Super Bowl LVII predictions and NFL playoff tips: Destiny calling to Bills

Free American football tips, best bets and analysis for the 2022 NFL playoffs, which start on Saturday.

Best bets

Buffalo Bills to win Super Bowl LVII
2pts each-way 4-1 general

San Francisco 49ers to win the NFC
2pts each-way 15-8 Betfair, Paddy Power

Deebo Samuel - most playoff receiving yards
1pt 20-1 bet365

Already advised

Baltimore Ravens to win Super Bowl LVII
5th September
1pt each-way 18-1 general

Minnesota Vikings to win Super Bowl LVII
5th September
0.5 each-way 40-1 general

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NFL Playoffs preview

For the Buffalo Bills, the season started with a maiden Super Bowl win being the be-all and end-all.

Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17 reset Buffalo’s outlook and priorities, but with the Bills safety making a remarkable recovery - he was joyfully discharged from hospital this week - a Buffalo team more than capable of winning a title looks ready to ride a wave of emotion to Super Bowl glory.

The Bills entered the campaign as warm favourites to go all the way and although they’ve been replaced at the top of the market by the AFC's number one seed, Kansas City, the team who have ended Buffalo’s playoff run in the last two seasons, few would question their championship credentials.

Only the Chiefs boasted a better points or yards per game average than the Bills on offence, while without the ball only the San Francisco 49ers have allowed fewer points than Buffalo.

The Bills look like the most balanced team heading into the playoffs - a stance backed up by Football Outsiders’ highly-regarded DVOA metric which has Buffalo the best in the league.

Then there are the intangibles of a team highly motivated by Hamlin and previous playoff heartache, and led by the NFL's most athletic quarterback, Josh Allen.

Allen, who is now over of an elbow injury that affected his performance mid-season, is one of several game-winners for a Bills team who won’t have to go to Kansas City for the AFC championship game if the two teams get that far again. That fixture would be played at a neutral venue as part of the playoff structure rejig resulting from Buffalo’s game with Cincinnati being postponed.

The Bills, Chiefs and reigning conference champions Cincinnati Bengals are the AFC's elite outfits and are priced accordingly. The winner of Jacksonville's wild card match-up versus the Los Angeles Chargers has the potential to make a deep run but will need to raise their game, while quarterback issues should curtail the aspirations of Baltimore and Miami.

The Jaguars could prove the value Super Bowl pick at 45-1 but with 23 of the last 32 Super Bowl winners entering the playoffs at single-figure odds, the claims of others appear stronger.

The AFC contenders face a stiffer path to the Super Bowl, while the NFC is more of a two-horse race with the red-hot San Francisco 49ers preferred to number one seed Philadelphia.

The Niners' season could have gone off the rails when they lost their top two quarterbacks to injury, but they’ve arguably improved since rookie Brock Purdy was parachuted in to call the shots.

Purdy is 5-0 in his fledgling career, part of an ongoing ten-game winning streak San Francisco have put together during which they’ve dominated their opponents, posting an average winning margin of 16.1 points per game.

The worry for the 49ers is that Purdy wilts under the pressure of the playoffs but the quality of San Francisco's coaching and supporting cast should mean they can cover most mistakes their young QB makes.

San Francisco's defensive front is arguably the most fearsome in the NFL, while their injuries on offence are beginning to clear with Deebo Samuel returning last week.

Samuel is an intriguing 20-1 shot to register the most receiving yards in the playoffs given his importance to the 49ers' attack and his track record of making good gains after receiving the ball.

Only two of the last 12 players to chalk up the highest number of playoff receiving yards were on teams that didn’t make the Super Bowl, and the Niners' path back to the big dance is clear.

The NFC is dominated by mediocre and below-average teams, and a few of them have snuck into the playoffs. Others have obvious flaws, such as the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings, and it will be a shock if the 49ers and Eagles, the cream of the crop, aren’t contesting the conference championship game.

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