As the  NFL regular season comes to an end, this year’s playoffs are looking to be promising. Here is a guide of all the playoff teams and their chances of winning. 

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The NFL is divided into two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each conference gets seven teams to represent them and try to win the Super Bowl. The top-seeded teams in the AFC right now are the Titans, Chiefs, Bills and Bengals. The top seeded teams in the NFC are the Packers, Buccaneers, Cowboys and Rams. 

In the NFL playoff structure there are two ways to make the playoffs: Either win your division, or make it in as a wildcard, which are the teams with the best records that don’t win their division. There are four division winners and three wildcards in each conference.  

The Titans are the number one seed in the AFC. Because they are the number one seed, they receive a bye week, being an automatic pass of round one. They also get to be the home team every week until the Superbowl. The superstars on the Titans are their running back Derrick Henry and their receivers AJ Brown and Julio Jones. 

In the NFC, the Packers are the one seed. Like the Titans they get a bye week and home field advantage. Their superstars are their quarterback and MVP candidate Aaron Rodgers, their receiver Davante Adams and their cornerback Jaire Alexander. 

The two seed in the AFC is the Chiefs, while the two seed in the NFC is the Buccaneers. Although they do not receive a bye week, they get to play the lowest-seeded team in their respective conference. The Chiefs get to play the seven-seeded Steelers, and the Buccaneers get to play the seven-seeded Eagles. “I don’t think there’s any way the Steelers or the Eagles win a playoff game this year,” junior Parker Leibowitz said. 

The three seeds are the Bills and Cowboys. The Bills play the six-seeded, division rival, Patriots. The Cowboys play the six-seeded 49ers. “I’ve been a Bills fan my whole life and I think we have a chance at going far this year. Our quarterback Josh Allen has been playing on a MVP level and the defense has been playing well too,” senior Logan Judelsohn said. 

The four seeds are the Bengals and Rams. The Bengals play the five-seeded Raiders, and the Rams play the five-seeded Cardinals. “I like watching the four and five seeds play each other the most because they have the highest chance of upsets. Watching the higher seeds play is fun too, but there is an obvious winner most of the time,” junior Ethan Kuan said. 

Unfortunately this season, the local NFL teams did not make the playoffs, the Ravens and the Washington Football Team. The Ravens were the one seed earlier in the season, before getting hit hard with injuries, leading to a six-game losing streak. One of their notable injuries was their former MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson. “It’s hard to see them miss the playoffs because of injuries, especially when they were the best team when healthy,” Kuan said. 

The Washington Football Team missed the playoffs after making them last year. “I don’t think we should’ve made the playoffs. The team did not have a good season this year, and we were basically unwatchable. I hope they turn things around for next season,” Leibowitz said.