We finally made it through 17 weeks of regular season football to get to the playoffs! This year’s playoffs are expected to be an exciting one, with lots of interesting matchups and even a Wild Card game airing on Nickelodeon! Uncle Joe has now created his playoff bracket for 2020 NFL Season:
Let’s break it down, starting on the AFC side:
AFC Wild Card
Kansas City gets the bye.
Indianapolis Colts vs. Buffalo Bills
The Colts have had a pretty decent season, but a Week 16 stumble against an under-performing Pittsburgh Steelers is a tell-tale sign of what we can expect from the Colts in the postseason. Uncle Joe thinks that the Colts are no match for Buffalo’s talented roster.
Projected Winner: Buffalo Bills
Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
The two teams will be facing each other in a Week 17 re-match that is bound to be a close game. Uncle Joe is perhaps a bit biased (he’s a Steelers fan after all) but he thinks the Steelers can pull off the victory at home against the Browns. After all, the fact that Pittsburgh rested all their starters last week and only managed to lose by 2 points is a very encouraging sign as to how this game will likely unfold, especially with a few coaches & players who won’t be making the trip to Pittsburgh due to positive COVID tests.
Projected Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers
Baltimore Ravens vs. Tennessee Titans
Last year, the Tennessee Titans stunned the NFL world when they managed to beat the seemingly unstoppable Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round. This year, the Baltimore Ravens are not the scary team they used to be as most coaches have had enough time to study their film and figure out Lamar Jackson. Uncle Joe is fairly confident that the Titans will once again prevail over Baltimore.
Projected Winner: Tennessee Titans
AFC Divisional Round
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tennessee Titans
Kansas City is once again a very strong playoff team and the Titans are simply no match, even with Derrick Henry on their team. Expect the Titans defense to give up lots of points to Patrick Mahomes.
Projected Winner: Kansas City Chiefs
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Buffalo Bills
The Steelers may be on a rebound heading into the postseason, but as much as it hurts for Uncle Joe to admit it, he expects Pittsburgh to come up short against the Bills. Pittsburgh has never been able to recover from all the injuries to their defense, and it showed during their Week 14 loss as the Bills who managed to exploit this weakness in spectacular fashion. Sorry, Pittsburgh. You won’t be making it up the Stairway to Seven this year. Maybe next year.
Projected Winner: Buffalo Bills
AFC Championship
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills
Uncle Joe is predicting an upset win at Arrowhead Stadium as he believes the Buffalo Bills have enough weapons to keep Patrick Mahomes on his toes. If there’s any team that has a good chance of beating the Chiefs, Buffalo would be the team to do it.
Projected Winner: Buffalo Bills
NFC Wild Card
Green Bay gets the bye.
Chicago Bears vs. New Orleans Saints
This game will likely be the most watched wild card game in TV history, not necessarily because of the teams that are playing, but because the game will be broadcasted on Nickelodeon with kid-friendly graphics, green slime, and appearances from SpongeBob. As entertaining as this will be, unless Nick Foles comes off the bench to generate some postseason magic, Uncle Joe fully expects the New Orleans Saints to easily take care of the Chicago Bears.
Projected Winner: New Orleans Saints
Los Angeles Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks
The Rams are a weird team. They’re either very good or very bad depending on what week it is, not to mention being the team that was responsible an upset loss in Week 15 that gave the Jets their first win of the season. This lack of consistency doesn’t exactly bode well for the Rams heading into the postseason, but crazier things have happened. It’s really 50/50, but Uncle Joe thinks the Seahawks can squeak by with a win.
Projected Winner: Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Washington Football Team
This is pretty much a no-brainer: Tom Brady versus a team that finished 7-9? Washington may have stunned the NFL in Week 13 when they beat the previously undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers, but it would take a miracle for Washington to win their first playoff game since 2005 against the likes of Tom Brady. As funny as it would be to see Tom Brady lose a playoff game to a 7-9 team, Uncle Joe fully expects Tampa Bay to easily overpower the Washington Football Team. At least Washington gets the consolation prize of getting to see Alex Smith in the playoffs with a guaranteed lock on the Comeback Player of the Year award. For Washington fans, that’s almost just as good as a Lombardi trophy.
Projected Winner: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
NFC Divisional Round
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Green Bay Packers
Green Bay is good this year. Like really good. But as we found out in Week 6, Tom Brady showed the Packers who the real GOAT is when the Buccaneers demolished the Packers in a 38-10 loss that saw Green Bay score no points in 3 quarters. Green Bay might do a little better this time around after resting their starters, but unless another snowstorm hits Lambeau Field, it won’t be enough to overcome Tampa Bay.
Projected Winner: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Seattle Seahawks vs. New Orleans Saints
The Seattle Seahawks haven’t been the most consistent team this year, and while they might get lucky against the equally inconsistent Rams, their luck will run out when they face Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara, and the rest of the talented roster in New Orleans. The Seahawks might make it a close game, but Uncle Joe expects they’ll be flying home with a loss and the Saints to go marching to the NFC Championship.
Projected Winner: New Orleans Saints
NFC Championship
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints
If there’s one thing that can stop Tom Brady from getting another ring, it’s Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. These divisional foes easily swept the Buccs in Week 1 & Week 9; holding the Buccs to just 3 points in the latter contest. If these two teams face eachother in the NFC Championship, Uncle Joe predicts that Drew Brees will have another shot at getting a ring.
Projected Winner: New Orleans Saints
The Big Game
New Orleans Saints vs. Buffalo Bills
If these two teams face eachother in the big game, it’s going to be a very competitive game. Both teams have what it takes to earn a Lombardi and the stakes couldn’t be higher: For New Orleans, it’s most likely Drew Brees’ last shot to retire on top, and for the Bills, they are eager to shake the reputation of their prior big game appearances and take home the Lombardi for the first time in franchise history. This is a tough one to call, but Uncle Joe has settled on the Buffalo Bills to prevailing and likely returning home to one of the wildest post-championship celebrations in NFL history.
Projected Winner: Buffalo Bills
Correction: An earlier version of this blog post showed the incorrect matchups in the divisional round of the playoffs. Brackets & analysis have been updated accordingly. We apologize for this error.
Just for fun, we've also included some playoff brackets from a couple of Uncle Joe's co-workers in the marketing department:
1) Kyle's Bracket:
2) Ryan's Bracket: