NFL Playoff Predictor 2023-24: Scenarios and Brackets

The 2023-24 NFL playoffs are just around the corner. And while teams will keep jostling up and down the playoff standings from now till the end of week 18, we can see for ourselves how the NFL playoffs may shape up. Welcome to the NFL playoff bracket predictor which allows users to input their predictions on a week-by-week basis and formulate the playoff bracket accordingly.

Use Sportskeeda’s NFL Playoff Predictor tool to enter your predictions for the upcoming games and have a look at who your favorite team(s) may come up against in the first round of the NFL playoffs.

What Is Sportskeeda’s NFL Playoff Predictor Tool?

This NFL playoff bracket predictor is a tool that allows you to select the teams that you feel will win the upcoming matches on a week-by-week basis. At the end of all the selections from now until week 18, the tool will give you the results based on your entries. These results will show you what the final NFL Playoff picture will look like.

The tool comes with options to navigate between the upcoming weeks and to simulate results as well. It will offer you various options for simulating and based on your selection, the system will predict the winners. The simulation can be paused at any time and changes can be made, even after the simulation has concluded.

Read more about NFL Draft.

How Does Sportskeeda’s NFL Playoff Predictor Work?

The NFL playoff predictor bracket is the result of an algorithm that takes into consideration all the selections made by the user. The NFL playoff picture predictor tool gets updated after the current week’s games are completed. Thus, it will first show you what the current playoff bracket would look like if the regular season were to end at that moment.

Then, based on your inputs, the tool will take all the permutations and combinations involved with the seeding of playoff teams to provide you with the final output.

Read more about NFL Playoffs.

How to use NFL Playoff Predictor? (Step-by-step guide)

Sportskeeda’s NFL Playoff Predictor is quite simple to use and gives the perfect overview of the NFL playoff picture 2023. How much control you want over the entire prediction process rests entirely in your hands. If you want to predict the games of all the teams, you can do that. If you want to predict the games of only your favorite teams, you can do that too and simulate the rest!

Or, if you just want to simulate all the games and get the result, even that option is made available to you. So now that you have an idea of what all you can do, let’s see the step-by-step process which will make your life using the predictor tool simpler.

• Step 1: Go to Sportskeeda’s NFL Playoff Predictor tool.

• Step 2: You will come to the homepage where you can input your selections.

• Step 3: The first window on the left side of the screen shows you the weeks on the top that you can scroll through for the weekly selections. Select the week accordingly for your predictions.

• Step 4: Next, you will have all the matches for the selected week. You have the option to either just select the teams you think will win and the playoff predictor will input the score according to the algorithm, or you can input all the scores individually as per your wish. If you think it will be a tie, just click on the ‘tie’ button next to each match or enter the scores accordingly and the computer will mark it as a tie automatically. (Refer to the screenshot below):

• Step 5: As you make your selections, or simulate games, the right side of the screen will automatically update accordingly and will shuffle the teams based on the seedings according to the results. (Refer to the screenshot below):

• Step 6: Once you finish inputting your selections for the current week, go to the next week and continue the same process till you finish week 18. At the end of this process, you will get the final NFL Playoff bracket as per the selections you have made for each game. The final result will show you which teams have earned the all-important number 1 seed in the AFC and the NFC giving them home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and a bye in the Wild Card Round.

• Step 7: If in case you want to delete your predictions for any reason, just click on the ‘delete’ button on the top left side of the left window pane. Select the best suitable option from the following pop-up:

• Step 8: If you wish to simulate all or some of the games, you can press the ‘simulate’ button just below the ‘delete’ button on the left side. Select the best suitable option from the following pop-up:

• Step 9: You can achieve a similar result as the ‘simulate’ button with the ‘Predict Playoff Bracket’ button on the right side of the screen. Select the best suitable option from the following pop-up:

Read more about Mock Draft Simulator.

NFL Playoffs format and number of teams

The NFL playoffs consist of 14 teams in total. Of those 14, seven are from the AFC, and the other seven are from the NFC. Teams with the number one seed from both conferences get a bye week in the Wild Card Round and home-field advantage, all the way to the Super Bowl.

