2015 NFL Playoff Predictions: Who will win the Super Bowl?

[Akhilleus]

So during the preseason I made a prediction of who I thought would go all the way to the Super Bowl, as well as predicted the winners of each division. I was correct on some, and others I wasn't.

Originally I had the 49ers winning the NFC West and being the first seed at 14-2, then the Saints winning the NFC South at 12-4, Philly winning the East at 12-4, and Chicago Bears winning the NFC North actually at 11-5. Every single one of those teams missed the playoffs, so I was really off. However the AFC I guess was a little easier. I had New England being first in the AFC at 12-4...that was right on the spot, then Denver being second at 11-4-1...close on that one, then I slightly off here...I had Indianapolis at the three seed at 11-5, and Pittsburgh in the four seed at 11-5...so those are swapped around...I don't think I was even thinking about the game between them in the season and who would win it. Then I had the Bengals at the 5th seed at 10-6...see...there's where the tie was, I knew there'd be a tie. And lastly, the Chiefs a the 6th seed also at 10-6...I was obviously off there. Damn though the AFC I was so much more accurate with than the NFC, but I guess the AFC has always been a little more predictable these last few years, while the NFC has been the opposite.

Now the time has come where I have a little bit of an easier chance of predicting who will win what playoff game, now that we know the seeding. Anyway for those of you who don't know, this is what the real seeding is like.

NFC:

1. Seattle (12-4)
2. Green Bay (12-4)
3. Dallas (12-4)
4. Carolina (7-8-1)
5. Arizona (11-5)
6. Detroit (11-5)

AFC:

1. New England (12-4)
2. Denver (12-4)
3. Pittsburgh (11-5)
4. Indianapolis (11-5)
5. Cincinnati (10-5-1)
6. Baltimore (10-6)


So let's start with the Wild Card weekend games....

Arizona Cardinals @ Carolina Panthers

Now normally I might pick the Arizona Cardinals over this one, but history has proven these last few years that these crap teams who win their division with non winning record, usually end up getting the upset in their home field and moving on at least another week. Plus Carolina is pretty tough, and I think they'll come together and get the win over the Cardinals who lack a real QB, and really in my opinion a real running back too. They have a decent set of WRs, and their defense is incredible, but you need a QB. Cam Newton can lead Carolina to a win against the Cardinals at home. Cardinals also appear to be falling apart these last few weeks.

Winner: Panthers over Cardinals, 23-14.


Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers


This is going to be a great game. Ravens/Steelers games always are, but Ravens/Steelers postseason games tend to be even more intense. Steelers are one of the teams I like, so I was happy that Denver lost last week. Had they not, then Pittsburgh would be playing the Bengals again. Something I don't like for them...it's hard to beat a division rival three times in one season, especially in back to back weeks. However the Ravens will be just as tough especially considering they split with Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh does have home field.

I think the Ravens are a very dangerous team. If they get through Pittsburgh, I can see them going deep. But at the same time, they seem to be falling apart. They lost to the Texans, and then they didn't look too impressive against Cleveland either this week. But the big thing is Le'veon Bell, and if he can play or not. If he's not 70% out there, then Pittsburgh will not be in great shape. They should sign a RB, Ray Rice even.

None the less I'm giving Pittsburgh the win.

Winners: Steelers over Ravens, 31-28.


Cincinnati Bengals @ Indianapolis Colts


The Bengals have not won a playoff came since 1990 when they lost in the divisional round to the LA Raiders. Since then they've made the playoffs four time...losing to the Steelers in 05, the Jets in 09, Texans in '11 and '12, and then just last year to the Chargers. History does not lie, and the Bengals will fall to the Colts. They have a scary RB combo with Hill/Bennard, they have AJ Green, and Gresham is a force too...and their defense is solid. But yet this team just fails to execute. They're going to fall to the Andrew Luck and the Colts on the road.

Winners: Colts over Bengals, 28-14.


Detroit Lions @ Dallas Cowboys


I have no idea what is going to happen in this game. These two teams have both been back and forth. I've been waiting to see Dallas back in the playoffs for so long though. The Lions can't seem to get the job done, and with what I saw from Stafford last week I'm going to go ahead and say that Dallas will be able to finally get the job done.

Winners: Cowboys over Lions, 42-28.


