It might sound crazy to try and predict the entire NFL playoff field after just one week of action, but we specialize in crazy.

Week 1 turned the NFL upside down, and you can mostly blame the two teams in Los Angeles for that. The Rams were the Super Bowl favorite going into the season, but right now, it's hard to  envision them even winning their division after they got blasted 27-7 by the 49ers in Australia. And then we have the Chargers. They usually wait until the playoffs to let their fan base down, but this year, they did it in Week 1 with a stunning 26-14 loss to the Cardinals. 

As if that's not enough, EVERY team in the NFC South is 0-1, making that possibly the most unpredictable division in the NFL this year. Actually, I take that back; nothing is unpredictable for us here, and that's because we have our resident analytics expert, Stephen Oh, who simulated the rest of the season to see how things will end up playing out. For those of you who are not familiar with Oh's work, let me just say this: If AI was human, it would be Oh. 

They say don't overreact to Week 1, but our simulation has run the numbers and reacted accordingly. With that in mind, let's get to the projections. 

Projected AFC playoff field

Before the season started, the Chiefs were kind of a question mark, but that's not the case anymore after their dominant 31-10 win over the Broncos on Monday night. Our projection model is now feeling confident that the AFC West will go through Kansas City this year. 

If this projection holds up, that means we'll have two new playoff teams in the AFC with the Bengals and Chiefs getting in. The biggest surprise here might be that the reigning AFC champion Patriots are projected to miss the postseason.  

Projected NFC playoff field

In the NFC, the computer has three teams in the NFC West making the playoffs. Before the season started, our computer surprisingly projected the Seahawks to win the NFC West over the Rams, which looks like a smart pick right now after the way Week 1 played out. Despite their ugly loss in Week 1, the Rams are still projected to make the playoffs, but just barely. Oh, and did I mention that we have a surprise winner coming out of the NFC South? Because we have a surprise winner coming out of the NFC South. 

  • 1. Seahawks (NFC West champion)
  • 2. Lions (NFC North champion)
  • 3. Eagles (NFC East champion)
  • 4. Falcons (NFC South champion)
  • 5. 49ers
  • 6. Bears
  • 7. Rams

It's almost impossible to predict who will win the NFC South, but the computer likes Atlanta. The Falcons lost to the Steelers 20-13 in Week 1, but it's a game they certainly could have won if they hadn't been forced to start a third-string QB and didn't miss two field goals. 

In the NFC North, the Bears' 59-point outburst wasn't enough to put them at the top of the division. The computer still thinks the Lions are in the driver's seat. 

Now that we know who's in the playoffs, let's see who's going to make it to Super Bowl LXI. 

Wild Card round

AFC

  • (2) Bills over (7) Broncos. The Broncos shocked the Bills in the playoffs last season, but that game was in Denver. With this game in Buffalo, there will be no miracle win for Denver.  
  • (3) Chiefs over (6) Texans. C.J. Stroud has struggled in the playoffs throughout his career, and those struggles will continue in Kansas City, according to our projection.
  • (4) Jaguars over (5) Bengals. Joe Burrow has never lost in the wild card round, but our simulation is telling me that the Jags would win this, and I'm not allowed to disagree. 

NFC

  • (2) Lions over (7) Rams. This would certainly be the most ironic way for the Rams' season to end. They got rid of Jared Goff in 2021 by trading him to Detroit, and if our simulation is right, Goff is going to get the last laugh by taking down the Super Bowl favorites in the opening round of the playoffs to end the Rams' dream of playing in another Super Bowl in Los Angeles. 
  • (3) Eagles over (6) Bears. The computer is really high on the Eagles after one week, and it's telling me that Philly would win this game, so I'm not going to argue. 
  • (5) 49ers over (4) Falcons. If you were thinking that the simulation was automatically going to be taking the better-seeded team in each game, then you were wrong. The computer likes the 49ers to take down the Falcons in Atlanta. 

And now, we're down to our final eight teams. 

Divisional round

AFC

  • (1) Ravens over (4) Jaguars. The computer loves the Ravens and has Baltimore rolling to a win here. 
  • (2) Bills over (3) Chiefs. Josh Allen has never beaten the Chiefs in the playoffs, but he finally gets the monkey off his back here. 

NFC

  • (1) Seahawks over (5) 49ers. These two teams met in the playoffs last year, with the Seahawks winning 41-6. This time around, the computer thinks the game will be closer, but it's still projecting a Seattle win. 
  • (2) Lions over (3) Eagles. The Lions made it all the way to the NFC title game in 2023, and the computer has them returning to the game after beating the Eagles here. 

Things are getting interesting. We're down to four teams, and two of them -- the Bills and Lions -- have never won a Super Bowl. 

Conference title games

AFC Championship

  • (1) Ravens over (2) Bills. With Patrick Mahomes eliminated, we get an absolute showdown in this game with Lamar Jackson facing Allen with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. Neither quarterback has ever made it to the Super Bowl, and according to our projection, the drought is finally going to end for Jackson. The Bills end up losing here because their defense can't stop Baltimore's offense. 

NFC Championship

  • (1) Seahawks over (2) Lions. For the second straight year, the NFC title game is played in Seattle, and for the second straight year, the Seahawks roll to a win. The Lions have never been to a Super Bowl before, and their hopes of finally getting to one are dashed at Lumen Field. 

If our projection is correct, we're going to be getting a battle of the birds in the Super Bowl. 

Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium

  • (1) Seahawks vs. (1) Ravens. The Ravens are going to ride their high-flying offense all the way to the Super Bowl, but in the big game, they get stuck facing the one guy who knows how to slow it down: Mike Macdonald. Before taking the Seahawks' coaching job, Macdonald spent five seasons with Jackson in Baltimore, including two as the Ravens' defensive coordinator, so he knows Jackson's strengths and weaknesses as well as anyone. This works in Seattle's favor with the Seahawks becoming the first NFC team in 31 years to win back-to-back Super Bowls. 

NOTE: The Seahawks have said that Sam Darnold's injury isn't serious, so the computer is assuming that Darnold will be out for a short period of time. If it turns into a longer absence, that could certainly change our projections. 

Add CBS Sports on Google