The NFL Preseason is now well underway and all 32 teams are making their final preparations ahead of what promises to be a very exciting 2022 season.

The end of last season saw the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams face off in the Super Bowl, at the home of the Rams, SoFi Stadium and it was the home team that landed the victory to claim the Vince Lombardi trophy.

Since then we have had the NFL Draft, which saw Travon Walker selected first by the Jacksonville Jaguars , while the 2021 Lombard Award winner Aidan Hutchinson went second to the Detroit Lions.

We have also had a hugely exciting Free Agency period which has seen a number of top players trading places.

Chief amongst them have been quarterbacks and wide receivers with Russell Wilson (Seattle to Denver), Matt Ryan (Atlanta to Indianapolis) and Deshaun Watson (Houston to Cleveland) amongst the signal callers on the move.

Wide receivers that have traded homes include Davante Adams (Green Bay to Las Vegas), Tyreek Hill (Kansas City to Miami) and A.J.Brown (Tennessee to Philadelphia), while others such as Cooper Kupp, Terry McLaurin and Stefon Diggs have signed new long term lucrative contracts with their teams (Los Angeles Rams, Washington Commanders and Buffalo Bills respectively).

With teams now considering their final rosters for the season ahead, it is an important few weeks for them as they assess the different options on their team.

And with bet365 Sport already having the latest odds available on all eight Divisional titles, we have gone through all eight and given you our analysis and picks for each one below.

For the selections below, the odds shown were correct with bet365 Sport at the time of writing, but they may have changed in the run up to the season.

AFC Conference – Divisional Winners

AFC East

• Buffalo Bills – 1/2
• New England Patriots – 17/4
• Miami Dolphins – 4/1
• New York Jets – 18/1

The Bills are many people’s tip to win the Super Bowl this year and I think they are going to dominate not just the AFC East but also the conference as I am tipping them to win the East and also take the top seed spot in the AFC.

The battle behind them will be intriguing between the Dolphins and Patriots and I also feel the Jets won’t be too far behind given the strides that they have made during the off-season. That battle will be intriguing as the Bills run away with the division.

Prediction

1. Buffalo Bills (1^st Seed)
2. Miami Dolphins
3. New England Patriots
4. New York Jets

AFC North

• Baltimore Ravens – 2/1
• Cleveland Browns – 2/1
• Cincinnati Bengals – 2/1
• Pittsburgh Steelers – 9/1

This division will likely be hugely influenced by the punishment meted out by the NFL to Browns new quarterback Deshaun Watson. If he misses the entire season, then the Browns odds will absolutely plummet (and by the time you read this, you will likely have seen that happen).

I think this is a toss-up between the Ravens and Bengals to be honest and I think after last season’s injury hit campaign, the Ravens will be very keen to respond well and I think they may edge out the Bengals here by one game, or even by a better head-to-head record. The Bengals will still make the playoffs with the Browns and Steelers battling to avoid bottom spot if Watson is absent for most of the season.

Prediction

1. Baltimore Ravens (3^rd Seed)
2. Cincinnati Bengals (5^th Seed)
3. Cleveland Browns
4. Pittsburgh Steelers

AFC West

• Denver Broncos – 5/2
• Kansas City Chiefs – 8/5
• Las Vegas Raiders – 6/1
• Los Angeles Chargers – 12/5

The AFC West is absolutely loaded with talent and you could make a case for any of these four teams winning the division, so the six games between them all over the course of the regular season are going to be key in deciding who eventually takes top spot.

Even minus Tyreek Hill, I think the Chiefs will be contenders, but I love what the Chargers have done this off season in the draft and with trades and if that pans out, I think the edge out the Chiefs for top spot who will finish just ahead of the Broncos and Raiders in what should be a cracking division.

Prediction

1. Los Angeles Chargers (4^th Seed)
2. Kansas City Chiefs (6^th Seed)
3. Denver Broncos
4. Las Vegas Raiders

AFC South

• Houston Texans – 28/1
• Jacksonville Jaguars – 7/1
• Indianapolis Colts – 10/11
• Tennessee Titans – 7/5

The Titans not only won this division last season, they were AFC Conference top seeds heading into the playoffs, but they may struggle this year against the Colts who now have Matt Ryan at QB and with a strong defense and solid offense, I think the Colts will top this division and have a strong record in the AFC.

