Just like that, the 2021 NFL season is in the books. Seventeen weeks and 256 regular-season games later, we can (finally) look ahead to what should be an exhilarating postseason.

1. 7, 2021 Updated Jan. 14, 2021 View our predictions for the NFL Playoffs divisional round. The N.F.L. Got through all 256 games, no matter how tenuous, completing the regular season.
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3. The expanded 2021 NFL playoffs have reached the point we’re all accustomed to. Despite last week’s SUPER Wild Card weekend, we are back to our normal eight-team field for the divisional round.

This year’s playoff field looks a little different than you might be used to. We’ve got an extra Wild Card team in each conference, expanding the field to 14 teams. And this year, only one team in each conference will receive a first-round bye. You know what that means? We’re getting SIX games for Wild Card weekend.

Here’s a look at the bracket…

And the TV schedule for the Wild Card games…

SATURDAY

Re: 2021 NFL Playoff predictions Posted by Arthur Bach on 1/3/21 at 11:37 pm to Allthatfades All point spreads, dates, and times are updated now. If y’all are interested, love to keep the dialogue going this week.

1:05 EST: Colts @ Bills (CBS)
4:40 EST: Rams @ Seahawks (FOX)
8:15 EST: Buccaneers @ NFC East Winner

SUNDAY

1:05 EST: Ravens @ Titans (ABC/ESPN)
4:40 EST: Bears @ Saints (CBS)
8:15 EST: Browns @ Steelers (NBC)

Now, what would a playoff bracket be without some predictions? To get an idea of how things might shake out this month, we’ve called on our resident NFL experts Charles McDonald and Steven Ruiz to make their picks for each and every playoff game. Let’s take a look…

WILD CARD ROUND

Steven: The Seahawks offense has looked broken for going on two months now, and Sean McVay will have adjustments to the adjustments we saw from Seattle’s defense when these teams played in Week 16. And Jared Goff, if he’s healthy, can’t play that poorly again, right?

Ravens-Titans and Steelers-Browns were the only other games that gave me pause. I chose the Ravens because their offense has finally figured things out and should be able to run at will on that struggling Titans defense. I picked the Steelers because (1) they’re the better team, and (2) they almost beat the Browns without Ben Roethlisberger or T.J. Watt.

Charles: I went with the Saints over the Bears for obvious reasons. Come on now, Mitch Trubisky ain’t getting past that defense. Same goes for Washington against Tampa Bay.

The most interesting games to me are Ravens-Titans and Steelers-Browns. I chose the Ravens because they seem to be hitting their stride. The offense is more organized, Lamar Jackson is playing beautiful football right now and the defense is still rock solid. Shutting down Derrick Henry and the Titans offense will be tough as hell, but the Ravens have the talent and coaching to slow them down. I went with the Browns over the Steelers because Ben Roethlisberger has turned into a shell of himself recently, but I’m a bit wary because the Browns let a Mason Rudolph and Josh Dobbs-led offense hang around until the final minute of the game. The Seahawks over the Rams was a tough pick, so I sided with the better quarterback.

DIVISIONAL ROUND

Steven: I may have picked the Steelers, but I’m rooting for the Browns so we can get a Bills-Ravens matchup while the Steelers are sacrificed to the Chiefs. Alas. This way, we’re stuck with two rematches of blowouts we saw during the regular season on the AFC side. I don’t see any reason why those results would change.

On the NFC side, I didn’t even hesitate to take the Saints and Packers. New Orleans is just an awful matchup for Tampa Bay (on both sides of the ball) because it is one of the few teams that can match the Bucs’ talent. The Rams are just too flawed (at one position in particular) for me to trust them on the road against Aaron Rodgers.

Charles: Bills-Ravens is the potential game I’m most looking forward to this postseason. This is a much better version of Josh Allen than the one the Ravens faced last season and that’s part of the reason why I’m picking them to advance to the AFC Championship game. I think the Chiefs would buzzsaw the Browns. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt can keep the Browns in the game for the majority of it, but at some point they would need Baker Mayfield to go throw-for-throw with Patrick Mahomes. Hard pass.

On the NFC side, I think the Packers have enough firepower to beat a Buccaneers defense that’s been a bit shaky lately. Rolling with the Saints over the Seahawks because Dennis Allen will have the Saints defense ready for whatever Brian Schottenheimer and the Seahawks offense throw at them.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Steven: I’m a coward and went with chalk picks to make Championship Sunday. I’ve also been talking about how costly losing home-field advantage would be for the Saints and their 40-something quarterback, and yet here I am picking that 40-something quarterback to out-duel Rodgers on a freezing cold Lambeau Field. I do think the Saints could run at will on that Packers defense and the Saints have a defense capable of at least keeping Davante Adams in check, putting the play-making onus all on Rodgers. Anyway, if I picked Green Bay, I’d have the same Super Bowl pick as Charles and that’s boring.

Charles: I’m even more of a coward and picked both No. 1 seeds to make the Super Bowl. It’s not a very imaginative pick, but these are probably the two best teams in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes have been unbelievable this season and their play combined with the structure of their offenses makes their teams safe bets to make it to the Super Bowl. Like Steven said, the Saints can make things interesting if Alvin Kamara, Latavius Murray, and Taysom Hill turn into monsters on the ground, but keeping up with Rodgers will still prove difficult.

SUPER BOWL LV

Steven: I’ve spent the whole season arguing that it’s a one-team league. I’m not going to change my take now. Kansas City’s many close calls over the last two months would scare me a lot more if we hadn’t already seen this team win a Super Bowl. I’m fully convinced they’re bored and have been on cruise control all season. When these teams played last month, the Saints defense did defend the Chiefs as well as anyone could have reasonably expected and … it just didn’t matter. Mahomes was too good. I don’t know if New Orleans can replicate that performance, so this one could end up a blowout.

My 2021 Nfl Playoff Predictions

Charles: The Chiefs are a good football team. They have the best player in the sport. That’s all the reasoning I need.

And then there were eight.

The expanded 2021 NFL playoffs have reached the point we’re all accustomed to. Despite last week’s SUPER Wild Card weekend, we are back to our normal eight-team field for the divisional round. Between the Rams, Packers, Ravens, Bills, Saints, Buccaneers, Chiefs and Browns, one of those teams will be walking away from the season with the Lombardi Trophy.

And while there certainly are some favorites among this group, it does feel like the league has properly separated the wheat from the chaff. All eight of these teams should be considered serious contenders for the crowns, and that’s made all the more clear by our picks this week.

2021 Nfl Playoff Predictions Espn

There is no 100 percent consensus among our staff for any of the four games on this weekend’s docket. The closest we got was all but one of our employees picking the Chiefs over the Browns, and all but two picking the Packers over the Rams. As far as the other two go, it’s clearly a toss-up. The Bills-Ravens game should be an entertaining one between an AFC team that’s accustomed to games like this and a team that is looking to make its first deep playoff run in decades. As for Bucs-Saints, who doesn’t love a big divisional playoff game? The Saints destroyed the Bucs twice in the regular season, but Tamps is playing well and playoff Tom Brady is another beast.

Here’s a look at our picks for Divisional Round weekend. You can also see our picks against the spread and our over/under picks by clicking on the tabs above everyone’s name.