The NFL regular season is almost here, so you know what that means: it’s prediction time.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been going through all 32 NFL teams and predicting every game on their schedule to get an idea of what the 2026 playoff picture could look like. Now that those are over with, it’s finally time to get to the good stuff and predict this year’s playoffs and Super Bowl champion.

If you want to see my full regular season predictions, you can click here. Otherwise, let’s waste no more time and get into my playoff predictions.

Wild Card Round

(2) Detroit Lions vs (7) Chicago Bears

Kicking off the Wild Card round is a NFC North showdown between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears.

Both of these teams have incredible offenses. Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs have led one of the best offenses in the league for the past four years, while Ben Johnson, the Lions’ former play caller, is now the head coach in Chicago and led them to a top-10 finish last season. Defensively, both sides have their weaknesses, but I do think both defenses got better this offseason.

This would be a very high-scoring playoff game, especially because it would be played in a dome in Detroit instead of outside in the Windy City. It would be a great way to kick off Wild Card weekend, but if I had to pick a winner it would be…

Winner: Detroit Lions

(3) Dallas Cowboys vs (6) Philadelphia Eagles

We have another intra-divisional showdown in the NFL, this time between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.

The Cowboys are back, baby. I’m not even a Dallas fan, but we can all agree they have one of the best offenses in football, and their defense, which was arguably the worst in the league last year, got a lot better with the addition of Caleb Downs, Rashan Gary, Malachi Lawrence, Jalen Thompson, Cobie Durant and others. If their defense is average – which I think it can be – they’ll be a playoff team in 2026.

As for the Eagles, they had a down year in 2025 and still won 12 games and made the playoffs. I do expect their offense to be better in 2026, and I don’t see their defense drastically falling off.

This would be a fun NFC East showdown. But I’m high on Dallas this year, so I’m picking them to advance to the Divisional Round.

Winner: Dallas Cowboys

(4) New Orleans Saints vs (5) Seattle Seahawks

For our final NFC matchup, I have the New Orleans Saints hosting the Seattle Seahawks, despite the fact that Seattle had three more wins than New Orleans in my predictions.

The Seahawks are clearly the better team in this game. They have a far better defense than the Saints, and I trust their offense more. But I do think New Orleans could make this one interesting. The Superdome is an incredibly tough place to play, and if Tyler Shough continues to improve, this offense has an incredibly high ceiling.

I do have Seattle winning this game. But the Saints could pull off an upset here if their season goes how I think it will.

Winner: Seattle Seahawks

(2) Buffalo Bills vs (7) Jacksonville Jaguars

Kicking off our AFC matchups is the Buffalo Bills vs the Jacksonville Jaguars – a rematch from last year’s Wild Card round that ended up with Buffalo winning by three.

Since that game, these two teams have gone in opposite directions. The Bills didn’t make many additions this offseason, but they are certainly a better team than they were last year. Meanwhile, the Jaguars lost two of their best players to free agency, didn’t make any impact signings, and had one of the worst draft classes.

The Jags are still a good team, but Buffalo wins this game pretty easily in my eyes.

Winner: Buffalo Bills

(3) Denver Broncos vs (6) Baltimore Ravens

The Denver Broncos repeat as AFC West champions, but they do not earn the 1-seed this year and instead host the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card round.

I’m high on both of these teams this year. The Broncos didn’t make too many changes, but they traded for Jaylen Waddle, adding some much-needed receiver help. Meanwhile, Baltimore brought in Jesse Minter as head coach and had what I thought was a very strong draft class.

I think Denver has a better structure in place, which is why I’m picking them in this game, but Baltimore’s ceiling might actually be higher. This would be a very entertaining Wild Card matchup.

Winner: Denver Broncos

(4) Cincinnati Bengals vs (5) New England Patriots

This would be the best game of the Wild Card round, in my opinion.

Offensively, you have two of the best quarterbacks in the league, Joe Burrow and Drake Maye, going head-to-head. But you also have a trio of very talented receivers – Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and A.J. Brown – and running backs – TreVeyon Henderson, Rhamondre Stevenson and Chase Brown.

Defensively, New England has already established itself as one of the best units in the league. And while I like what Cincinnati is building on that side of the ball, they’re a ways away from being on New England’s level.

As much as I love the Bengals and think they’ll have a strong regular season, this isn’t the best matchup for them in the Wild Card. So I think I have to go with the Super Bowl runner-ups.

Winner: New England Patriots

Divisional Round

(1) Los Angeles Rams vs (5) Seattle Seahawks

The battle of the NFC West. Last year, these two teams gave us three fantastic games, but I do think there’s a clear favorite this year.

