NFL Playoff Bracket 2018: Picks and Predictions for AFC, NFC Wild Card

Within the past 20 years, the 1997 Denver Broncos, 2000 Baltimore Ravens, 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers, 2007 New York Giants and 2010 Green Bay Packers have won the Super Bowl after making the postseason as a wild card.

Although that hasn't happened in seven years, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to see a wild-card team win it all this season. Therefore, the race to the finish to decide the last teams in the playoff field are crucial.

We'll take a look at the latest AFC and NFC playoff brackets below in addition to making prognostications on how the wild-card round will look this year.

AFC Playoff Bracket Seeds (If Season Ended Today)

1. New England Patriots

2. Pittsburgh Steelers

3. Jacksonville Jaguars

4. Kansas City Chiefs

5. Baltimore Ravens

6. Tennessee Titans

AFC Playoff Bracket Seeding Possibilities Post-Week 17

1. New England Patriots or Pittsburgh Steelers

2. New England Patriots or Pittsburgh Steelers

3. Jacksonville Jaguars

4. Kansas City Chiefs

5. Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans or Buffalo Bills

6. Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills or Los Angeles Chargers

AFC Wild-Card Picks

The Baltimore Ravens will earn the AFC's fifth seed with a win over the Cincinnati Bengals at home on Sunday, which would mean a matchup at Kansas City on Saturday, January 6 or Sunday, January 7.

There are a few reasons to believe Baltimore should hold serve. First, the Ravens beat the Bengals 20-0 earlier this year. Second, Cincinnati is playing out the string at 6-9, while Baltimore is motivated to make the postseason. Third, the Bengals probably won't have linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who has sat out practice all week.

That leaves the intrigue for the sixth seed. Give the edge to the Los Angeles Chargers despite them needing to leapfrog the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills.

The Bolts face the six-win Oakland Raiders at home, a team they beat on the road earlier this year. Oakland has slogged through a disappointing year and is an eight-point underdog, per OddsShark.

If the Chargers win and the Ravens emerge victorious, L.A. would just need a Tennessee Titans loss to vault them into the playoffs. Tennessee is facing the 10-5 Jacksonville Jaguars, who clinched the AFC South but will play their starters, per head coach Doug Marrone.

The Titans-Jags matchup should be close, but it's hard to back a Tennessee Titans team that has lost three straight games and is ranked just 19th in overall team efficiency, per Football Outsiders.

Therefore, the pick is for the Bolts to move on and face Jacksonville in the wild-card round. 

Matchup Picks: No. 5 Baltimore Ravens at No. 4 Kansas City Chiefs, No. 6 Los Angeles Chargers at No. 3 Jacksonville Jaguars

NFC Playoff Bracket Seeds (If Season Ended Today)

1. Philadelphia Eagles

2. Minnesota Vikings

3. Los Angeles Rams

4. New Orleans Saints

5. Carolina Panthers

6. Atlanta Falcons

NFC Playoff Bracket Seeding Possibilities Post-Week 17

1. Philadelphia Eagles

2. Minnesota Vikings or Carolina Panthers

3. Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Rams or Carolina Panthers

4. New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Rams or Carolina Panthers

5. New Orleans Saints or Carolina Panthers

6. Atlanta Falcons or Seattle Seahawks

NFC Wild-Card Picks

The Minnesota Vikings will earn the No. 2 seed with a win over the 5-10 Chicago Bears, who are 11.5-point underdogs, per OddsShark. Considering Minnesota is 6-1 at home this year and beat Chicago on the road earlier this season, the clear edge goes to the Vikings to win and avoid the wild-card round.

The New Orleans Saints are facing a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team they beat 30-10 earlier this year. In that contest, the Saints outgained the Bucs 407-200.

The Saints will win the NFC South with a victory, while the 4-11 Bucs are looking toward 2018. Given these factors, it's hard to expect a much different result this time around, so expect New Orleans to be the NFC South champion.

If the Saints win, the Panthers are locked into the No. 5 seed and will face the No. 4 seed on the road in the wild-card round.

Look for that mystery team to be the Los Angeles Rams, who have already announced they are resting numerous starters (including defensive tackle Aaron Donald, quarterback Jared Goff and running back Todd Gurley) in Week 17 against the San Francisco 49ers.

With the Rams backups playing the 49ers starters, San Francisco should win its fifth straight game to end the year on a high note.

The final playoff spot will come down to the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks. Atlanta just needs a win against the Carolina Panthers at home to make the postseason, while Seattle needs a victory over the Arizona Cardinals at home and a Falcons loss.

In the end, it's hard to bet against Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones having anything less than a monster day in this spot. The star wideout has accumulated 478 yards in his last two home games versus Carolina and caught six passes for 118 yards in Charlotte earlier this season.

Seattle will do its part and win, but Atlanta's 34-31 victory over the Seahawks earlier this year will prove to be the difference in a head-to-head tiebreaker with both teams at 10-6.

Matchup Picks: No. 5 Carolina Panthers at No. 4 Los Angeles Rams, No. 6 Atlanta Falcons at No. 3 New Orleans Saints