I usually don't like to have it so all the home teams win, but I guess it got set up this way this time. Still not sure about the Detroit/Dallas game. Only one I know for sure is the Bengals one. History doesn't lie.

Now onto the Divisional Round.

Indianapolis Colts @ New England Patriots

I think these two teams would be a great matchup together. In reality I think New England would probably take care of business, but it's so close right now. Colts defense is weaker for sure, but they're in similar offensive situations, and I'm going to give this one to the Colts in a shootout...because Luck is on their side, and I don't like New England.

Winners: Colts over Patriots, 35-31.

Carolina Panthers @ Seattle Seahawks


This game is an easy one. Seattle takes care of business here. Won't even be too close I don't think.

Winners: Seahawks over Panthers, 38-13.


Dallas Cowboys @ Green Bay Packers

Dallas going at Green Bay. It'd be an interesting game, but I think Green Bay is in some very good shape. There's just no way I can see Dallas winning. As long as Rodgers is healthy. Him, Lacy, Cobb...that's a tough offense. I'll give the 'Boys the benefit of the doubt and keep the game close...up until a Tony Romo interception.

Winners: Packers over Cowboys, 28-20.


Pittsburgh Steelers @ Denver Broncos


I actually had this same matchup in the same round in my preseason predictions. So I'm just gonna copy and paste that.

I was debating this one because in years past I always doubted the Steelers playing in Denver. They NEVER do good on the road in Denver. One big reason to that was missing free safety Ryan Clark, but now that don't even have Clark anymore so that's not even a problem. None the less they still don't play well here, but the big thing here is it's January. And you know what's worse than the Steelers playing in Denver? Peyton Manning playing in the playoffs. And so I'm going to say in the 4th quarter with two minutes left and the game tied, Peyton Manning throws an interception to Troy Polamalu who takes it to the Denver 15 yard line, to set up for a Steelers field goal to knock the Broncos out of the playoffs. Oh and Manning retires after so his last pick was an interception. Muwhahahaa. That's the fun thing about these writeups is you have complete control over what happens.

Winner: Steelers over Broncos, 27-24.


And onto the conference round...

Green Bay Packers @ Seattle Seahawks


This is going to be a great game, but I don't see the Seattle Seahawks going to a second straight Super Bowl. Rodgers and his team are going to come together and win it in a close one. Lynch will hit the wall at the worst time, and Wilson won't be able to carry the rest of the offense.

Winner: Packers over Seahawks, 31-24.



Colts @ Steelers


Rematch. Same teams, same place. Will Roethlisberger throw for six more TDs? Sadly no. The Colts will learn from their mistakes in the regular season, and they will defeat the Steelers in a close game.

Winners: Colts over Steelers, 21-17.


And it's come down to this. The Super Bowl...

So that means we have a Colts and Packers Super Bowl. It's come down to this. Andrew Luck vs Aaron Rodgers. The Packers have the better offense, and the better defense for that matter. Yet the Colts have been red hot, and nothing can stop that. They pull off the upset, in overtime, to defeat the Packers and give Luck his first of likely many Super Bowl rings.

Winners: Colts over Packers, 33-28.


So go through it all if you like, or just tell me who you think will be the winner and why. I'm going to put a poll up, we'll see how much interest it gets. A lot of this is just me being creative, so don't take it too seriously. I think I've proven I'm not exactly too accurate with my predictions, especially the NFC ones.

 

[Milkyway!]

I'm going with the New England Patriots. From top to bottom the Patriots have one of the best rosters in the NFL. Here's all the reasons I believe the New England Patriots are going to win the Superbowl!

1) Quarterback: Tom Brady is supreme, one of the all time greats, clutch, has one of the highest football IQ's in the NFL, has magically learned how to keep pressure off him a lot better this year, and it's hard not to mention this as being one of the biggest strengths of the team.

2) Coaching: Josh McDaniels is known to get cute from time to time, like in the Dolphins game when they ran the ball, ran the ball, ran the ball, then got to the goal line by running ball and McDaniels called 3 pass plays in a row. Didn't make much sense, but that's the kind of thing you can do against the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium in week 15. Overall the production from McDaniels in years pass has been an extremely efficient offense, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Matt Patricia is quietly one of the best defensive coordinators in the league. He's been with Bill Belichick since 2004, and has soaked in that knowledge for years and year. Lastly, and most importantly, Bill Belichick it's hard to say Bill isn't one of the greatest all time coaches in the history of the NFL. From his time in the Giants, Browns, and Patriots he's a sure fire hall of fame coach. He's one of the best in the business at in game adjustments, and while not infallible, he's terrific. His resume speaks for itself.

