The 2017 National Football League Playoffs are underway, and will be extremely interesting to watch for the next month or so. To kick off the action, the Wild Card round begins on Saturday, January 7. There will be thrilling games that end in heartbreaking fashion for some teams, and blowout victories that will not even be worth a second look at. At the end of all the exciting action, one team will be crowned the champion of the league. Last year, the Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl to take home the Lombardi Trophy. In a very interesting and rare situation, neither of those teams will be playing in this year’s playoffs. This goes to show that anything can happen in this league full of talented teams and players.  With that said, the teams that managed to qualify for this year’s playoffs have all had unique seasons with their own obstacles to overcome, and some of the teams have had more success than others this season. There are two sides to the playoff bracket; the American Football Conference, or AFC, and the National Football Conference, or NFC. Six teams make the playoffs from each conference every year, and will surely battle it out for a Super Bowl birth. The AFC regular-season champion New England Patriots ended the season with the best record in the NFL at 14-2, but will not have an easy road to victory with the 12-4 Kansas City Chiefs and the 11-5 Pittsburgh Steelers also in their side of the bracket. In the AFC playoffs, we will see something that has not been seen often in NFL history – there are three teams who will be starting quarterbacks who were backups late in the regular season; Connor Cook of the Oakland Raiders, Brock Osweiler of the Houston Texans, and Matt Moore of the Miami Dolphins. All three quarterbacks have no playoff experience and will find it tough to succeed against some of the most experienced and season quarterbacks in the NFL, such as Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. On the other hand, the NFC is a completely different situation, with no real favorite to make it to the Super Bowl. The 13-3 Dallas Cowboys finished first in the conference, but with rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott at the helm of the offense, there has not been a lot of playoff experience for this Cowboys team. Another interesting team to watch is the 10-6 Green Bay Packers, who finished the season on a six-game winning streak. Altogether, the whole NFL season has come down to a twelve-team battle for one spot as the champion of the football world.

Here are my predictions for the 2017 NFL Playoffs, and for what teams will still be in the playoff hunt when February rolls around.

Wild Card Round (January 7-8)

12-4 Oakland Raiders at 9-7 Houston Texans
In this game between the Raiders and Texans, both teams are starting different quarterbacks than they planned to at the end of the regular season. With both Derek Carr and Tom Savage suffering injuries late in the season, the backup quarterbacks, Connor Cook and Brock Osweiler, will have to take control of the game in order to win the game for their team. The Raiders will miss Derek Carr during this game due to a broken leg, and the Texans will be able to squeak by and advance to the next round of the playoffs behind strong performances from Lamar Miller and the entire defense.

9-7 Detroit Lions at 10-5-1 Seattle Seahawks
The Lions enter this game on a three-game losing streak, but the Seahawks are without stud safety Earl Thomas for the rest of the season. The Lions passing attack is what has carried them to the playoffs, but unfortunately for them, they are still going against Richard Sherman and the “Legion of Boom” in Seattle. The “Legion of Boom” is the nickname for the Seahawks’ star-studded defense, which includes Sherman, Kam Chancellor, and Earl Thomas The Seahawks will win by a heavy margin and advance to face the Atlanta Flacons in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

10-6 Miami Dolphins at 11-5 Pittsburgh Steelers
The Dolphins are without starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill for this game, and the Steelers march into the playoffs on a five-game winning streak. Even though Miami running back Jay Ajayi scorched the Steelers defense for over 200 yards earlier in the season in a Miami win, expect the Steelers to win big at home behind the three B’s – Ben, Bell, and Brown. The core trio of the offense will put up a lot of points against the Miami defense, and backup quarterback Matt Moore will not be able to do the same against the Steelers defense. Steelers will advance in blowout fashion.

