Super Bowl 2027 expert picks from 13 football writers
(Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) | Getty ImagesPreseason Super Bowl predictions are usually good for absolutely nothing, but they still serve as an important barometer on expectations heading into the new year. A year ago, the Seahawks were 19th in the preseason Super Bowl odds, and the Patriots were 21st. It's only natural for many fans to believe the Los Angeles Rams will waltz to a championship this year as the preseason No. 1 in the power rankings, but this is the NFL, and anything can happen.
Only three of our 13 experts picked the Rams to win the 2027 Super Bowl in this piece. Four writers picked the Buffalo Bills to win it all. Two people picked the Chicago Bears. There were six different champions picked from the staff members we polled.
Who do you think is winning the 2027 Super Bowl? Leave a comment on this story, and we'll revisit it at the end of the season. No one could have predicted a Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl at this time last year. Will this season be more chalk? Time will tell. For now, here are our preseason Super Bowl picks heading into the 2026 campaign.
Rams 28, Ravens 17 - Mark Schofield
Ah yes, the annual preseason Super Bowl prediction that is sure to be wrong.
After all, I'm fairly certain I have predicted the Lions versus the Ravens each of the past two seasons, and you can see how that has worked out for me.
I would say that the third time is the charm, but I'm skeptical about both teams even winning their respective divisions, let alone making it to the Super Bowl. So we are going to change things up. Out of the AFC, I think this is the year that Josh Allen and company finally get over the hump.
And in the NFC, I'll go with a chalky pick and predict that the Rams get to Super Bowl LXI out of the NFC.
As for a winner? Let's send Matthew Stafford out on a high note.
Rams 31, Ravens 10 - James Dator
I am ready to be yelled at for a prediction that totally flies off the rails midway through the season.
There's going to be some chalk, however - because I'm also picking the Rams. When I look at that team there's just too much veteran strength, too many areas where they're without weakness, and adding Myles Garrett was an obscene addition. I think this is the year they're going to head back to the Super Bowl, and hoist the trophy when it's all done.
As for the other team, I'm resisting an urge to pick the Bills (who I'm not 100% sold on) and instead picking the Baltimore Ravens. I really like a lot about that football team, and Jesse Minter was one of my favorite new coaching hires of the cycle. In addition, there's a lot to be excited about offensively with the Ravens, as Sean Payton protege Declan Doyle takes over, which gives me faith he can engineer something creative with Lamar Jackson.
When the dust settles on this season I just can't help but feel like someone is just running towards the Rams meat grinder. Never say never, but they just look too dang good.
Eagles 31, Chiefs 20 - Shamus Clancy
The every-other-year magic of the Eagles' offense will return under new play-caller Sean Mannion. With a healthier offensive line reinvigorating the run game in tandem with Saquon Barkley, to say nothing of a vaunted, star-filled defense, the Birds will return to the Big Game for the third time in the Nick Sirianni-Jalen Hurts era.
Why don't we just make this Super Bowl matchup Eagles-Chiefs III for the theatrics of it all?
Philadelphia wins the rubber match and brings the Lombardi Trophy, once more, back to Broad Street.
Bills over Cowboys - Kyle Thele
The Bills look like the best team in the AFC and I think it's finally the year they stop falling over themselves in the postseason. Josh Allen gets his ring by beating an overmatched Cowboys team. Dallas will be the team that just gets hot at the right time and makes a run, but they just aren't as good.
I'm tempted to put the Rams in there, and on paper they are probably the best team in football. But they are one important injury away from being a team that at best gets a Wild Card bid. I'm not willing to believe a 38-year old quarterback with an injury history can stay upright long enough to finish the season.
49ers over Broncos - Ricky O'Donnell
I was torn between the 49ers and Cowboys coming out of the NFC. I went with the Niners because it feels like they're a safe bet to win double-digit games and make the playoffs every year under Kyle Shanahan, and I just feel like if you continue to do that you will eventually get the luck you need to break through. As a Bears fan, San Francisco's win last season in a primetime Week 17 shootout sticks with me if they can get the defense together. I pick the Ravens every year out of the AFC, but I'm switching it up this year. Denver has a truly elite defense, and I feel like Sean Payton can cook up enough offensively even with a limited quarterback in Bo Nix. The Niners might be cursed, but their top-end talent and coaching is strong, and that's enough for me.
Bills over Lions - Beth Maiman
I feel strongly that the Bills can finally get over the hump and make it to the Super Bowl out of the AFC this season. I think the new stadium, Josh Allen's new journey to fatherhood and other AFC foes not being at full strength are all factors shaping up to be a storybook season for the boys in Buffalo. The NFC pick was a harder decision for me, so I went with my bias of watching too many NFC North games and I am going with the Lions. I think Detroit has a lot of opponents on its schedule the Lions should beat. Picking up a handful of wins this season could help the team with confidence as the season progresses. Head coach Dan Campbell and quarterback Jared Goff have an opportunity to silence the doubters this season by making it all the way to the Super Bowl. If the Bears are one of the biggest teams standing in Detroit's way during the season, I think the Lions core returners and experience will give them wins against Chicago. Interestingly enough, Buffalo and Detroit happen to face off in Week 2 of the season at Highmark Stadium.