3) Defense: The defense is a key strength for the New England Patriots this year for the first time since 2007. With the acquisitions of Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner, and Akeem Ayers and the outstanding play from Hightower, McCourty, Collins, Wilfork, Ninkovich, Jones, Chung the defense has been great. There was a stretch between the Packers-Jets game late in the season that this unit did not allow a single point on the board in the 2nd half of games. Not one. That includes the Packers, Dolphins, Chargers, and the Jets. This unit also has plenty of depth in Arrington, Ryan, Duron Hamron, Chris Jones, Alan Branch, and Tavon Wilson that make them an one of the most outstanding top to bottom defenses in the league. This unit creates turnovers, has a great red zone efficiency, and has shown to be extremely clutch when need be.

4) Special Teams: Special teams has been a huge part of the Patriots this year. With some great field goal blocks, terrific punt returns from Amendola and Edelman, two of the best kickers in football Gostowski, and punter Ryan Allen, 4 time pro bowler Slater, and some great blocking from Jonathan Casillas, Mathew Slater, etc it's been a great year for the special teams units. When a team has the ability to execute in all three phases of the game the way the Patriots do it's hard not to call them one of the best, most complete teams in football.

5) Rob Gronkowski is healthy. The 4th fastest player to ever reach 50 touchdowns, and he's missed how many games during that span? The first ever Tight End to have 4, 10 touchdown seasons in a row. The most yards from any tight end this year, 4th most receptions, tied for most touchdowns for any Tight End, is one of the better blocking tight ends in the league, no fumbles lost, and is arguably the MVP of the entire Patriots year. He's a dynamic play maker, that also allows other players within the offense to make great plays. There's been times where they've tripled covered Gronk, leaving a wide open Timothy Wright, Edelman, Lafell, etc to make some terrific plays. Also, who doesn't want to see a Gronk Spike in the superbowl?

This is one of the best complete teams in the NFL. Does it have it's flaws? Yes. Health concerns with Dan Connolly, and Cameron Flemming within the Offensive Line has caused some issues as of late. However, both have had their fair share of time to recuperate and are seemingly 100% for the playoffs. #PatNation is primed for Brady's 4th SuperBowl, and hopefully a 5th next year!

 

[Akhilleus]

Thinking things over, there is no way the Colts are going to go through New England. Let alone Pittsburgh, and then Green Bay right after. I'm going have to change some things up. I wish the Colts could beat New England, but the simple fact is they can't stop the run. Look at the last two times they've played. LeGarrette Blount rushed for 166 yards and 4 TDs, and Jonas Gray for 199 yards and 4 TDs.

They're probably going to try and stack up against the run when playing New England, and then Brady is going to shred their secondary with Gronk and his wideouts. It'll probably be a high scoring game, but I just can't see it.

There is still no doubt in my mind that the Colts will slide past Cincinnati. They crushed them in the regular season, and the Bengals haven't won a playoff game in 25 years...and no they're not due for one like my Dad says. They're never due for one, especially not on the road. But this is the team that lost to the crap Chargers last season at home so place of venue doesn't exactly mean anything to them.

Anyway that changes the rest of my predictions pretty drastically considering I had Indy winning it all. I think I was just more so hoping for it. So I can't change the NFC outcomes any, but the AFC Championship would now be Pittsburgh @ New England. Now that's a matchup I can see being a very good one. It really depends where the sun is at in the solar system I think. Steelers and Pats didn't get a chance to play each other all season long. Last time they played the Pats crushed the Steelers in Foxborough 55-31. Looking at Pittsburgh's defense I can see the exact same outcome happening, with it being an offensive game but Brady's offense outscoring Ben's.

So I'll have New England over Green Bay now, and it'll be the Patriots vs Packers in the Super Bowl. Which Jesus I really hope doesn't happen. I don't want to see New England, Denver, or Green Bay in the Super Bowl. If they are I sure hope they don't win. Sadly there's a pretty damn good change New England or Denver is going, so I just have to hope the Seahawks win again. All they have to do is beat whatever team they play in the NFC Championship game...because Carolina is going to beat Arizona, and the Seattle basically gets a bye to the NFC Championship.

