Welcome to the 2022-2023 NFL playoffs! We hope you’ve had a great fantasy season.
But we’re not done — there are fantasy playoff championships to be won. Check out some of the formats you can play if interested (an old article, but you get the idea).
In building our playoff content, the first thing we must do is figure out a bracket. It’s self-evident, but not every team is on equal footing in the playoffs — this isn’t like projecting a universal 17-game season. There will be guys we would typically consider WR3s outscoring WR1s because our WR3 plays three games to just one for or WR1. So any and all rankings have to take games played into account. And there will be disagreements, which makes building a set of playoff rankings even more difficult.
So each member of our full-time staff has come up with a set of playoff predictions, which we’ve distilled into a consensus, with an average of games played. Our overall playoff rankings will be built around this.
Projected winners are in all CAPITAL LETTERS.
NOTE: Because of the Damar Hamlin tragedy and subsequent cancellation of a game, an AFC Championship Game played between Buffalo and Kansas City will be played AT A NEUTRAL SITE.
John Hansen
Wild Card Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (7) Miami at (2) BUFFALO | (7) Seattle at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
| (6) Baltimore at (3) CINCINNATI | (6) NY Giants at (3) MINNESOTA |
| (5) LA CHARGERS at (4) Jacksonville | (5) DALLAS at (4) Tampa Bay |
Divisional Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (5) LA Chargers at (1) KANSAS CITY | (5) Dallas at (1) PHILADELPHIA |
| (3) CINCINNATI at (2) Buffalo | (3) Minnesota at 2) SAN FRANCISCO |
Championship Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (3) CINCINNATI at (1) Kansas City | 2) SAN FRANCISCO at (1) Philadelphia |
Super Bowl LVII
| AFC | NFC |
| (3) CINCINNATI | (2) San Francisco |
Joe Dolan
Wild Card Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (7) Miami at (2) BUFFALO | (7) Seattle at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
| (6) Baltimore at (3) CINCINNATI | (6) NY GIANTS at (3) Minnesota |
| (5) LA Chargers at (4) JACKSONVILLE | (5) Dallas at (4) TAMPA BAY |
Divisional Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (4) Jacksonville at (1) KANSAS CITY | (6) NY Giants at (1) PHILADELPHIA |
| (3) CINCINNATI at (2) Buffalo | (4) Tampa Bay at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
Championship Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (3) CINCINNATI at (1) Kansas City | (2) San Francisco at (1) PHILADELPHIA |
Super Bowl LVII
| AFC | NFC |
| (3) CINCINNATI | (1) Philadelphia |
Tom Brolley
Wild Card Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (7) Miami at (2) BUFFALO | (7) Seattle at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
| (6) Baltimore at (3) CINCINNATI | (6) NY GIANTS at (3) Minnesota |
| (5) LA CHARGERS at (4) Jacksonville | (5) Dallas at (4) TAMPA BAY |
Divisional Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (5) LA CHARGERS at (1) Kansas City | (6) NY Giants at (1) PHILADELPHIA |
| (3) Cincinnati at (2) BUFFALO | (4) Tampa Bay at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
Championship Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (5) LA Chargers at (2) BUFFALO | (2) SAN FRANCISCO at (1) Philadelphia |
Super Bowl LVII
| AFC | NFC |
| (2) BUFFALO | (2) San Francisco |
Graham Barfield
Wild Card Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (7) Miami at (2) BUFFALO | (7) Seattle at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
| (6) Baltimore at (3) CINCINNATI | (6) NY GIANTS at (3) Minnesota |
| (5) LA Chargers at (4) JACKSONVILLE | (5) Dallas at (4) TAMPA BAY |
Divisional Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (4) Jacksonville at (1) KANSAS CITY | (6) NY Giants at (1) PHILADELPHIA |
| (3) CINCINNATI at (2) Buffalo | (4) Tampa Bay at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
Championship Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (3) Cincinnati at (1) KANSAS CITY | (2) San Francisco at (1) PHILADELPHIA |
Super Bowl LVII
| AFC | NFC |
| (1) KANSAS CITY | (1) Philadelphia |
Scott Barrett
Wild Card Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (7) Miami at (2) BUFFALO | (7) Seattle at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
| (6) Baltimore at (3) CINCINNATI | (6) NY Giants at (3) MINNESOTA |
| (5) LA Chargers at (4) JACKSONVILLE | (5) Dallas at (4) TAMPA BAY |
