Buffalo Bills: After a dismantling of the Miami Dolphins in week 17 the Buffalo Bills locked up the No. 2 seed heading into the playoffs. Josh Allen is firing on all cylinders heading into Wild Card Weekend, and the Buffalo Bills are the hottest team in the NFL as they get ready to host their first playoff game since 1996.
Kansas City Chiefs: Even though the Chiefs have the lone AFC bye, it has been a very up-and-down regular season. The Chiefs have struggled to close out mediocre teams, but have also stepped up to the plate when they played the top teams in the National Football League. The Chiefs are still the defending champions, but they are more vulnerable this year entering the playoffs.
Green Bay Packers: The Packers are the team to beat in the NFC. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers looks well on his way to being named Most Valuable Player, and the road to the Super Bowl must run through Lambeau Field. Green Bay has been great this season but without a Super Bowl victory, this season will be an utter failure.
Seattle Seahawks: Seattle remade themselves in the second half of the regular season. The Seahawks are now a more conservative offense and have a defense that has massively improved down the homestretch. Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll have the championship pedigree that makes them a force to be reckoned with in the NFC.
Baltimore Ravens: The Baltimore Ravens were ravaged by COVID-19 midway through the season, but are rounding into form at exactly the right time. Baltimore enters the playoffs on a five-game winning streak, and the Ravens ground attack has been historic over the last month. If the Ravens flame out in the playoffs once again it will be because of quarterback Lamar Jackson underperforming.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Tom Brady has turned back the clock in the last month of the regular season. The future Hall of Famer has 12 touchdown passes and one interception in his last four games. The Bucs have a plethora of offensive weapons and the GOAT is playing his best football in January. Tampa Bay’s last month has put the entire league on notice.
Pittsburgh Steelers: After starting the regular season 11-0, the Steelers hit an offensive rut that made them look vulnerable, but entering the playoffs the Steeles are in a good position. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger rested in week 17 and Roethlisberger looked great in his last half of football before the playoffs. The championship pedigree of the Steelers will carry them throughout the postseason.
New Orleans Saints: The Saints may have the best roster in all of the National Football League but they will underperform in the playoffs once again because of quarterback Drew Brees. New Orleans has been star-crossed in the playoffs over their last three appearances. The no-call in OT against the Rams in 2018, the “Minneapolis Miracle” in 2019, and an OT home loss to the Vikings in 2020. Drew Brees’ lack of arm strength, and “Dink and Dunk” type offense, places a ceiling on New Orleans’ potential.
Tennessee Titans: The Titans had a top-tier offense in 2020, Derrick Henry rushed for over 2,000 yards and Ryan Tannehill followed up his stellar 2019 season, but it will be the defense of the Titans that will determine how far they go in the playoffs. The Titans have no pass rush to speak and the opposition went up and down the field on them all season. The only way for the Titans to have any success in January this season is to win each game in a shootout.
Indianapolis Colts: The Colts have a great defense and a stellar rushing attack but the AFC is just too deep for the Colts to make any noise in the playoffs. Phillip Rivers played well in 2020 but he is going to need to play the best games of his life for the Colts to have any chance. That is not going to happen. The Colts playoff stint will be one game long.
Washington Football Team: Washington hung on for dear life to win the NFC East and defeat a Philadelphia Eagles team in week 17 that had no interest in winning the game. Alex Smith, while a great story, is not at a point in his career where he can will his team to a playoff victory. Washington Head Coach Ron Rivera also battled cancer throughout the season. Washington is a sentimental favorite, and do have a ferocious pass rush, but the offense is not high-powered enough to win a playoff game.
Los Angeles Rams: The Rams enter the 2021 playoffs with a conundrum at the quarterback position. Jared Goff’s thumb injury kept him out of the Rams’ week 17 matchup with Arizona and may do the same against the Seattle Seahawks on Wild Card Weekend. Even if Goff were fully healthy the Rams would have no chance of winning a playoff game.
Cleveland Browns: The only good news for the Cleveland Browns is they made the playoffs for the first time since 2002. The Browns struggled to beat a Steelers team in week 17 that was resting many of their key players for the playoffs. The Browns franchise cannot be trusted in big spots to rise to the occasion. The Browns are the worst playoff team in the AFC.
Chicago Bears: Chicago qualified for the playoffs even after getting trounced at home by the Green Bay Packers in week 17. Even though they made the playoffs the Bears still should not feel great about their franchise as a whole. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky is average at best and the Bears will be beaten soundly in the first round.
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