The Titans will probably scrape into the playoffs, but I think they will struggle more on offense this season. The Jaguars will improve to finish third in the division, with the Texans, still in team building mode, a distant fourth.

Prediction

1. Indianapolis Colts (2^nd Seed)
2. Tennessee Titans  (7^th Seed)
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
4. Houston Texans

NFC Conference – Divisional Winners

NFC East

• Dallas Cowboys – 23/20
• New York Giants – 8/1
• Philadelphia Eagles – 9/5
• Washington Commanders – 5/1

The NFC East has been Dallas’ division the past few years and I do think the Cowboys will reach the playoffs once again, but I really like the way the Eagles have improved over the post-season period and after being a surprise playoff team last season, I think they may pip Dallas to the East crown here.

I think the Giants and Commanders are going to be well off the pace of the top two teams and neither will have a realistic chance of making the playoffs, but I do expect the Giants to win an extra game or two this season.

Prediction

1. Philadelphia Eagles (4^th seed)
2. Dallas Cowboys (6^th seed)
3. New York Giants
4. Washington Commanders

NFC North

• Chicago Bears – 17/2
• Detroit Lions – 10/1
• Green Bay Packers – 5/9
• Minnesota Vikings – 11/4

The Green Bay Packers have dominated the NFC North for some time now and despite Davante Adam’s departure, I can see Aaron Rodgers and his team once again taking this division very comfortably.

However, who finishes second behind them will be interesting. I expect both the Bears and Lions to be better this season, with the Vikings probably dropping off a little, so I feel the Bears may just edge the Vikings for second spot with an improving Lions still fourth but closing the gap on other teams.

Prediction

1. Green Bay Packers (2^nd seed)
2. Chicago Bears (7^th seed)
3. Minnesota Vikings
4. Detroit Lions

NFC West

• Arizona Cardinals – 16/5
• Los Angeles Rams – 27/20
• San Francisco 49ers – 7/4
• Seattle Seahawks – 12/1

The NFC West was one of the toughest divisions in the NFL last year and I think this year will be pretty similar. I do feel the Rams are the team to beat here and I am expecting the Super Bowl winners to take the division.

I think the 49ers will win enough games to qualify comfortably for the playoffs and while I see the Seahawks being cut well adrift in the division, perhaps with the worst record in the NFC, I feel that the Cardinals may push the 49ers hard but come up just short of the playoffs.

Prediction

1. Los Angeles Rams (3^rd seed)
2. San Francisco 49ers (5^th seed)
3. Arizona Cardinals
4. Seattle Seahawks

NFC South

• Atlanta Falcons – 20/1
• Carolina Panthers – 12/1
• New Orleans Saints – 4/1
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 2/7

Tom Brady’s decision not to retire puts the Buccaneers as the clear favourites in this division and I think they will win it comfortably, maybe even wrapping the title up with a few weeks of the season still left to play.

While I feel the Saints will finish second well ahead of the Panthers, with the Falcons bringing up the rear, I don’t think the New Orleans team will do enough to claim a spot in the playoffs, while I expect the Panthers and Buccaneers to be well off the pace.

Prediction

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1^st seed)
2. New Orleans Saints
3. Carolina Panthers
4. Atlanta Falcons

If the predictions outlined above were to be correct then this is how the first round of the NFL Playoffs would line up, along with the teams on a Bye Week.

AFC Playoffs

Bye  – Buffalo Bills (14-3)

• Tennessee Titans (7) @ Indianapolis Colts (2)
• Kansas City Chiefs(6) @ Baltimore Ravens (3)
• Cincinnati Bengals (5) @ Los Angeles Chargers (4)

NFC Playoffs

Bye – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (13-4)

• Chicago Bears (7) @ Green Bay Packers (2)
• San Francisco 49ers (6) @ Los Angeles Rams (3)
• Dallas Cowboys (5) @ Philadelphia Eagles (4)