Super Bowl 2015: Predictions for Most Likely Matchups Following Wild Card Round

With Wild Card Weekend having come and gone, the field of potential Super Bowl champions shrunk from 12 to eight.

Among the eight still remaining, a clear hierarchy exists. It's still relatively early in the postseason process, but you can already picture some of the most likely Super Bowl XLIX matchups.

A lot could change between now and Feb. 1. For now, these clashes seem the strongest possibilities for the NFL's crown jewel.

New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks

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Quite frankly, it's hard to see how the Seahawks slip up between now and the Super Bowl. They have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and they've already a win over the one team that could potentially dethrone them—the Green Bay Packers.

Seattle's defense is back to being the best in the NFL, while the offense is among the league's most efficient. The team ranked ninth in yards per game (375.8), but Football Outsiders places the unit fifth in offensive DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average).

Should anybody but the Seahawks win the NFC, it would be a shock.

As the top seed in the AFC, the New England Patriots are best positioned for a trip to Glendale, Arizona. Their only home loss came against the Buffalo Bills in Week 17, by which time Bill Belichick had already packed it in in preparation for the playoffs.

Everybody knows Tom Brady delivers this time of the year. What makes the difference for the Pats this year is a defense that ranks 11th in defensive DVOA, according to FO, which is a big rise from 20th at the end of the 2013 season.

Baltimore Ravens vs. Seattle Seahawks

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In the space of 60 minutes, the Baltimore Ravens went from lowest seed in the AFC to trendy Super Bowl pick. It goes to show how good Baltimore can be when Joe Flacco is at his best.

Over his last five playoff games, Flacco's averaging nearly 280 yards and three touchdowns a game, per NFL on CBS:

ESPN's Bomani Jones put it best:

The Ravens will need to beat the Patriots next week, which is a massive hurdle to climb. Should Baltimore win, though, it would have to be considered the team to beat in the AFC.

Don't forget that when the franchise last won the Super Bowl, it beat both New England and Denver on the road en route to New Orleans.

Count the Ravens out at your own peril.

Denver Broncos vs. Seattle Seahawks

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Why not have a Super Bowl XLVIII redux?

There are two big reasons the Broncos could potentially hold their own against the Seahawks this year.

The first is a defense that's jumped from 15th in defensive DVOA last year to fourth in 2014, according to Football Outsiders. One of Denver's biggest weaknesses has turned into one of its biggest strengths.

The second is C.J. Anderson, who's run for 849 yards and eight touchdowns this year. He's been really good of late, getting more touchdowns than Peyton Manning over the final four weeks of the regular season, per Mike Klis of The Denver Post:

The Broncos lost to the Patriots by 22 points back in November, so that is a bit of a concern for Denver should the two teams meet in the AFC Championship Game. The gulf between the two teams isn't so great, though, that Denver would have no chance in a rematch.

New England Patriots vs. Green Bay Packers

Should the Carolina Panthers upset the Seahawks in the Divisional Round, the Green Bay Packers would immediately become the Super Bowl favorites. They've been unbeatable at Lambeau Field this season, winning all eight home games, including a massive 26-21 victory over the Patriots in Week 13.

The health of Aaron Rodgers has become a big storyline surrounding the team, especially after ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky reported he could have a sole practice under his belt before the divisional round.

Head coach Mike McCarthy quickly allayed the fears of Packers fans everywhere, arguing that a few practices won't all of a sudden make Rodgers a worse player, per Demovsky:

"

Aaron? Practice reps? No, I'm not concerned. He's already started the preparation process. There's some things we went through today, self-scout and correction that we want to go [with], so he'll be prepared. I think the biggest thing is for him to rep the things that he feels that he may need another rep on. There won't be a bunch of new ideas or things that he hasn't seen or things he doesn't have the reps with his teammates with. So I'm not really concerned.

"

Green Bay will really hope to avoid that trip to Seattle in a couple of weeks. It was a different team on the road this year, highlighted by the Packers' losses to the New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills.

Should somebody other than the Seahawks advance to the Super Bowl, though, it would almost certainly be the NFC North champions.