Seahawks projected to beat Chiefs in Super Bowl LXI in full 14-team — SkimNews
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- CBS Sports analytics expert Stephen Oh simulated the remaining 208 regular-season games and 13 playoff games to project the full 14-team playoff field and crown a Super Bowl LXI champion.
- Projected AFC playoff field: Chiefs (1), Jaguars (2), Bills (3), Ravens (4), Colts (5), Broncos (6), Patriots (7) — the Patriots took the final wild-card spot from the Bengals on a tiebreaker.
- Projected NFC playoff field: Seahawks (1), Vikings (2), Eagles (3), Falcons (4), 49ers (5), Rams (6), Bears (7) — with three NFC West clubs (Seahawks, 49ers, Rams) making the postseason.
- Seahawks are projected to beat the Chiefs 22-21 in Super Bowl LXI, ending a 30-year stretch without a back-to-back NFC Super Bowl champion and giving coach Mike Macdonald a second ring in the NFC West (after last year's win in the 49ers' stadium).
- Falcons are now projected as NFC South champions after back-to-back blowout victories, while the Browns are slated to finish 8-8 and miss the playoffs despite a 3-1 start.
- Seahawks vs. 49ers in Week 5 is flagged as a pivotal game, with the simulation projecting both as division winners and the 49ers as the NFC's No. 5 seed.
Why it matters: The simulation puts Seattle in rare company — no NFC team has repeated as Super Bowl champ in 30 years — and slots the Jaguars into the AFC championship for just the second time this century. It also frames the Week 5 Seahawks-49ers matchup as a de facto NFC West decider, since the model has them filling three of the seven NFC playoff spots.
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