Well, here it is. This is how the entire 2015 NFL regular season and postseason will shake out in a couple months’ time. Here are the complete standings for all eight divisions, as well as their respective playoff matchups all the way to Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara. Basically, don’t bother watching the next five months of football.
But of course, you’ll still be sitting through hours of glorious football action, and here’s a complete TV schedule of the NFL this season to help with your viewing. Also, don’t forget to check out our complete picks for all 16 Week 1 games here.
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Complete 2015 NFL Regular Season and Playoff Predictions
NFC North
[sc:NFL240banner ]Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
As long as Aaron Rodgers is healthy, the Packers are winning the NFC North, and they’re big -240 favorites to do just that. The Vikings will have a much better offense in Year 2 under Teddy Bridgewater and the return of Adrian Peterson, but will come a somewhat distant second.
The Bears’ defense will take a step up under John Fox and Vic Fangio, but the Lions’ will take a significant step down without Ndamukong Suh.
NFC South
Atlanta Falcons
New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Carolina Panthers
The Falcons defense moves out of the NFL cellar with Dan Quinn, and complements a very solid offense. That combination should help Atlanta (+175) withstand the challenge of the Saints, who still have a lot of defensive problems of their own, for the division crown.
The Bucs will improve thanks to the competent quarterback play of Jameis Winston, but the Panthers’ offense takes a nosedive, no thanks to arguably the worst receiving corps in the league after the injury to Kelvin Benjamin.
NFC East
Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants
Washington Redskins
Chip Kelly works his magic on a revamped Eagles team priced at -150 to win the NFC East and leads them to a third-straight double-digit-win season. The Cowboys will feel the loss of DeMarco Murray a little more than anticipated and come up just short behind Philly.
The Giants get in a lot of exciting games – Odell Beckham Jr. will be prominently involved – but the defense will keep them from winning too many of those games. As for the Redskins, they find out quickly that Robert Griffin III was far from the only problem on the team.
NFC West
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams
Arizona Cardinals
San Francisco 49ers
The Seahawks are damn good, and with their new weapons on offense, they should run away with the division. The Cardinals and 49ers, their main competition for the past couple of years, both drop to the bottom half of the division standings after key offseason departures. That leaves the door open for the Rams and their potentially dominant defense to grab hold of second place.
AFC North
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers
Cleveland Browns
With their early-season suspensions, the injury to Maurkice Pouncey and the lack of sufficient improvement on defense, the defending champion Steelers take a significant step back.
The Ravens (+130) rise up to take their place in the standings on the strength of their superior line play, while the Bengals have enough weapons on offense to sneak in front of the Steelers. Finally, the Browns ride the Josh McCown/Johnny Manziel quarterback roller coaster ride all the way to the bottom of the North.
AFC South
Indianapolis Colts
Houston Texans
Tennessee Titans
Jacksonville Jaguars
It will be a failure of epic proportions if Andrew Luck and his loaded Colts team are upended by Brian Hoyer (Texans), a rookie Marcus Mariota (Titans) or Blake Bortles (Jags) for the division. It’s a race for second in the West, one that the Texans and their very solid defense should win in spite of Hoyer, not because of him.
The Titans and Jags will fight it out to avoid finishing last, and the edge in that race goes to Tennessee by virtue of having a more reliable QB in Mariota, even if he is just a rookie.
AFC East
New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins
Buffalo Bills
New York Jets
The AFC East would’ve been a lot more compelling had Tom Brady been suspended four games. But Brady’s back, which should basically secure yet another division title for the Pats. The Dolphins, who are sneakily priced at +400 to win the division, should make a strong challenge, though, after adding Suh to their defense.
The Bills and Jets have some outstanding defenses of their own, but their quarterback situations are too volatile to mount a realistic challenge at the top. The Bills’ defense is a little bit better, though, which gives them the slight edge to finish third.
Peyton Manning may not be the best QB in the league anymore, but he’s still good enough to lead the Broncos (-145), who will also be armed with a very strong running game and defense, to another division crown. Meanwhile, the Chargers make a serious playoff charge thanks to a revamped running game.
The Chiefs continue to be pretty good but not great, although that’s more than good enough to take third over the Raiders.
NFL Playoffs
Wild Card Round
NFC
(3) Philadelphia Eagles over (6) Minnesota Vikings
(5) Dallas Cowboys over (4) Atlanta Falcons
AFC
(3) Baltimore Ravens over (6) Miami Dolphins
(5) San Diego Chargers over (4) Denver Broncos
Divisional Round
NFC
(1) Seattle Seahawks over (5) Dallas Cowboys
(3) Philadelphia Eagles over (2) Green Bay Packers
AFC
(1) Indianapolis Colts over (5) San Diego Chargers
(3) Baltimore Ravens over (2) New England Patriots
Conference Championship Round
NFC – (1) Seattle Seahawks over (3) Philadelphia Eagles
AFC – (1) Indianapolis Colts over (3) Baltimore Ravens
Super Bowl 50
Seattle Seahawks over Indianapolis Colts
Writer’s Prediction
When it’s all said and done, Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks (+650) go to their third consecutive Super Bowl, where they beat Andrew Luck’s Colts to win their second Super Bowl in three years.
