2022 NFL Playoff Predictions For the AFC

By: Aron

Posted: December 30, 2021

Updated: December 30, 2021

Week 17 is about to shake up the AFC
Can the Dolphins maintain their winning streak?
Who will be division champion of the AFC North?
Chiefs are already in a secure spot
2022 AFC playoff predictions with two weeks left

With Week 16 gone, we’re rapidly approaching the postseason and things are shaking up. There were a couple of upsets last week which could result in some teams losing their chance for a wildcard spot. We covered the NFC previously and made our playoff predictions. The division champions are still going strong but there were a couple of surprises as well. Find out what’s different in this conference and see why the AFC North is one of the most competitive divisions in the NFL. Here are our 2022 playoff predictions for the AFC. The NFL is headed for Week 17 and oh boy we have some interesting games ahead of us. Only two playoff spots remain in the NFC after last week but the competition is still pretty much open for the taking in the AFC. Only the Kansas City Chiefs have clinched a playoff berth (and the division, props to them) in this conference so far. Excluding the Chiefs, there are still 12 teams in playoff contention in the AFC. The New York Jets, Houston Texans, and Jacksonville Jaguars are out and about, gone, last week’s news. But they can still cause a scene (looking at you Texans) because if you couldn’t make the playoffs at least make sure others don’t make it either. Read on to see what we think the AFC playoff picture will look like in two weeks. If the AFC is not your cup of tea, check out our playoff predictions for the NFC.

AFC East - Patriots Falling Off?

As we head into Week 17, the AFC East is led by two teams. Both the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots are currently 9-6 with the Miami Dolphins making a strong late-season run as they stand on an 8-7 after their huge win against the New Orleans Saints. Let’s see how their remaining schedules will treat each team. The Bills will face the Atlanta Falcons and the New York Jets, both at home. They’re projected to win both games, with a 1.10 (-1000) probability against the Falcons on Bet365 Sportsbook. They’ll most likely finish the season as division champions with an 11-6 record. The Patriots are coming off of a 12 point loss against the Bills but they’ll face the Jacksonville Jaguars at home this week. They’ve got a 90% chance of winning against them. The problem is with their next game against the Dolphins. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8c49fnFNiY The Dolphins became the first team with a 7-game winning streak and a 7-game losing streak in the same season. Unfortunately for their opponents, they’re currently on the winning streak. After embarrassing the Saints with a 20-3 win in New Orleans they have a tough road ahead of them. The Tennessee Titans and the Patriots stand in the way of the Dolphins’ playoff hope. The sound advice is to go with the Titans since they’ve been playing incredibly, rank higher than Miami, and will have the home-field advantage. The 8-7 Dolphins have a 39% win chance this Sunday. The Patriots game will also be interesting since Miami will be at home and could very well pull an upset against New England. The Dolphins will have to put on their mean face if they want to hang on to that wildcard spot.

AFC North - Playoff Predictions And Most Competitive Division

The competition in the AFC North is intense because no teams are out of playoff contention yet. The Cincinnati Bengals lead the pack with a 9-6 record, the Baltimore Ravens are second with 8-7 despite a 4-game losing streak. Then we have the 7-7-1 Pittsburgh Steelers and the 7-8 Cleveland Browns, coming off of a close loss against Green Bay. The Bengals have to face the conference-leading Kansas City Chiefs and the Browns in Cleveland a week later. Cincinnati is coming off of a huge win against Baltimore and Joe Burrow has proven haters wrong this season. The Bengals’ passing attack is incredible but the Chiefs’ defense might put a few more sacks on Burrow’s resume. Patrick Mahomes has an offensive line in front of him that’s as deadly as it gets. The Chiefs are winning with 1.43 (-232) against the Bengals, according to Bet365 Sportsbook. The Ravens face the 11-4 Los Angeles Rams this week and the odds are not in their favor. 1.55 (-182) in favor of the Rams. According to online sportsbook news in the UK, the Ravens are hoping for Lamar Jackson to return against the Rams. Without him, Baltimore’s chances for a win are pretty slim, especially since the Rams are on a 4-game winning streak. In their last matchup a few weeks ago against Pittsburgh, the game ended in a close 20-19 to the Steelers. Come Week 18, the Ravens will have the home field advantage and a hopefully healthier roster. As for the Steelers, they face off against the Browns this week in Pittsburgh. They have a 39% chance of defeating Cleveland. In Week 18 the Browns will face the Bengals at home and all eyes will be on them. Cincinnati’s playoff chances could very well depend on this game.

AFC South - Only Two Teams In Playoff Predictions

As we head to the South, only two teams are still in playoff contention. But these two are pretty strong, the currently 10-5 Titans and the 9-6 Indianapolis Colts. Online sportsbook sites in the UK predict the Titans-Dolphins game to be a close one with Tennessee running away with the W. Miami’s winning odds are 2.60 (+160) against Tennessee this Sunday. Their next game in Week 18 will be against the Houston Texans, who managed to upset the Titans back in November. The question is, can they do it again? The Texans are performing below the league average so it would take a miracle for them to beat Tennessee. But hey, anything can happen, it’s just not likely. The Titans have a high chance of finishing as division champions and securing that sweet playoff spot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vakRwltErw The red-hot Colts just beat the Arizona Cardinals last week and they’re about to face the Los Angeles Raiders this week. Both teams are on winning streaks but most likely only one of them will make it into the playoffs this year. Jonathan Taylor is still unstoppable and the Raiders will have their hands full on Sunday. Carson Wentz and Michael Pittman both had key roles in the Colts’ last week's win. The Raiders need Darren Waller back against the Colts but his injury status remains doubtful. Most experts pick the Colts over the Raiders. Indianapolis will face the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 18, which is good for them. They beat the Jags in November and they’ll likely beat them again in January. With the current rate, 2022 AFC playoffs predictions favor the Colts to take an easy wildcard spot.

