NFL playoff predictions: Picks for NFC, AFC champions and more

Well, we made it. On Saturday afternoon, the Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts will face off to start the 2020 NFL playoffs.

Back in September, our NFL panel made picks for who would win MVP, make the playoffs, and etch their names on the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Amazingly, almost all of the teams picked to make and win the Super Bowl are still alive, and therefore we reserve the right to gloat if those come true.

But given the hour, we thought we’d take another stab at picking which teams will win their respective conferences, which teams could play the dark horse and go further than anyone is expecting, and which players will make their names with breakout performances.

Without further adieu, on with the predictions.

Craig Battle, Editor

Dark horse team: Buffalo Bills. It might be cheating to call this team a dark horse after where they finished, but it still doesn’t feel like they’re getting the credit they deserve. They’ve been on fire since their bye week, and have a ton of momentum heading into the playoffs.

Breakout player: David Montgomery. The second-year running back put up two 100-yard games in 2019, and none in the first 10 weeks of 2020. But he had three (not to mention eight touchdowns) in the final six games of the season to help propel the afterthought Bears into the playoffs, and has a chance to make headlines against a tough Saints run defence.

AFC champion: Kansas City Chiefs. Kansas City has been here, done this, and their first-round bye plus wisdom gained from recent experience will propel them back to the Super Bowl.

NFC champion: Seattle Seahawks. The real Russell Wilson stood up down the stretch. This team is starting to click again on offence after a mid-season funk and has been consistently improving on defence, and they beat their first-round opponent — the Rams — at home just a few weeks back.

Storyline to watch: The Kansas City dynasty watch. Not counting the Week 17 game they lost because they benched all their offensive playmakers, the Chiefs have lost just one game in the last 14 months, and get extra points in my book for doing it in ridiculous circumstances this season. If they can become just the eighth NFL franchise to repeat — under these conditions — they’ll shoot up the list of greatest teams at warp speed.

Donnovan Bennett, Staff Writer

Dark horse team: Baltimore Ravens. Outside of a three-week stretch when they were ravaged by COVID, the Ravens have been really good this year. And they’re hot. They’re 5-0 since Week 13, scoring 37 points and rushing for 267 yards per game. Baltimore can make a run to the Super Bowl, something that we wouldn’t have been surprised by coming into the season.

Breakout player: Jonathon Taylor. Guess who finished third in rushing this season? That’s right — rookie RB Jonathon Taylor. Despite battling injuries and spending time in the dog house, Taylor finished the year living up to his pre-season fantasy hype. The Colts don’t often play on national TV, and he’s been a bit of a hidden secret. But if he goes off in the playoffs that will no longer be the case.

AFC champion: Kansas City Chiefs. Best player in the sport. Best play caller in the league. A couple extra weeks of rest. It would be a huge upset if the Chiefs aren’t back in the Super Bowl.

NFC champion: New Orleans Saints. The most balanced team in the NFC finally gets back to the big game to allow Drew Brees the opportunity to punctuate a Hall of Fame career before he retires.

Storyline to watch: Will all the games happen on schedule? And, if so, who will be available to play in them? COVID-19 is the only storyline to watch as its ability to wreak havoc on the competitive balance of the playoffs is unprecedented. Already the Browns will be without their head coach and their best offensive lineman. The results of COVID testing and the scheduling of matchups will be closely monitored because they could very easily impact winning and losing.

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Mike Johnston, Staff Writer

Dark horse team: Baltimore Ravens. They blew it in the playoffs last year and outright stunk at times this regular season, but the defence is mostly back to full health and they’ve won their past five games by an average score of 37-18.

Breakout player: Antonio Brown. With Mike Evans banged up, the former perennial All-Pro will resemble his old self in the playoffs after catching 25 of 33 targets since Week 14, including four TDs.

AFC champion: Kansas City Chiefs. Not a bold or exciting pick, no, but barring injuries and COVID-19 issues I trust the Chiefs offence to be able to march down the field and score on whomever they want whenever they require it.

NFC champion: Green Bay Packers. It’s boring taking two No. 1 seeds. But in a passing league, the most reliable gunslingers are Patrick Mahomes and soon-to-be three-time MVP Aaron Rodgers, whose Packers are firing on all cylinders at the moment.

Storyline to watch: How many green slime graphics will we see during the Steelers-Browns game being broadcasted on Nickelodeon? One? Two? Double-digit slimes?! OK, a slightly more relevant storyline for football fans – at least those who gamble on games – is how the underdogs will fare. In recent years, betting favourites have struggled mightily to cover the spread during the wild-card round. Will that trend continue this season with four of the six wild-card favourites laying six or more points heading into the weekend?

