Many playoff scenarios were decided today.  I’m late, but here was my 1:00 say.

AFC

x-clinched division

y-clinched playoff berth

z-clinched first round bye

*-clinched home field advantages

1.New England Patriots (won AFC East) xyz*             Thought:13-3   Actual:12-4

I said they would crush Buffalo, not neccesarily rest their stars.  Brady was benched early as Jimmy Garroppolllo quarterbacked New England, and Rob Gronkowski didn’t play a single play.  Also, injury recovering Julian Edelman and Dan Connolly sat, and Nate Solder injured himself too.  The offensive line is in huge trouble.  They got 1st seed though.

2.Denver Broncos(12-4 or 11-5,xy)/Pittsburgh Steelers(11-5 or 10-6/y)Cincinnati Bengals(10-5-1 or 11-4-1/y) (now only Denver)

Playoff Scenarios

1.If Denver loses, the winner of the Bengals-Steelers game gets the third seed.

2.With a win and Denver’s loss, Pittsburgh gets the No. 2 seed

3.Same as No. 2 for Cincinnati with their win

1.The Broncos will beat the Raiders, even after the Raiders beat the Bills last week.  They beat them in Oakland, I think it should be a 41-0 shutout and the game is my lock of the week and Fox Sports Survivor pick.

2 & 3.I talked about this game in my picks.  It’ll be close but Pittsburgh wins because of those home field advantages, even after their loss to them in Cincinnati.

3.Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos (see second seed for more team info)

Playoff Scenarios

1.If the Broncos lose, they get the third seed.

2.If Denver and Pittsburgh win, Pittsburgh gets the No. 3 seed.

3..If Denver and Cincinnati win, Cincinnati gets the No. 3 seed.

Analaysis

See same numbers of scenarios on the No. 2 seed to see my analaysis

4.Indianapolis Colts xy      Projected:11-5       Actual:11-5

They almost had a lock the way the Titans are doing.  They can’t do any better than this.  The AFC North winner will definitely be better, the Bengals tie boosting their record slightly, and Pittsburgh winning the tiebreaker over the Colts after the blowout, in Ben Roethlisberger’s 65 fantasy point game.  That’s when he became a stud.  I know that from laying fantasy, and remember it after his owner started the slumping Matt Ryan over him.  Well, he was then and after today’s embarrassing performance in a blowout loss, he’s in that mode again.  It doesn’t matter because they’re now out of it.

5.Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals (see second seed for records)

Playoff Scenarios

1.The loser of the Steelers-Bengals game gets the first wild card slot

See the second seed under 2&3 to read my analaysis on this scenario

6.Baltimore Ravens(10-6 or 9-7), San Diego Chargers,(10-6 or 9-7), Kansas City Chiefs, (9-7 or 8-8), Houston Texans, (9-7 or 8-8) (now Ravens)

Playoff Scenarios

1.If San Diego wins, they’re in

2.If Baltimore wins, they’re in with the loss of the Chargers

3.If Houston wins, they’re in with the Chargers and Ravens loss

4.If Kansas City wins, they’re in if the Chargers, Ravens and Texans lose

Analysis

1.Two close teams.  Charge. Chiefs.  THe home team Chiefs get the win.

2.I talked about the Chargers losing.  I still think in any AFC North regular season game, the home team, in this case the Ravens, will win.

3.Unless Baltimore loses, which won’t happen with the condition the Browns are in right now, the Texans are out.  Although I do think the Texans will make it halfway, demolishing the lowly division opponent of the Jaguars.  The matchups set up two blowouts since the Jags didn’t face Tennessee.

4.The Chiefs will win like Houston, but the Texans and Ravens wins are in the way, so I was right about Baltimore’s wild card slot, and picked all three of these games correctly.

NFC

1.Seattle Seahawks(12-4 or 11-5,xyz),Green Bay Packers,(12-4 or 11-5,y), Detroit Lions, (12-4 or 11-5,y)

Playoff Scenarios

1.With a loss and the Cardinals win, the winner of the Packers-Lions game take over the first seed

1.The Seahwaks should beat the Rams and with home field advantages, the Pack should too giving the ‘Hawks the seed.  I also think the Cardinals will lose.

2.Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals(12-4 or 11-5,y), Detroit Lions

Playoff Scenarios

1.The winner of the Packers-Lions game gets a top 2 seed-1st with Arizona win and Seattle loss and 2nd with Seattle win or Arizona loss.

2.With a win and the Seahawks loss, the Cardinals get the 2nd seed

Analysis
1 & 2.I’ve said that this was a tough match that the home team Packers will win. I also thought the Cardinals would lose and the Seahawks win so the Pack gets the 2 seed.

3.Dallas Cowboys Projected:11-5. Actual:12-4 xy

I couldn’t predict the Cowboys getting upset and I was so wrong about the Cowboys
My Prediction:4th, 4-12
Actual:1st, 12-4
I totally underestimated them along with the Lions and Bills.

4.Carolina Panthers (7-8-1 or 6-9-1) Atlanta Falcons (7-9 or 6-10)

Playoff Scenarios
1.The winner of the Panthers-Falcons game wins the division and gets the playoff slot.

Analysis
Both teams are close, so as I always say, the home team, in this case the Falcons, win. I was so wrong. Carolina won 34-3, getting their second playoff spot and second division title in a row being just under .500 for the second time in NFL history. Matt Ryan and his Falcons fell apart, bringing their record down to 6-10.

5.Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks (see first two seeds for further info)

Playoff Scenarios
1.The losing team of the Packers-Lions game gets a wild card slot, the seed depending on whether the other is the Seahawks or Cardinals.

2.If Seattle wins, Green Bay or Detroit gets the first wild card.

3.If Arizona wins and Seattle loses, Green Bay or Detroit gets the second wild card slot.

Analysis

1-3.I talked about these games, see the first two seeds. Arizona gets the seed because they have the tiebreaker over losing Detroit.

6.See 5th seed (same teams)

This is all the same as the fifth seed. I think Detroit gets this seed.

What Now?
The playoffs are decided. Here are my playoff predictions with the teams locked in. Although I have these, I will still do picks each week of the playoffs, ending with game previews, full articles for each game in the final two rounds. It’ll be as much as I do for my lock and upset each week.

Seeding
AFC
1.New England Patriots 12-4
2.Denver Broncos 12-4
3.Pittsburgh Steelers 11-5
4.Indianapolis Colts 11-5
5.Cincinnati Bengals 10-5-1
6.Baltimore Ravens 10-6

NFC
1.Seattle Seahawks 12-4
2.Green Bay Packers 12-4
3.Dallas Cowboys(!) 12-4
4.Carolina Panthers 7-8-1
5.Arizona Cardinals 11-5
6.Detroit Lions 11-5

-See further analysis during this weeks playoff picks-
Wild Card Weekend
Carolina,27 over Arizona,24
Dallas,13 over Detroit,10
Indianapolis,34 over Cincinnati,27
Pittsburgh,27 over Baltimore,24

Divisional
New England,41 over Indianapolis,34
Denver,41 over Pittsburgh,27
Seattle,41 over Carolina,24
Green Bay,41 over Dallas,10

Conference
New England,41 over Denver,38
Green Bay,45 over Seattle,41

Super Bowl XLIX
New England,52 over Green Bay,48