John Adams Vs. Ben Franklin

So, the Super Bowl is set. This may actually be one of the first times that the teams expected to go to the Super Bowl at the beginning of the season are actually going. Usually you get one team playing the spoiler but they weren’t strong enough this year. Pittsburgh came close. I think at the beginning of the season, they were expected to vie with Cleveland for the worst position in the AFC North. On the other side, you had Atlanta. Philly was supposed to meet either Carolina or Seattle in the NFC Championship according to all the early predictions. But, that didn’t happen. Carolina collapsed under the weight of injury and Atlanta took advantage.

So who is going to win? Most people will tell you that you would have to be a fool not to take New England. This has been the absolute worst year for the NFC and most analysts would have taken the top 4 seeds in the AFC against anyone from the NFC. Am I going to buck that trend? Not unless I hear something different in terms of health over the next two weeks. For all the love people give to Brian Westbrook, Philly still does not have an adequate running game in my mind. Their receivers should do well against the New England makeshift secondary, but that’s dependant on McNabb being able to stay out of pressure. The one part of New England that is not hurt is the defensive line. I think McNabb will be scrambling all over the place and that will impair his ability to throw deep. Philly will keep New England from scoring a great deal, but the Pats will get some scores in there. Brady is not as jittery as Michael Vick was and he’ll have a greater ability to get rid of the ball in pressure situations when necessary.

Bottom line, I think New England gets the win by about a touchdown, making it the first time New England doesn’t have to rely on the leg of Adam Vinetari to give them the Lombardi trophy.