NFL Predictions 2022

 Standings

AFC

East
1. Buffalo Bills
2. Miami Dolphins
3. New York Jets
4. New England Patriots

North
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
2. Baltimore Ravens*
3. Cincinnati Bengals
4. Cleveland Browns

South
1. Indianapolis Colts
2. Tennessee Titans*
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
4. Houston Texans

West
1. Denver Broncos
2. Las Vegas Raiders*
3. Kansas City Chiefs
4. Los Angeles Chargers

NFC

East
1. Washington Commanders
2. Dallas Cowboys
3. New York Giants
4. Philadelphia Eagles

North
1. Green Bay Packers
2. Minnesota Vikings*
3. Detroit Lions
4. Chicago Bears

South
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2. New Orleans Saints*
3. Atlanta Falcons
4. Carolina Panthers

West
1. Los Angeles Rams
2. Arizona Cardinals*
3. San Francisco 49ers
4. Seattle Seahawks

* = wildcard

Playoffs

AFC

Wildcard Playoffs
Denver Broncos over Baltimore Ravens
Las Vegas Raiders over Pittsburgh Steelers
Tennessee Titans over Buffalo Bills

Divisional Playoffs
Indianapolis Colts over Las Vegas Raiders
Tennessee Titans over Denver Broncos

Conference Playoffs
Indianapolis Colts over Tennessee Titans

NFC

Wildcard Playoffs
Green Bay Packers over Arizona Cardinals
Los Angeles Rams over New Orleans Saints
Minnesota Vikings over Washington Commanders

Divisional Playoffs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers over Minnesota Vikings
Green Bay Packers over Los Angeles Rams

Conference Playoffs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers over Green Bay Packers

SUPER BOWL LVII

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 28, Indianapolis Colts - 3

Why the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs the Indianapolis Colts for Super Bowl LVII?

When Tom Brady initially announced his retirement in February 2022, it looked like an era had come to an end, and it was time for another young quarterback to take a shot at becoming the next G.O.A.T., or the next greatest-of-all-time. Then, in March 2022, Tom Brady came out of retirement, and those dreams for young quarterbacks came to end. Nobody knows for sure what caused Tom Brady to come out of retirement. It could simply be the fact that he learned that the Buccaneers swapped out Bruce Arians for head coach and swapped in Todd Bowles for head coach because rumor has it Arians and Brady did not get along too well last year. I like to believe, however, Tom Brady saw something in the actual players of the team that made him believe the Buccaneers really had a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl. Despite losing Rob Gronkowski, Tom still has a serious receiving core with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and the late addition of Julio Jones will fill in perfectly for Gronkowski's absence. Leonard Fornette's rushing game will distract from passing game. While the Buccaneers defense does not hold up as well as their Super Bowl winning defense of 2 years ago, that won't be too much of a problem, as the offense can win any shootout, as long as enough time remains. Meanwhile, Indianapolis Colts have a strong possibility of making a serious run to the Super Bowl. Last year, the Indianapolis Colts starting running back Jonathan Taylor had a monster year, leading the league in rushing attempts, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. The only problem, however, is that Indianapolis did not have a passing game to distract from the rushing game. Carson Wentz was mediocre as the starting quarterback, which in turn made the Colts heavily rely on Jonathan Taylor's rushing game, perhaps too much. Indianapolis decided to swap out former Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz in order to swap in former Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. There's a good reason Matt Ryan has the nickname Matty Ice. Matt Ryan can give the Colts a passing game that will distract from Jonathan Taylor's rushing, which will allow Taylor to run wild (no pun intended). Ironically, the only AFC that could rival them is fellow AFC South rival Tennessee Titans with Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry pulling the same dynamic duo. Just like the Buccaneers, the Colts may need to rely on shootouts to win, but a win is a win, nonetheless. That philosophy will run out by the Super Bowl. During the Super Bowl, on the Colts opening drive, they will score a field goal, and that will be the only score the whole game. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers will score a touchdown every quarter: 3 passing touchdowns from Tom Brady and 1 rushing touchdown from Leonard Fornette. The Buccaneers will win the Super Bowl over the Colts, 28-3, and yes, I did choose that score so Brady can haunt Ryan with that score one more time. Tom Brady wins his 8th Super Bowl championship and 6th Super Bowl MVP.

NFL Honors

MVP: Jonathan Taylor (Colts)
Offensive Player of the Year: Cooper Kupp (Rams)
Defensive Play of the Year: J.J. Watt (Cardinals)
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Ikem Ekwonu (Panthers)
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Travon Walker (Jaguars)
Comeback Player of the Year: Christian McCaffrey (Panthers)
Coach of the Year: Todd Bowles (Buccaneers)

League Leaders

Passing Leaders
1. Aaron Rodgers (Packers)
2. Lamar Jackson (Ravens)
3. Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs)
4. Tom Brady (Buccaneers)
5. Matt Ryan (Colts)

Rushing Leaders
1. Jonathan Taylor (Colts)
2. Derrick Henry (Titans)
3. Ezekiel Elliot (Cowboys)
4. Kareem Hunt (Browns)
5. Joe Mixon (Bengals)

Receiving Leaders
1. Cooper Kupp (Rams)
2. Devante Adams (Raiders)
3. Justin Jefferson (Vikings)
4. Mike Evans (Buccaneers)
5. AJ Brown (Eagles)