Well, we’ve made it folks! We have left the dark times and meaningful football is back. Maybe you suffered through by watching the NBA playoffs, the world cup or bad baseball. However you survived, I’m proud of you! And this is your reward. Mizzou winning by 40 against a team in Arkansas that you didn’t know existed. Colorado and Georgia Tech both trying to lose over and over and over again until GT set up for the game winning kick only to have it blocked as time expired. And my personal favorite, Rutgers paying UMass 1.5 million dollars to play them only to lose 37-21 (Rutgers scored 2 tds late or it would have been much worse). And then they had a big fireworks show right afterwards that no one was there to watch. While all of that is great, it’s not the NFL. Although it will be soon when all the NFL guys who get cut just go back and play college ball. Next week the NFL starts and it should be an epic, wide open season. Here are my final predictions of award winners, playoff participants and a round by round breakdown of who wins all the way to crowning a Super Bowl champion. As the Joker says in the Dark Knight, And…here…we…go.
Awards:
Offensive Player of the Year: Jahmyr Gibbs
The Lions have a bounce back year and Gibbs is a big reason why. He has a thousand yards rushing and a thousand yards receiving! How’s that for a bold prediction.
Defensive Player of the Year: Will Anderson Jr.
The Texans Defense continues to cause havoc. Anderson Jr. is a big reason why. He joins the 20 sacks in a year club.
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Jadarian Price
The Seahawks like to hand the ball off a lot. They don’t have anyone else to hand off to. It’s just Math.
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Reuben Bain
He may have short arms, but he won’t be short on getting votes for this award.
Comeback Player of the Year: Patrick Mahomes
Mahomes tore his ACL in December. He missed the last 3 games of the year and that is it as he will amazingly start week 1. Assuming he doesn’t turn into Max Brosmer out there, he should easily win this award.
MVP: Josh Allen
The media would literally give the award to him right now if they were able.
Playoff Predictions and seeding:
AFC:
- Ravens
- Broncos
- Texans
- Patriots
- Bills
- Bengals
- Chargers
Ravens bounce back and their schedule is easy. The Broncos roster is stacked, I’m not sure why no one is talking about them. CJ Stroud plays okay which is enough to allow the Texans to win 12 games. The Patriots edge out the Bills. The Bengals like the Ravens take advantage of an easy schedule and since it is an even year, Joe Burrow stays healthy. The Chargers are the last team in winning tie breakers over the Jags and the Chiefs who both have winning records but get left out.
NFC:
- Rams
- Eagles
- Lions
- Saints
- Seahawks
- Packers
- Cowboys
The Rams are stacked and dominate the regular season. It’s an even year so the Eagles aren’t a mess and have a very good season. The Lions take advantage of that 4th place schedule and win the North. The Saints edge out the rest of the South by having a winning record at 9-8 and winning the division by 1 game. The Packers and Cowboys round out the playoff field edging out the Bears. Ben Johnson has to wait another year for his perfect 20-0 season where he blows everyone out and shuts out all the other teams.
Playoff Result Predictions:
Wild Card Weekend:
Bills at Patriots: Josh Allen has dominated Wild Card Weekend. 6 of his 8 playoff wins have come in this round. But things take a turn this year and the Patriots get the win. The media is full prepared for this with their we got to get Josh more help takes ready by halftime. Patriots advance.
Pats 27 Bills 24
Seahawks at Saints: This game goes how you think it will go. Seahawks win big and advance.
Seahawks 30 Saints 10
Packers at Lions: The Packers come in healthy for a change and the Lions can’t have nice things. Packers pull the upset and advance.
Packers 31 Lions 21
Bengals at Texans: The Bengals offense is potent but you know what the Texans do? They win wild card games. Texans slow down the Bengals enough and Stroud doesn’t turn the ball over. Texans advance.
Texans 24 Bengals 20
Chargers at Broncos: You can count on two things: Death and Taxes. But in the NFL there are two other things you can count on: Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniel losing in the first round of the playoffs.
Broncos 31 Chargers 17
Cowboys at Eagles: This hated rivalry goes down to the wire but playoff Jalen Hurts shows up and the Eagles outscore America’s team that everyone in America hates.
Eagles 30 Cowboys 28
Divisional Round:
Packers at Rams: Well, cheese heads, it was fun while it lasted. Rams win big.
Rams 38 Packers 17
Patriots at Ravens: The Bills are not good at winning playoff games. You know who else isn’t good at winning playoff games? Lamar. He chokes again and the Pats advance.
Patriots 20 Ravens 17
Texans at Broncos: The Texans win wild card games. You know what else they do? Lose in the divisional round. This one is a defensive battle and Bo Nix does his thing at the end to get the Broncos in place for the game winning field goal.
Broncos 13 Texans 10
Seahawks at Eagles: It’s a battle of the birds! This one is back and forth but poor Sam Darnold throws a pick late to end the super bowl repeat.
Eagles 24 Seahawks 20
Championship Round:
Patriots at Broncos: The Pats go back to Denver just like last year. But this time Nix has two good ankles and the Broncos shut down Drake Maye and advanced to their first Super Bowl since Manning left town.
Broncos 27 Patriots 17
Eagles at Rams: The Rams have dominated all year. They have the best players. The best coach and they are at home. They have a chance to once again play in the Super Bowl in their own stadium. But the preseason Super Bowl favorite hasn’t won it in over 20 years. And for some reason, the Eagles are the Rams kryptonite. The Eagles pull the upset.
Eagles 24 Rams 23
Super Bowl:
Broncos vs Eagles: These two teams meet in just the absolute worst case scenario for Chiefs fans. If the Eagles win, then they can argue they have a dynasty and their fans will never shut up about it. If the Broncos win their fans will be unsufferable and even worse, Sean Payton will be the first coach to win a Super Bowl with two different teams and you know he will never let anyone forget it. It’s a lose, lose situation but I have to stick with my knowledge and my gut to the end. Jalen Hurts plays great and the Eagles score late. Nix only plays okay but he does his normal thing in the fourth quarter and leads them down to score the winning touchdown to Jaylen Waddle who proceeds to waddle like a duck as the rest of the team celebrates the Broncos 4th championship.
Broncos 28 Eagles 27
You heard it here first! I’m sure this is exactly how the 2026 NFL season will go. So go bet the opposite and make some money. It’s going to be a great and fun year. Fifth-Down is also stepping up their game so get ready for these weekly posts:
Tuesday: My weekly rankings
Wednesday: Fifth-Down Fantasy Football League recap (we had our draft last Sunday and we are ready to roll!)
Thursday: Top 10 Thursday covering various topics
Friday: Five for Friday where I talk about and predict 5 games coming up over the weekend.
It’s going to be a lot of fun so I hope you read along! Enjoy your Labor Day weekend and it all begins next week!
Fifth Down 