NFL Playoff Predictions: Wild Card Teams That Are Capable of Making Super Bowl

NFL wild card teams have made plenty of noise in the NFL Playoffs in recent years. Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants have all won it from the wild card position. These three teams have the best opportunity to repeat history from that position this season.

Detroit Lions

Anytime you have players like Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, the sky is the limit in a one-game elimination setting.

The real question for the Detroit Lions is simple: Will the postseason be enough? Are they already considered successful? Yes, but there is plenty of more work to be done.

This team is capable of stringing a couple dominant performances together. They have a great offense, quality coaching and the ability to never give up in games. They have made several comebacks this season and that can be traced back to the character of the football team.

Stafford has tossed for 4,518 yards and 36 touchdowns this season. Johnson has caught 85 passes for 1,437 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Detroit has a legitimate chance to make noise in the postseason given their quick-strike scoring ability. 

Atlanta Falcons

Saying the Atlanta Falcons have what it takes to make the Super Bowl is kind of silly seeing how they lost 45-16 on Monday Night Football one week ago to the New Orleans Saints, but just think about it.

They have a decent chance to make it given their talent level on the offensive side of the ball. Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Julio Jones, Tony Gonzalez, Michael Turner and others have the potential to light up the scoreboard.

Consider the teams they lost to this season. They lost to a healthy Chicago Bears team, Green Bay, Houston and New Orleans twice. Their only poor loss was at Tampa Bay, but even the Saints can say the same thing.

This isn’t a poor football team. They were 13-3 last season for a reason.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Either the Steelers or Baltimore Ravens will finish with the No. 5 seed in the AFC. Baltimore controls their destiny, so let’s assume they will take care of business against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

The Steelers have the best chance out of any NFL wild card team to make it to the Super Bowl.

Pittsburgh will go as far as Ben Roethlisberger’s ankle will take them. He needs to be able to move around in the pocket in order to escape pressure, a facet of his game that is arguably the best in the NFL. He needs that weapon in his arsenal.

If he can return close to 100 percent then the Steelers have a great opportunity to make it back to the Super Bowl.

No team in the AFC has a better combination of offense and defense than the Steelers. The New England Patriots have a great offense but lack-luster defense. Baltimore has an aging defense capable of being great but an average offense.

Pittsburgh is solid on both sides of the ball. Their young receiving corp. of Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders is one of the best in the NFL. Wallace and Brown both made the NFL Pro Bowl this season.

If they can protect a healthy Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh can make it to back-to-back Super Bowls.