NFL Playoffs Power Rankings

1: Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs come into the postseason looking a bit weaker than they have in the past couple years. Mahomes will be playing in the wildcard round for the first time in his career, but should be able to torch the Steelers in the first round like he did a couple of weeks ago.

The problem comes after that. Sure, they’ll be favored in every game until the Super Bowl, and the defense has had its moments. But it’s hard to trust them to show up for 4 games in a row. It only takes one team to have an offensive explosion to ruin our playoff run.

One good sign? The Chiefs had far and away the toughest strength of schedule of any playoff team, with our opponents averaging a .537 win percentage. Only the Chargers and Saints have a strength of schedule above .500. 

2: Green Bay Packers 

The Packers were so far ahead of the NFC field that they got to rest starters the last week of the season, but are they really that good? They had nice wins over the Rams, Cardinals, and Bengals, but also lost to the Vikings and got blown out by the Saints. Everybody else has major questions as well, so they get to stay at the top of the NFC rankings, but they shouldn’t be too confident about making the Super Bowl.

3: Los Angeles Rams 

Other than a bizarre blowout loss to the 49ers, the Rams have done well, only losing to other playoff teams. But they haven’t had many impressive wins. The only playoff teams they beat were the Cardinals and Buccaneers, which isn’t great if they want to go on a 3 game run to the Super Bowl. And they better hope they make a playoff run this year. They have completely mortgaged their future to build this team, so there is no next year.

4: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Coming into the season, Tampa Bay was everybody’s favorite team, and they ended up only slightly underperforming. Like seemingly every other team, they had a mix of impressive wins (Cowboys, Patriots, Bills) and baffling losses (twice to the Saints and to Washington). But unlike last year, they’ll be without Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown for this playoff run. 

5: Dallas Cowboys 

Despite how the saying goes, offense is the best way to consistently win games in the NFL, and the Cowboys have a very good offense. They’ve put up 50 points twice in the final 3 weeks, and had another three 40 point outputs this season. They’re definitely one of the top teams in the NFC and have a good chance of making the Super Bowl, but I’m still hesitant to put my money on Mike McCarthy.

6: Buffalo Bills

It wasn’t as easy, but the Bills won the AFC East again, and they’re the 2nd best team in the AFC again. The gap between them and everybody else not named the Chiefs is much narrower, though, as they’re mostly interchangeable with the rest of the field. 

7: Tennessee Titans 

Even though I have the Bills rated higher, I’d be more nervous about playing the Titans. They’ve had their lows (like, for example, struggling to beat the Texans despite getting numerous breaks), but they’ve also had many games where they’ve looked dominant. 

Thankfully we won’t play them until the AFC Championship, so there’s a chance they lose in the divisional round before they get to us, but I’d be nervous about trying to get to the Super Bowl in Nashville.

8: Cincinnati Bengals 

The surprise team of the season, they’re certainly among those AFC teams that can beat anybody. But they don’t seem particularly likely to do that three games in a row to reach the Super Bowl.

9: New England Patriots 

Before the season, I said the Patriots were the team I least wanted to see in the playoffs, and that still somewhat holds. Without a good quarterback it will be hard for them to make it all the way, but if the Chiefs end up playing them, Belichick has a history of slowing Mahomes down. 

10: Arizona Cardinals 

The Cardinals started hot, but ever since losing Hopkins, they’ve struggled. They’ll be lucky to make it past the first round.

11: Pittsburgh Steelers 

I was saying the Steelers were underrated all year, and they rewarded my faith by sneaking into the playoffs. But even I will admit they’re not good compared to other playoff teams. I am very happy that Jacksonville gifted us a relatively easy first round opponent when Houston failed to gift us a bye.

12: San Francisco 49ers 

San Francisco staged a dramatic comeback against the Rams to avoid pulling a Colts and losing their playoff spot, but there are still major questions there. They have a strong resume on paper (none of their losses are particularly bad), but Garoppolo hasn’t been great. Can he manage to make a run without a 2019 defense backing him up?

13: Philadelphia Eagles

No matter what happens in the playoffs, the Eagles have to be happy. They traded Wentz, getting cap relief and a 1st round pick in the process, and managed to improve their record while the Colts declined. Add in the other 1st round pick Miami gave them last year to trade up (which I still don’t understand) and the Eagles are in a really decent spot to build around Hurts.

14: Las Vegas Raiders 

I’ve been hating on the Raiders all year long, and they’ve made me look silly by somehow finding a way to make the playoffs. I still think they’re not very good, though, so I’d be all for facing them in the divisional round. 

Tony Sommer

@Tony_Sommer

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