Predicting full 14-team NFL playoff bracket after trade deadline: Entire NFC North makes postseason

The NFL trade deadline was Tuesday, and no one made a bigger move than the Minnesota Vikings. With their season hanging in the balance, the Vikings decided to make a trade for Kirk Cousins.

Thanks to the move, the Vikings are expected to coast into the playoffs along with EVERY OTHER TEAM in the NFC North. That's right, in our latest projection, we have all four NFC North teams making the postseason. If that happens, it would mark the first time in NFL history that a division has sent all four of its teams to the playoffs in one season.

So who else is projected to get in? Glad you asked.

To help us figure that out, we had our analytics expert, Stephen Oh, simulate the rest of the 2026 season. There are 136 games left on the regular-season schedule, along with 13 playoff games, and Oh simulated all of them. Not only did he project all eight division winners and the 14 playoff teams, but he also crowned a Super Bowl champion.

With that in mind, let's get to the projections. And just as a reminder, we're projecting what the NFL playoff field will look like at the end…

Original source: https://www.cbssports.com/