JKFOOTBALL Official 2021-22 Playoff Bracket Predictions
Yesterday I dropped my predictions for wildcard weekend, but today, we go one step further as I give my full playoff predictions to see how I do at the end of the post-season. I try to not be as basic as other people by picking all the favorites, and with my results, you will see I was not just the same as everyone else. I can't wait for these playoffs to begin, and here are my predictions. (NOTE: I will not get into the WC picks much because we went in depth yesterday on them, go check that out if you haven't).
NFC:
(1) Packers BYE
(2) Bucs over (7) Eagles
(6) Niners over (3) Cowboys
(5) Cardinals over (4) Rams
AFC:
(1) Titans BYE
(2) Chiefs over (7) Steelers
(3) Bills over (6) Patriots
(4) Bengals over (5) Raiders
Divisional Round
NFC:
Based off of my wildcard weekend predictions, the first NFC match of the divisional round would see the cinderella 49ers heading to the frozen tundra of Lambeau field to square off against Aaron Rodgers and the NFL's best Green Bay Packers. This is going to be a tough team for anyone to take out, especially the 49ers. There are few existing offenses in the league that can keep up with the booming offense that stems from the arm of Aaron Rodgers and the hands of Davante Adams and Allen Lazard. With a fully healthy offensive line for the first time all year, the Packers won't struggle against this Niners vaunted front 7. While Green Bay's defense still has its struggles, they too are healthy now, and with Jaire Alexander back, shutting down Deebo Samuel is plausible. As good as the Niners are, Jimmy G simply will not be able to keep up with this offensive attack, no matter how good the Green Bay D plays it. Packers win and once again, find themselves one win away from the Super Bowl...
Final Score Prediction: Packers 34, Niners 25
The other NFC divisional game set up by my predictions would see the Arizona Cardinals heading to Southern Florida to square off against Tom Brady and his boys. What a game this will be. Kyler Murray vs Tom Brady. A match we are yet to see. Two awesome QBs that play completely different styles of football but still are elite. This one will have many highlight reel plays. The Bucs offense will have its hands full with Chandler Jones and JJ Watt along with the other talented players in the Cardinals' secondary. It does help that they have Tom Brady to read the defense and one of the best offensive lines in football to combat the constant pressure from Watt and Jones. On the flip side, the Cards' offense vs the Bucs' defense will be a constant battle. Murray is amazing, but erratic at times and this is a defense that doesn't make a lot of mistakes. While I feel confident about Tom Brady winning more often than the Cards' D, I feel less confident about Murray handling the Bucs' D. That being said, I think this will be a thrilling shootout with potential to be one of the best games of the post-season, but I do think the GOAT will prevail to set up an NFC championship game rematch for the ages between Rodgers and Brady.
Final Score Prediction: Buccaneers 30, Cardinals 28
AFC:
The two ultimate wildcard post-season teams will go at it here in the divisional round. You have the Bengals who may have the best offense in the league and therefore can beat anyone against the Titans who somehow found themselves as the no. 1 seed in the conference but are finally healthy again. Who knows what this team will look like now. I'm going to start off by saying that on paper, the Bengals have both the better offense AND defense. This might be a shock to some, but they may be the better overall team despite the Titans being the 1 seed. However, the Titans do not care. With Derrick Henry back, they can play their brand of football which always is able to beat anyone. Which style of play will prevail here? The Bengals' deep ball, quick strike offense or the Titans' run the ball down your throat and milk the clock offense? As much of a turnaround as the Bengals' D has seen this year, I don't like their odds against Derrick Henry. Fresh off rest, he will have a monster game. However, I think the Bengals offense, again, can stick with anyone, so in a shootout, give me stone cold BRRRRurrrow and the Bengals! For the first time since the 1980s the Bengals will be in the AFC championship! Ja'Marr Chase will be griddying his way to Buffalo or KC!
Final Score Prediction: Bengals 30, Titans 24
It was bound to happen. These two teams have met so many times recently with their star young QBs Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes under center. Last year, the Chiefs downed the Bills to make it back to the Super Bowl. Early on this season, the Bills left the Chiefs for dead as they blew them out AT ARROWHEAD. Now, they meet right back at the place where the last two huge matches have been decided. The Chiefs have better offense while the Bills have the better defense. This is going to be fun. It's anyone's guess to who is really better between Mahomes and Allen, but this game will go a major length towards providing an answer. Whoever you personally believe is better is who you would probably pick to win this game. I'm sticking with that statement and I'm going to add in some more facts to prove why the BILLS will win. Not only is Allen better right now, but the difference in quality between the defenses is major. The Chiefs D is majorly bend but don't break, but they will be broken time and time again by the big arm of Josh Allen and the route running of Diggs and his fellow receivers. We saw how this played out early in the season, why not again? Mahomes has struggled big time against good defenses this year, and the Bills are the best defense. He is going to be running for his life and throwing into intricate coverages all game long. While I think this will be a good game that could go either way, give me the Bills to advance to their second straight AFC title game! Down go the back-to-back defending AFC champions!
