By Mick Dillon / The Jambar
As the NFL regular season comes to a close, a new, more exciting chapter begins — the playoffs. Starting Jan. 10, 14 teams will be emptying the gas tank to see who will hoist the coveted Lombardi Trophy in February.
The field feels wide open with this year marking the first since 2018 that the Kansas City Chiefs or Cincinnati Bengals won’t be in consideration for the playoffs. No Patrick Mahomes, no Joe Burrow and no Lamar Jackson. Who does that leave in the AFC? Josh Allen.
If there were ever a year for the Buffalo Bills to break their streak of successful regular seasons with an underwhelming postseason, this would be the one. Quarterback Allen is in the prime of his career and seems to be firing on all cylinders heading into the Bills wildcard matchup against the young-and-hungry Jacksonville Jaguars, led by former Clemson University quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Once the Bills beat the Jaguars, they’ll have a divisional round matchup against either the Los Angeles Chargers or the New England Patriots — two teams that seem to be in the early stages of building perennial playoff teams.
The Patriots feature superstar rookie and quarterback Drake Maye, along with a high-budget defense littered with talent. If they can get past the electrifying duo of Head Coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Justin Herbert, they’ll end up losing a close one at home to Allen and their divisional foes.
On the other side of the AFC bracket, the Houston Texans and the Pittsburgh Steelers will compete to play against the Denver Broncos in the divisional round. This is a safe space — none of these teams are good enough to beat the Bills in the playoffs.
Now that the AFC Champion is decided, it’s time to take a look at the much more competitive NFC.
The first two games of the postseason will both be NFC wildcard matchups. The lineup includes the classic rivalry of the Green Bay Packers versus the Chicago Bears and the Los Angeles Rams set to face off against the Carolina Panthers at home in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Nobody expected the Panthers to get this far, and The Jambar doesn’t expect them to win any games on this stage — yet. Rams should win handily to advance to the divisional round against the Seattle Seahawks, which is where their season will end. The Seahawks are a powerhouse with virtually no weaknesses, and they’ll be sure to exploit the Rams’ poor run defense and shaky offensive line.
The Packers versus the Bears could go either way. The teams split their season series 1-1 and have proven to be an even matchup, with the combined differential of their two games separated by just one point. With both teams beating each other at home, The Jambar gives the edge to the Bears.
Chicago would face the winner of the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles — two teams the Bears can beat.
This gives fans an NFC Championship Game of two quarterbacks that have never played on a stage that big before — Sam Darnold of the Seahawks and Caleb Williams of the Bears. While Williams has delivered several clutch performances this year, it is hard to imagine a team with such poor pass rushing and shaky defensive backs beating the Seahawks.
That leaves The Jambar to predict a Super Bowl matchup of the Seahawks versus the Bills on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Will Allen get his first ring? Or will the Seahawks continue their historic season of dominance?