maybe the Texans shock the world, making C.J. Stroud the stuff of legend. Maybe the Chiefs make it two in a row and overcome a tough early-season loss. All this could happen, and there are even more possibilities I haven’t mentioned yet. But I’m about to tell who I think will win it all, starting with who will make the playoffs.
Every year, 14 NFL teams make the playoffs. Here is the format: 7 from each conference, 1 guaranteed spot in each division, 1 bye for the best team in each conference. There are then 3 wild card spots for the teams with the best records that did not win their division. That is how the playoffs have been working since 2020.
In each division, there are four teams. The best in the division gets an automatic playoff spot. Here’s who I think will win each division. In the AFC East, the Bills and Dolphins are the frontrunners to win the division. But in Week 4, they both faced off, and the Bills won by 4 touchdowns! It’s pretty clear who the best team in that division is: The Buffalo Bills. In the AFC North, the Ravens are the only team so far that has not been atrociously destroyed and humiliated in front of all their fans, so I think they are on lock to receive the division title.
In the AFC South, most of the teams are not really that good, but one stands out from the rest: the Jacksonville Jaguars. None of these teams have looked that good, but on paper they look better than the rest. But they have competition in the Indianapolis Colts, who have been sneakily exceeding expectations this year behind Anthony Richardson. And now that they have Jonathan Taylor back, I think they are a sleeper team for a wild card spot.
In the AFC West, the Chargers and the Chiefs reign atop the bottom-feeder Broncos and Raiders, who are both saddened by the pain of being garbage. Both of these teams should cruise into the playoffs, but you cannot keep the champs down for long, and the Chiefs will win the division.
AFC PLAYOFFS
- Bills
- Chiefs
- Ravens
- Jaguars
- Dolphins
- Chargers
- Colts
Wild-card round
Chiefs over Colts
Chargers over Ravens
Dolphins over Jaguars
Divisional Round
Chargers over Bills
Chiefs over Dolphins
Conference Championship
Chiefs over Chargers
Now we have the NFC. You know the drill, so let’s hop to it. In the NFC East, the Cowboys have been plowing through everyone like a knife through butter. The Eagles will make the playoffs, but they are far from what the Cowboys have shown. The Commanders have also been quietly competitive so far this season. In the NFC North, everyone is struggling, and the Lions are the only decent team, so they will easily win the division. In the NFC South, the Bucs have shown up every game this season, and will continue to do so and surprisingly make the playoffs. The NFC West has the 49ers and Seahawks, who have been chill on their way to a nice playoff season. Let’s look at the games.
NFC Playoffs
- 49ers
- Cowboys
- Lions
- Buccaneers
- Eagles
- Seahawks
- Commanders
Wild card round
Cowboys over Commanders
Seahawks over Lions
Eagles over Buccaneers
Divisional Round
49ers over Seahawks
Eagles over Cowboys (Upset alert)
Conference Championship
49ers over Eagles
Now, here is the Super Bowl. A rematch over Super Bowl LIV. The 49ers and Chiefs. Here is why the 49ers will win: The Chiefs have a strong central trio, but if one of these guys is injured, they are screwed. The 49ers have depth however, so they should exploit it to win their first Super Bowl since 1995.