Final Score Prediction: Bills 33, Chiefs 25
Conference Championships:
NFC Championship:
This is the game we are all anticipating and circling on our brackets. It feels destined to happen. The Buccaneers who shocked everyone by going into Lambeau and defeating MVP Aaron Rodgers and the Packers en route to winning the Super Bowl. The circumstances feel eerily similar this year, which makes it more exciting. Aaron Rodgers may be the league MVP again, his Packers are the top seeds and Super Bowl favorites again. They are coming off a regular season where they looked like they couldn't lose. The Buccaneers come in with some uncertainty, just like last year. Injuries have ravaged their team a little bit and their receiving core is not what it once was. Mike Evans and Gronk along with guys like Scotty Miller and Cyril Grayson will have to shoulder the load. While it's almost like the Packers are slightly better at every position and will be heavy favorites to win, I can't give it to them. Tom Brady is the ultimate equalizer. He is calm under pressure and wins when no one thinks he will. All the pressure will actually be on Aaron Rodgers who continues to fail over and over in this round of the playoffs, with the pressure on his back and much less on Brady's, I think we see a repeat of last season. At age 44, the GOAT has had potentially the best season of his storybook career, and it will culminate in yet another Super Bowl appearance when the Bucs shock the world by taking down the Packers on their home turf once again. The Bucs are heading to LA!
Final Score Prediction: Buccaneers 30, Packers 26
AFC Championship:
While the NFC championship game is what many will have in their brackets, not many will have this AFC championship. We have the upstart Cincinnati Bengals who are a bit of a Cinderella story themselves facing off against the Bills who will have shocked the world by beating the Chiefs and are suddenly the host city of this AFC title game. The NFL world will have its eyes on this game and what it might mean for the future. Two young QBs who both look like future MVPs and likely future Super Bowl champions going at it for the first time. Burrow vs Allen could be the next Brady vs Manning. It really could be. The match-up that is wildly intriguing is this big play Bengal offense going up against this shutdown Bills D. We all know the Bengals defense will have a very tough time against the Bills high flying offense, but what will transpire with Burrow vs Hyde and company? I'll tell you. The same thing that they've been doing all year! While the Bills defense has been so damn good all year, they haven't faced a beast like this Bengals offense. An elite QB who can throw dimes all over the field. A WR core as good as anyone. An RB that may be the most underrated player in football. I think the Bills will not be ready for what the Bengals have out there, and it might be an absolute track-meet. In a shootout for the ages, Joe Burrow gets the upperhand and will shock the crowd at Orchard Park as the Bills felt like it was finally their year. The Bengals are going to the Super Bowl!
Final Score Prediction: Bengals 34, Bills 30
Super Bowl 56:
We have reached the Super Bowl. Not many will have this match-up, but we do, and it's going to happen. We see the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers with Tom Brady eager to win ANOTHER ring against the cinderella Cincinnati Bengals who haven't even won a playoff game prior to this run since the 1990s. We have a QB match-up for the ages. Joe Burrow who will continue ascending to superstardom with this legendary run against the ageless wonder Tom Brady. Very rarely have we seen anyone able to best Brady in the big game. Just two men can ever say they've done it, Eli Manning and Nick Foles. Mahomes couldn't do it, Russell Wilson couldn't, Donovan McNabb, Matt Ryan, the list goes on. If there is anyone else TO be able to do it, it's fricken Joe Burrow. This man plays with swagger that I've never seen before in the NFL. This quiet confidence that turns into borderline arrogance after a big win. He and his favorite target Ja'Marr Chase simply do not fear anyone. I think the Bucs will come into this big game ready to accomplish even more unprecedented feats with Brady and at the helm, and won't even be as scared as they should be of Burrow and his boys. This defense is weak they will say. Put some pressure on Burrow and it will be over they will say. Then the game will start, and the Bengals will do what they've been doing to opponents all year long, shocking them. The Bengals beat the Chiefs in a shootout, they should have beat the Packers if not for a missed field goal due to their rookie kicker, they swept the Ravens, the list goes on. They have beaten all of these elite teams and still get not credit. This run is where they will get their credit. Ja'Marr Chase will score the opening TD and they will never look back. I can see this being an amazing game, but the Bengals will find a way to win and shock Brady and the Bucs. Somehow, someway, the Bengals are going to win this Super Bowl, and I will say told ya so.
Final Score Prediction: Bengals 33, Buccaneers 28
Super Bowl MVP: Joe Burrow
(Trey Hendrickson & Ja'Marr Chase with strong considerations for the honor as well)
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