Sports

The Tower’s 2024 NFL Playoff Predictions

Isaac Shrader and Ari Shemesh

January 19, 2024

CBS Sports

On Saturday, Jan. 15, the 2024 NFL playoffs commenced, and 14 teams began their quest towards, hopefully, hoisting the Lombardi Trophy into the air. The Wildcard Round of the playoffs has already come and gone, ending six of the team’s hopes of a Super Bowl victory and continuing the journey of six others, cementing their spot in the Divisional Round. As the next round of playoffs approaches and the spectacular performances continue, here are The Tower’s 2024 NFL playoff predictions.

NFC:

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Divisional Round: San Francisco 49ers vs Green Bay Packers

On Saturday night, the 49ers and the Packers will face off in San Francisco. The Packers young star, Jordan Love, not only proved himself worthy of the starting position throughout the season, but showed that he could handle the pressure of a playoff game by beating the Dallas Cowboys 48-32. The 49ers, on the other hand, despite maintaining the top seed in the NFC, had two of their five losses in the last five games. However, The Tower predicts that the 49ers will beat the Packers in the divisional rounds. Throughout the season, they displayed their dominance in all aspects of the game, from an unstoppable offense, to their immovable defense. Although their schedule was not too difficult, they did beat numerous playoff contenders. The Packers, on the other hand, lost to some of the same teams throughout the season. This game will not be a ride in the park for Brock Purdy and the 49ers, but they will be the team to move on to the conference championships.

Divisional Round: Detroit Lions vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This season has been a huge success for the Lions, who have struggled in recent decades. Although they played well last season, they really proved themselves as one of the league’s most dominant teams this year. Amon-Ra St. Brown has also proven himself to be one of the best receivers in the league. They have shown that they are capable of beating contending teams, as they beat the Kansas City Chiefs in week one of the regular season, and the Buccaneers a few weeks later. They have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, as well as a talented secondary with multiple capable players. Additionally, they have a very good defensive line, which will maintain pressure throughout the game and force turnovers. The Buccaneers have also turned out to be one of the league’s biggest surprises, but their success against good teams was not large and they are in debatably the worst division in the NFL. With this in mind The Tower predicts that the Lions will move on to face the 49ers in the Conference Championships.

Conference Championships: Detroit Lions vs San Francisco 49ers

Both of these teams finished the season with a 12-5 record, and both have proven that they are capable of beating challenging opponents. However, the 49ers were able to accomplish this more dominantly. Many of the games in which the Lions beat contending teams, they did so by just a few points, while the 49ers were able to beat teams such as the Cowboys by 32. One area in which the 49ers will dominate this game is in the pass rush. As the regular season passed, the percentage of plays in which Jared Goff was pressured by the defensive line increased from 32.4 to 37.4. The 49ers have one of the best defensive lines in the NFL, meaning there will be a lot of pressure on Goff throughout the game, which may result in turnovers and more possessions for San Francisco. Additionally, one issue that has presented itself to Detroit throughout the season has been coverage, which will be an issue against players like Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel.

AFC:

Divisional Round: Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens

The first game of the Divisional Round will see the Houston Texans matched up against the 1-seed Baltimore Ravens. The Texans are coming off a dominant performance with their 45-14 rout of the Cleveland Browns, mainly due to rookie sensation CJ Stroud, who logged 274 yards and three passing touchdowns. However, while the Texans saw success against a tough opponent last week, they are now up against arguably the best team in the league with a week of rest under their belt, setting them up to have an incredibly successful week. The Ravens have a strong receiving core, a complete defense, and are on a six game winning streak, minus a Week 18 loss from resting starters. While the Houston Texans have shown strength on both sides of the ball, particularly due to CJ Stroud’s offensive spectacles, the Baltimore Ravens will ultimately be too much for them, with both their stellar offense and defense shutting down the Texans underdog dreams at home.

Divisional Round: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills

The Divisional Round will conclude with a continuation of the intense rivalry between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs, however this year is likely to change the recent playoff dynamic between the two teams. The Chiefs have won both postseason matchups between the teams when being led by Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, but the Chiefs are a different team then they have been in the past, particularly due to their struggling receiving core. While the Chiefs were able to pick up a win against the failing Dolphins in freezing weather, they are no match for the determined team that is the Buffalo Bills. The Bills have been on a hot streak recently, winning their last 6 games, with one of them being against the Kansas City Chiefs, and they will likely continue this streak as they take on the Chiefs at home amongst their diehard fans. Josh Allen and his Bills team can seemingly do no wrong with their extremely efficient offense, which will ultimately be the downfall of the Chiefs as they will be unable to stop and become overwhelmed by such a pure offensive showing.

