2022-23 NFL Playoff Predictions (Part 3 - Championship)

Welcome to part 3 of my 2022-23 NFL playoff predictions! Three for four on my Divisional picks, a major improvement after incorrectly predicting them all last year. And now, let's get into the Championship predictions.

Only four remain, and there are now four possible Super Bowl LVII match-ups: 

Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Cincinnati Bengals vs. San Francisco 49ers

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Philadelphia Eagles

But which match-up will it be?

Let's find out.

AFC

#1 Kansas City Chiefs vs. #3 Cincinnati Bengals

Rematch? Rematch.

Last year's AFC Championship match is now this year's AFC Championship match. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are back once again, but this time they are the underdogs. An ankle injury sustained by Mahomes during the Chiefs and Jaguars game has ignited fears among the Chiefs. If Patrick Mahomes is not at 100%, can the Chiefs survive sixty minutes against a relentless Bengals team? Chad Henne drove for a touchdown against the Jaguars, but whether he could sustain an entire game if Mahomes were to exit is a major unknown. The Chiefs need their one-two punch of Mahomes and Kelce more than ever, because the Bengals are even more dangerous than last year.

Here's a Bengals team that has forgotten how to lose. Their last defeat? October 31 against the Browns. Since then, the Bengals have fought their way through everything thrown at them. And they have endured through the playoffs so far. First, they used a record-setting fumble to neutralize the Ravens. Next, they stormed in Buffalo during a snowstorm and crushed the hopes and dreams of all Bills. The battle in Buffalo was never in doubt. Joe Burrow led the team to a fast 14-0 start and never looked back.

The Bengals hunger for their first Super Bowl victory, and the Chiefs will not stop the quest.

Prediction: Bengals win, 28-24.

Result: Chiefs win, 23-20.

Comments after the game:

The quest was stopped.

NFC

#1 Philadelphia Eagles vs. #2 San Francisco 49ers

Behold, the titans of the NFC.

Two powerhouse teams finally meet in the pivotal battle to see who gets a ticket to the Super Bowl.

On one side, you have Jalen Hurts and the Eagles, who are fresh off the total annihilation of the New York Giants. The Eagles stepped on the gas and never looked back, touchdown after touchdown and easily earning a spot in the NFC Championship. Hurts is back up to full strength, and the air attack will be a major threat to the 49ers.

On the other side, you have the Bengals of the NFC: the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers have not lost since October 23, when they were routed by the Chiefs. Brock Purdy is the savior for the 49ers, the hero who has helped them to non-stop victory. Defense has been the 49ers greatest strength this season, allowing a league-best of only 277 points in the regular season. Defense wins championships.

But can the 49ers offense outperform the even more relentless Eagles offense?

Prepare for war.

Prediction: Eagles win, 38-35.

Result: Eagles win, 31-7.

Comments after the game:

We prepared for war but instead received a lopsided and ugly bloodbath.

The 49ers traveled to Philadelphia and expected to ground the Eagles with their heroic quarterback and brick wall of a defense. Instead, the people of San Francisco discovered what Lincoln Financial Field really was: a 49ers infirmary.

All the 49ers momentum from three months of non-stop wins came to a thundering end today, and it all ended the moment Brock Purdy left the game early with an elbow injury. Josh Johnson entered, but he too left after suffering a concussion. Purdy returned but barely made any further passes. With the 49ers air attack immobilized, the running game was their only futile hope. All those wins, all that momentum, all that work, all destroyed with quarterback injuries.

But the 49ers were truly decimated by the penalty flag. The 49ers defense stood tall for much of the game, but many foolish and costly penalties on their part merely accelerated their descent into defeat. The frustration culminated in a brawl late in the fourth quarter that saw Trent Williams and K'Von Wallace disqualified from the game.

Kyle Shanahan didn't even a fourth quarter lead, and it still ended in disaster for his team. What a catastrophic ending for such a loaded 49ers squad.

The Eagles, meanwhile, advance to Super Bowl LVII!

