NFL Playoff Bracket 2016: Scenarios and Predictions for Postseason Picture

If you like unpredictability, this season's NFL playoffs are for you.

The top two seeds in each conference have faltered badly at various points in the last few weeks, while most of the wild cards have been dominant down the stretch to secure their playoff spots. Are the top teams as good as their seeding? Or are the "underdogs" really the best of the group?

We'll find out soon enough.

Let's go through a refresher on playoff-matchup scenarios leading up to Super Bowl 50, and then we'll briefly go through each round with predictions all the way up to the big game.

Playoff Scenarios Refresher

Remember, teams can move around the bracket after Wild Card Weekend. The top-seeded squad in each conference gets to play the lower-seeded wild-card winner in the Divisional Round.

For example, if the No. 3 Cincinnati Bengals and the No. 5 Kansas City Chiefs both win on Saturday, they would flip spots in the bracket. Kansas City would visit the top-seeded Denver Broncos, and Cincinnati would play the No. 2 New England Patriots.

Are any of the playoff teams really thinking that far ahead right now, though? Probably not.

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Aside from maybe the fourth-seeded Houston Texans, all of the playoff teams in the AFC look like viable Super Bowl contenders. It's a similar situation in the NFC, as only the fourth-seeded Washington Redskins seem like a long shot to win all of their postseason games.

But even those two "weak" division winners were a combined 11-5 on their home fields and could realistically hold serve for at least one round.

Looking even further into the future, the bracket may shuffle again to make sure the higher-seeded team is at home in the conference championship games. And it obviously doesn't matter for the Super Bowl because the game is taking place in Santa Clara, California, a neutral location for every playoff contender.

Complete Playoff Predictions

Wild Card Round

The Chiefs, who will travel to play the Houston Texans, have won 10 consecutive games. The J.J. Watt-led Texans have stonewalled opposing offenses during the second half of the season, but their own offense is too reliant on superstar wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to explode against the stingy Chiefs.

Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith will avoid turnovers, help his team dominate possession and ultimately lead it to a 23-16 win.

Cincinnati is starting AJ McCarron (he of 119 career passing attempts) against head coach Mike Tomlin's Pittsburgh Steelers, a squad that has made the playoffs six times and played in two Super Bowls over the past nine seasons. That alone puts the Bengals at a disadvantage, even though they'll be playing at home.

Ultimately both teams have their strengths, but Pittsburgh's weaker end of the field (defense) can be more dangerous than Cincinnati's more vulnerable side (offense). The Steelers will win this one 27-21.

Mike Roemer/Associated Press

The Seattle Seahawks are the seasoned playoff team here, while the Vikings are the young upstart—and this game will show it. Quarterback Russell Wilson is far, far better than Minnesota's signal-caller Teddy Bridgewater. And not even running back Adrian Peterson can prevent Seattle's Legion of Boom from terrorizing Bridgewater into a difficult game.

The Seahawks should take this one 28-14.

For the most part, there is a similar seasoned-squad-versus-upstart-team dynamic in the Green Bay Packers-Washington Redskins matchup. But the Packers have been terribly inconsistent this season.

Aaron Rodgers isn't the same without wide receiver Jordy Nelson (ACL) and just doesn't seem as on point. At home, I like Washington's Kirk Cousins to lead a game-winning drive to win 23-21.

Divisional Round

Kansas City thrives on not turning the ball over, and so does New England. The Chiefs have played better than the Patriots most of the season, but attribute most of that to New England's insanely long list of injuries.

In two weeks, those maladies will be mostly healed, and Tom Brady will seize a 30-20 win in Foxboro.

Pittsburgh will march into Denver with confidence from an impressive road win and the knowledge that it already beat the Broncos 34-27 in Week 15. This time the venue will be different, but the result will be similar.

The quarterback situation is still unclear in Denver, per USA Today's Lindsay H. Jones, but Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger is cemented as Pittsburgh's signal-caller. He's seen it all—even the Broncos' stellar defense—and he'll be able to take this one 26-23.

Don Wright/Associated Press

Washington is a nice story this year, but it's not beating the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale.

Arizona has really only had one bad outing this season (Week 17 against the Seahawks), but it has dominated in most of its other games. The Cardinals will win this one going away by a score of 38-16.

The Seahawks-Carolina Panthers matchup shouldn't be happening this early in the playoffs, but that's how the postseason format works. Dynamic quarterbacks playing against elite secondaries will be the storyline of this game, and I actually like Russell Wilson against Carolina's pass defenders more than Cam Newton against the Legion of Boom.

The Seahawks will win a close 23-20 game to end the Panthers' storybook season.

Conference Championships

The Patriots will be considerably more healthy than they are now, and they will be playing at home. Big Ben's Steelers don't have the defensive firepower to keep New England off the field, even though Pittsburgh will make some big plays once they get the ball.

But Brady will pull out all the stops in a 37-21 triumph.

How much stock do I put in the Cardinals' 36-6 loss to the Seahawks in Week 17? As you're about to tell, very little.

The Cardinals had shown absolutely no signs of slippage heading into that contest (nine consecutive wins), and it's clear that motivation was an issue. If anyone can make life difficult for Seattle's secondary, it's the three-headed monster of receivers Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown and Michael Floyd.

The Cardinals will get that little home-field boost of energy to win 24-23.

Super Bowl

Arizona and New England will do battle in a matchup of the No. 2 seeds.

I tend to lean toward the Cardinals here because the Patriots have had a middling defensive unit since the midpoint of the season—though the trio of Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski is the trump card in so many situations.

Ultimately, I think Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer comes through with a strong game, getting his first Super Bowl ring by leading his team to a 30-24 win and taking home the game's MVP award.