2022 NFL predictions: Super Bowl LVII winner, major awards, and more

The NFL is set to return with Thursday's season opener between the reigning champion Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills, and theScore's football staff is kicking things off with playoff, Super Bowl, and awards predictions for this season.

AFC

The Buffalo Bills are the only team unanimously predicted to win their division. The Bills clearly boast the best quarterback and roster in the AFC East, and their main competitors, the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots, both have significant question marks. The Indianapolis Colts came closest to the Bills, receiving all but one vote, which went not to the reigning AFC South champion Tennessee Titans but the Jacksonville Jaguars. In fact, we're predicting major regression from the Titans. No one believes they'll even earn a wild-card berth after snagging the AFC's top seed last season.

In our eyes, the AFC West is a two-team race between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers, despite major offseason moves by the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders. Everyone expects the Chargers will finally make the playoffs one way or another, while one voter tabs the Chiefs to miss the postseason for the first time since 2014. Eight of our nine voters see three AFC West clubs playing in January, with the Raiders edging the Broncos in wild-card votes (five to four).

We expect the Baltimore Ravens to re-establish themselves as the main power in the AFC North in 2022, with the Cincinnati Bengals their nearest competition coming off their Super Bowl defeat. While the Bengals should be AFC contenders for the foreseeable future thanks to the duo of Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase, teams that lose the Super Bowl often struggle the following year. Our entire panel has Baltimore either winning the division or earning a wild-card spot, while Cincinnati is on the outside looking in for two voters.

NFC

Few teams made as many eye-catching moves this offseason as the Philadelphia Eagles, and we're buying the hype. The Eagles are predicted to win the division by eight voters and to earn a wild-card spot by our ninth panelist, who went with the Dallas Cowboys for the NFC East crown. It's not all bad news for Jerry Jones and Co., with five voters predicting a wild-card spot.

In the NFC North and NFC South, most see the Green Bay Packers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers retaining their respective crowns. But with Davante Adams gone, the Packers could be vulnerable for the first time in years. Two of our voters believe the Minnesota Vikings will push Aaron Rodgers into a wild-card matchup. While only one voter picked the Sean Payton-less New Orleans Saints to win the division, a narrow majority is convinced they'll book a playoff spot.

Although the NFC West is widely perceived as the most competitive division in the NFL, our votes weren't as evenly split as you might expect. Despite the switch from Jimmy Garoppolo to the unproven Trey Lance, six voters see the San Francisco 49ers taking their second division title under Kyle Shanahan. The Los Angeles Rams continued to go all-in after their Super Bowl win, signing the likes of Allen Robinson and Bobby Wagner. Everybody predicts a playoff appearance for L.A., but the reigning champions only received one more division-winning vote than the Arizona Cardinals, who had an offseason full of drama and distraction.

Team drafting No. 1 overall

This season's race to the bottom should be more exciting than last year's considering how much better the 2023 quarterback class - headlined by C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young - is projected to be compared to the 2022 group. With Matt Ryan gone and Calvin Ridley suspended for the season, it's no surprise to see the Atlanta Falcons get the most votes. The Seattle Seahawks have never won fewer than seven games under Pete Carroll, but two of our voters foresee a brutal first season without Russell Wilson.

AFC Championship Game

The depth and potential parity of the AFC is one of the biggest storylines entering the year, but you wouldn't know it from our predictions. Only three teams - the Chiefs, Bills, and Chargers - are apparently in the running to represent the conference in Super Bowl LVII. Buffalo appears in eight of our nine predicted matchups, and despite failing to make the playoffs in the last two years, the Chargers made six. While some consider the Chiefs to be in a transition year, just under half of our panel put Andy Reid's squad in its fifth straight AFC title game.

NFC Championship Game

Our NFC predictions are more varied than in the AFC, with matchups involving six different teams. Unsurprisingly, the majority of our panel is betting on Tom Brady playing in his 11th Super Bowl. Father Time seems to have no effect on the star quarterback, and the Bucs still boast one of the NFL's premier rosters. The Eagles are the second-most popular pick, appearing in four matchups, with the Rams and Packers close behind with three apiece. Although most predicted San Francisco will win its division, the 49ers didn't inspire much faith in a deep playoff run, with just one title-game appearance.

