Mid season Super Bowl Predictions

[Comm1]

Who y’all got? List em here and let’s see who gets it. I’m going.....

 

Ravens Vs 49ers

[heehawks]

Pats - Heehawks

[Montana is da Man]

49ers / Patriots 

[Shorttynaz]

Kansas City / 49ers

[stevegrab]

So far every contender has shown they can be beaten, often by another contender or at least potential playoff team. 

 

AFC  Pats lose to Ravens who got clobbered (at home) by the Browns. Chiefs loss to Titans, Bills also get beat by Browns. Texans lost to the Colts but they got beat by MIA. 

 

NFC  Well last night, and the Saints beatdown,on Sunday. Packers and VIkings both have some bad losses, nobody in the NFC East is consistent. Defending champ Rams are in trouble and nobody outside NO in the South is consistent.

 

I'll say Pats-Saints, but it could be any of about 10 matchups or more.

[Comm1]

I know it’s going to be an amazing playoffs

[Gourdeau]

Seahawks vs Ravens

[MustOfBeenDrunk]

Vikings / NE 

[Gopher]

SEA-BAL

[TrevorThinksHeKnowsFantasy]

KC/Seattle

[League_Champion]

4 hours ago, TrevorThinksHeKnowsFantasy said:

KC/Seattle

 

That's what I'm thinking as well. 

[SNOWBOUND33]

Seattle Pats

Seattle wins

[rajncajn]

1 hour ago, SNOWBOUND33 said:

Seattle Pats

Seattle wins

Vomit

[SNOWBOUND33]

26 minutes ago, rajncajn said:

Vomit

Yeah. I loved the look on Sherman's face last time.  Plus I hate Carroll.  But it's my pick still.

[Gopher]

If I had to rank them, in order of likelihood, I'd probably go like this.....

 

AFC

 

NE - Yes, BAL absolutely handled them a few weeks ago.  But, if there is one thing I've learned about NE over the past two decades, it's that I should never count the Patriots out.  If there's another thing about them that I've learned, it's that Belicheck is the best ever at game-planning against a particular opponent, and even more importantly, they can game plan for a team that's already beat them once.  In theory, it's simple... Take away the run, and make Jackson one-dimensional (make him have to throw a lot), and they probably beat BAL.  In reality, that might be harder said than done.  But, given that they have over two months to figure it out , it wouldn't surprise me if their next meeting goes very differently.  

 

BAL - Having said all of the above, I think it's a close call between NE and BAL.  History tells me NE figures it out.  The results of their recent matchup tells me BAL is just a better team.  All of the experts keep saying that Jackson is something the NFL has never seen.  Maybe they're right, and NE won't be able to stop him.

 

KC - I think there is quite a bit of distance between the top two and KC.  But, that's mainly due to how they are all playing right now.  KC looks rough, particularly on defense.  And, can the O-Line protect Mahomes enough to keep him upright for another two months plus?  Things could change, though.  They're still by far the most talented of the three, in terms of their vast array of weapons on offense.  If the defense can play just decent, they've got a shot.  On the other hand, their margin for error has become increasingly slim.  Another slip-up or two and they may not even win their division.  

 

HOU - As much as there is a gap between NE/BAL and KC in my mind, the gap between KC and HOU might be even bigger.  But, that can change.  The next three weeks,in which they travel to BAL and host IND and NE, will tell us a lot about this team.  

 

I honestly can not imagine anybody outside of those four making the SB.  Frankly, it's hard for me to even imagine Houston getting there.  But, they've got the best shot in the AFC South, which might be the most wide open division in the NFL.  

 

NFC

 

NOS - They looked rough on Sunday.  But, given the way they cruised through the 5 or 6 weeks where Brees was out, I still have to think they'll get back to where they were at, in terms of being the front-runner to represent the NFC.  With a healthy Brees AND Kamara, I like their chances of ending up with the #1 seed in the NFC.

 

SEA - Two things stood out to me on Sunday night.  One, the SEA defense is better than a lot of people, myself included, thought.  Adding Clowney was huge.  Adding Diggs helps as well.  Secondly, Wilson might be the most composed QB in the NFC.  That's saying a lot, when you have Brees and Rodgers there as well.  But, he just doesn't make many mistakes.  And, when he does, he doesn't panic.  What's strange is that, as well as they play on the road, their home field advantage doesn't seem to be what it once was.  

 

GB - They have the inside track at the 3-seed in the NFC, and could certainly move up and get a bye.  Rodgers is healthy and can make any group of WR's look good.  More importantly, he might have the best duo of RB's that he's ever worked with, in terms of their versatility.  I'm not sure their run defense is good enough to make a deep playoff run, but at least they now have a pass rush.  The NFC is so wide open.  Who knows.  

 

SF - All the pieces are there.  Sunday night exposed a couple of things.  Without Kittle and Sanders, their skill position players are weak, at least in the passing game.  Secondly, as composed as Wilson seemed, Jimmy G. seemed the opposite.  Maybe he'll get better in that area.  But, when push comes to shove, I have a hard time seeing him beating the likes of Brees/Rodgers/Wilson back to back, even if it's at home.  I think they're a year or two away, honestly. 

