With the start of the 2014 NFL playoffs upon us, the logical question to ask is which of the 12 teams remaining with a chance to win the Super Bowl will complete the quest?
It’s been clear for quite some time that oddsmakers favor a matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos on Super Bowl 48 betting lines. As it stands, that looks like an obvious choice. Both are the No.1 seeds in their respective conferences, which means if they are to lose, a team would have to come and beat them.
Recent history has shown that it’s the team that comes into the playoffs as the hottest that has the best chance of winning the big game. In fact, it hasn’t mattered where home field advantage has been. The Baltimore Ravens did it mostly on the road last season. And just a few years before, the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl as the No.6 seed.
Looking at those trends, the San Francisco 49ers might be the pick to go with. The 49ers hve won six-straight games coming into wildcard weekend as the No.5 seed in the NFC. San Francisco is the defending NFC champion, winning the conference on the road in Atlanta last year. This is a team that knows how to get it done. But will the 49ers be able to go into Seattle and come out with a win if that matchup transpires?
In the AFC, half of the playoff teams come out of the AFC West so it’s a good bet that the Super Bowl representative will come from that division. Denver is the champion, but Kansas City and San Diego have each done some good things late to get themselves into position to have a shot at making some noise.
Of the four wildcard teams this year though, it has a diferent feel. Perhaps the only team that has a legit shot is San Francisco. Even New Orleans out of the NFC will have to win on the road, and they have not proven to be a good team at all when they are away. All five of the losses by the Saints this season came on the road. That is simply too big of a trend to put much faith in the stock of New Orleans. Had they been the No.2 seed, it might be a different story.
Speaking of the No.2 seed, the Carolina Panthers captured that with a 12-4 record and champions of the NFC South. The Panthers will enjoy a bye week during Wildcard Weekend on the playoff schedule and await to see who they play. This team is inexperienced in the postseason, but that defense which is No.1 in the NFL might be the thing that allows them to have success.
It’s a bit of a stretch, but we think that Carolina might be the team that comes out of the NFC to reach the Super Bowl.
Which team will they play?
That is not a stretch at all. The AFC doesn’t have that parity that is found in the NFC. The difference here is the home field advantage siding with Denver. The Broncos lost a game they on a fluke touchdown against Baltimore last year, and they look to have learned from it. Peyton Manning is operating on another level this year and it’s hard to envision even Tom Brady and the Patriots coming into Mile High and beating them.
This looks like Denver’s year to get it done and for Manning to tie his brother Eli with two Super Bowls.
That just sounded weird.