Predicting NFL Playoff Results: AFC

Now that the playoffs are right around the corner, we can start to guess who will come out of the tournament and travel down to Tampa Bay. The top seeds are as followed: In the NFC, the Giants have received home-field advantage and clinched the No. 1 seed.

The Panthers look like they will finish off with the No. 2 seed in the NFC. The AFC top two seeds are the Titans, who will keep home-field advantage as long as they stay alive in the playoffs. The No. 2 seed in the AFC is the Steelers.

Now, we have a couple seeds that going into the final week are still up for grabs, so I will explain how I see the final playoff seeds being placed. First, let's start with the AFC.

The Titans will finish obviously 14-2 and the top seed, and the Steelers will finish 12-4 and the second seed, both receiving a week off.

The third seed will go down to this final week between the Jets, Miami, and Patriots. The Dolphins have the easiest way into the postseason since all they have to do is win over the Jets and they are in, and I do believe they will do so, as Chad Pennington will get the last laugh against his former team.

Finally, the last seed going down to the Ravens and Patriots fighting it out. I do believe that the Ravens will beat the Jaguars to claim the last seed.

So, the playoffs in the AFC should go as followed:

Titans 14-2
Steelers 12-4
Dolphins 11-5
Chargers 8-8
Colts 11-5
Ravens 11-5

Wild Card: Baltimore Ravens @ Miami Dolphins

The first game of Wild Card weekend will be the Baltimore Ravens traveling to the Miami Dolphins in a matchup of two teams that no one believed would be there.

Both teams have rookie head coaches who have drastically turned around their respective franchises, especially in Miami, going from 1-15 to AFC East Champions.

The Ravens will get on the board first, leading 3-0 early in the first quarter thanks to the rushing of McClain. Miami will be picked off by Ed Reed and the Ravens will turn it into seven thanks to a Flacco pass to lead 10-0 after one period.

In the second, the only scoring will be Miami, thanks to a Brown run to narrow the lead to 10-7 at the half. In the third the Dolphins will take the lead thanks to Chad Pennington to go up for the first time in the game 14-10, and then 17-10 after the third is over.

In the final period, the Ravens will find the end zone by a long run thanks to McClain to tie the game back up at 17 all. The game will be decided by a interception by the Ravens' defense, that will lead to the winning drive and a 20-17 Ravens win to advance. BALTIMORE RAVENS, 20-17

Ravens:
Flacco: 24/30 220 yards 1 TD 1 interception
McClain: 144 yards 2 TDs
Defense: 4 sacks, 1 INT

Miami:
Pennington: 20/29 188 yards 1 TD 1 interception
Williams: 50 yards
Brown: 109 yards 2 TDS

Wild Card: Indianapolis Colts @ San Diego Chargers

Maybe the hottest team in the league winning eight of their last 9 games to finish the year facing a team that won the AFC West by Denver falling apart.

This is also a rematch of Week 12, where the Colts beat the Chargers 23-20 in San Diego. These two teams do not like each other and that will be the storyline here.

The Colts will find themselves down 14-7 at the half and then 17-7 early in the third quarter. At this point, Manning will find an open Harrison to narrow the lead to 17-14 and then the Colts will pick off Rivers and turn it into the go ahead score to lead 21-17 as the final period starts.

Sproles will give the Chargers back the lead thanks to a touch down run and the Chargers will not die and lead 24-21 with about half the period left. Peyton will again lead his team down the field to score the winning touchdown with Wayne, to win 28-24.

The COLTS advance to the divisional round while the Chargers go home, but should be proud they saved the season after a 4-8 start.

AFC Divisional Round: Baltimore Ravens @ Tennessee Titans

The rematch of Week Five in which the Titans scored ten points in the final period for a 13-10 win over the Ravens. Expect another low-scoring game, as two of the best defenses face off in this divisional game.

The Titans only managed 48 rushing yards in the regular-season match, and I expect something close to this again. The Ravens managed 105 yards rushing and really just blew the fourth quarter in a game they could have won. In this game, things will be very similar.

We start out with the teams trading field goals for a 6-3 Titans lead at the half. In the third quarter, the Ravens will pull ahead thanks to a McGahee score to lead 10-6 early in the third period before giving it back thanks to a Collins score.

After three periods, the Titans will lead 13-10 over the Ravens. The score will be tied again thanks to a McClain rumble and then a field goal to ride to 13-13 with only minutes left in the game. The Titans will drive down the field and Collins will find Scaife in the end zone for the 20-13 lead with little time left.

Flacco will end his great rookie season throwing up a desperation pass which will be picked off. The Titans survive 20-13 to advance.

AFC Divisional Round: Indianapolis Colts @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Another matchup that took place during the regular season in which the Colts won 24-20 at Pittsburgh. The Steelers will score first off a Ward score, but the Colts will tie things up fast with a score of their own off a Wayne TD to be tied 7-7 after one.

In the second quarter, the Steelers will go ahead once more thanks to a score from Holmes, and then Big Ben will find an open receiver to lead 21-7. The Colts will narrow the lead at the half thanks to a Manning pass to Clark to trail just 21-14 at the half.

The lead will be narrowed to 21-17 after three periods as both teams trade punts in the third period. In the final period, Manning will put his team back up 24-21, but that lead will not last, as Big Ben comes through in the clutchm finding Ward open in the end zone for the final score of 28-24.

The Steelers will go back to Tennessee for a rematch.

AFC Championship Game: Pittsburgh Steelers @ Tennessee Titans

This game is a rematch of the Week 16 game in which the Titans beat the Steelers, 34-14, and stomped on the "Terrible Towel". We'll expect a very angry Steelers team coming into this game, with a defense looking for revenge.

The Titans will score first off a White run to lead 7-0 but the Steelers will tie the game 7-7 with a huge Moore run after one period. In the second, the Steelers will jump ahead of the Titans thanks to a Collins interception and then go up 17-7 at the half. In the third quarter, the Titans will come back thanks to Johnson rushing the ball to trail just 17-14 and then will jump ahead of the Steelers thanks to a Collins score to go into the final period 21-17.

In the final period, both defenses will play tough, but I really think that the Steelers' defense will rise to the occasion and get a very key interception to set up the 24-21 Steelers win.

Steelers go to the Super Bowl.