2016 NFL Predictions: Picking All The Playoff Teams
By Erik Lambert
NFC West: Seattle Seahawks
To paraphrase Forrest Gump, the Seattle Seahawks are like a box of chocolates. You never knows what you’re going to get from week to week. One week they look like the team that went to back-to-back Super Bowls in 2013 and 2014. The next they’re getting embarrassed by a supposedly inferior opponent. Nevertheless they still have a great defense and the ever clutch Russell Wilson. Odds are they will figure it out.
NFC North: Detroit Lions
This was a tough decision only because the Detroit Lions have a long history of disappointing expectations. Besides that all their wins this season have been decided by a touchdown or less. That’s not a big margin for error especially with Minnesota and Green Bay lurking in the background. Still, they have Matthew Stafford who is playing the best football of his career and a plucky defense that comes up with enough plays to win.
NFC South: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Normally in December it’s the teams that are playing the best defense that emerge from the smoke victorious. In the NFC South that has been the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They haven’t surrendered more than 17 points in a game for a month now and just got done humbling the Seahawks. Coupled with the rising play of Jameis Winston and Mike Evans, this is a team that is poised to surge their first division title since 2008.
NFC East: Dallas Cowboys
It’s not quite in the bag yet but no team in the NFL is playing better right now than the Dallas Cowboys. Every phase of the game is clicking. It doesn’t look like they’re ready to cool off. The only team that can stop them from winning the NFC East is the Giants who have the only victory against Dallas this year. Given the way their offense is playing though, it’s hard to imagine this team wilting down the stretch.