Preseason play is over and all teams have made their cuts to trim their rosters to 53. Now it’s finally time to play some football!
Pump the brakes on that. We haven’t even made any way too early predictions yet. That’s where The Pug steps in. Have to make our Super Bowl predictions before the season starts, right? Due to The Scrum Sports staff members making weekly picks, I’m not going to tip my cap this early and let them think they have a shot a dethroning the champ. Below is a list of the final records of each team via divisions, and under that the complete playoffs mapped out.
AFC Wins-Losses (Division Record) NFC
East
(3) New York Jets 11-5 (4-2) (4) New York Giants 9-7 (4-2)
(7) New England Patriots 11-5 (4-2) (8) Dallas Cowboys 8-8 (3-3)
(10) Buffalo Bills 8-8 (3-3) (10) Washington Redskins 6-10 (2-4)
(15) Miami Dolphins 4-12 (1-5) (13) Philadelphia Eagles 5-11 (2-4)
North
(1) Pittsburgh Steelers 12-4 (4-2) (2) Green Bay Packers 11-5 (4-2)
(6) Cincinnati Bengals 11-5 (5-1) (7) Minnesota Vikings 8-8 (4-2)
(13) Baltimore Ravens 7-9 (2-4) (11) Detroit Lions 6-10 (2-4)
(16) Cleveland Browns 2-14 (1-5) (12) Chicago Bears 6-10 (2-4)
South
(4) Jacksonville Jaguars 9-7 (4-2) (3) Carolina Panthers 11-5 (4-2)
(11) Houston Texans 8-8 (3-3) (6) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-7 (5-1)
(12) Indianapolis Colts 7-9 (3-3) (9) New Orleans Saints 6-10 (3-3)
(14) Tennessee Titans 5-11 (2-4) (15) Atlanta Falcons 3-13 (0-6)
West
(2) Kansas City Chiefs 12-4 (3-3) (1) Arizona Cardinals 14-2 (5-1)
(5) Oakland Raiders 11-5 (4-2) (5) Seattle Seahawks 11-5 (5-1)
(8) San Diego Chargers 10-6 (3-3) (14) Los Angeles Rams 4-12 (2-4)
(9) Denver Broncos 9-7 (2-4) (16) San Francisco 49ers 2-14 (0-6)
Couple of surprises here, but after running tiebreakers from picking game by game, here are my playoff teams. Listed by seed rankings.
AFC NFC
1. Pittsburgh Steelers 1. Arizona Cardinals
2. Kansas City Chiefs 2. Green Bay Packers
3. New York Jets 3. Carolina Panthers
4. Jacksonville Jaguars 4. New York Giants
5. Oakland Raiders 5. Seattle Seahawks
6. Cincinnati Bengals 6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Biggest surprise is New England missing the playoffs. They finished 11-5, but tiebreakers held them out. Pretty bold statement since they haven’t missed the playoffs since 2008, a year they also went 11-5.
Wild Card Round
Winner of the game in bold italics
Cincinnati Bengals @ New York Jets Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Carolina Panthers
Oakland Raiders @ Jacksonville Jaguars Seattle Seahawks @ New York Giants
Divisional Round
Winner of game in bold italics
New York Jets @ Kansas City Chiefs Carolina Panthers @ Green Bay Packers
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Pittsburgh Steelers Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals
Conference Championship
Winner of game in bold italics
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Kansas City Chiefs Carolina Panthers@ Arizona Cardinals
Super Bowl LI
Winner of game in bold italics
Arizona Cardinals @ Kansas City Chiefs
So there it is the Arizona Cardinals are your next Super Bowl champs!
