It was a long and winding road to get here, but the NFL Playoffs have arrived. The 115 days between the start and end of the regular season have brought us many regular faces and some surprises in this year’s postseason. But with the craziness that 2021 has already brought, NFL Playoffs predictions could get interesting.
This year, we have two more teams with the expanded playoffs that the NFL put into place. This takes away the byes from the two seeds. This Saturday, the NFL Playoffs will kick off and the road to the Lombardi Trophy will hit the highway.
NFL Playoffs Predictions | Super Bowl Betting Odds
Refer to the image below, which has the current odds to win Super Bowl LV for all 14 playoff teams. At +190 odds, the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs are sizable betting favorites ahead of the NFL playoffs beginning this weekend.
Odds courtesy of Bovada Sportsbook
NFL Playoffs Predictions | Wild Card Round
NFL Wild Card Weekend | Saturday Games
In the Wild Card Round, I have the Buffalo Bills taking care of the Indianapolis Colts to move on to next week. The Bills’ offense can’t be contained by the Colts defense, and Philip Rivers isn’t what he once was. Sorry Rivers, but you’re going out on a playoff loss.
For the third time this season, we will see the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks battle in a rubber match. The Seahawks take this one and will wait to see if they host or go to New Orleans.
I honestly have no idea why this matchup got the 8 pm slot, but nonetheless, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Football Team are the NFL Playoffs Saturday primetime game. Tampa wins this one easily and it may be another thrashing like their game against Detroit.
NFL Wild Card Weekend | Sunday Games
We start Sunday with probably the game of the weekend between the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans. The Titans already beat the Ravens in Baltimore this season, and Derrick Henry will continue Tennessee’s streak over the Ravens.
On the NFC side of the NFL playoffs, the New Orleans Saints will handle the Chicago Bears, as Chicago needs to figure out what they are doing at QB. Mitchell Trubisky is not about to go out and be “Magic Mitch” in the postseason.
The NFL Wild Card Weekend finale is a divisional rivalry game, as the Cleveland Browns visit the Pittsburgh Steelers. The two teams just played last week, with Cleveland escaping to make the playoffs against the Steelers’ second-stringers. This game will look more like the first CLE-PIT game than the second. Pittsburgh wins.
NFL Playoffs Predictions | Divisional Round
NFL Divisional Weekend | AFC Games
The Steelers will visit the Bills in my prediction, which sets up a rematch from Week 14. The Bills had trouble for the first portion of the game, until Taron Johnson’s pick-six woke them up and they never looked back. I am taking the Bills to advance to the AFC Championship for the first time since 1993-94.
Then, we have a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship game , with Tennessee going to the Kansas City Chiefs. Same song, second verse, as the Chiefs will contain Henry and host the NFL Playoffs AFC Championship game.
NFL Divisional Weekend | NFC Games
On the NFC side, Seattle will go into New Orleans. I think Russell Wilson is starting to find his groove, and the Seattle defense is starting to come back to its former self. They will take out the Saints and await the winner of Tampa Bay-Green Bay.
The “frozen tundra” of Lambeau Field will play host to two of the greatest QBs ever to play the game. Tampa Bay has all the weapons it needs, but Aaron Rodgers is playing the best football that he’s arguably ever played. Rodgers will lead his team to the NFC Championship.
NFL Playoffs Predictions |Championship Round
NFL Conference Championship Weekend | AFC Championship
The AFC Championship will be a rematch from the 1966-67 AFC Championship game, which was won by Kansas City to send them to the first AFL-NFL World Championship game (now known as the Super Bowl). These two teams played in Week 5 and, because of the weather, it was kind of a stinker. Barring a similar day, this should be the game of the playoffs.
With two of the best offenses in the NFL going head-to-head, this game should be explosive. As a Bills fan, I want to pick the Bills here, but I can’t. I have a hard time believing that Patrick Mahomes gets beat here.
NFL Conference Championship Weekend | NFC Championship
The NFC Championship Game will be a rematch from 2015, as Seattle will go to Green Bay. Wilson and Rodgers have battled many times in the past. In this game, Rodgers and the Packers get their revenge from their 2015 loss, moving on to the Super Bowl.
NFL Playoffs Predictions | Super Bowl LV
Super Bowl LV will be a rematch of the first-ever Super Bowl, as Green Bay and Kansas City face off. The two MVP frontrunners, in Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes, are going to dominate this game, likely leading to a shootout. The rocket arm of Mahomes will be the edge, and I believe the Chiefs will repeat as Super Bowl Champions.
NFL Playoffs Prediction: Kansas City Chiefs win Super Bowl LV
