Start predicting the NFL post-season (2013/14 edition)

With Rodgers out for several weeks and Cutler a question mark (and the Vikings being the Vikings), Detroit has a clear path.

Bengals are, as someone said yesterday, playing like keystone cops right now. I still think they'll have a better record than any other AFC North team.

Remember how the Jets were hilarious over the summer? They'll be in the playoffs. The Pats probably will be too.

Screw the NFC East, basically. Who knows and who cares. Iggles probably.

The injuries are starting to affect the Colts, but they're still better than any of their division colleagues.

Saints and Panthers are on a collision course in the NFC South, and they'll both be playing in January.

It's possible that every team in the AFC West finishes above .500, and the same goes for the NFC West. Can't say who takes the division crown in the AFC yet, but KC and Denver both go into January. Seattle will win in the NFC.

My wild Super Bowl prediction: John Fox's new team meets John Fox's old team and the Broncos beat the Panthers.

seattle's gonna win the super bowl, i feel pretty confident in that

they're gonna get homefield and won't lose, then they'll prob face denver but they have the combo of pass rush and DBs to beat them

My super bowl prediction at the beginning of the year was Eagles/Chiefs. I guess that doesn't look so bad now. Eagles will probably win that division, at least.

Hard to count out the Bears yet but they are really going to need Detroit to collapse in order to have a chance. Dunno what to make of the Packers. They need wins in New York and @home vs. Minnesota badly.

Agreed that Carolina and NO are likely both making it out of the NFC South. Carolina will probably finish 10-6 which should be good enough. The team in danger right now seems to be SF. But I'd imagine they'd win a wildcard spot too.

For the AFC, I'd have NE, Jets (!), Cincy, Indy, KC, and Denver. Nothing interesting there. I feel like the whole playoff picture is going to be shaped by Manning's ankles. The NFC is even harder to figure out but the fact that the Seahawks could be the #1 seed could really allow them to steamroll everyone.

Pats
Bengals
Chiefs
Colts
Jets
Broncos
(fingers crossed for the browns sneaking in past the jets maybe)

Saints
Panthers
Lions
Eagles
Seahawks
Niners

Super Bowl: broncos over saints

i'd say the playoffs go like this

afc

1 denver
2 new england
3 indy
4 cincy
5 KC
6 miami

nfc

1 seattle
2 new orleans
3 detroit
4 philly
5 carolina
6 san fran

afc

indy over miami
cincy over kc

denver over cincy
new england over indy

denver over new england

nfc

san fran over detroit
carolina over philly

seattle over san fran
saints over carolina

seattle over saints

super bowl

seattle over denver

who in the nfc is going to go into seattle and win? san francisco aren't good enough, new orleans can only beat up soft teams. detroit?! carolina is probably as likely as any, they nearly beat them in charlotte and they're playing much better now; their tight defense and weird offense could make something happen. but carolina probably won't get a chance because they will lose in detroit in the wildcard round, letting calvin jr rack up 300 yards despite sacking stafford 14 times. philly or maybe even, hilariously, the giants will lose 6-3 to the niners. detroit will lose in seattle and san francisco and new orleans will playoff for the right to do the same. seattle will then lose handily to whoever the afc representative is.

yeah it does seem like carolina is best suited to win in seattle but i doubt they ever get there

seattle and denver are far and away the best teams in the nfl imo but i think that's a particular bad matchup for denver

bengals might be dead in the water due to injuries sadly. i think we have just witnessed the birth of a disappointing but ultimately pointless baltimore resurgence.

baltimore has a chance to grab the six seed but their sched is pretty daunting

if they can beat the jets they'll have H2H over both miami and NYJ which would be interesting

Seattle with home advantage really is an advantage. I don't think they're as impressive a team as they were last year, but I'm only talking like a notch or two below 2012's team.

there is no way that seattle beats denver at a neutral venue. they would need - and don't have - all of their first team defense healthy to hold denver to below 24 points, because it is almost written in stone that seattle would score 10 points in the first 50 or so minutes and then wilson would manufacture two touchdowns on his own.

i dunno, denver's defense is also really not good

seattle can run the ball and by the time the playoffs come around they'll have percy back and will have a group of WRs who can make plays on the ball. i don't see how they couldn't control the clock while also putting up some points on denver.

and i think if you're gonna slow down denver, having the best secondary in the nfl and an array of pass rushers is a pretty good place to start

J0rdan making some solid points. I'd forgotten about Percy Harvin, even though he's been sitting on my fantasy bench since the draft.

i don't know what difference adding a wr will be to an offense whose gameplan is i. beastmode, ii. scramble under pressure, someone gets open in the confusion. also, seattle's defense has encountered precisely 1 functional offense this year and they lost to them. seattle will be outscored if they play denver. whisper it but seattle will be outscored if they play new england. basically, seattle is overrated, which doesn't matter all that much until the super bowl because the rest of the nfc isn't too hot since it lost its quarterback.

maybe harsh on drew brees at least but it made me laugh when i thought of it so i had to post it. anyway, new orleans offense always seems to be dominant until it isn't, i think the reg season game between them and seattle will be revealing.

Chargers are goin' all the way! You heard it here, both first and last.

new orleans offense always seems to be dominant until it isn't

^When they leave the friendly confines of the Dome, they are just good, not lights out. As much as it pains me to say, Seattle at home would be unstoppable. Also would probably do well against Denver in the SB, as Peyton Manning has had some bad performances outdoors in the Northeast in the playoffs.