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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