The National Football League kicks off tonight in Seattle with the New England Patriots squaring off with the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks at 7:20 CT on NBC. The Patriots get another shot at the Seahawks in a rematch of Super Bowl LX (60). It’s a tough assignment for the Pats.

Thursday, the 49ers play the Rams at Melbourne Cricket Ground? Down Under in Melbourne, Australia. Men at Work performing at halftime? They got a little age on them, so I doubt it.

The game kicks off at 7:35 P.M. on Netflix. All the games listed above and below are all on the Central time schedule.

Sunday’s key games include the Bears @ the Panthers, kicking off at 12 P.M. on FOX.

The Bills play @ the Texans at 12 P.M. on CBS.

At 3:25 P.M., the Packers play @ the Vikings on CBS.

Also at 3:25 P.M., the Commanders play @ the Eagles.

Sunday Night Football features How ’bout them Cowboys! @ the New Yawk Giants at 7:20 on NBC.

And on Monday Night Football, the Broncos play @ the Chiefs at 7:15 on ABC and E-S-P-N.

Here are my Postseason Predictions for the National Football League 2026-27 season including which teams I like to make the playoffs, who will win in the postseason, and which team will hoist the Lombardi Trophy as winners of Super Bowl LXI on Sunday, February 14, 2027 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA., essentially Los Angeles, where the Rams and Chargers play. ESPN will broadcast the Big Game.

In my Playoff Predictions in ’25-26, I was 7-6 Straight Up, 6-7 ATS, and 6-7 on the Over/Under.

Got the Seahawks over the Patriots straight up, ATS and got the O/U correctly in Super Bowl LX.

Seven teams qualify from each conference for a total of 14 Playoff teams. Top 4 teams are the division winners, with 3 wild cards in each conference, and seedings in the wild card round determined by final regular season records.

NFC

Wild Card Round

No.1- Los Angeles Rams, Get a bye

No.2 Detroit over No.7 Chicago

No. 3 Philly Eagles over No.6 Packers

No.5 Seahawks over No.4 Carolina

Divisional Round

Rams over Seahawks

Eagles over Detroit

NFC Championship Game

Rams 20, Eagles 17

NFC Champion- Rams

AFC

Wild Card Round

No.1- Denver Broncos, bye

No.2 Ravens over No.7 Bengals

No. 3 Patriots over No.6 Bills

No. 5 Chargers over No.4 Texans

Divisional Round

Broncos over Chargers

Ravens over Patriots

AFC Championship Game

Broncos 23, Ravens 21

AFC Champion- Denver Broncos

Super Bowl LXI

LA Rams vs. Denver Broncos

Two Super Bowl winning coaches in Sean Payton, who won it all in the 2009 season with the N’Awlins Saints in Super Bowl XLIV (44) at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, defeating the Indy Colts, 31-17, on February 7, 2010, and Sean McVay, who won it with the Rams in the 2021 season, on February 13, 2022 in Super Bowl LVI (56) at SoFi, defeating Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20. McVay was the youngest coach to ever win a Super Bowl at 36 years old. Payton will be 63 in the 2027 Super Bowl, while McVay will be 41.

I’ll take Super Bowl winning quarterback Matthew Stafford over a highly talented Broncos team and their young, stellar quarterback, Bo Nix. Stafford will be 39 years old at the Super Bowl, while Nix will be 26. I love the fact that the Rams have Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald on their defensive front. Donald, at 35, came out of retirement to run it back for the Rams again. The talent on both sides will be elite. Should be a classic.

Rams 24, Broncos 21

Super Bowl 61 Champion: LA Rams

Super Bowl MVP: Matthew Stafford

The prolific Carlos Alcaraz appeared to be headed towards his 8th Grand Slam title at the 146th U.S. Open as he had matriculated into the quarterfinals last night with stellar play along the way. Carlos, after being out for four months due to a broken wrist, had found his form during play at Flushing Meadows in Queens and looked unbeatable. I took a risk before the Open thinking Carlos might be a little rusty and had Ben Shelton defeating him in the quarterfinals.

I have to admit, I wasn’t completely confident Ben could do it last night. This was classic David vs Goliath. But Ben brought his slingshot and slayed the giant as he defeated the great Alcaraz in 5 sets, 6-7, 6-1,6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7). I was asleep, but Beth got up to check. My wife is so passionate about tennis that she knows every player, man and woman, where they’re from, who they date or are married to, and if they have a dog.

I was waiting for her because I wanted to know if there was any chance Ben pulled it off. When she told me he did, I couldn’t go back to sleep I was so amped up. I ended up getting out of bed at 4:30 and had a text waiting for me from Derrick! It was at 1:39 A.M. and he sent me a video of Ben acing Carlos for the victory. It was magic.

Carlos was so classy in defeat, too. Couldn’t have been a better sport/prince of a guy. No doubt, Carlos will have many more appearances and opportunities to win Slams. But last night/this morning in the City that never sleeps, it was Ben’s day at the office.

I hope my daughters, who both live in Manhattan, were asleep, because they both had to work today! I’ll find out later this week. My son-in-law played tennis at W&L and is totally passionate about the sport as well, so he may be a little weary at the office today.

So it’s onto the semifinals for Ben. He’ll face the amazing ‘Foe, Frances Tiafoe, who came back from two sets down to defeat fellow American Alex Michelsen, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (10-6). ‘Foe was down 0-3 in the fifth and brought it all the way back. What an effort by the 28 year old from D.C.

The 22 year old Michelsen played his heart out too, but just came up a little short.

So it’s an All-American semifinal in one semi, and I’m not even thinking Alexander Zverev will be challenged on the other side and will make the final, where I’m predicting he’ll face Ben, who escapes Frances in 4 sets.

I like Ben over Zverev 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5. It’ll be a classic as the German and reigning French Open champion will be a tough out.

But give me the 23 year old from Atlanta, by way of the University of Florida, where he had a cup of coffee and won the NCAA singles championship in 2022. This would be an awesome story for the American.

A very interesting fact that commenter Carter Dukes told me. CD is the only guy in Birmingham who has a victory over Ben Shelton’s dad, Bryan, who is a superb guy and also Ben’s coach. CD did it 47 years ago. Incredible, CD.

Have Coco Gauff over Aryna Sabalenka in my women’s final, and that’s still viable.

So far, so good.

But Coco has some tough matches ahead of her to reach the final. Sabalenka is already in the semis where she’ll face Jesse Pegula. The great Gauff plays Russian phenom Mirra Andreeva today in the quarterfinals after Elena Rybikana and Qinwen Zheng finish their quarterfinal match. If she can get by Mirra, she’ll face the Rybikana/Zheng winner in the semis.

So Coco has her work cut out for her. But I believe in her.

Thursday: Week 2 College Football, Previews and Predictions