Friday, December 13, 2024


Playoffs: Ranking The Twelve Football Teams

January 4, 2016 by  
Filed under NFL Football, Power Rankings

first round of football playoffs

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.