Posted on 01/04/2016 9:51:25 AM PST by ConservingFreedom
I'm not guaranteeing it won't be New England - but 4 losses in their last 6 games is not a fluke. Of the others: it's not clear that Denver has a QB who can do it (Manning is old and hurt, but Osweiler still got benched for him); Cincinatti looks good in many ways but has managed to lose in the wild card round after 10 or 11 regular season wins in each of the last three seasons; Pittsburgh is inconsistent, having lost to the lowly Ravens just two weeks ago; and Houston just barely scraped in by winning a weak division.
Is it really Kansas City? They have a 10-game winning streak - during which Smith figured out how to throw TDs to his wide receivers.
(Full disclosure: I'm a Bills and then Bears fan.)
My Bengals will finally win a playoff game against Pittsburgh, but beyond that, I think the AFC is up for grabs.
Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati got beat up 3 weeks ago by the Steelers. They need to be prepared physically to dish out some payback.
defense and home field, in my mind Broncos have to be favored. NE hasn’t been that strong all season, will get healthier but don’t see them winning on road. Chiefs match up well with everyone, I live in KC, my fear is, the win streak has been against bad teams. Broncos game at Denver was when Manning couldn’t even throw a pass. I would say Broncos vs Cards (tough not to roll with Panthers) in Super Bowl, Cards win.
Patriots clinched the playoffs in week 10. They did not need to play hard after that and risk injuring more players, they will win when it counts. Brady was the only member of the offense that started every game.
I’ll stick with the Patriots... they’ll have some major players back for the playoffs.
I’m going with the Steelers.
Denver
I doubt Pittsburgh goes far, but a Bungles/Thieves game is always odd and unpredictable. First game is a tossup, IMO.
Maybe this is a little off topic, but I get the feeling that the Seahawks are a team to be NOT underestimated. While I would like to see the Patriots go all the way, I think about the above as well as if it is not New England, I would not mind seeing Arizona win the Super Bowl as they’ve not won a championship since 1947, when they were in Chicago and playing out of old Comiskey Park.
I hope my Pat's are there at the end! They have Edelman coming back as well as several others that have been out with injuries. They last few weeks have not been very promising, even recognizing the injured players not on the field, however.
Nope,it's not a fluke.It's because of devastating injuries on both offense *and* defense.But those injuries are expected to be healed by the 17th.
I have seen omre than one Arizona/Seattle Superbowl prediction in the last day or so.
Specifically related to the subject, though, I would not mind seeing the Chiefs or Bengals or even Broncos win the AFC if it is not New England that does so.
It’s all fixed which favors (in order) New England, Pittsburgh and Denver. They’re the ones who usually get French kisses from the officials.
The equation changes if Peyton Manning will announce that this is his final season. Observe:
* Pittsburgh’s Jerome Bettis says during a playoff run that he’s retiring. Result, Steelers win the Super Bowl against Seattle buoyed by several highly suspicious official calls.
* Baltimore’s Ray Lewis says before a playoff run that he’s retiring. Result, Ravens win the Super Bowl against San Francisco buoyed by several questionable calls going their way (so many that the NFL had to pull the power on the Super Bowl to take attention away from it).
So if Manning says he’s calling it a career, Denver should get home cooking from the refs which could finish in Santa Clara with a revenge Super Bowl win over the Seahawks.
Brady got a gift win last year so, unless Manning steps up, I think the Steelers will go all the way.
Kansas City can give teams they face troubles. They beat the Broncos. They had some teams who weren’t doing good but they did what they had to.
That's a reason coaches sit players, not a reason players start but coast.
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