The remaining teams then face off in a knockout format in which the loser goes home while the winner advances. Teams are matched against one another depending on their seeding. From each conference, the seeded teams face off in the following way: 2nd vs 7th, 3rd vs 6th, and 4th vs 5th in the Wild Card Round.

NFL Playoffs Tie Breaker Rules

Almost every NFL regular season ends with two or more teams having the same record after week 18 of the regular season. However, as there are only 7 spots in the playoffs per conference and with the 4 division leaders taking the top 4 spots, three places are up for grabs.

The remaining teams with the best records qualify with the last three spots per conference but almost every year the tie-breaker rules come in for those teams who have the same win-loss record to determine which teams will go through. The tie-breaker works in the following way.

Scenario one - Tie-breaker between two teams (for seeding purposes):

1. Head to Head - The best win-loss-tie record of the teams against each other.

2. Best win-loss-tie percentage in games played within the division.

3. Best win-loss-tie percentage in common games played by each team.

4. Best win-loss-tie percentage in games played within the conference.

5. The strength of victory in all games.

6. The strength of the schedule in all games.

7. The best-combined ranking amongst conference teams in points scored and points allowed in all games.

8. The best-combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed in all games.

9. Best net points in common games.

10. Best net points in all games.

11. Best net touchdowns in all games.

12. If no winner can be decided even after all the previous steps, then the final option is left to fait via a Coin toss.

Scenario two - Tie-breaker between three or more teams (for seeding purposes):

It is to be noted that if two teams remain tied after the elimination of the other teams after any step, then the tie-breaker will restart from step one of the two-team tie-breaker rules. If three teams remain tied after the fourth team is eliminated during any step, the tiebreaker restarts from step one of the three-team format.

The same 12 steps and order of the two-team tie-breaker are now followed for three or more teams to decide the seeding of teams with the same record.

Read More about NFL Playoff Predictor

What are the NFL playoff dates for the 2023 NFL season?

The NFL playoffs for the 2023-24 NFL season will officially get underway on January 13, 2024. The first round, the Wild Card Round, will be played from Saturday, January 13 to Monday, January 15. There will be two games on Saturday, and three more on Sunday, with the final game taking place on Monday Night Football.

The Divisional Round will occur between Saturday, January 20, and Sunday, January 21 while the AFC and NFC Championship Games will be held on Sunday, 28 January 2024. After a fortnight of wait, Super Bowl LVIII will be upon us on Sunday, February 11, 2024, from Allegiant Stadium, in Paradise, Nevada.

Predicted Standings and Draft Order

As we come to the end of the 2023 NFL regular season, let us take a look at the projected standings based on the current record of the teams. Of course, these standings could change dramatically based on the results of the upcoming games.

The projected draft order for the 2024 NFL Draft will look like this based on the current scenario.

1. Chicago Bears - draft pick via Carolina Panthers (2-14)

2. Washington Commanders (4-12)

3. New England Patriots (4-12)

4. Arizona Cardinals (4-12)

5. New York Giants (5-11)

6. Los Angeles Chargers (5-11)

7. Tennessee Titans (5-11)

8. New York Jets (6-10)

9. Chicago Bears (7-9)

10. Atlanta Falcons (7-9)

11. Las Vegas Raiders (7-9)

12. Minnesota Vikings (7-9)

13. Denver Broncos (8-8)

14. New Orleans Saints (8-8)

15. Cincinnati Bengals (8-8)

16. Seattle Seahawks (8-8)

17. Green Bay Packers (8-8)

18. Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7)

19. Arizona Cardinals - draft pick via Houston Texans (9-7)

20. Indianapolis Colts (9-7)

21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-8)

22. Los Angeles Rams (9-7)

23. Jacksonville Jaguars (9-7)

24. Houston Texans - draft pick via Cleveland Browns (11-5)

25. Miami Dolphins (11-5)

26. Buffalo Bills (10-6)

27. Kansas City Chiefs (10-6)

28. Philadelphia Eagles (11-5)

29. Detroit Lions (11-5)

30. Dallas Cowboys (11-5)

31. Baltimore Ravens (13-3)

32. San Francisco 49ers (12-4)