NFL

2024 NFL playoff bracket: Conference Championship picks, predictions, best bets for AFC, NFC from top model

by
SaC Bot
January 24, 2024

USATSI

The 2024 AFC Championship Game and 2024 NFC Championship Game will take place on Sunday. Ravens vs. Chiefs will lead off the doubleheader with kickoff scheduled for 3 p.m. ET as Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes will go head-to-head in the NFL playoff bracket for the first time. That will be followed by 49ers vs. Lions at 6:30 p.m. ET and Detroit is the top feel-good story remaining for your 2024 NFL playoff bracket picks.

The Lions haven’t played in a conference championship game since 1992 and have never played in the Super Bowl. They’re listed as +250 underdogs to win the NFC and are the biggest longshots remaining in the 2024 Super Bowl odds at +750. Before making any NFL picks or 2024 NFL bracket predictions for the 2024 NFL Conference Championship Games, be sure to see what SportsLine’s advanced computer model has to say.

The model, which simulates every NFL game 10,000 times, is up well over $7,000 for $100 players on top-rated NFL picks since its inception. The model enters the 2024 NFL playoffs on an incredible 183-129 run on top-rated NFL picks that dates back to the 2017 season. It is also on a 37-21 roll on top-rated picks since Week 7 of last season and has nailed seven straight top-rated picks entering the 2024 NFL playoffs.

The model ranked in the top 10 on NFLPickWatch four of the past six years on straight-up NFL picks and beat more than 94% of CBS Sports Football Pick’em players four times during that span. Anyone who has followed it is way up.

Now, it has turned its attention to the 2024 NFL playoffs bracket for 2024 NFL Conference Championship Weekend and locked in NFL picks for every matchup. Head here to see every pick.

Top 2024 NFL playoff predictions

One of the surprising NFL playoff bracket predictions from the model: It is high on the Ravens to win the AFC. The Ravens stumbled out of the gates with a Week 5 loss to the Steelers dropping them to 3-2. However, Baltimore won 10 of its next 11 games before resting starters during a Week 18 loss to Pittsburgh with the top seed in the conference locked up.

After the bye week, the Ravens looked a little sluggish in the first half against the Texans but scored 24 unanswered points in the second half to secure their spot in the AFC championship game. Lamar Jackson threw for a pair of touchdowns and added 100 yards and two more scores on the ground to earn just his second career playoff victory (first at home).

Meanwhile, Baltimore’s defense held a high-powered Texans offense without a touchdown, limiting C.J. Stroud to 175 yards through the air and bottling up the Houston running game (38 yards). The model sees a well-rounded unit and gives the Ravens a 63% chance of victory on Sunday that matches their -170 odds to win the AFC. It also views Baltimore as a value in Super Bowl futures, giving the squad a 34.4% chance to win it all despite +200 odds that imply a 33.3% chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. See which other teams to pick here.

How to make 2024 NFL playoff bracket picks

The model has also made the call on who wins the 2024 NFC Championship Game and played out the rest of the 2024 NFL playoff bracket, and it is confident with its picks for who makes and wins Super Bowl 58. You can only get every pick for every game at SportsLine.

So who wins both games during 2024 NFL Conference Championship Weekend? And what confident picks should you lock in for Super Bowl 58? Check out the 2024 NFL playoff bracket below, then visit SportsLine to see which teams win, all from the proven computer model that has returned well over $7,000 since its inception, and find out.