The Seattle Seahawks are your defending Super Bowl champions after capturing their first Lombardi Trophy in franchise history during the 2013-14 season. What are their chances of getting back to the playoffs? The folks at BetOnline have listed them at -300 to make the 2015 playoffs. It’s definitely not a shoe-in, but they are the favorites to get there from the NFC West.
Just like last year, the two teams with the best chance to get to the playoffs are the Denver Broncos (-500) and the New England Patriots (-500). That’s because both of them are expected to run away with their mediocre divisions. Peyton Manning wins his division basically every year, while Tom Brady wins his religiously as well.
The teams with the smallest chance of reaching the 2015 postseason are the Jaguars (+1000) and the Raiders (+800). I give neither of these teams much of a chance to get to the playoffs, but if I had to pick one to break through, it would be the Jaguars. They play in the worst division in football in the AFC South, while the Raiders play in an AFC West division that features three playoff teams from a year ago.
I am going to pick which 12 teams I believe will make the playoffs this year, and my favorite ones will have an asterisk (*) by them and will be in bold. I have also put an asterisk by my pick for each team in the table below to indicate which way I would lean for every team. Without further ado, here are your 2015 NFL playoff contenders. The top four teams in each conference listed are the division winners, while the bottom two are the wild card teams.
| Arizona Cardinals | |
| Yes | +325 |
| No* | -450 |
| Atlanta Falcons | |
| Yes | +210 |
| No* | -260 |
| Baltimore Ravens | |
| Yes* | +160 |
| No | -195 |
| Buffalo Bills | |
| Yes | +500 |
| No* | -800 |
| Carolina Panthers | |
| Yes | +210 |
| No* | -260 |
| Chicago Bears | |
| Yes | +155 |
| No* | -185 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | |
| Yes | +125 |
| No* | -155 |
| Cleveland Browns | |
| Yes | +450 |
| No* | -700 |
| Dallas Cowboys | |
| Yes | +225 |
| No* | -280 |
| Denver Broncos | |
| Yes* | -500 |
| No | +350 |
| Detroit Lions | |
| Yes | +220 |
| No* | -270 |
| Green Bay Packers | |
| Yes* | -210 |
| No | +170 |
| Houston Texans | |
| Yes* | +225 |
| No | -280 |
| Indianapolis Colts | |
| Yes* | -170 |
| No | +140 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | |
| Yes | +1000 |
| No* | -2000 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | |
| Yes | +260 |
| No* | -340 |
| Miami Dolphins | |
| Yes | +325 |
| No* | -450 |
| Minnesota Vikings | |
| Yes | +550 |
| No* | -900 |
| New England Patriots | |
| Yes* | -500 |
| No | +350 |
| New Orleans Saints | |
| Yes* | -165 |
| No | +135 |
| New York Giants | |
| Yes | +225 |
| No* | -280 |
| New York Jets | |
| Yes | +350 |
| No* | -500 |
| Oakland Raiders | |
| Yes | +800 |
| No* | -1500 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | |
| Yes | -120 |
| No* | -110 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | |
| Yes* | +140 |
| No | -170 |
| San Diego Chargers | |
| Yes | +325 |
| No* | -450 |
| San Francisco 49ers | |
| Yes* | -250 |
| No | +200 |
| Seattle Seahawks | |
| Yes* | -300 |
| No | +240 |
| St Louis Rams | |
| Yes* | +375 |
| No | -550 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |
| Yes | +400 |
| No* | -600 |
| Tennessee Titans | |
| Yes | +300 |
| No* | -400 |
| Washington Redskins | |
| Yes* | +260 |
| No | -350 |