Conference Finals: Buffalo Bills vs. Baltimore Ravens

The meeting of these two teams in the conference finals will certainly be a game to remember. With both of the team’s offenses putting up stellar numbers this season, both having an elite receiving core and rushing attack, this will likely be a high scoring matchup. At the helm of both of the offenses, two star quarterbacks, who have been known to struggle in the playoffs, will face off for a one way ticket to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl. However, despite both teams having a great offensive production, only one will have the defensive strength to pull off the win. The Baltimore Ravens are top 10 in total, rushing, and passing defense, and their redzone defense is unmatched by almost every other team. In the end, the Ravens defense will be too much for even the Buffalo Bills, and the Ravens will move onto the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl: Baltimore Ravens vs San Francisco 49ers

Throughout the season, this was the Super Bowl matchup that many fans were talking about, especially after their initial game in the regular season. Both teams have proven their dominance on the field in numerous aspects of the game. The Ravens do have a few weaknesses that the 49ers will expose if they play again. Lamar Jackson is easily one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, but one issue that has haunted the Ravens this season was his fumbling. Throughout the regular season, he fumbled 11 times, which was second in the NFL, and he lost six of them. This may be an issue when faced against the dominant 49ers defensive line. Another issue is that they seem to slowly fade as the game progresses. During the regular season, nearly half of their allowed points have taken place in the fourth quarter or during overtime. The 49ers have one of the most skillfully diverse offenses in the league, with multiple players who are capable of scoring the football. However, Mark Andrews is rumored to be returning for the playoffs, and with the Raven’s receivers fully getting into stride they may be able to figure out a way around the 49er’s defense. With all of this in consideration, The Tower predicts that the 49ers will win the 2023-2024 Super Bowl.

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About the Contributors

Isaac Shrader, Reporter

Isaac Shrader, a senior at Adams, is in his second year as a sports reporter for the Tower and is ready to get back in on the action. Since a young age, Isaac has always had a passion for creating stories. He initially joined The Tower to explore new types of writing, as well as learn more about the world through a journalistic lens. Isaac values honesty and creativity in what he writes and hopes to grab the attention of a diverse group of readers through his articles, while also providing accurate, engaging information, particularly about sports. In addition to writing for the Tower, Isaac is captain of the John Adams Men’s Swim Team (which you should join if you want to be involved in the universally agreed upon best sport at John Adams High School) and a member of the National Honors Society. Isaac enjoys attending various sporting events at Adams, along with the fun sports culture that comes with it. Writing for The Tower has been a very rewarding experience for Isaac and he hopes to continue providing accurate news to the John Adams School Community. Isaac encourages Adams students to read The Tower because of the accurate, engaging information it provides. He hopes that students go to the sports page, where they will likely be able to read one of his articles. If you ever stumble across Isaac outside of school, he’ll likely be doing some of his favorite things such as listening to music, writing, hiking, watching sports, or spending time with friends and family. Isaac hopes to be able to share his creativity and knowledge with those who take the time to read his articles and asks that you help him have more reads this year than his fellow reporter, Ari Shemesh.

Ari Shemesh, Reporter

Ari Shemesh, a senior at Adams, is excited to be back for his second year as a member of The Tower, and is eager to finally get back on the reporting grind. This year, Ari is hoping to spend more quality time with his friend David Nagy, amongst others (Isaac Shrader), while continuing to write for The Tower and learn valuable writing and reporting skills While his mornings are spent being an incredibly successful reporter, , Ari is starting his fourth year on the John Adams tennis team, where he dominates every afternoon. When given time to chill, Ari likes to play video games, watch movies, and watch or play sports with his family and friends. Furthermore, Ari enjoys spending his summers at an overnight camp, where this past summer break, he cleaned toilets and dishes for two months. Ari’s favorite classes in school are history and English; He is also a member of NHS, and spends time volunteering at the Jewish Federation of St. Joseph Valley. Ari is very excited to start his final year as a reporter and a student at Adams. His one request this year is that you guys help him finish the year with more reads than Isaac Shrader.