The NFL season is on the horizion and if we get a full season it will be a very entertaining 2020. There are many storylines circulating including wether we will have a full season or not and how the 7th seed will effect the league’s playoffs. We also have to wonder how teams will change with the many free agency moves made during this extended offseason. In this article we will take everything we have learned and show the new playoff teams in our 2020 simulation.
AFC
AFC East
With Tom Brady out of New England, this is the most open the NFC East has looked in a long time. The Patriots end up doing worse than expected in the absence of their star QB and even lose the division. Their defense kept them in many games, but their offense just couldn’t finish. There weren’t many other surprises in this division and the Bills would end of taking it. The Dolphins had a number of injuries on offense which included their QB, Tua. This would derail their season after starting off with a winning record of 3-2. The Jets were just the Jets and just didn’t do much this year, again. In the end, the Bills just ran away with the division with everyone else struggling.
Winner: Buffalo Bills, 10-6
AFC North
The AFC North ended up being one of the most competitive divisions in this simulation with the teams staying with each other. The Steelers had a healthy team and actually played very well with Big Ben back. The Ravens took the division this year as well but actually dropped games to the Steelers and Browns once. Baker and co look like they finally got going this year after having a great year. The Bengals were just forced into a tough situation in this division with these teams being good and end up having a rough year. While the Ravens ended up winning the division the Browns and Steelers stayed in the Wild Card race.
Winner: Baltimore Ravens, 12-4
AFC South
The AFC South has been one of those divisions where you think you know who is going to come out and it just ends up surprising you. The Jags and Texans have won the last 5 division titles, but this division has sent 2 teams into the playoffs for the last 3 seasons. It looks like the division streak will end this year for Houston and Jacksonville as they are in a rebuilding phase. It showed this year as both teams just struggled overall and their record reflected that. The Colts and Titans on the other hand had great years behind Phillip Rivers and Derek Henry. Both teams ended up battling till the very end until the Titans pulled away in week 17. They would beat the Texans while the Colts would lose to Jacksonville.
Winner: Tennessee Titans, 10-6
AFC West
The West is another one of the more interesting divisions in this simulation with a lot of teams being in the hunt for the second place spot. The Broncos end up having a better year with a more balanced offense thanks to the edition of Melvin Gordon. They would fight with the Oakland Raiders who would end up in 2nd place. If I had to predict who would be in second in this division, I honestly don’t know who I would chose in this division. It doesn’t surprise me the Raiders are here, but I think Jon Gruden deserves a lot of credit. Carr and Josh Jacobs really turned it up as well as they had 10 games where they scored thirty points or more. Overall though the Chargers suffered the most losing their starting QB and running back left gaps that rookies just can’t fill immediately. The Chiefs took the division and the first spot in the AFC playoffs
Winner: Kansas City Chiefs, 13-3
Wild Card
The Wild Card race was definitely wild this year with many teams being in the mix till the very end. While the Patriots stuck around they couldn’t hang on. This also happened to the Denver Broncos who almost snuck in. In the end in came down to the Browns, Steelers, Colts, and Raiders. The Patriots and Broncos were in the race till after Week 16 where they were both eliminated. The Browns and Steelers matched up with each other in week 17 and Cleveland won at home to be tied with the Steelers up a game on both the Colts and Raiders. The Colts got upset by Jacksonville and so did the Raiders. Unfortunately the dream season would end for Las Vegas as the head to head went to Indy.
5. Browns, 10-6
6. Steelers, 10-6
7. Colts, 9-7
8. Raiders, 9-7
Top picture by NBC