AFC West - Chiefs Remain Dominant

Interestingly enough, all four teams in the AFC West are still in playoff contention, just like in the AFC North. The Chiefs already clinched the division and secured a playoff spot with their current 11-4 record. They’re followed by the Chargers and Raiders, both on an 8-7 record. The Denver Broncos close the group with a 7-8 record and a 2-game losing streak. The Chiefs are currently on an incredible 8-game winning streak and they have the chance to remain undefeated for the remainder of the regular season. They’re the favorites in both of their remaining two matchups against the Bengals and the Broncos. Kansas is looking like the AFC champion in our 2022 playoff predictions. The Chargers face the Broncos this week. During their last matchup just a little over a month ago, Denver emerged victorious. This time, however, experts have the Chargers as their winners. The Raiders will also battle it out with the Chargers, during the last week of the regular season. If the Chargers manage to win both of their remaining games, they’ll likely take that last playoff spot. Even though the last Raiders-Chargers game was almost three months ago, we still predict LA to make the 2022 playoffs. That means little hope for the Raiders as both of their remaining games will be tough as nails. Las Vegas can make it but online sportsbook news in the UK doesn’t favor them. They will have the home-field advantage against the Chargers, however. It will be a close game but the Chargers might just have that something that can give them the edge over the Raiders. Against the Colts this week, they’re the clear underdogs, with 3.40 (+240) winning odds.

Broncos 2022 Playoff Chances Are Starting To Disappear

The Broncos’ playoff hopes are fading as a lot of pieces would have to fall into the right place for them to make the playoffs. They’ll be the underdogs in both of their last two games. We already mentioned the Chargers game but what about their battle against the Chiefs in Week 18? The two teams met a few weeks ago and the Broncos' defense was nowhere enough to hold the Chiefs' infamous offense. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZTqH5yyF2A They managed to hold Mahomes under 200 passing yards (if you consider that good) and this time Denver will have the home-field advantage. With that being said, we still don’t think they can come out on top of this encounter.

Conclusion On The 2022 AFC Playoff Predictions

After an eventful Week 16, it looks like anything can happen in the NFL. Teams that are already eliminated from playoff contention could very well beat some of the top dogs. Six playoff spots remain in the AFC so this week will especially be entertaining. After this week, that number’s going to greatly decrease. Once again, we’ve put together below our early 2022 playoff predictions for the AFC in this article. Feel free to comment or voice your opinions about our picks. The following is how we think the regular-season standings will round out in two weeks.

Kansas City Chiefs 13-4 (1st in AFC West)
Tennessee Titans 12-5 (1st in AFC South)
Buffalo Bills 11-6 (1st in AFC East)
Cincinnati Bengals* 10-7 (1st AFC North)
Indianapolis Colts 11-6 (2nd in AFC South)
New England Patriots 10-7 (2nd in AFC East)
Los Angeles Chargers 10-7 (2nd in AFC West)

*The AFC North is arguably the most competitive division in the NFL this year. We predict the Bengals to be the division champions because quite frankly, that’s the most likely scenario. They either need one win from their last two games or the others in the division need one loss each. Looking at the others’ schedules this is very likely. Either this or they beat the Browns in Week 18. Any of the four AFC North teams could still become division champions but Cincinnati has the highest chances.

AFC Odds For Week 17

Here are the odds for Week 17 that we used in this article. Everything else is available on Bet365 Sportsbook, including live betting and streams of all NFL games. We’ll only include the odds for the games that feature teams still in playoff contention. Week 17 moneyline odds featuring playoff contending teams from the AFC: Atlanta Falcons (7-8) @ Buffalo Bills (9-6) - 7.50 (+650) vs 1.10 (-1000) Cleveland Browns (7-8) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7-1) - 1.57 (-175) vs 2.55 (+155) Denver Broncos (7-8) @ Los Angeles Chargers (8-7) - 3.20 (+220) vs 1.37 (-270) Jacksonville Jaguars (2-13) @ New England Patriots (9-6) - 8.00 (+700) vs 1.09 (-1111) Kansas City Chiefs (11-4) @ Cincinnati Bengals (9-6) - 1.43 (-233) vs 2.90 (+190) Los Angeles Rams (11-4) @ Baltimore Ravens (8-7) - 1.55 (-182) vs 2.60 (+160) Las Vegas Raiders (8-7) @ Indianapolis Colts (9-6) - 3.40 (+240) vs 1.33 (-300) Miami Dolphins (8-7) @ Tennessee Titans (10-5) - 2.60 (+160) vs 1.55 (-182)