NFL Playoffs 2014-15: Bold Predictions for AFC and NFC Matchups
If the 2014-15 NFL season ended Tuesday, the Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals would all be division winners.
If you predicted that alongside a sub-.500 NFC South leader, there are far more important things for your expertise than football picks.
The parity-filled NFL is sure to surprise yet again with two weeks remaining in the regular season, but here is a look at some predictions for the overall playoff field before digging into a brief breakdown for each conference.
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| AFC | ||
| 1 | New England Patriots | AFC East champ |
| 2 | Denver Broncos | AFC West champ |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Steelers | AFC North champ |
| 4 | Indianapolis Colts | AFC South champ |
| 5 | Baltimore Ravens | Wild Card |
| 6 | Cincinnati Bengals | Wild Card |
| NFC | ||
| 1 | Seattle Seahawks | NFC West champ |
| 2 | Green Bay Packers | NFC North champ |
| 3 | Dallas Cowboys | NFC East champ |
| 4 | New Orleans Saints | NFC South champ |
| 5 | Arizona Cardinals | Wild Card |
| 6 | Detroit Lions | Wild Card |
NFC Breakdown
All four divisions in the NFC are still up for grabs with two weeks remaining in the season, which is a testament to the league’s overall depth and the importance of the final two contests.
The thought here is that the Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks will win the divisions with the Cardinals and Detroit Lions seizing the wild-card spots. Better luck next year, Philadelphia Eagles.
The Cowboys have plenty of momentum on their side after exorcising some demons against the Eagles in Week 15. Now all Tony Romo and company have to do is win at home against an Indianapolis Colts team that is suspect against the pass and then beat lowly Washington.
As for the Packers, they still control their own destiny in the NFC North, and that last game against Detroit is at Lambeau Field. Green Bay has not lost at home yet this season, and it is not going to start in the final game.
The NFC West is also intriguing with the Cardinals hanging on to a narrow one-game lead, but they are stuck with their third-string quarterback, Ryan Lindley, for Sunday’s clash with the Seahawks.
Look for the Legion of Boom to take advantage of that and dominate from the opening minutes, giving Seattle an inside track at seizing the division and top seed.
This scenario has the Packers, Cowboys and Seahawks all finishing at 12-4 as division winners, but the better conference records for Green Bay and Seattle would give them the first-round byes.
The NFC South may be the most interesting division of all with three teams multiple games under .500 but still in the race.
The Saints control their destiny from here. They still feature one of the league’s most explosive offenses and will be able to beat the Atlanta Falcons in the Superdome and the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers the next week.
NFL on ESPN noted how important the upcoming game is for the Saints, but Drew Brees' matchup against the Falcons’ 32nd-ranked pass defense will ultimately determine the outcome and the division:
AFC Breakdown
The AFC is much clearer than the NFC, at least in terms of the division winners.
The New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos have already clinched their division crowns with dominant starts to the season. New England’s head-to-head win over the Broncos will determine the race for the No. 1 seed.
The AFC North, however, is up for grabs, with the Bengals clinging to the narrow lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens thanks to that tie with the Panthers from earlier in the season.
The problem for the Bengals is that they finish the season against Peyton Manning in prime time and then at Pittsburgh against a team they already lost to by 21 points.
The Steelers will win that division with two home games remaining and a better overall division record than the Ravens. Baltimore also has to travel to Houston to play a tricky Texans squad, but it should manage to find a way to beat a team that is still looking for a healthy answer at quarterback.
According to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, third-string QB Tom Savage will not play this week. The team's first two options at the position, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Ryan Mallett, are also both sidelined.
A division crown would certainly make quarterback Ben Roethlisberger happy. "I'm a guy who never wants to have a losing season. Eight gets you a non-losing season. We got nine, and we're going for 10 now," he told The Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com).
This scenario will leave the Bengals staring up at both the division-winning Steelers and Wild Card-winning Ravens. The Steelers would even rank ahead of the Colts because of Indianapolis' projected loss to Dallas and Pittsburgh's head-to-head win over Andrew Luck and company.
The good news for Cincinnati, though, is that fellow wild-card contenders have difficult remaining slates.
The Buffalo Bills have two road games to close the season, including a trip to New England, while the San Diego Chargers also hit the road two more times against Kansas City and San Francisco.
Those Chiefs also have to play at Pittsburgh before hosting the Chargers.
All those potential losses mean the projected 9-6-1 Bengals will back into the postseason with the last playoff spot.
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