The Road to Santa Clara, California and Super Bowl 50 begins this weekend with four intriguing Wild Card Weekend match-ups.
NFL Playoff Picks
Wild Card Weekend and the NFL Playoffs are almost upon us! After an exciting regular season, 12 of the league’s 32 teams remain and will battle it out for the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Which team will be the last ones standing and take home the title on February 7th? I have some ideas. Its time to dive into my crystal ball and pick who I think will advance to Super Bowl 50.
Before I do I would like to make two things clear:
- This season’s NFL playoffs is without a doubt the most wide open that I have seen since becoming a NFL fan shortly after watching my first Super Bowl in 2005 when the Steelers took down the Seahawks. I can make the case for the Chiefs and Texans as the hottest teams to win the Super Bowl, and the same argument can be made for the Steelers, Redskins, and every other team in the picture. The parity in this league is at its peak, and it’s going to make for some entertaining football over the next couple of weeks.
- As a result, I changed my picks for certain match-ups at least ten times before arriving at the bracket about to be revealed.
Super Bowl 50 Pick: Cardinals over Patriots
My Bracket:
The Broncos and the Patriots are the AFC’s no.1 and no.2 seeds and have been the class of the conference for many years largely thanks to quarterback legends Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. In any other year it would be obvious to pick those two teams to play for a Super Bowl appearance. However coming to the playoffs the opposite is true: both Denver and New England are not 100% healthy and have serious questions that need to be answered. On the other hand, you could make the case that the Chiefs, winners of 10 in a row are the most complete team, that the Steelers have the best offense, and the Bengals have the best defense.
That is why the AFC is so wide open this year. If the Patriots were fully healthy and hadn’t lost two in a row to teams they normally beat, this wouldn’t even be a discussion. I was tempted to put the Chiefs in the AFC title game and have them advance to the Super Bowl. That is how good they are right now on both sides of the football.
With all that being said, I still like the Patriots to come out of the conference and make a run at their second straight Super Bowl title. The Pats have a week to get healthy and are almost guaranteed of having wide receiver Julian Edleman back in the offense. More than tight end Rob Gronkowski, he is the key to the Pats offense. When he plays, the Pats are 9-1.
Danny Amendola is expected to be back giving Brady another weapon to throw to, along with offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer, linebacker Dont’a Hightower and Pro Bowl defensive end Chandler Jones. Jones leads the defense in sacks, and Hightower is key to stopping the run. Vollmer should help the Pats offensive line protect Brady better.
In the wild card matchups I have Cincinnati moving on against Pittsburgh. I think the difference in the game is the two team’s secondaries against two of the best wide receivers’s in the NFL, A.J. Green and Antonio Brown. I think the Green along with tight end Tyler Eifert will present matchup nightmares, and I think the Bengals defense will be able to contain Antonio Brown once again. With DeAngelo Williams ruled out, the Steelers will have to rely to much on Ben Roethlisberger who hasn’t looked great recently, and is prone to turning the ball over.
In the other wild card game, I have the Chiefs beating the Texans in a close low scoring game. Both offensive lines are suspect and are going to be in for a long day against the likes of J.J. Watt, Justin Houston, and Tamba Hali. The difference will be Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith ability to create havoc with his legs, and not turn the ball over. I think the Chiefs have more offensive weapons, and I have a feeling that Peters will make a game changing play late. Look for Travis Kelce and Jeremy Maclin to have big days.
In the divisional round I have the Patriots beating the Bengals because I simply trust Tom Brady over A.J. McCarron or Andy Dalton. I will always take the better quarterback in a January game especially when #12 is under center. With the Pats fully healthy, and their ability to make very few mistakes will be the difference at home. I have the Broncos beating the Chiefs in a very close game. I trust Peyton Manning despite his issues to make enough big plays through the air to Demarius Thomas. and with him running the offense the run game should thrive.
Brady vs. Manning part 17 for the AFC title would be a epic game especially if this is Manning’s last season. I have New England advancing at home because I give the edge to Brady over Manning right now. The Pats will win their second consecutive AFC title.
Despite an embarrassing loss to the Seahawks in meaningless Week 17 game its the Cardinals year to get back to the Super Bowl. Arizona has the most balanced team in football. The defense is led by a aggressive pass rush that will cause problems for any OL, and a offense that was no.1 in the NFL in yards per game and many other categories. They can beat a team in so many ways, and are led by the best coach in football, Bruce Airans, and QB Carson Palmer who is having a career year. The Cards simply have more playmakers on both sides of the ball.
I have the Seahawks, the most dangerous team in football led by the hottest quarterback in the league in Russell Wilson, the most underrated core of wide receivers, and the Legion of Boom dominating the Vikings, and I have the Redskins beating the Packers simply because I don’t trust Aaron Rodgers one bit right now. In the divisional round, Seattle’s offensive line will be exposed by Carolina who will be to much at home, and Arizona will over-match Washington.
I have the Cardinals beating the Panthers in the NFC Championship because the Cardinals even on the road have the more complete team and the Cards offense is set up to expose the zone coverage of Carolina.
The Cardinals will beat the Pats in Super Bowl 50 because again they are most complete team in football. Arizona has to many play makers on offense for the Pats defense to handle, and I think the Pats offensive line will get exposed. I expect Brady to get sacked at least three times.
After loosing on the last play against the Steelers in their last Super Bowl appearance the Cardinals for the first time in Arizona will reign supreme atop the NFL!
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