Each year, a few weeks prior to the season, I go through the NFL schedule trying to predict every game. Why? Part NFL obsession, part love for statistics, and part affinity for watching what I think will happen at the beginning of the year go right down the  toilet.

Anyway, do with this what you want. But when the Bengals go 12-4, Vikes and Pack each win 13 games, and three teams in the NFC West fail to win five games, just know that I told you so.

For the record …

AFC East                         W-L       
z New York Jets————12-4        (h2h over Ravens)
* New England Patriots—11-5        (SOS: 141-115)
Miami Dolphins————8-8
Buffalo Bills—————-3-13

AFC North
z Baltimore Ravens ——12-4        (divisional over Bengals)
* Cincinnati Bengals——12-4
Pittsburgh Steelers——-9-7
Cleveland Browns———3-13

AFC South
z Indianapolis Colts——13-3
Tennessee Titans———11-5        (SOS: 132-124)
Houston Texans———-9-7
Jacksonville Jaguars——7-9

AFC West
z San Diego Chargers—-10-6
Denver Broncos————8-8
Oakland Raiders———-8-8
Kansas City Chiefs——-3-13

NFC East
z Dallas Cowboys——-11-5
New York Giants———8-8
Philadelphia Eagles——5-11
Washington Redskins—4-12

NFC North
z Minnesota Vikings—-13-3        (h2h over Packers)
* Green Bay Packers—-13-3
Detroit Lions————-6-10
Chicago Bears————4-12

NFC South
z New Orleans Saints—12-4
* Atlanta Falcons———11-5
Carolina Panthers——-9-7
Tampa Bay Buccaneers-1-15

NFC West
z San Francisco 49ers—9-7
Seattle Seahawks———4-12
Arizona Cardinals——-4-12
St. Louis Rams————3-13

NOTES:

• Jets get second-seed with Week 1 win over Ravens
• Patriots and Titans didn’t play in head to head, had identical conference records, identical common opponents records, and identical strength of victory records
• Patriots won the strength of schedule tiebreaker, thus earning them the Wild Card
• Ravens held the divisional tiebreaker over the Bengals to earn the division
• The Vikings swept the Packers in the regular season, giving them the division
• Standings assume all outstanding NFL holdouts are resolved by Week 4

PLAYOFFS

Wild Card Round
(6) Patriots at (3) Ravens
Ravens 32, Patriots 27

(5) Bengals at (4) Chargers
Bengals 41, Chargers 30

(6) Falcons at (3) Cowboys
Cowboys 24, Falcons 10

(5) Packers at (4) 49ers
Packers 38, 49ers 14

Divisional Round
(5) Bengals at (1) Colts
Colts 31, Bengals 20

(3) Ravens at (2) Jets
Jets 21, Ravens 13

(5) Packers at (1) Vikings
Packers 41, Vikings 24

(3) Cowboys at (2) Saints
Cowboys 21, Saints 17

Conference Championship
(2) Jets at (1) Colts
Jets 23, Colts 21

(5) Packers at (3) Cowboys
Packers 31, Cowboys 13

Super Bowl
(5) Packers  vs. (2) Jets
Packers 28, Jets 20