2022-23 NFL Playoff Predictions (Part 2 - Divisional)

Welcome to part 2 of my 2022-23 NFL playoff predictions! A perfect six for six on my Wild Card predictions. Hopefully my Divisional predictions meet the same success.

Let's roll.

AFC

#1 Kansas City Chiefs vs. #4 Jacksonville Jaguars

No Tyreek Hill? No problem, according to the Kansas City Chiefs. Once again, the Chiefs are a powerhouse team led by Patrick Mahomes and their deadly air attack. The Jaguars face a much more daunting task, and they cannot afford to fall behind 27-0 again. Five turnovers against the Chiefs would be the equivalent of waving multiple white flags.

That said, even if Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars do fall behind, they have proven they can fight back and win. Doing so against the Chiefs would be an enormous but unlikely upset.

Prediction: Chiefs win, 35-24.

Result: Chiefs win, 27-20.

Comments after the game:

Good news for the Jaguars is that they only had two turnovers. Except this time, they occurred at the worst possible time and crushed their momentum.

The Chiefs advance to the AFC Championship for the fifth year in a row, but at what cost? Mahomes took a brutal hit to the ankle in the first half, and it could be an issue in a pivotal game against either Josh Allen or Joe Burrow. We shall see...

***

#2 Buffalo Bills vs. #3 Cincinnati Bengals

If you only have time to watch one game this weekend, make sure that one game is this game. All eyes will be watching the true showdown of these two teams after Damar Hamlin's frightening medical emergency at the start of 2023.

These two teams are the AFC's Super Bowl favorites, alongside the Chiefs. The Bills have all the reason and all the motivation to win for Hamlin. Josh Allen can lead the Bills to victory, but the turnovers against the Dolphins were extremely costly. The Bills are fortunate the Dolphins forgot how to properly manage time.

The Bengals, too, escaped a close call over the Ravens, but their victory was made possible by an incredible and record-setting fumble recovery and touchdown. Joe Burrow will lead the attack from the air attack, but he will need to be ready for the Bills to breach the Bengals O-line. Remember the Titans-Bengals game last year, when Burrow was sacked nine times? Even then, the Bengals still managed to find victory (courtesy of three costly Titans interceptions), and they could find victory again.

This game will be highly emotional and come down to the wire. Expect a battle for the ages.

Prediction: Bills win, 38-35.

Result: Bengals win, 27-10.

Comments after the game:

Well, that was an untimely demise. The Bills had all the reason and all the motivation to win but could not get it done. The narrow victory over the Dolphins in the Wild Card game was really a warning sign. A Super Bowl favorite like the Bills should have annihilated the Dolphins, and escaping by three points cast a shadow of doubt upon the Bills. This year may well have been the best chance for the Bills to finally win that coveted Lombardi Trophy. But alas, the Bills continue to fall short in their never-ending quest for their first Super Bowl.

On the other hand, the Bengals may well be the AFC favorite for the Super Bowl. A dominant performance on Buffalo's home field by Joe Burrow and the Bengals has put them on a collision course for another AFC Championship match-up against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
 

NFC

#1 Philadelphia Eagles vs. #6 New York Giants

The Giants are fresh off an "upset" over the Vikings. A thirteen team win with a negative point differential had no business anywhere near playoff success. Still, the Giants now have the confidence to win playoff games, and since the beginning of the century they have a habit of either going one and done or making deep playoff runs all the way to the Super Bowl. Don't remind Tom Brady.

It all comes down to whether Jalen Hurts has fully recovered from his shoulder injury. If so, the Eagles should cruise to victory. If not, the Giants may pull off a true upset.

Prediction: Eagles win, 35-28.

Result: Eagles win, 38-7.

Comments after the game:

We have some stunning highlight reel footage of the game:

 Absolute rout. The Eagles are definitely the true #1 seed in the NFC.

***

#2 San Francisco 49ers vs. #5 Dallas Cowboys

Are the 49ers the true top seed in the NFC? This team looks unstoppable. The 49ers have not lost a game since October 23, nearly three months ago. Since the fall, the 49ers have steamrolled everything in their path, and have added new weapons — Christian McCaffrey, especially — to create an overwhelming football powerhouse. Complementing the 49ers offense is a defense will turn any enemy O-line into a Swiss cheese-line.

