NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl Winners: BettingPros Staff Picks
The NFL playoffs are here, and we asked our analysts to predict the AFC Championship, NFC Championship, and Super Bowl matchups. Their picks and reasoning are below.
NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl Winners: BettingPros Staff Picks
Our experts appear to be somewhat in agreement about the AFC Championship game. All five of them picked the Chiefs to make it, while they were split on whether it would be the Bills or Bengals joining them.
On the NFC side, they are in complete agreement. All five picked the Eagles to host the 49ers in the NFC Championship game.
Their Super Bowl picks are a bit more diversified, as only two analysts have the same winner or even the same matchup.
AFC Championship Predictions
| Analyst | AFC Championship Matchup |
| Erickson | Bills vs. Chiefs |
| Joe | Bengals vs. Chiefs |
| DBro | Bengals vs. Chiefs |
| Fitz | Bills vs. Chiefs |
| Freedman | Bengals vs. Chiefs |
NFC Championship Predictions
| Analyst | NFC Championship Matchup |
| Erickson | 49ers at Eagles |
| Joe | 49ers at Eagles |
| DBro | 49ers at Eagles |
| Fitz | 49ers at Eagles |
| Freedman | 49ers at Eagles |
Super Bowl Predictions
| Analyst | Super Bowl Prediction |
| Erickson | Bills vs. Eagles (Bills 24, Eagles 20) |
| Joe | Bengals vs. Eagles (Bengals 28, Eagles 24) |
| DBro | Chiefs vs. Eagles (Eagles 31, Chiefs 27) |
| Fitz | Chiefs vs. 49ers (Chiefs 31, 49ers 21) |
| Freedman | Chiefs vs. 49ers (Chiefs 27, 49ers 24) |
Bills (+400 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
The Bills are the team of destiny. They get a layup in the Wild Card round vs. Miami and will likely face a CIN squad down multiple offensive linemen in the 2nd round of the playoffs at home. It sets the stage for a rematch of last year’s wild playoff matchup between KC-BUF. Buffalo “should†have won that game, and they already proved they can beat KC in KC as they did in Week 6. Meanwhile, the Eagles have lost one game all year with Jalen Hurts at QB. I get that they have somewhat backed into the playoffs, but this team NEEDED the bye week to get healthy.
The NFC is so weak relative to the AFC, that Philly should steamroll throughout — even vs. a Brock Purdy-led 49ers juggernaut. BUF-PHI will no doubt feature fireworks on both sides, featuring two QBs who were heavily criticized as they entered the league. Ultimately it will come down to the team that has been tested the most during the year that will come away with the W…and that team is Bills, who have faced the 5th-most difficult schedule this season. Eagles have faced the 31st most-difficult schedule.
– Andrew Erickson
Bengals (+800 at DraftKings Sportsbook)
I think the emotions of Bengals v Bills will be a lot and Buffalo will run out of gas. The Chiefs have a daddy and his name is Joe Burrow. The Bengals are playing their best football of the season down the stretch and neither the Bills nor Chiefs have put teams away this year. In the NFC, Brock Purdy I think can manage his way to the Championship game, but not enough to pass the Eagles. In this Super Bowl, the Eagles will fall to the myriad Bengals weapons, 28- 24.
– Joe Pisapia
Eagles (+550 at DraftKings Sportsbook)
Matching up the two best teams in their respective conferences feels like the chalk, but I don’t care. Patrick Mahomes can be the reaper any week, so I won’t count him out in any matchup. The Eagles will pose a tough test, though. Their explosive high-flying offense, led by the elite tandem of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, can put up points in bunches. Hurts might not be on Mahomes’ level (yet), but he has a similar ability to take over a game with his legs and arm. If Avonte Maddox can somehow make it back and lock down the slot, the Eagles are then left with having to solve for the Travis Kelce equation as the final piece to stifle the Kansas City passing attack. A healthier Hurts gets freaky in the open field en route to the Birds flying to a title.
– Derek Brown
Chiefs (+350 at DraftKings Sportsbook)
The Chiefs could certainly lose the AFC Championship game, but it’s hard to imagine them slipping up in the divisional round, and whichever team they face in the AFC title game — Bengals or Bills — will have already been through the wringer in the divisional round. Tougher call in the NFC, where a 49ers-Eagles conference championship would be a coin flip. I’ll give the nod to the 49ers for their resilience in overcoming multiple QB injuries and still managing to trample everyone in their path.
– Pat Fitzmaurice
The Chiefs are the best team in the AFC, and the 49ers are the best team in the NFC, so I’m putting them both in the Super Bowl. Pretty simple. Once in the Super Bowl, the Chiefs will have a large advantage over the 49ers at the quarterback position. No disrespect to Brock Purdy, but Patrick Mahomes is maybe the most impressive quarterback in NFL history … and Purdy is a third-string late-round rookie pocket passer from a college program (Iowa State) not known for developing professional quarterbacks.
– Matthew Freedman
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