The first predictions, early lines, and quick analysis on all of the 2021 NFL playoff games.
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
The NFL has made its way through, it expanded to include everyone who can throw a football and chew gum at the same time, and now comes the payoff with one-and-done games that ramp the intensity up a few levels.
Who’s going to win, how will the bracket go, and who’ll win the Super Bowl?
As we do this for the college side, we go with the first-guess picks and then work from there. Like they tell you in third grade, always go with your first answer. I don’t look at the lines, guess at what they are, and then add them at the end.
2021 NFL Playoffs Wild Card Round: Saturday
7 Indianapolis Colts at 2 Buffalo Bills
Saturday, January 9
CBS, 1:05 pm
Bills Stadium, Orchard Park, NY
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: The Colt lines are just good enough be a bother throughout. The great offensive front should be able to pound through the Bill defensive front, and on the other side, now the pressure is on. Josh Allen and the Bills are supposed to win. They’re supposed to keep this fun going. And they will, but it’ll be a bit of a grind until the Colt offense stalls in the fourth quarter and Buffalo finally pulls away.
Knee-Jerk No Research Prediction: Buffalo 30, Indianapolis 20
Early Line No-Look Guess: Buffalo -6.5
Actual BetMGM Line: Buffalo -6.5, o/u: 52.5
6 Los Angeles Rams at 3 Seattle Seahawks
Saturday, January 9
FOX, 4:40 pm
Lumen Field, Seattle, WA
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: Is Jared Goff able to go? How healthy is the rest of the Ram offense? It won’t matter – the defense will pick up the slack. This is a flaky LA team that could just as easily get blown out from jump as it could roll through with a stunning run. Seattle’s defense that’s had so many issues this year will get exposed further.
Knee-Jerk No Research Prediction: Los Angeles Rams 26, Seattle 23
Early Line No Look Guess: Seattle -4.5
Actual BetMGM Line: Seattle -4.5, o/u: 42
5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 4 Washington Football Team
Saturday, January 9
NBC, 8:15 pm
FedEx Field, Landover, MD
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: BE … CAREFUL. Everyone will mock, ridicule, and laugh at a 7-9 team being in the playoffs, but this defense is the real deal. Weather will matter a bit for the guys from Tampa, but the bigger problem will be Chase Young and a pass rush that will disrupt Tom Brady – the first time in weeks anyone will do that – and make this a fight. However, the Football Team offense will stall and make just enough mistakes to not pull this off, but the Buccaneers will get pushed.
Knee-Jerk No Research Prediction: Tampa Bay 23, Washington 16
Early Line No Look Guess: Tampa Bay -6.5
Actual BetMGM Line: Tampa Bay -7.5, o/u: 46.5
NFL Playoff First Thought Predictions
– Wild Card: Sunday
– Divisional Round: NFC
– Divisional Round: AFC
– Conference Championships, Super Bowl
NEXT: 2021 NFL Playoffs Wild Card Round: Sunday
2021 NFL Playoffs Wild Card Round: Sunday
5 Baltimore Ravens at 4 Tennessee Titans
Sunday, January 10
1:05, ESPN/ABC
Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: Always go with your first answer … the Titans are going to get bounced out of this in a hurry. The Ravens are playing well, Lamar Jackson will want redemption for last year’s disappointing playoff, and the running game will roll against a Tennessee defense that will get ripped to shreds. Derrick Henry will get rolling early, but will be held in check late. This will be Lamar’s game.
Knee-Jerk No Research Prediction: Baltimore 34, Tennessee 23
Early Line No Look Guess: Tennessee -2
Actual BetMGM Line: Baltimore -3.5, o/u: 54.5
7 Chicago Bears at 2 Pittsburgh Steelers
Sunday, January 10
4:40 CBS
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: Chicago is going to be the fun and hip pick. Its defense is fine, but how healthy is Roquan Smith? The running game is starting to rock, but do you really trust Mitchell Trubisky in a game like this? A lot will be made out of New Orleans’ health – can Alvin Kamara even go? It won’t matter – the Saint defense will make sure of that. Keep in mind that during this Bear run of success before the Green Bay loss, it all came against bad teams.
Knee-Jerk No Research Prediction: New Orleans 34, Chicago 17
Early Line No Look Guess: New Orleans -8.5
Actual BetMGM Line: New Orleans -9.5, o/u: 48
6 Cleveland Browns at 3 Pittsburgh Steelers
Sunday, January 10
8:15 NBC
Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: Very, very nervous that Pittsburgh is one of those teams that just needed to get to this point, and then the machine turns on. The offense will still have issues, but that defense has the ability rise up and take out anyone in the tournament. It’s not happening here.
The Steeler offense will come out blazing with a great first drive, and that will be about it. Cleveland will get a good enough ground game to take the pressure off of Baker Mayfield, and the lack of any Steeler running attack will be the deathblow.
Knee-Jerk No Research Prediction: Cleveland 27, Pittsburgh 24
Early Line No Look Guess: Pittsburgh -5
Actual BetMGM Line: Pittsburgh -3.5
Okay, so now for the weirder part – the rest of the 2021 NFL Playoff bracket.
Again, this is a first-thought guess before diving into the hard analysis on each one, but … this is correct. These are the right answers.