The Cowboys have a daunting task ahead of them. They delivered to us the season (series?) finale of The Tom Brady Show, and their offense was clicking against a hapless Buccaneers defense. The 49ers defense is the exact opposite of hapless. A brick wall, perhaps. The Cowboys have zero room for error. One mistake, one turnover, and the 49ers will boot the Cowboys right back to Texas.

Prediction: 49ers win, 31-17.

Result: 49ers win, 19-12.

Comments after the game:

We have stunning highlight reel footage of the game's final play:

 Another year, another Cowboys defeat in the Divisional round.

2022-23 NFL Playoff Predictions (Part 1 - Wild Card)

Happy New Year! As a new year begins and we leave 2022 behind, it’s time for my annual NFL playoff predictions. This post will focus on the Wild Card games; future posts will predict the outcomes of the Divisional and Championship games, and eventually the Super Bowl.

Let’s go.

First round byes

#1 Kansas City Chiefs

#1 Philadelphia Eagles

AFC

#2 Buffalo Bills vs. #7 Miami Dolphins 

The Dolphins were responsible for the Bills suffering their first loss of the season back in Week 3. The Bills avenged the loss in Week 15, and now the trilogy will be complete. 

These are two teams going in opposite directions. The Bills have maintained their momentum and remain an easy Super Bowl favorite. The team is also highly motivated following the collapse of Damar Hamlin during the Bills-Bengals game earlier this month. Hamlin's remarkable recovery from a cardiac arrest has united the Bills as one and inspired them all to win for Hamlin. 

The Dolphins, meanwhile, have had a very turbulent season. They started by winning three in a row, then lost three in a row, then won five in a row, then lost five in a row, and finally won their regular season finale with a victory over the hapless Jets. The biggest problem for the Dolphins, by far, is their quarterback situation. Tua Tagovailoa has suffered several concussions and the Dolphins will have to rely on backups as he failed to clear concussion protocol. Murphy's Law in effect for the Dolphins.

Against a highly motivated Bills team, the Dolphins will quickly be caught stranded on dry land.

Prediction: Bills win, 35-14.

Result: Bills win, 34-31.

Comments after the game:

Quite possibly the most least convincing playoff win in a while. What started as a rout quickly became a game of mistakes for both teams, and every mistake looked like this:

***

#3 Cincinnati Bengals vs. #6 Baltimore Ravens

The Bengals haven't lost a game since Halloween (the Bills-Bengals game was declared a no contest). Super Bowl hangover? The Bengals are unaware of such an illness, but it is apparently quite rampant among the Rams. With Joe Burrow leading the way, the Bengals are a cannonball on fire, and they stand ready to face any opponent, even the Chiefs or the Bills.

The Ravens, however, have developed a frustrating habit of building up huge leads only to collapse in spectacular fashion. Worse, Lamar Jackson, the key to the Ravens offense, is injured. But even if the Ravens had Lamar in the line-up, can they really stop the red-hot Bengals? Doubtful.

Prediction: Bengals win, 28-10.

Result: Bengals win, 24-17.

Comments after the game:

Being on the wrong end of a record-setting fumble doomed the Ravens. We even have stunning highlight reel footage of the play:

***

#4 Jacksonville Jaguars vs. #5 Los Angeles Chargers

Before their bye week, the Jaguars were a hapless 3-7. They lost every game in October and entered the bye week with a double-digit loss to Chiefs. Evidently, the bye week was actually an interdimensional portal, because from that bye week stepped out a Jaguars squad that would proceed to win six of their final seven regular season games. The Jaguars have especially capitalized on a solid ground attack and defense capitalizing on crucial mistakes by their opponents. When the Jaguars offense stalls, the defense swoops in and saves the day. Trevor Lawrence hopes to make a statement in his playoff debut.