The Los Angeles Rams are my pick for the No. 1 seed in the NFC for a reason. They were already a great team last year; they didn’t lose anyone this offseason and added Myles Garrett, Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson and others. If only they used their first-round pick on something other than a backup quarterback…

On the flip side, Seattle, who won the Super Bowl last year, lost a lot of key pieces this offseason, including Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, and didn’t do a great job of replacing them.

The Seahawks will be one of the NFL’s best teams, but they run into a buzzsaw in the Divisional Round.

Winner: Los Angeles Rams

(2) Detroit Lions vs (3) Dallas Cowboys

This would be a very, very fun matchup. Two of the best offenses in the NFL going head-to-head in the Divisional Round, and they’re in a dome? Sign me up.

Dak Prescott vs Jared Goff. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams vs CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. Javonte Williams vs Jahmyr Gibbs. Grab your popcorn, folks, because there will be a lot of points scored in this game.

Defensively, I don’t know who I would give the advantage to. I think both sides have a solid defense, but neither of them is anything special.

This is an extremely tough game to pick, but Dallas has a history of choking in the playoffs, and Detroit is at home. So I’m going with the Lions, but it could go either way.

Winner: Detroit Lions

(1) Houston Texans vs (5) New England Patriots

The Houston Texans have some offensive concerns, specifically at quarterback, but their defense is so damn good that I don’t think it really matters. If they can average 20 points per game on offense – they averaged 23.7 last year – they’ll comfortably make the playoffs.

As much as I like the Patriots and the additions they made this offseason, the Texans are “my team” for this year. C.J. Stroud has fallen off, but with an improved offensive line and run game, they should be able to take some pressure off of his shoulders, so I expect him to get closer to the level he played at as a rookie.

The Patriots won this matchup last year to advance to the AFC Championship, but this year, I think Houston pulls it off and gets to their first conference championship in franchise history.

Winner: Houston Texans

(2) Buffalo Bills vs (3) Denver Broncos

We have another rematch from last year’s Divisional Round, but like with the first one, I think it flips. Buffalo had to go to Denver last year, where they lost an overtime thriller. But this year, I think Bo Nix and Co. make the trip to Buffalo’s new stadium with a trip to the AFC Championship on the line.

I trust Buffalo’s offense a lot more than I trust Denver’s, but I also trust Denver’s defense a lot more than I trust Buffalo’s. But when it gets to January, and it’s win-or-go-home, I put a lot of stock into who you have under center, and I believe in Josh Allen more than Bo Nix.

You can argue that Allen lost them the game last year. But if it weren’t for a very controversial interception call, I think he ends up winning that game in overtime.

Winner: Buffalo Bills

Conference Championships

(1) Los Angeles Rams vs (2) Detroit Lions

Is it extremely boring to have the 1 and 2-seed in the conference championship? Yes. But these are preseason predictions, and they were my 1 and 2-seed for a reason.

A Rams vs Lions NFC Championship would be so much fun. These two teams made one of the most even trades of all time a few years ago when the Rams traded for Matthew Stafford, giving up Jared Goff and a handful of picks that turned into Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta. The Rams have been able to convert the trade into a Super Bowl, and while Detroit hasn’t, they’ve turned this franchise from a dumpster fire to one of the best in the NFC.

Unfortunately, as much as I’d love to see Detroit in the Super Bowl, the Rams are just too good to pick against. Their offense is top-three in the league, and their defense, which was already great, added two All-Pros this offseason. It’s just impossible to pick against them.

At least for now…

Winner: Los Angeles Rams

(1) Houston Texans vs (2) Buffalo Bills

Another 1-2 matchup, but again, these are preseason predictions, and there’s a reason I had them as my 1 and 2-seeds in the AFC.

As much as I love Josh Allen and this Buffalo offense, we saw what Houston’s defense did to them last year. Houston held Buffalo to 19 points, picked Josh Allen off twice, and sacked him eight times. And the Texans are only better and more experienced this year.

I’m not saying they’ll do that again, but they’re more than capable of holding an offense like Buffalo under 20 points.

As I said earlier, Houston is “my team” for this year, and I’m not betting against them now. Houston gets to the Super Bowl for the first time ever.

Winner: Houston Texans

Super Bowl

(1) Los Angeles Rams vs (1) Houston Texans

Everybody and their mother are picking the Rams to win the Super Bowl this year, and I probably should too, but I’m going to be different and pick the Texans to win it all.

I just trust this defense too much. They have the best pass rush in football with Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter – one that should only get better with the addition of Kayden McDonald in the middle. They have a great linebacking core with Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To’oto’o. And they have one of the best secondaries in the sport, headlined by two-time All-Pro Derek Stingley. I’m not sure even Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua and Davante Adams can do a whole lot of damage against this unit.

The big question for Houston is obviously the offense. But I’m counting on Stroud having a bounce-back year and earning that big second contract he’s looking for.

Winner: Houston Texans