NFL Playoff Predictions: Underrated Teams That Will Win in Postseason

The NFL postseason race is getting intense, and that is the way that we like it. Division races are starting to come into focus, wild-card spots are going to fluctuate frequently over the final three weeks of the season and try as we might to figure it all out, it's hard to make sense of everything. 

The beauty of the playoffs is that it doesn't always matter which team has the best record. The only thing that matters is who is playing the best in the final weeks and has the momentum going. Unlike other sports, the NFL is very much a league built on who's hot and who's not. 

While there are still plenty of things to be figured out before we even get to the postseason, there are a few teams that will win a game if they can get into the second season. 

New York Giants (7-6)

After last week's game against the Packers, people started talking about how that could catapult the Giants because they played as well against the defending champions as anyone has this season. 

While there are still big problems with this team on defense, the offense is the third best in the NFC. Only the Packers and Saints can keep up with them. 

Can we give Eli Manning some love? I know we don't talk about him the same way we do his brother, but he has been fantastic this year. He is going to throw for 4,700 yards and 30 touchdowns. 

They have the offense to win big, and if they can find any kind of consistency in the secondary, they can make a deep playoff run. 

New York Jets (8-5)

It is very rare when you talk about one New York team being underrated, much less both of them. But that is the case in 2011, with so many other big stories taking shape around these two teams.

The Jets appear to have finally figured out some of their problems on offense and are able to work around them enough to look good. 

The problem with this team has been, and will continue to be, Mark Sanchez. He has the playoff wins that analysts love to talk about, but his actual performance has to get better if he wants to lead this team back to the AFC championship game or the Super Bowl. 

Denver Broncos (8-5)

I will say up front that I am not as high on the Broncos as you might expect for a team on a six-game winning streak, but considering the way that their defense has been playing and their ability to run the ball, they have the potential to win a postseason game. 

The problem with the Broncos, and I will continue to say this until he proves me wrong, is Tim Tebow. Point to the wins and fourth quarter comebacks all you want, but the reason he has to make all these comebacks is because he plays to terrible in the first 45 minutes of the game. 

In the postseason, you can't afford to play 45 bad minutes and 15 good ones. Tebow needs to improve his consistency in order to get this team where he wants it to go. But with the right matchup, they can steal a win or two. 

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