NFL Playoff Predictions: Teams Guaranteed to Fail in Postseason

Simply getting into the postseason should be considered a major accomplishment for any NFL team. Once there, however, the goal is always to win the Super Bowl or to at least do some serious damage. Every team wants to go all the way, but only one from each conference can, which means there are inevitably teams that will fall flat.

While you never know what can happen in the playoffs, it is quite apparent that some teams don't have the pieces necessary to go deep in the postseason. Here are three playoff teams that are guaranteed to fail by losing their respective opening games. 

Denver Broncos

With a record of only 8-8, the Denver Broncos were able to win the AFC West. To say they backed into the playoffs would be an understatement. They lost their last three games, two of them convincingly, and needed the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders to falter down the stretch.

They are nine-point underdogs at home against the 12-4 Pittsburgh Steelers and it's for good reason, despite the fact that the Steelers are dealing with several injuries including the loss of running back Rashard Mendenhall to a torn ACL.

Even so, Pittsburgh is fairly healthy on defense so the suddenly stagnant Denver offense and quarterback Tim Tebow figure to struggle.

The Broncos really don't present any type of threat in the passing game, so the Steelers will be able to focus on stopping Tebow, running back Willis McGahee and the option attack.

Provided quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's ankle holds up, the Steelers should have little issue taking down the slumping Broncos. 

San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers may have earned a bye in the NFC by going 13-3 and winning the NFC West, but there are some very obvious flaws on the team.

The run defense is historically good, while the combination of Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter on offense form a solid backfield as quarterback Alex Smith takes good care of the ball. It remains to be seen how they handle the league's most explosive teams, though.

If the New Orleans Saints win their first-round matchup with the Detroit Lions, they will face the Niners in the next round.

San Francisco has proven to be vulnerable when it comes to defending the pass and that won't fly against quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints' dominant offense. Also, if the Niners fall behind, I'm not confident that Smith and a suspect group of receivers can stage a comeback.

I can't see them beating the red-hot Saints.

Detroit Lions

The fact that the Detroit Lions are finally back in the playoffs for the first time since 1999 is a great story, but I don't like the odds of it having a happy ending.

Other than a surprising Week 17 loss against the Green Bay Packers' backups, the Lions enter the postseason on a hot streak. However, that doesn't compare to the eight-game win streak of their opponents, the New Orleans Saints.

These two teams met several weeks ago in New Orleans and the Saints took care of them quite handily, and nothing has happened since that would make me thing otherwise.

The Lions' secondary was torched by Matt Flynn last week for six touchdowns, so who knows what Drew Brees might do. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is playing well enough to keep the Lions in it for a while, but I'm not confident Detroit's defense can even make a single defensive stop right now.