 

MIN - As a homer who has watched them fail in five NFC championship games, I'm always hesitant to get overly excited about the Vikings.  The positive includes that they're pretty balanced.  Good, but not great, defense that is best when it's aggressive.  When they simply try to cover, they're exposed.  Offense is as balanced as it's been in a long time.  Two very good backs.  Solid TE's.  Excellent WR duo, if Thielen can get back to 100%.  And Cousins is what he is.... Protect him, and he's one of the most accurate passers in the league.  Just don't expect a ton of mobility out of him.  What is going to hurt MIN is that, if both GB and MIN win the remaining games that they should win, GB will probably have the better division record.  That loss to CHI could be the difference.  

 

PHI - Two things put them slightly ahead of DAL on my list.  One, they've been in this position before.  Multiple times, actually.  Won the SB as a wild card with all odds against them (backup QB, etc.).  And, last year, they had to win out from this point on, basically, to make the playoffs.  They know what they've got to do, and they've done it before.  Secondly, they have the easier schedule of the two, if I'm not mistaken.  So, Dallas not only has to take care of business, they will need a little help.  

 

DAL - Talent-wise, they're probably ahead of half of the teams on this list. Between Zeke, Cooper, the O-Line, LB's, and D. Lawrence, you could make the argument that they have super stars at more positions than any other team in the NFL.  And, that's not even including Dak, who I think is playing at a top-ten level right now.  But, they've underachieved big time.  If they can manage to beat Philly for the East, I think they still have a shot.  

 

As big as the gap is in the AFC between Teams 1/2 and Teams 3 and 4, I think the NFC is very close.  Anybody listed COULD make a run.  And I didn't even include the Rams.  

 

I know I picked SEA-BAL in a previous post, and I'm sticking to that.  While NE-NO feels like the most "likely" outcome, I don't think that will happen.  Call it a gut feeling or whatever.  And, nine times out of ten, picking "chalk" in the NFL playoffs doesn't work out.  

Edited November 13, 2019 by Gopher

[Chief Dick]

KC has no chance at making the Super Bowl this year. Or any year until Andy Reid is fired.

 

They have Mahomes but they have a terrible defense, poor special teams, and a head coach who doesn't care about those 2 phases of the game. 

[Comm1]

17 minutes ago, Chief Dick said:

KC has no chance at making the Super Bowl this year. Or any year until Andy Reid is fired.

 

They have Mahomes but they have a terrible defense, poor special teams, and a head coach who doesn't care about those 2 phases of the game. 

That is insanity 

[Gopher]

12 minutes ago, Chief Dick said:

KC has no chance at making the Super Bowl this year. Or any year until Andy Reid is fired.

 

They have Mahomes but they have a terrible defense, poor special teams, and a head coach who doesn't care about those 2 phases of the game. 

 

I agree with you to some extent, which is why I think there's a pretty big gap between NE/BAL and KC.  But, as bad as their defense can be, I think their offense can make up for it somewhat.  If all of their skill players are healthy, they're simply better than anybody else on offense.  Maybe not completely balanced (still not sure they can just run the ball down anybody's throat), but explosive like nobody else can be.  Multiple players who can score on any given play.  

 

They beat BAL early in the season.  Both teams played well.  KC simply outscored them.  If KC gets back into that kind of offensive rhythem, I think they could still be dangerous.  

[Chief Dick]

34 minutes ago, Comm1 said:

That is insanity 

 

Not really. I've watched pretty much every minute of Chiefs football for the last 30 years. And certainly all of the Andy Reid era.

 

And if you dig deep into this organization, what you saw Sunday against the Titans is the EXACT SAME THING we have seen during the entire Andy Reid era. Hell, even longer than that. But specific to Andy Reid:

 

Tons of penalties

Bad play calling when it matters

Terrible time management

 

Eagles fans....stop me if you have heard this before.....

 

On top of the above, Andy Reid most definitely has his hand in the personnel pie as well. Brett Veach is simply a figurehead for Reid, and the depth of this team is atrocious. Andy Reid needs to have his toys on offense FIRST, and then you can start to build a defense.  And the defensive pieces they have tried to draft and bring in have been a dismal failure. 

 

Sammy Watkins: completely useless and unnecessary player for this team. And the dough they spent on him could have paid for a few nice pieces on defense. 

 

Defense? He held onto Bob Sutton two seasons too long and then hired his buddy Spagnoulo, who has managed to make the run defense WORSE than last year.   

 

Sure, the Chiefs can score points, but Reid does his team no favors with how he calls the game. He basically has hung his defense out to dry several times in the past two years, most notably in the first half of the AFC Championship game last year when Belichick ate his lunch in the first half. Consequently his defense was on the field damn near that whole half until Reid could figure out what Belichick was doing. 

 

If Reid wins a Super Bowl, it will be on the back of Mahomes and Mahomes alone. But what I fear is we are seeing the dawn of a new Dan Marino era here in KC.