So after careful deliberations and much research... here are my picks for the upcoming NFL Season.
Division | NFC | AFC |
EAST | Giants | Patriots |
NORTH | Packers | Ravens |
SOUTH | Falcons | Texans |
WEST | 49ers | Broncos |
Wild Card 1 | Seahawks | Steelers |
Wild Card 2 | Saints | Bengals |
AFC TITLE
Broncos over Texans
NFC TITLE
Falcons over 49ers
SUPER BOWL XLVIII
Broncos over Falcons
Why this pick?
Last season the Falcons were inside 15 yards from playing in the franchise's second Super Bowl. Other NFC contenders are the 49ers, Packers, Seahawks, and to a lesser extent the Saints with the return of Sean Payton to the sidelines. Whoever emerges from the NFC will have earned the right to play in the Super Bowl.
Meanwhile the Broncos were bounced from the playoffs in the divisional round by the eventual Super Bowl champions. There might be a changing of the guard in the AFC with Houston recognizing that their chances for a title might be running out and the defending champion Ravens, but this is still a conference led by the Patriots, Steelers, and whoever Peyton Manning is quarterbacking. The last 10 AFC Title Games have involved at least one of these three quarterbacks: Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, and Peyton Manning.
Am I siding with the status quo? Perhaps. You go with what you know.
There is another factor... weather. This will be the first Super Bowl in an open stadium in traditional cold weather city. The Farmers' Almanac is predicting that a nor'easter will strike the east coast sometime in early February.
Or maybe when the late afternoon kickoff on 2 February 2014 happens at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, the game time temperature will be 50 degrees and partly cloudy with a calm wind. Remember the week leading up to Super Bowl XLV the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex was hit with a snow storm. So who knows.
In the end I see Denver as the team that will get it done in the end. Baltimore could get it done again, but we haven't had a repeat champion since the Patriots 2003-04 run and then before that it was the Broncos in 1997-98 and then Dallas 1992-93. We might be due for a repeat champion, but I can't see Baltimore doing it again. Ray Lewis was the catalyst for that team.
Denver feels that that trophy should've been theirs and will be hoisting it in New York this coming February.
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