Alright, so with the Lions actually making a real playoff push this year, I got pretty hyped up. Couldn’t help myself, really. I figured I needed to visualize this whole thing, you know? See the path. So, I decided to put together my own Lions playoff bracket.
First step, I had to actually figure out the structure. It’s not like college basketball where it’s this massive thing. The NFL playoffs are a bit more straightforward, but you still gotta know who plays who and when, based on seeding. I spent some time just looking up the basic NFC playoff format. Didn’t need anything fancy, just the blank slots and how the seeding worked. Found a couple of examples online just to get the basic layout right in my head.
Then, I grabbed a plain old piece of paper and a pen. Nothing digital, just wanted something I could physically write on. Felt more real that way. I started sketching out the brackets for the NFC side. Drew the lines, the boxes for the team names. Made sure I had the right number of spots for the Wild Card round, then the Divisional, and finally the NFC Championship game.
Mapping it Out
Okay, structure drawn. Next, I started filling in the teams based on the final seeding. This took a minute, double-checking who landed where. Had to make sure I got the matchups correct for that first round. You know, highest seed vs lowest seed remaining, that kind of thing.
The important part: Slotting in the Lions. Found their seed, wrote ‘Lions’ nice and clear in their initial spot. Felt good writing that down, not gonna lie. Then figured out their first opponent and put them in the opposing slot.
- Drew the basic NFC bracket structure.
- Checked the final NFL seedings.
- Filled in the teams for the Wild Card round.
- Specifically placed the Lions and their opponent.
Making the Picks (The Fun Part?)
With the bracket set up, it was time to actually make my predictions. This is where it gets personal, right? I went game by game through the NFC side. Thought about each matchup. Who did I think would win? I just went with my gut on some, maybe a little bit of logic on others.
Of course, when I got to the Lions’ games, well… let’s just say my heart might have influenced my pen. I marked them down as winners in their first game. Then I looked at their potential Divisional round opponent based on my other picks, and yeah, I picked the Lions again. Did the same for the NFC Championship. Look, you gotta believe, right? So, on my paper bracket, the Lions are heading to the Super Bowl. Bold, I know, but that’s the point of making your own bracket.
So now I’ve got this piece of paper, filled out, showing the Lions’ glorious (predicted) path. It’s nothing official, just my own little exercise. It was actually pretty satisfying to map it all out like that. We’ll see how wrong I am soon enough, but it was fun to do. Got me even more pumped for the actual games.