Geoff Lowe, Editor

Dark horse team: Los Angeles Rams. Despite the team’s success under Sean McVay over the last couple of years, the Rams enter the playoffs a little bit under the radar with an offensive mastermind at head coach and a championship-calibre defence.

Breakout player: J.K. Dobbins. The rookie running back has snatched up the No. 1 job in the Ravens backfield as one of the hottest, most run-heavy teams in football seeks redemption for last season’s shocking playoff exit.

AFC champion: Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore has won five straight entering the post-season and are scoring an incredible 37 points per game over that span. The NFL playoffs are often decided by teams that get hot at the right time, and the Ravens are just that.

NFC champion: New Orleans Saints. The only playoff team that boasts a top-five offence and a top-five defence, the Saints are the most complete team in the NFL, and will finally get back into the big game – giving Drew Brees a shot at a Peyton Manning-like fairytale ending.

Storyline to watch: The impact of home-field advantage, or lack thereof. There’s no doubt the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of fans in NFL stadiums have made an impact. According to the Ringer, home teams in the NFL went 127-128-1 and finished with a record below .500 for the first time ever.

How will the lack of tens of thousands of screaming fans impact the playoff teams who worked so hard to earn it this season? It’s impossible to say at this point, but don’t be shocked if we see more home teams bow out of the playoffs than usual this season.

Andy McNamara, Analyst

Dark horse team: Chicago Bears. Outcast quarterback Mitchell Trubisky incredibly returned from exile to help lead the Bears to a wild-card berth. It isn’t always pretty, but Chicago’s strong defence and running attack with the odd big passing play sprinkled in could be just enough for a playoff win or two.

Breakout player: Gabriel Davis. Stefon Diggs and John Brown get all the wide receiver attention for Buffalo, but don’t discount what Gabriel Davis can do. Especially if Cole Beasley misses more time, Davis’s role could be significant. He’s had five of his seven touchdowns since Week 12, averaging just over five targets per game, and has quietly gained Josh Allen’s trust.

AFC champion: Kansas City Chiefs. To me, the only offence that can hang with the Chiefs resides in Buffalo, and I’m not ready to send the Bills to the Super Bowl just yet. To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man, and Kansas City is just too talented on both sides of the ball.

NFC champion: Green Bay Packers. There’s one reason why the Packers won the NFC — Aaron Rodgers. At 37 years old, he led the NFL with 48 passing touchdowns. Green Bay complements Rodgers’s abilities with a dynamic running game and a good-enough defence.

Storyline to watch: Cleveland Browns. Key players, assistants and the head coach missing due to a COVID outbreak combined with the team barely being able to practise over the past two weeks makes the Browns the storyline to watch in my books. Not to mention it’s the club’s first visit to the post-season since 2002, and they haven’t defeated the Steelers in Pittsburgh the past 17 years. Baker Mayfield is trying to assert himself as a true franchise quarterback for a city whose most recent playoff victory was in 1994.

How will the Browns’ top-three thunder/lightning running back combo of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt do against Pittsburgh’s stingy run defence? Plenty to sink your teeth into as Cleveland are 6-point underdogs on Sunday Night Football.

Emily Sadler, Staff Writer

Dark horse team: Cleveland Browns. Eighteen years (!!) later, a wild-card rematch with the Steelers is just the beginning of a new era in Cleveland, and Baker Mayfield & Co. are ready for their close-up.

Breakout player: Chase Young. Yeah, we all know he’s good and more than worthy of that No. 2–overall pick, but in these playoffs — against Tom Brady! — he’s going to go off and officially announce his arrival to the world.

AFC champion: Kansas City Chiefs. Their ongoing habit of keeping opponents in games makes for some thrilling finishes fit for the post-season, but Patrick Mahomes brings out his usual magic to run it back in dramatic fashion, complete with a no-look pass … because why not?

NFC champion: New Orleans Saints. Drew Brees gets another crack at the trophy — his final chance?

Storyline to watch: Veterans vs. young guns. As exciting young stars like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson jockey for position in the new Big Three of elite quarterbacks, there’s a group of future Hall of Famers who have plenty of winning left in them. Aaron Rodgers just put up MVP numbers, Tom Brady is back and reinvigorated with the Buccaneers, and Drew Brees has a roster around him that might just win it all. In our ongoing bid to crown the next greats, the sun isn’t quite ready to set on some of the current generation just yet.