NFL Playoff First Thought Predictions
– Wild Card: Saturday
– Divisional Round: NFC
– Divisional Round: AFC
– Conference Championships, Super Bowl
NEXT: 2021 NFL Playoffs Divisional Round Early Predictions
2021 NFL Playoffs Divisional Round Early Predictions: NFC
All of these matchups are based on early, first-guess picks from the wild-card round. Again, these are predictions and projections and not the set matchups.
5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 1 Green Bay Packers
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: Tampa Bay will survive the first round at Washington, but it won’t be able to rise up in Green Bay like it did back in Florida earlier in the season in the dominant 38-10 performance. The rest will do wonders for a Packer team that will look and play like it’s shot out of a cannon. It’ll be a bit of a shootout for a bit, but the Green Bay offense will keep going when the Bucs stall.
Knee-Jerk No Research Prediction: Green Bay 36, Tampa Bay 24
Early Line Guess (if this matchup happens): Green Bay -5.5
6 Los Angeles Rams at 2 New Orleans Saints
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: The Ram offense that will shock its way through a win at Seattle stalls in the next round in New Orleans against a team that will had a weeeeeeee bit of a motivational thing happening after the missed pass interference call in the 2018 NFC Championship. There won’t be any issues this time around as the Saints dominated for the second straight playoff game.
Knee-Jerk No Research Prediction: New Orleans 34, Los Angeles 16
Early Line Guess (if this matchup happens): New Orleans -5.5
NEXT: 2021 NFL Playoffs Divisional Round Early Predictions: AFC
2021 NFL Playoffs Divisional Round Early Predictions: AFC
5 Baltimore Ravens at 1 Kansas City Chiefs
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: Baltimore will pull off an impressive first win over Tennessee and then give Kansas City all it can handle. The Chiefs weren’t exactly humming into the big break, and it’ll take just a little bit to get going in a tight first half. But essentially getting two weeks off will shine through as the fresher team is just a wee bit sharper in the second half.
Knee-Jerk No Research Prediction: Kansas City 30, Baltimore 23
Early Line Guess (if this matchup happens): Kansas City -7.5
6 Cleveland Browns at 2 Buffalo Bills
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: The Browns will get through a good first round win over Pittsburgh, but then team will stall. Buffalo won’t be sharp, and Josh Allen will struggle a bit in the lousy weather game, but the defense will stall the Brown running game and Baker Mayfield will have just as many issues as Allen. It won’t be anything pretty, but the Bills will be on to the AFC Conference Championship.
Knee-Jerk No Research Prediction: Buffalo 20, Cleveland 17
Early Line Guess (if this matchup happens): Buffalo -5.5
NEXT: 2021 NFL Playoffs Conference Championship Early Predictions
2021 NFL Playoffs Conference Championship Early Predictions
AFC: 2 Buffalo Bills at 1 Kansas City Chiefs
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: This is where Kansas City steps on the gas. After a bit of an uneven win over Baltimore in the Divisional Round, the Chiefs will rip through the Bills as Patrick Mahomes gets out to a hot start that doesn’t stop. Josh Allen will throw for 400 yards with enough scoring drives to make KC keep trying, but the Chief machine will look and play like the defending Super Bowl champs on the way into a chance to repeat.
Knee-Jerk No Research Prediction: Kansas City 41, Buffalo 30
Early Line Guess (if this matchup happens): Kansas City -8.5
NFC: 2 New Orleans Saints at 1 Green Bay Packers
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: The Packers got the Saints 37-30 back in Week 3, and it’ll be another fantastic game, but not in the same way. The 37 points were the most allowed all year by New Orleans, but this time around the secondary will be far stronger, the offense will control the clock enough to matter, and it’ll be a gripping back-and-forth game with a whole slew of missed opportunities.
The Saints will go up late, but Aaron Rodgers will come through with a scoring drive in the final 90 seconds on a fastball to Allen Lazard in the back of the end zone to win it.
Knee-Jerk No Research Prediction: Green Bay 27, New Orleans 23
Early Line Guess (if this matchup happens): Green Bay -3.5
2021 NFL Playoffs Super Bowl Early Prediction
1 Kansas City Chiefs vs. 1 Green Bay Packers
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: It’s going to be the game that makes the NFL revisit its changed up playoff format. The two 1 seeds will get here not just because they’re fantastic, and not just because they had a home field advantage throughout, but because they’ll each get a 2 seed that would normally have one fewer game and will feel it in the conference championship.
And then that will all get blown off as Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers keep trading huge shots and game of wild momentum swings and big plays. However, midway though the second half, Green Bay will turn to the power.
The Packers will run well, and KC won’t. The combination of Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams will start grinding the clock and keep Mahomes on the sidelines, and that will be just enough as the Packers hold on with a huge late stops, and then run well enough to get the win and Rodgers his second Super Bowl.
Knee-Jerk No Research Prediction: Green Bay 34, Kansas City 31
Early Line Guess (if this matchup happens): Kansas City -3
NFL Playoff First Thought Predictions
– Wild Card: Saturday
– Wild Card: Sunday
– Divisional Round: NFC
– Divisional Round: AFC
