NFL Playoff Bracket 2019: Scenarios and Predictions for Postseason Picture

While most of the NFL has already sprinted into the offseason, a dozen teams have advanced to the wild single-elimination tournament that will eventually decide the latest Super Bowl champ.

These playoffs feel wide open, even if a few powerhouses have separated themselves on the strength of their prolific passers:

Don't spend too much time getting to know this field. One-third of it will be gone after Wild Card Weekend.

Speaking of, let's zoom in on the upcoming matchups and peak into the crystal ball for some wild-card predictions.

Wild Card Weekend Schedule

Saturday, Jan. 5

Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans, 4:35 p.m. ET on ESPN/ABC

Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys, 8:15 p.m. ET on Fox

Sunday, Jan. 6

Los Angeles Chargers at Baltimore Ravens, 1:05 p.m. ET on CBS

Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears, 4:40 p.m. ET on NBC

Oddsmakers aren't exactly enamored with the Super Bowl prospects of these eight squads.

Five are carrying Super Bowl odds of +2500 or higher, per OddsShark. The three exceptions are the Chargers (+1500), Ravens (+1300) and Bears (+675). For context, the Patriots have the longest odds of the top-two seeds at +650.

As the odds suggest, Los Angeles at Baltimore looks like the game of the week.

The Chargers were as impressive as anyone from October on, following a 1-2 start with an 11-2 performance the rest of the way.

With top-eight scoring ranks on offense (tied for sixth) and defense (eighth), the team has tremendous balance. It also has the rock-solid Philip Rivers under center (sixth straight season with 4,000-plus passing yards) and might get explosive tight end Hunter Henry back.

But the Ravens might be the hottest thing going in football. They went 6-1 down the stretch after turning over the offensive keys to electric rookie Lamar Jackson. Armed with the league's best defense and most relentless rushing attack, Baltimore has been a problem for everyone of late, including L.A., which dropped a 22-10 home loss to this team in Week 16.

Dallas and Seattle should be another fun one. The teams are almost mirror images of one another, although the Seahawks have the more accomplished passer in Russell Wilson and the Cowboys have the more decorated runner in Ezekiel Elliott. The latter sat out Week 17 and still captured his second rushing title in three NFL seasons with 1,434 yards.

"Normally after a real game I'm not feeling ready to play until about Friday, Saturday, but I'm ready to go right now," Elliott told reporters Tuesday.

The Colts-Texans tilt looks like it could go either way. Each team turned its season around after sluggish starts, with Houston rallying after an 0-3 opening and Indy somehow surviving a 1-5 start.

Both clubs pair top-10 scoring defenses with potent quarterbacks. Former No. 1 pick Andrew Luck looks as sharp as ever now that he has weapons at wide receiver (T.Y. Hilton), running back (Marlon Mack) and tight end (Eric Ebron). Deshaun Watson, who had the second half of his rookie year erased by an ACL tear, totaled 4,165 yards through the air, 551 yards on the ground and 31 touchdowns in 16 games.

If there's an on-paper snoozer on the schedule, it's Philly at Chicago. While every other contest has a point spread of 2.5 points or fewer, OddsShark favors the Bears by six points.

That number mostly makes sense based on what's transpired this season. But even then, it feels a bit wild, considering Philly is coming off a Super Bowl title and Chicago's sophomore quarterback Mitchell Trubisky shows his age every now and then.

Wild Card Weekend Predictions

Colts 24, Texans 21

Indy has the run defense to make Houston one dimensional, meaning the Texans could wind up asking too much of Watson in his playoff debut.

Seahawks 20, Cowboys 17

Seattle's defense should keep Dallas' playmakers mostly in check, making it impossible to pick against Wilson in a close postseason contest.

Ravens 19, Chargers 17

Rivers is really good and has a boatload of weapons around him, but this combination of Jackson-powered rushing and hard-nosed defense feels built for the playoffs.

Bears 27, Eagles 13

The talent gap looks even wider than the point spread, especially if Nick Foles can't go or is limited in the contest. Chicago has enough on defense and in the ground game to cover for Trubisky if his postseason debut doesn't go according to plan.