Super Bowl quarterly series: Which teams look like Super Bowl contenders after 12 weeks?

Who’s going to end up in Glendale? Which two NFL teams will eventually meet to settle Super Bowl 57 on Feb. 12 at State Farm Stadium?

We’d love to be able to tell you now, but since we can’t, we’ll simply offer some insightful analysis on who we believe is on the best trajectory to make it with a quarter-by-quarter projection. After every four weeks of the NFL season, we’ll gain more and more information on which teams are trending in the right direction and which teams need to pick up the pace, along with our prediction of who gets there in the end.

Football, after all, is a game of four quarters. Unless there’s overtime. And we’ll cover that, too, if needed.

More stories in this series: Week 4 | Week 8

As teams reveal more about who they are and others continue to show us who they think they are, here’s how we’re forecasting the leading candidates to appear in Super Bowl LVII after the first 12 weeks of the 2022 season:

Top teams in the mix

Kansas City Chiefs (9-2): They’ve won five consecutive games and are closing in on their eighth straight postseason berth, the longest active streak in the NFL. With a win over the Bengals this week, coach Andy Reid can become the third coach in league history with at least 10 regular-season wins in eight consecutive seasons, joining Bill Belichick (17) and George Seifert (eight). Patrick Mahomes continues to stay on fire, leading the league with 3,585 passing yards and 29 touchdowns. He can become the first player in history to pass for 300 yards in seven straight games twice within a season if he does it again at Cincinnati.

Philadelphia Eagles (10-1): They’ve pretty much cruised to this point, but the schedule gets a little tricky down the stretch, starting this week with a home game against Derrick Henry and the Titans, who lead the AFC South. After that, they played three straight on the road against the Giants, Bears and Cowboys before closing out the regular season at home against the Giants. The Eagles are playoff bound, but we’ll have to see how they navigate things to know if they’re really Super Bowl bound.

Buffalo Bills (8-3): They’ve rebounded from back-to-back losses to the Jets and Vikings with victories over the Browns and Lions, but they had to hold on at the end of both those games. They looked better against the Patriots on Thursday night, but with three more games remaining against AFC East opponents, the Bills can’t afford any real missteps without sacrificing their playoff seeding. With edge rusher Von Miller being placed on injured reserve, the margin for error is precious. Things could get very interesting.

Minnesota Vikings (9-2): After getting throttled by the Cowboys 40-3 in Week 11, the Vikings bounced back with a win over a pesky Patriots team, but injuries are beginning to mount in the secondary. Minnesota isn’t a big fan favorite to make it to Super Bowl 57 and frankly, I don’t see it, either. But they’re in an ideal position at present. Lose this week to the Jets, who are 4-1 on the road, and they won’t be in the Top 4 mix here.

Teams that need to prove it

San Francisco 49ers (7-4): Keep your eyes on this bunch, which has won four games in a row to take the lead atop the NFC West. The 49ers have the league’s top-ranked defense and they’ve been dominating during their win streak, allowing an NFL-low 10.0 points per game during that stretch. They do face a bit of a daunting schedule, starting this week when they host a Dolphins team that leads the AFC East, has won five straight, and has been racking up the points. Injuries could be a concern, but multipurpose running back and midseason addition Christian McCaffrey is ready to roll after a knee concern last week.

Miami Dolphins (8-3): Don’t sleep on the Fish. The offense ranks second overall during the midst of the win streak (33.8 points per game) and Miami has scored at least 30 in each of its last four games. This week’s game against the 49ers marks just the fourth time in NFL history between a team that has scored at least 30 points in its last four games and a team that has allowed 16 or fewer points in its past four games. Personally, I’m more concerned about how the Dolphins do the next two weeks at the Chargers and at the Bills, but that’s just me.

Dallas Cowboys (8-3): Dallas is allowing the second-fewest points in the league through 12 weeks (17.0) and they certainly know how to stop the pass – a league-best of just 177.7 passing yards allowed per game. As much as they are right in the mix, however, they aren’t very good at stopping the run (131.9) and they remain susceptible in other areas as well. These next few weeks look easy, but let’s see if they happen to overlook the Colts, Texans and Jaguars or if they’ve learned to take care of business and finish the job. I’m not sold just yet, but I’ll watch.

Baltimore Ravens (7-4): There’s a case to be made here for teams such as the Titans, Bengals, Jets and Chargers, and maybe even the Patriots had they beaten the Bills on “Thursday Night Football.” At this stage, however, I’m siding with the Ravens by a nose. They’re a team built for a playoff run because of their defense and running game, although we’ll need to see more out of Lamar Jackson and the passing offense. If they can get by a pesky Denver defense this week, which is better than you know, the Ravens can run the table.

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Who gets there?

Chiefs and Eagles: I’ll be honest, I felt better about which two teams we’ll ultimately see at State Farm Stadium after Weeks 4 and 8 than I do now. The Eagles and Bills have long been my two picks, but Kansas City has slipped ahead on the AFC side and there’s a handful of teams in the topsy-turvy, unpredictable NFC that can still represent. The 49ers lead that list for me. I still don’t really trust the Vikings.

Have an opinion on the Arizona Cardinals? Reach Bob McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic.com and follow him on Twitter @azbobbymac. Listen to him live on Fox Sports 910-AM every Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 on Calling All Sports with Roc and Manuch.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Which NFL teams look like Super Bowl contenders after 12 weeks?