NFL Playoff Predictions (4 weeks through season)
- SportsmanHunter
- Oct 5, 2017
- 3 min read
With a quarter of the season now in the books (at least for most teams) I thought it was time to update my playoff predictions.
Let's first take a look at how I thought things would shake out at the start of the regular season...
AFC
#1 Seed - New England Patriots
#2 Seed - Oakland Raiders
#3 Seed - Pittsburgh Steelers
#4 Seed - Tennessee Titans
#5 Seed - Kansas City Chiefs
#6 Seed - Indianapolis Colts
Wild Card Round - Steelers over Colts; Chiefs over Titans
Divisional Round - Patriots over Chiefs; Raiders over Steelers
AFC Championship - Raiders over Patriots
NFC
#1 Seed - Atlanta Falcons
#2 Seed - Green Bay Packers
#3 Seed - Seattle Seahawks
#4 Seed - New York Giants
#5 Seed - Arizona Cardinals
#6 Seed - Dallas Cowboys
Wild Card Round - Seahawks over Cowboys; Giants over Cardinals
Divisional Round - Falcons over Giants; Packers over Seahawks
NFC Championship - Falcons over Packers
Super Bowl - Falcons over Raiders
Obviously, a couple of my playoff teams (Giants, Colts) have gotten off to horrible starts and will need to get things turned around quickly if they do want to make the postseason. Other than really those two teams, I am pretty confident in my other picks, although teams like the Patriots and Raiders have not gotten off to as strong of starts as I expected.
Without further delay, here is my updated playoff predictions following the fourth week of the NFL season.
AFC
#1 Seed - Pittsburgh Steelers
#2 Seed - Oakland Raiders
#3 Seed - New England Patriots
#4 Seed - Tennessee Titans
#5 Seed - Kansas City Chiefs
#6 Seed - Denver Broncos
Wild Card Round - Patriots over Broncos; Chiefs over Titans
Divisional Round - Steelers over Chiefs; Raiders over Patriots
AFC Championship - Raiders over Steelers
NFC
#1 Seed - Atlanta Falcons
#2 Seed - Green Bay Packers
#3 Seed - Seattle Seahawks
#4 Seed - Philadelphia Eagles
#5 Seed - Detroit Lions
#6 Seed - Dallas Cowboys
Wild Card Round - Seahawks over Cowboys; Lions over Eagles
Divisional Round - Falcons over Lions; Packers over Seahawks
NFC Championship - Falcons over Packers
Super Bowl - Falcons over Raiders
AFC Notes - Despite the slow start and health issues of Derek Carr, I think the Raiders will still be able win the AFC West with every team beating up on each other. By the time I update my playoff predictions again (after week 8) we should all have a pretty good idea of the health of Carr going forward. I did swap the Steelers and Patriots seeds as I think the Patriots' defense is a real issue. I also moved the Broncos to the sixth seed over the Colts, who without Andrew Luck, have no chance of a postseason berth. By the time the Colts get Luck back, they may be too many games out to make up the ground.
NFC Notes - Really, most of my seeds and team stayed put in the NFC, with the exception of the Eagles winning the AFC East and the Lions taking the playoff spot of the Cardinals. Even after a home loss to the Bills, the NFC will still run through Atlanta, and I think their offense finds its groove very soon. The NFC West is a complete toss-up at the moment, but a clash between the Seahawks and Rams this week will give us a good idea at which team is the best in the division.
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