49ers 30, Chargers 23 - David Fucillo
I'm a sucker when it comes to picking my 49ers. They're considered by many as the third team of the big three in the NFC West, behind the Rams and Seahawks. I think LA wins the division, but I think we see the 49ers finally get over the top under Kyle Shanahan. They stay healthy enough for the first time in a long time and the talent is there to get them to the mountaintop.
And why not a rematch of Super Bowl 29 and against one of their former head coaches? The Chargers seem to get overestimated every year, but I think the addition of Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator is going to move this offense into elite territory.
Bears over Bengals - Jeanna Kelley
It's so hard to realistically project Super Bowl winners before a real regular-season snap of football is played. But the Bears locked up the NFC two-seed last postseason, and they lost a very close Divisional Round matchup against the Rams. Given the Bengals offensive talent in particular, I always feel like they should be in the mix for the postseason, and given that their fans have suffered disappointment after disappointment since the Bengals lost to the Rams in Super Bowl LIV, it feels like this year might be time for those fortunes to change.
Texans over Seahawks - Mookie Alexander
I will confess to being a homer in picking the Seahawks to return to the Super Bowl. Why can't they? Still don't think Sam Darnold is good? Still think Mike Macdonald is touring with The Doobie Brothers? This is a well-balanced, well-coached team that should see the passing offense get even better and offset what I think will be a small decline in performance from last season. The Rams coronation sounds cool but I think Macdonald outfoxes Sean McVay's superteam in the NFC Championship again.
I've been burned by the Texans as recently as two years ago, but I'm back on the bandwagon. C.J. Stroud was dreadful last postseason but I think opinion of him has swung too far against him. He's still a good quarterback who needs a more effective run game and better offensive line, which I think Houston will have this year. Their defense will be the NFL's best, so much so that they'll topple Josh Allen and the Bills in the AFC Championship. DeMeco Ryans will not only thwart Seattle's repeat bid, he'll finally bring a Lombardi Trophy back to Texas. Stroud bets on himself and cashes in.
Bears over Bills - RJ Ochoa
The Bears took a massive step forward during Ben Johnson's first season, and I fully expect them to build off of that in his second. Caleb Williams has full and total control of the offense and right now the division is Chicago's (or Indiana's, I guess) to lose. The proper things will have to break their way for them to get to the Super Bowl, but when they do they'll run into a Bills team who finally got over the hump... just to fall short in the final moment yet again.
Bills 31, Rams 27 - James Brady
The Bills can't be normal about anything, but persistence will finally pay off for them. This time around, the offense will show up in the postseason and they'll make the big plays when they're supposed to. The Patriots, Ravens, Chiefs, and Chargers will all be great teams, but Joe Brady helps Buffalo get it done to get to the big game.
It's so very tempting to pick the 49ers, even after the tumultuous offseason they had. It's tempting even with all of the injuries and the dysfunction. They keep getting so close despite those things, but until they're not a factor anymore I just don't feel comfortable picking them. So I'm going with the Rams, an absurd team that keeps landing absurd players. If injuries aren't a major factor, I just don't see how anybody can reliably beat them in the postseason. But the Bills will do it anyway, finally.
Bills 42, Rams 40 - Matt Warren
This has to be the year the Bills get over the hump, right? Joe Brady is going to be more aggressive on both sides of the ball and it's going to pay off for Buffalo when it matters most. The defense they have built under Jim Leonhard will take a couple months to gel, but by January they will be locked in. They have the best QB in the NFL alongside an unleashed playcaller-turned-head coach. Josh Allen will set the record for most playoff games by a quarterback before his first Super Bowl but like the previous record-holder Peyton Manning, it will be worth the wait.
I have the Rams, 49ers, and Seahawks kind of clumped together atop the NFC. The Seahawks have the SB hangover, the 49ers have every distraction imaginable and injuries galore, and the Rams are just plugging along. That L.A. defense is going to put some NFC quarterback in a blender in the NFC Championship Game.
These two face off in Week 5 of the regular season and two years ago put on a gem in L.A., with the Rams squeaking out a 44-42 win. Despite what I anticipate to be two solid defenses, the offensive gurus on either side light it up again with MVP QBs battling it out.
Rams 24, Ravens 21 - Jared Mueller
For a Browns fan, our former team (ripped from our hearts in 1995) versus our former superstar (Myles Garrett) is not exactly a dream scenario. It's a nightmare. At some point, Lamar Jackson is going to take the Ravens to another level, or the two sides might just be parting. Why not this year?
Given the additions of Aaron Donald and Garrett, anyone not picking the Rams is probably struggling with that decision. Health, given Matthew Stafford's history, Garrett's knee and foot history, and Donald sitting out for a couple of seasons, is really the key variable that could derail the season. A major injury to Stafford or Garrett (with Jared Verse on the Browns) could change everyone's prediction immediately.