Divisional Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (4) Jacksonville at (1) KANSAS CITY | (4) Tampa Bay at (1) PHILADELPHIA |
| (3) Cincinnati at (2) BUFFALO | (3) Minnesota at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
Championship Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (2) Buffalo vs. (1) KANSAS CITY | (2) San Francisco at (1) PHILADELPHIA |
Super Bowl LVII
| AFC | NFC |
| (1) KANSAS CITY | (1) Philadelphia |
Wes Huber
Wild Card Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (7) Miami at (2) BUFFALO | (7) Seattle at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
| (6) Baltimore at (3) CINCINNATI | (6) NY Giants at (3) MINNESOTA |
| (5) LA Chargers at (4) JACKSONVILLE | (5) DALLAS at (4) Tampa Bay |
Divisional Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (4) Jacksonville at (1) KANSAS CITY | (5) Dallas at (1) PHILADELPHIA |
| (3) CINCINNATI at (2) Buffalo | (3) Minnesota at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
Championship Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (3) CINCINNATI at (1) Kansas City | (2) SAN FRANCISCO at (1) Philadelphia |
Super Bowl LVII
| AFC | NFC |
| (3) CINCINNATI | (2) San Francisco |
Brett Whitefield
Wild Card Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (7) Miami at (2) BUFFALO | (7) Seattle at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
| (6) Baltimore at (3) CINCINNATI | (6) NY GIANTS at (3) Minnesota |
| (5) LA CHARGERS at (4) Jacksonville | (5) Dallas at (4) TAMPA BAY |
Divisional Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (5) LA Chargers at (1) KANSAS CITY | (6) NY Giants at (1) PHILADELPHIA |
| (3) CINCINNATI at (2) Buffalo | (4) Tampa Bay at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
Championship Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (3) Cincinnati at (1) KANSAS CITY | (2) SAN FRANCISCO at (1) Philadelphia |
Super Bowl LVII
| AFC | NFC |
| (1) KANSAS CITY | (2) San Francisco |
Chris Wecht
Wild Card Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (7) Miami at (2) BUFFALO | (7) Seattle at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
| (6) Baltimore at (3) CINCINNATI | (6) NY GIANTS at (3) Minnesota |
| (5) LA Chargers at (4) JACKSONVILLE | (5) Dallas at (4) TAMPA BAY |
Divisional Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (4) Jacksonville at (1) KANSAS CITY | (6) NY Giants at (1) PHILADELPHIA |
| (3) CINCINNATI at (2) Buffalo | (4) Tampa Bay at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
Championship Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (3) Cincinnati at (1) KANSAS CITY | (2) San Francisco at (1) PHILADELPHIA |
Super Bowl LVII
| AFC | NFC |
| (1) Kansas City | (1) PHILADELPHIA |
Fantasy Points Staff Consensus
Wild Card Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (7) Miami at (2) BUFFALO | (7) Seattle at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
| (6) Baltimore at (3) CINCINNATI | (6) NY GIANTS at (3) Minnesota |
| (5) LA Chargers at (4) JACKSONVILLE | (5) Dallas at (4) TAMPA BAY |
Divisional Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (4) Jacksonville at (1) KANSAS CITY | (6) NY Giants at (1) PHILADELPHIA |
| (3) CINCINNATI at (2) Buffalo | (4) Tampa Bay at (2) SAN FRANCISCO |
Championship Round
| AFC | NFC |
| (3) Cincinnati at (1) KANSAS CITY | (2) San Francisco at (1) PHILADELPHIA |
Super Bowl LVII
| AFC | NFC |
| (1) KANSAS CITY | (1) Philadelphia |
Our staff predicted four different Super Bowl champions: Kansas City (3), Cincinnati (3), Philadelphia (1), and Buffalo (1).
Our entire staff arrived at a San Francisco-at-Philadelphia NFC Championship Game.
That will make San Francisco’s players highly ranked in our content — because San Francisco plays in the Wild Card Round, they have a chance to play more games than the Eagles possibly could. The same goes for Cincinnati, though we have Kansas City as our overall Super Bowl favorite.
Games Played Average
Note: Any tiebreaker is settled by the highest-round game our staff has predicted a team will win (and number of those wins predicted). For teams projected to play just one game and further ties, we sort by a power rating of those teams.
| TEAM | GAMES PROJECTED |
| San Francisco | 3.50 |
| Cincinnati | 3.00 |
| Philadelphia | 2.50 |
| Kansas City | 2.38 |
| Buffalo | 2.38 |
| Tampa Bay | 1.75 |
| Jacksonville | 1.63 |
| NY Giants | 1.63 |
| LA Chargers | 1.50 |
| Minnesota | 1.38 |
| Dallas | 1.25 |
| Baltimore | 1 |
| Seattle | 1 |
| Miami | 1 |
