NFL Playoff Predictions: While Top Teams Implode, Unexpected Contenders Continue To Rise

The NFL playoffs without the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Baltimore Ravens? Without either Super Bowl team from a year ago? Without the Colts — who were the AFC's top seed just a couple of weeks ago? Without the Detroit Lions but including the upstart Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots?

We've officially entered the NFL's final full month of regular-season play, and to say the possibilities are wide open is an understatement.

So who is in, and who is out today?

And, more importantly, who will be in or out when all is said and done?

Let's cover it all:

AFC

Currently in: 

1. Denver Broncos: Sean Payton may have the NFL's best coaching staff, and it shows because they're always prepared, they play with urgency and emotion. It's not a coincidence they've risen to the top seed in the AFC. 

2. New England Patriots: This is not a club that will be bounced from the postseason, barring a major injury. Mike Vrabel is headed toward the coach of the year award.

3. Jacksonville Jaguars: Coach Liam Coen has his team believing they're good, and with four wins in the last five games, it's hard to argue otherwise. 

4. Baltimore Ravens: I cannot believe Lamar Jackson's recent skid is permanent, assuming he doesn't have an unreported injury, which he's already denied. That doesn't mean the Ravens skate to the postseason. They might win the division with 9 wins. 

Indianapolis Colts QB Daniel Jones throws a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders at Lucas Oil Stadium. (Photo Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)

5. Los Angeles Chargers: They have perhaps the most difficult road to the postseason of any team, playing the Eagles and Chiefs the next two weeks and then the surging Cowboys and Texans before finishing against the consistent Broncos. It would stun if the Chargers go winless the rest of the way. But I'm not completely dismissing the possibility.

6. Indianapolis Colts: The loss of Sauce Gardner for the next few weeks is going to hurt on defense. And QB Daniel Jones hasn't been the same he was earlier this season when he was an early MVP candidate. His history is he wilts late in the season and doesn't play great when he's hurt. And now it's late in the season, and he's had a broken fibula for three weeks.

7. Buffalo Bills: That was a big victory on Sunday against Pittsburgh. The Bills found themselves on offense by simply running the football and being the more physical team. That has to be their identity for the remainder of the season. But what happens when teams load up at the line to stop the run and Josh Allen doesn't have a major outside threat?

Currently out:

8. Houston Texans: They're 7-2 since starting the season 0-3. The defense is outstanding and C.J. Stroud is finally back from his concussion injury.

9. Pittsburgh Steelers: They got beat by a team without its two starting offensive tackles and then got booed at home. Coach Mike Tomlin said he shared the fans' frustrations and quarterback Aaron Rodgers, looking like hell after a hit from Joey Bosa, implied receivers are missing film sessions so that, "When I check to a route, run the right route." This is not going well.

10. Kansas City Chiefs: They have two easy victories – against the Raiders and Titans – left on the schedule. But their offensive line is beat up, the defense isn't what it once was, and the only thing they do consistently is beat themselves with penalties. They're not making the postseason, and that would be the first time since Patrick Mahomes took over as the starter in 2018. 

Who's switching places:

Houston Texans: They are a matchup problem for both the Chiefs and Chargers, who have suffered significant injuries to their offensive tackles. This team is getting in.

Jacksonville Jaguars: I simply do not trust Trevor Lawrence playing his best ball in the final month of the regular season when he needs to be at his best consistently while under pressure to perform. 

NFC

Currently in:

1. Chicago Bears: Ben Johnson is part of the crowded Coach of the Year conversation in part because he's turned Caleb Williams into a good quarterback and because he's a guy players are growing to love and respect. This is a playoff team.

2. Los Angeles Rams: They had all the look of the NFL's most complete team before Sunday's loss to the Panthers. They still look more than solid enough to make the postseason. If coach Sean McVay were smart, and he happens to be brilliant, he should be on the phone to Aaron Donald every day, coaxing him to unretire – which would be more an emotional than physical boost at just the right time.

3. Philadelphia Eagles: It's bad in Philly and the fans are very, very, very, very, very unhappy. There is serious and legitimate concern this club is on the path to a 2023-type collapse. The Eagles would have to find a way to lose to the Raiders, for example, for that to happen. And that's not likely.

(Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: They are getting healthy and that showed on Sunday when Jamel Dean, Bucky Irving and Haason Reddick all returned to the lineup. It's also possible Mike Evans might be back before the end of the season. That doesn't suggest they're going to go in the wrong direction.

5. Seattle Seahawks: Their defense is outstanding and as long as Sam Darnold doesn't revert to his end-of-season mode of 2024, they're headed to the postseason. 

6. Green Bay Packers: I picked them to win the division before the season began. They play the Bears twice the next three weeks. I don't think I was wrong.

7. San Francisco 49ers: This is tenuous in that they've been cursed by injuries the past few years, including this one. If – big if – they avoid the terrible luck they've suffered in recent years, including earlier this season, this is a playoff team. On the bright side, they have a bye week this week and another bye week after that by hosting the Tennessee Titans. 

Currently out:

8. Detroit Lions: Something is amiss, and it's not just that head coach Dan Campbell had to take over the play-calling on offense and the defense has struggled against such power as the New York Giants. This has been a rough season, and the last week has been freakish – with center Frank Ragnow coming out of retirement only to fail his physical and then re-retire and cornerback Lem Barney being alive despite reports of his death. But this: They will not go quietly.

9. Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys have figured it out on offense and the defense is starting to gel as well. In other words, they're playing their best football at just the right time of the year. The problem is they fell so far behind the Eagles early in the year, it's hard to expect them to win the division.

10. Carolina Panthers: That was quite the comeback against the Rams and there is little question GM Dan Morgan and coach Dave Canales have this club pointed in the right direction. But are they ready to beat the Buccaneers, whom they play twice in their final four games, to capture the NFC South? Not sure about that.

Who's switching places:

No one. Sorry.