So Pats vs Pack. Both teams are pretty strong, but I think Rodgers, Lacy, and Cobb are going to outplay Brady and his offense to win Rodgers a second Superbowl win, and likely a second Superbowl MVP award as well.

 

[Akhilleus]

So I was 3 for 4 on my predictions this weekend. The biggest one was the one I was wrong about. Ravens and Steelers turned out to be a pretty good game for the most part up until the end, and the Ravens proved they are tough as nails. I think the Steelers missing Le'veon Bell was a huge impact, even more so than the Ravens missing any of their players or the Steelers with anyone else they were missing.

The biggest thing for the Steelers however was having Troy Polamalu back on the field. That guy is done. He's finished. He needs to hang it up and retire. Get a haircut, move back to California and hit the road. He was a great player, and he's only going to be 34 moving into next season...but he's hit the wall, and having him out there on the field is showing it. That and Jarvis Jones, Jones is a huge bust. He needs to go too if the Steelers want to improve their defense. I see a lot of potential in this Steelers' team, but they need to improve their secondary to make it complete. Big time.

But the Ravens are a tough team in the playoffs, and I can now see them even making it to the Super Bowl again. I'm going to update my predictions based on what happened this weekend. Obviously it's not as legit now that games are played, but I'm going to keep making predictions.

So I'm going to leave the NFC entirely alone. Green Bay is still going to the Super Bowl via my predictions.

Now however we have

Colts @ Denver

I think the Colts are going to do it. I think Andrew Luck is going to rally his team and lead the Colts to a close game against the Denver Broncos, where Noodle Arm Manning will choke away the game. It's hard to say though because I don't see a lot that I like with this team. If they play the way they did in yesterday's second half then I can see them doing it, but if they play the way they did against the Bengals in the first half with the Bengals not having AJ Green and the score being 13-10 at halftime...then they're in trouble. This is a team lacking a trustworthy defense and a legitimate running back, so I have a lot of doubts. There's Andrew Luck and there's TY Hilton, along with a couple other pieces to compliment that such as Fleener. I'm giving them the win. Manning isn't a postseason QB. He beat Brady last year, I give him credit for that. But the divisional round is his real kryptonite, and he's not playing the crappy San Diego Chargers.

Baltimore @ New England

This is a real tough one. Brady is probably going to take care of the Patriots, but the Ravens are tough and they match up really well against this team. They have similar offenses, but I like the Baltimore defense more. Compare that with New England's home field advantage and we have a really even matchup. I think it's going to be a close game, but Baltimore is going to pull it out again.

Baltimore @ Indianapolis

Just when everyone starts jumping on the Baltimore bandwagon, they fell apart to the Andrew Luck and the Colts. That's right I'm back to saying the Colts are going all the way. Even though I'm probably going to be very wrong, and we're probably going to have another Manning/Brady conference game. But I'm going for it, Colts all the way. They take care of the Ravens to go to the Super Bowl.

Indianapolis Colts vs Green Bay Packers

So the Packers are still there in the end. We're back to the same Super Bowl matchup I had in my first prediction, and at first I had the Colts defeating Green Bay. But I'm keeping my second prediction in tact where I had Green Bay winning the Super Bowl, and that's how I'm leaving it. Green Bay's offense tops Indy's, and it's defense does by far. Rodgers will raise the Lombardi Trophy up high when it's all said and done.

I'll tell you though I'm looking forward to Dallas and Green Bay, and then I'm looking forward to Green Bay and Seattle. Both of those games are going to be great. Even Dallas and Seattle would be good. The only game that doesn't look like it's going to be a good matchup is Carolina and Seattle. Then over in the AFC side all the possible matchups look great. Baltimore matches up well with all of the remaining teams if they make it, and so do the Colts.

 

[JMobile]

I would like to think this way;

Ravens beat the Pats. (the only team in the AFC that can beat the Pats, IMO). Ravens go to the Bowl.

Packers beat the Cowboys and lose to the Hawks in Seattle or Cowboys beat the Packs and beat the Hawks in Seattle.

If the Cowboys are successful, they can win the Bowl and the Ravens. If not, the Hawks will repeat.