Playoffs: Ranking The Twelve Football Teams

As we move into the playoffs, a good way to handicap the first round of games is to see how each football team is ranked, based on their regular season performance as a guide. There are twelve teams in total, with four teams getting a bye during the first week which include: Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos and New England Patriots as they were in first place in their division. They will be ranked, but as they do not play during the first week, you can choose to exclude them.

Rank	Team	Record
1	Carolina Panthers	15-1
2	Arizona Cardinals	13-3
3	New England Patriots	12-4
4	Denver Broncos	12-4
5	Seattle Seahawks	10-6
6	Kansas City Chiefs	11-5
7	Pittsburgh Steelers	10-6
8	Cincinnati Bengals	12-4
9	Minnesota Vikings	11-5
10	Green Bay Packers	10-6
11	Washington Redskins	9-7
12	Houston Texans	9-7

 

Despite being ranked #12, the Texans, along with J.J. Watt have certainly proved themselves worthy of being in the playoffs, as have the Redskins who hadn’t been since 2012. We could see a lot of upsets the first and second week of games, as nothing is certain and single-elimination gives everyone the chance to move up. The game schedule is:

Away	Home	Time/Day
Kansas City Chiefs	Houston Texans	4:35 pm / Saturday Jan. 9
Pittsburgh Steelers	Cincinnati Bengals	8:15 pm / Saturday Jan. 9
Seattle Seahawks	Minnesota Vikings	1:05 pm / Sunday Jan. 10
Green Bay Packers	Washington Redskins	4:40 pm / Sunday Jan. 10

 

We have some evenly matched games, while other will have tougher opponents in terms of rankings. Although, overall, the teams are well balanced for the first week. There are top defensive teams playing each other, as well as top offensive teams playing each other, so in the end, whichever team can get the slight advantage will have their first playoff win. It will be quick football matches, so watch out for the top performers.