Super Bowl ~

Super Bowl XLVII is just a few weeks away!  In honor of this most glorious should-be national holiday, I want to know which two teams do you think will be playing in Super Bowl XVII? Before you pick, I am going to give you some information to help you make a good, solid decision. After all, you don’t want to pick a team that isn’t even eligible for the Super Bowl, do you?

Super Bowl XLVII

Picks must be one team from each of the two conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The teams will play each other in their respective conferences in a playoff elimination system for the title of Conference Champion. The two Conference Champions then will face each other in the Super Bowl. In other words, there are six teams from the AFC in the playoffs, and they play each other according to seeding, or ranking, until one remains as the AFC Champion, and the same occurs in the NFC, then the AFC Champion plays the NFC Champion in the Super Bowl.

Now, let’s start with the four teams left playing in the NFC. They are, in order of seeding: 1) Atlanta Falcons, 2) San Francisco 49ers, 3) Green Bay Packers, 4) Seattle Seahawks. The Atlanta Falcons wrapped up the #1 seed early on in the season and had the best record in the league for the biggest part of the year. However, against the Carolina Panthers in week 14 of the regular season, the Falcons showed their weakness against mobile quarterbacks that run the ball well. They had a tough time containing Cam Newton from Carolina, and lost 30-10, but the game was never really close. San Francisco and Seattle both have mobile QBs which could prove to be a problem for the Falcons, who also have shown a recent trend to play like gangbusters during the regular season only to fall flat in the playoffs.

The 49ers ended the season strong, but struggled midway through and have some pretty significant injuries. The Packers have a solid team overall, but for some reason have not played their best all season long. For some strange reason that no one seems to understand, they have lost games that they should have won easily. The Seahawks are very hot coming into the playoffs. They scored 50+ points in three straight weeks, and have dominated some of the best teams in the league over that same time period.

Next let’s look at the AFC. The four teams left in order of seeding are: 1) Denver Broncos, 2) New England Patriots, 3) Houston Texans, 4) Baltimore Ravens. The Broncos have played well all season long and have one of the best quarterbacks of all-time in Peyton Manning. However, they may have to deal with Manning’s arch-nemesis, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, another of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time. These two have had a long-time media comparison for the title of best QB of their generation. Both have good teams, and both have the chance to make it to the Conference Championship game for another epic showdown. The Baltimore Ravens have another of the greatest of all-time in linebacker Ray Lewis, who just announced that this season, his 17th, will be his last. The Ravens could use this as motivation to spur them on to another Super Bowl appearance to “win one for Ray.” Believe me, this type of emotion and motivation can carry a team far in the playoffs. The Ravens were playing well before injuries set them back. The Houston Texans had the best record in the league until about the last 5 weeks of the season. They had the opportunity to clinch the #1 seed three weeks ago, but instead lost their last three games and fell to the #3 seed.

Who Do You Think Will Make It To The Super Bowl?

So, now you have a little information about the 8 teams left in the playoffs, four from each conference. Now it’s time to make your picks! Remember, one team from each of the two conferences. Will it be Atlanta, San Francisco, Green Bay or Seattle in the NFC? And will it be Denver, New England, Houston or Baltimore in the AFC? You choose! Have fun!