The Chargers have the stronger record and a quarterback, Justin Herbert, eager for his own playoff debut. That said, entering the playoffs after losing to the thoroughly undercooked Broncos is less than ideal. Worse, only one of the ten Chargers wins this season have been against a playoff team (the Dolphins in Week 14). It's up to Herbert and the passing game to tame the Jaguars.

This could be the closest match up of all the Wild Card games, and it is difficult to make a call on a winner. That said, there must be a winner; a tie playoff game would instantly crash the league like a Windows computer installing updates.

Prediction: Jaguars win, 24-21.

Result: Jaguars win, 31-30.

Comments after the game:

IT

WAS

TWENTY

SEVEN

TO

ZERO

Behold, the most ridiculous NFL playoff comeback in years. The Jaguars looked like this in the first half:

Four interceptions thrown by Trevor Lawrence. Down 27-0. An absolute, undisputed trainwreck. But in the second half, the Jaguars deployed the last card up their sleeves:

From there, the Jaguars took complete control. Four interceptions in the first half? No problem, trade it for four touchdown passes in the second half!

It was perhaps the most Chargers way the Chargers could end a Chargers game. In fact, we have some stunning footage of the Chargers during the second half:

A bit overcharged, one might say.

NFC

#2 San Francisco 49ers vs. #7 Seattle Seahawks

Look, the Seahawks are just happy to be here. Trading Russell Wilson away to the Denver Broncos was supposed to be the death knell for the Seahawks, an inevitable invitation to Tank Bowl. Instead, the Seahawks have fought their way to a playoff spot and secured a high position in the upcoming draft. The Broncos are enjoying a meal of undercooked ramen. 

Geno Smith became a hero in Seattle this season, taking no expectations and using them to shock the league. The journey was turbulent, especially in November and December, but all that matter is that the Seahawks are in the playoffs. Will they win against the most dangerous squad the 49ers have fielded in years? Highly unlikely. But if the Seahawks win? All bets are off. All of them.

Prediction: 49ers win, 24-14.

Result: 49ers win, 41-23.

Comments after the game: 

Disappointed? Yes.

Surprised? No.

***

#3 Minnesota Vikings vs. #6 New York Giants

Thirteen wins and a negative point differential. Behold, the Minnesota Vikings season. They either win by the narrowest of margins or lose in spectacular fashion. A thirteen win team in danger of going one and done?

The Giants are not much better. They had a strong start to the season, but crashed downhill after going 6-1 to finish the season at 9-7-1, winning only three of their last ten games. 

This only ends with either the Vikings winning by one score, or the Giants winning in a landslide. The latter seems more likely.

Prediction: Giants win, 28-7.

Result: Giants win, 31-24.

Comments after the game:

We have some highlight footage of the Vikings during the crucial 4th and 8:

Need eight yards to stay alive? No worries, three yards is clearly enough.

Or not.

***

#4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. #5 Dallas Cowboys

Welcome to another episode of The Tom Brady Show! I swear, this show was cancelled at the end of last season, but somehow...

As weak as the Buccaneers look, you simply cannot underestimate the dark magic of Tom Brady. Against all odds, Brady somehow keeps finding ways to win in crucial games. That said, Brady's dark magic has its limits if the defense can't keep up.

On the other side, you have the Cowboys, a NFC East powerhouse that nearly took the division if not for the last-minute win by the Eagles. The Cowboys have an explosive capable of unleashing forty-plus and even fifty-plus points the board. There is one problem, though. Dak Prescott has thrown a league-worst fifteen interceptions this season, the highest number he has thrown in his career. Mistakes the Cowboys cannot afford against a team with Tom Brady.

But even with the interception risk, the Cowboys should have enough firepower to end the Tom Brady Show. As long as the Cowboys remember how clocks work, that is...

Prediction: Cowboys win, 31-21.

Result: Cowboys win, 31-14.

Comments after the game:

We turn now to stunning highlight reel footage of the Cowboys kicker:

The Cowboys are quite fortunate the Buccaneers offense was a mess. A more dangerous team would be much less forgiving. Speaking of which, the 49ers await.