NFL Playoff Predictions: 3 Teams Destined to Surpass Expectations

The following teams are ready to turn the NFL playoffs on its ear as they surpass all expectations levied upon them. 

They are all ready to peak at the right time and make serious postseason waves as they do. Here are the soon-to-be overachievers. 

Detroit Lions

The Lions were the talk of the NFL as they rocketed out to a 5-0 start. The sky seemed to be the limit for this young and aggressive team. 

Then that young aggression all of a sudden became a negative as this team began killing itself with penalties and bad play. 

After their 5-0 start, they lost five of their next seven and became an afterthought in the playoff picture. Suddenly, this team is looking strong and dangerous once again. 

They've won three in a row, and they've looked good doing it. QB Matthew Stafford has recovered from some mid-season injuries, and this offense is rolling. Stafford has thrown for at least 350 yards in three of his last four games. 

During that stretch Calvin Johnson has re-emerged to remind everyone why he is the most feared receiver in the league and that this offense is capable of being unstoppable when he is rolling. 

If the Lions win on Sunday, they will take on the winner of the Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants game. Detroit will stomp (everyone except Ndamukong Suh—he can't stomp anymore) their way through either of those teams and give their second-round opponent all they can handle. 

Oakland Raiders

The Raiders need some help to get into the playoffs, but there is a good chance they'll get it. They need either the Denver Broncos to lose or the Cincinnati Bengals to lose combined with either a New York Jets win or a Tennessee Titans loss. 

That will leave the Raiders free to get into the playoffs with a win over the Chargers. And this is something they are equipped to do. This is a Raiders team that is finally starting to get healthy. 

Carson Palmer will likely have his full receiving corp on the field for Sunday, and that makes this offense infinitely dangerous.  

He showed tremendous chemistry with Jacoby Ford before Ford was injured during the first Chargers game in Week 10. This will be Ford's first game back. He will be alongside Denarius Moore, who will be in his second game back after missing three weeks due to injuries.

And all of this comes at a time when Palmer should just really be getting the feel for the offense. This will be Palmer's 10th game with the Silver and Black. 

And that's not all. Should this team make the playoffs, there is a chance that they could get star running back Darren McFadden back into the fold. 

With or without McFadden, this is a team that is ready to make some noise. If they get the wild card, they will travel to Houston where they have already beaten the Texans once this year, and that is when the Texans had a QB. 

If they win the division, they would host the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Baltimore Ravens. And while that is a tough matchup, the Steelers are just 4-3 on the season on the road and the Ravens are 3-4. 

This Oakland team could be in the second round of the playoffs before we know it. 

New Orleans Saints

There really is only one thing the Saints can do to surpass expectations: Beat the Green Bay Packers and go on to win the Super Bowl. 

They are going to do just that. The Saints are peaking at exactly the right time while the Packers are getting worse. 

The Saints are the most unstoppable offensive team in the NFL. They rank first in passing yards and ninth in rushing yards. That balance is something that the Packers do not enjoy, and something they are woefully unequipped to handle. 

It is something any team is ill-prepared to handle. Since their Week 11 bye, the Saints have played just one close game. That was a 22-17 victory over the Titans in Tennessee. 

In their other four games they have won by an average by 22.5 points per game. Last time on the field, they straight blew the playoff-bound Atlanta Falcons out of the stadium, 45-16.

This team is destroying everything that gets in their way, and they are only getting better. This trend is not going to end until they are dousing each other and the Vince Lombardi trophy in champagne.