The NFL season kicks off on Thursday night when the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams host the Buffalo Bills, a team that many people are picking to win it all this year.
The Rams held serve last year when the post-season began after a strong finish in the regular season and then won a close game against the upstart Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl as quarterback Matthew Stafford got the monkey off his back that he couldn't win the big one.
In 2022, there are so many questions as the season looms, including can the Rams repeat? The last Super Bowl champ to do that was the 2004 New England Patriots. It won't be easy, but the Rams can if they stay healthy and Stafford follows up on what he was able to do last year.
Another question is whether the Bills can get over the fact they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs as their top ranked defense allowed two late scores in the closing minutes that led to an overtime loss in the divisional round. What a wild game that one was.
Can Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a bounce back season after being dethroned by the Rams in the NFC playoffs last year? How about the Cincinnati Bengals? Will QB Joe Burrow have more magic this time around to make the playoffs? The AFC is absolutely loaded and in particular, the West division where Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs), Derek Carr (Raiders), Justin Herbert (Chargers) and now Russell Wilson (Broncos) are the starting quarterbacks.
Can Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers finally get back to the Super Bowl for the first time in twelve years? How about the Dallas Cowboys? They seemed to be keeping time on a sun dial as it ran out on them in the NFC playoffs against the San Francisco 49ers last January.
It will be interesting to see what develops, but here goes nothing in picking the AFC and NFC division races and forecasting the playoffs and eventual Super Bowl winner.
The Heftyinfo picks for the 2022 NFL season . . . (Note- Top seeded conference team is in bold; Wild card teams are in italics)
NFC
East
1- Dallas 2- Philadelphia 3- Washington 4- NY Giants
North
1 - Green Bay 2 - Minnesota 3 - Chicago 4 - Detroit
South
1 - Tampa Bay 2 - New Orleans 3 - Carolina 4 - Atlanta
West
1 - LA Rams 2 - San Francisco 3 - Arizona 4- Seattle
AFC
East
1 - Buffalo 2 - Miami 3 - New England 4 - NY Jets
North
1 - Cincinnati 2 - Baltimore 3 - Pittsburgh 4 - Cleveland
South
1 - Tennessee 2 - Indianapolis 3 - Jacksonville 4 - Houston
West
1 - Kansas City 2 - LA Chargers 3 - Las Vegas 4 - Denver
NFC PLAYOFFS
Wild Card Round - Dallas over Minnesota; Tampa Bay over Philadelphia; San Francisco over LA Rams
Divisional Round - Green Bay over San Francisco; Tampa Bay over Dallas
NFC Championship Game - Tampa Bay over Green Bay
AFC PLAYOFFS
Wild Card Round - Buffalo over Baltimore; Miami over Tennessee; LA Chargers over Cincinnati
Divisional Round - Kansas City over Miami; Buffalo over LA Chargers
AFC Championship Game - Buffalo over Kansas City
SUPER BOWL LVII - Buffalo Bills over Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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