Super Bowl LVII

This is apparently the season of the AFC, with eight winners for the conference in nine predicted matchups. All four voters who put the Bills into the title game, leading all teams, have them winning their first Super Bowl in franchise history, finally erasing the pain of the four straight losses in the early 1990s. Three voters see Patrick Mahomes earning his second ring, while the Chargers and Bucs were picked once each. The lack of a clear top team apparently hurt the NFC in our predictions, with six different clubs representing the conference in Arizona.

1st head coach fired

Rhule might as well start packing his bags, according to our panel. The Carolina Panthers head coach received five out of nine votes and was the only person to receive multiple votes. Rhule is entering a make-or-break year after two disappointing seasons in charge of Carolina and is banking on a Baker Mayfield revival to save him. He'll likely need to lead his club to playoff contention late in the season to have any shot of making it to Year 4.

Best and worst free-agent signings

Our panel believes the Broncos will quickly regret stealing Gregory from the Cowboys. The pass-rusher has been a solid player since entering the NFL in 2015, but the question marks are glaring. Gregory has never played a full season, mostly because of suspensions for violations of the league's substance abuse policy totaling 54 games, and he's never exceeded six sacks in a year. While he seems to have overcome his off-field problems, another violation would come with another significant punishment.

Receivers dominate our best free-agent signing predictions: Robinson leads the way with three votes and Smith-Schuster is right behind with two. Both are leaping into ideal situations after years in inconsistent passing games. Robinson will get tons of easy looks as defenses focus on taking away Cooper Kupp, while Smith-Schuster finally has a quarterback capable of throwing downfield.

Coach of the Year

The Eagles continue to be one of the darlings of our panel. Sirianni receives three votes after leading Philadelphia to a surprising 9-8 finish in 2022. No other head coach earned more than one vote, but coaches taking over new teams - Pederson, Allen, and O'Connell - got a lot of love, which makes sense based on this award's history. A coach whose team is viewed as a Super Bowl hopeful entering the year usually needs a hugely dominant season to wrestle this award away from someone whose squad far exceeds expectations.

Rookies of the Year

Hutchinson lost out on being the No. 1 overall pick to Travon Walker, but the Detroit Lions pass-rusher is our favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year. Walker, who's viewed as more of a project than Hutchinson, didn't get any votes from our panel. After impressive play in camp and the preseason, Karlaftis and Jackson (two votes each) are perceived as the biggest threats to Hutchinson.

For the offensive award, skill position players dominated our predictions with no rookie quarterback set to start the season. Pickett received one vote after a strong preseason, but he needs Mitchell Trubisky to struggle early in order for him to get enough playing time to challenge for the award. Receivers Olave and Pickens and running back Pierce are joint favorites. While all three will be key players for their teams right away, Pickens generated the most hype this preseason.

Players of the Year

After setting the record for the most receiving yards in a player's first two seasons in the NFL, Jefferson is primed to take the mantle of the league's best receiver. The Vikings star received the most votes with three, pipping Samuel, who's coming off a breakout campaign. No one sees Kupp, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, repeating his historic 2021 campaign.

Bosa bounced back from a lost 2020 season in style, racking up 15.5 sacks. Now another year removed from his ACL injury, the 49ers defensive end earned the most votes for Defensive Player of the Year with three. Surprisingly, it's not Donald (one vote) or reigning defensive king T.J. Watt (no votes) close behind Bosa, but sophomore stud Parsons and James. Voter fatigue often plays a part in these awards, and Parsons is the shiny new toy after a stunning rookie year. While only three safeties have won this award since 2000, the Chargers standout's versatility should allow him to put up an eye-catching stat line.

MVP

As always, quarterbacks lock out the MVP conversation. Mahomes gets the most love, earning four votes, which is something of a surprise considering the loss of Tyreek Hill and a relative down year in 2021. But overcoming Hill's exit and adapting to a new offense could give Mahomes a compelling new narrative.

Only Mahomes and Josh Allen received more than one vote. The all-time playoff shootout between the Chiefs and Bills presumably looms large in the minds of our panel, and it's hard to blame them. Mahomes and Allen ascended to another level during that game, and the Bills signal-caller didn't put a foot wrong all postseason.

Notably, reigning back-to-back MVP Rodgers and Brady - who was a close second to Rodgers last season - didn't get any votes. Rodgers faces an uphill battle to earn a third straight award after Adams' departure, so his omission is understandable. However, Brady led the NFL in passing touchdowns and yards in 2021, and his supporting cast is just as strong this year.