The NFL season is still in its early stages and, although a few teams are certainly already out of playoff contention, the rest are going to battle it out until week 17 when it all shakes out.

Taking a shot at playoff predictions can be tough, as one injury can change a team’s whole outlook, but I’m going to take a shot at it. Let’s start with the division winners. In the AFC, it will be Patriots, Steelers, Texans, and Broncos. The Wild Card teams will be the Chiefs and the Raiders. The AFC North will be the closest because the Steelers, Bengals, and Ravens will fight for the top spot in that division. The other three divisions won’t be as competitive, as the Pats and Texans should win easily, but the Broncos will have to deal with the Chiefs and Raiders. The AFC Championship will be the Patriots and the Broncos with the Broncos coming out on top – again – because of their dominant defense.

In the NFC, it will be Eagles, Vikings, Panthers, and Cardinals. The Wild Card teams will be the Falcons and the Packers. Every division in the NFC will be a close one, especially in the East where the Eagles will have to battle with the Cowboys, Giants and Redskins. In the South, the Panthers will have to battle with the Falcons. In the North, the Vikings will have to battle with the Packers for division title. Finally, in the West, the Cardinals and the Seahawks will battle for this tough division. The NFC Championship will be the Minnesota Vikings and the Carolina Panthers with the Vikings on top due to the coaching of Mike Zimmer and game manager Sam Bradford taking over in the end.

In Super Bowl 51, the Minnesota Vikings and the Denver Broncos will meet, and the Vikings will win because of their dominant defense, which is going be like the 2000 Ravens.

As for individual awards, the MVP will be Aaron Rodgers, who will win his 3rd MVP Award because he has Jordy Nelson back and other explosive receivers. It wouldn’t surprise people if he throws for 5,000 yards this season and 50 touchdowns. The offensive player of the year will be Antonio Brown because he will catch 200 balls and – in a bold prediction – I think he will be the first NFL receiver ever to reach 2,000 yards receiving in a season. The defensive player of the year will be Luke Kuechly, because he will have another 100 + tackle season and will have a least 7 interceptions on top of that. The Comeback Player of the year will be Victor Cruz, because he will have 1,000 yards receiving in his comeback from a knee injury in 2014.