11-5 New York Giants at 10-6 Green Bay Packers
This is the game everyone will be waiting for this weekend. The Giants have been consistent throughout the season and have even been able to defeat the Dallas Cowboys twice in a season where they only lost three games. However, MVP candidate Aaron Rodgers leads the Packers into the playoffs as the winners of six straight games. In a very close matchup, the red-hot Packers will be able to stop two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning and the Giants, and will move on to face the Cowboys in the Divisional Round.

Divisional Round (January 14-15)

10-5-1 Seattle Seahawks at 11-5 Atlanta Falcons
In an enticing matchup between the Seahawks and Falcons, the Seahawks defense will be put to the test. Many refer to the Seahawks defense as the best in the league, but again, after losing safety Earl Thomas for the rest of the season due to an injury, there is uncertainty. The Falcons have an MVP candidate at quarterback in Matt Ryan, and with several other weapons on offense, are the highest scoring team in the NFL. The Seahawks defense will struggle to hold Ryan and the rest of the Falcons to less than thirty points, and the Falcons will advance to the NFC Championship game.

9-7 Houston Texans at 14-2 New England Patriots
It doesn’t take a genius to realize that Brock Osweiler has NO chance of defeating the Patriots. Osweiler was benched mid-season, and the Patriots own one of the best defenses in the entire NFL. The Patriots only lost two games the entire season, and one was with their third-string quarterback at the helm of the offense. The Patriots will destroy the Texans and advance to the AFC Championship for the sixth consecutive season.

11-5 Pittsburgh Steelers at 12-4 Kansas City Chiefs
The Steelers train rolls into Kansas City in what should be a very tough matchup for both teams. The Steelers’ Big Three on offense will go up against the stout Chiefs defense, and the Chiefs’ offense led by Alex Smith will have trouble against the secondary of the Steelers. The Steelers will be able to narrowly beat the Chiefs with a strong performance from superstar running back LeVeon Bell.

10-6 Green Bay Packers at 13-3 Dallas Cowboys
Again, the Packers find themselves in the most intriguing matchup of the round. The Packers will be on a huge winning streak, and the Cowboys have impressed all season with their amazing rookies in Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. The first place Cowboys will have their hands full with Aaron Rodgers, and will be unable to stop the Packers offense. Packers will narrowly advance.

Conference Championships (January 22)

11-5 Pittsburgh Steelers at 14-2 New England Patriots
Both the Steelers and Patriots roll into the AFC Championship hot. After upsetting the Chiefs in the Divisional Round, the Steelers travel to Foxborough to attempt to defeat the Patriots, who seem to be invincible at this point. Even without the best tight end in the NFL, Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots will cruise past the Steelers and advance to the Super Bowl, as Tom Brady will look for his fifth Super Bowl Ring.

10-6 Green Bay Packers at 11-5 Atlanta Falcons
Having ridden on the backs of MVP-candidate quarterbacks, the Packers and Falcons meet in the NFC Championship. Even though the Packers are the lower seed in this game, this game will not show that. It will be deadlocked until the very end of the game, and in my opinion, whichever team manages to have the final possession of the game will win the game. Both Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan have proven that they are capable of leading game winning-drives, and neither defense is close to as great as their offenses. The Falcons will win the game thanks to a multi-touchdown game from running back DaVonta Freeman.

Super Bowl (February 5)

14-2 New England Patriots vs. 11-5 Atlanta Falcons
Finally, we have reached the game everyone is looking forward to, Super Bowl LI. In terms of Super Bowl experience, these teams are the complete opposite of each other. The Patriots have played in the Super Bowl eight times in their history, winning it four times. The Falcons have only played in one Super Bowl, which they lost. In order for the Falcons to upset the favored Patriots, they must shut down Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. The Falcons offense will score points, but it will be up to the defense to step up and win the Falcons their first Super Bowl. The key to a Patriots win will be stopping Matt Ryan, and they will be able to do so due to the lack of Super Bowl experience for Ryan. The New England Patriots will be the champions of the 2016-2017 season and lift the Lombardi Trophy on February 5 in Houston.