NFL Playoff Predictions: Projecting Steelers, Saints and Every Squad's Seed

NFL teams begin each season with a bubble.  Every week, that bubble either grows or shrinks.  At this point in the year, many bubbles are popped, primed to pop or are in no danger of popping at all.

Here are the teams whose bubbles will last past the regular season:

AFC

1st Seed – Baltimore Ravens: Ray Lewis and company already played the toughest part of their schedule and will finish the season against the Indianapolis Colts, San Diego Chargers, Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. Barring any letdowns, the Ravens should go 4-0.

2nd Seed – New England Patriots: New England’s schedule isn’t necessarily easy the rest of the way, but they definitely could go perfect in the next four. The Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills should be easy W's. The streaking Miami Dolphins, however, will bring a battle and you know Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos won’t be a cakewalk.

3rd Seed – Houston Texans: Despite starting T.J. Yates under center, Houston will finish strong thanks to a favorable schedule. The Texans are too talented to fall to a lower seed with games against the Bengals, Carolina Panthers, Colts and Tennessee Titans in their future.

4th Seed – Denver Broncos: Tebow’s Broncos are one of the hottest teams in the NFL. Denver could hiccup a couple times in a four-game stretch against the Chicago Bears, Patriots, Bills and Kansas City Chiefs, but they’ll hold on for the AFC West title.

5th Seed – Pittsburgh Steelers: Pittsburgh could be a tie-breaker with the Ravens away from holding home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. They will without a doubt be the most dangerous wild card this year and a strong finish should be expected against the San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Rams and Cleveland Browns.

6th Seed – New York Jets: Tied with the Bengals, Titans and Oakland Raiders at 7-5, New York has the easiest schedule the rest of the way. The Giants and streaking Dolphins will be tough outs, but the Chiefs and imploding Eagles won’t.

NFC

1st Seed – Green Bay Packers: Do their opponents even matter at this point? Only the Packers will prevent the Packers from going 16-0.

2nd Seed – San Francisco 49ers: San Francisco’s conference record, currently two wins better than the Saints’, will give them the edge for the No. 2 seed.  A matchup vs. Pittsburgh will be brutal, but with games against the rest of their NFC West foes, the 49ers will be able to coast through the finish line.

3rd Seed – New Orleans Saints: Drew Brees’ crew is a No. 3 seed with the talent of a first. New Orleans could realistically run the table against the Titans, Vikings, Atlanta Falcons and Panthers.

4th Seed – New York Giants: Who made this schedule? The fourth seed will ultimately be decided by the two games NY will play against the Dallas Cowboys and Jason Garrett’s ball club is coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

5th Seed – Detroit Lions: The Lions are tied with the Falcons and Bears at 7-5, but they’ll embrace the easiest schedule the rest of the way. Green Bay is pretty much an auto-loss in Week 17, but the Vikings, Raiders and San Diego Chargers will be underdogs vs. Detroit.

6th Seed – Dallas Cowboys: Who made this sched…nevermind, I already said that.  The Cowboys are too shaky to finish strong and clinch the NFC East, but they’ll hold on to a playoff spot.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer. Follow him on Twitter.