2015 Super Bowl Predictions: AFC team captures Lombardi trophy
By Matt Reed
Nov 30, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas (88) celebrates his touchdown reception with wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (10) and tight end Jacob Tamme (84) in the first quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
As you can see, I don’t project many changes in the standings between now and the end of the season. It was very tempting to put newly-crowned quarterback Johnny Manziel and the Cleveland Browns in the postseason, but I’m not very sure how realistic that is this year.
The Arizona Cardinals have shown a massive drop in production offensively without Carson Palmer under center, but as much as I want to remove them from the playoff picture, I just can’t see them losing all three games down the stretch. However, I do the Cardinals finishing second in the NFC West, after Seattle’s resurgence as of late.
Let’s figure out who’s going to be playing in Arizona in February though. I’ll start in the AFC. In the divisional round, I think that both road teams will knock off their home counterparts. Give me Baltimore against Indianapolis, as well as San Diego against Cincinnati. The Colts just simply don’t jump out at me right now. The Ravens on the other hand seem to be getting things together at the right time. For San Diego, they’ve completed this task before. In fact, they did last season in the wild card round. Andy Dalton just hasn’t proven himself in the postseason and Phillip Rivers has.
As much as I’d like to see an upset to in the AFC divisional round, I can’t pick against New England or Denver at this point. The Patriots were defeated by the Ravens in the 2012 AFC Championship game, but I expect Tom Brady and company to get revenge in the divisional round. For Peyton Manning and the Broncos, they have history playing against the Chargers. Denver is just too difficult to play at, especially come playoff time. The Broncos have established a solid run-game recently as well with C.J. Anderson, so that’ll make the task all the more difficult for Rivers and the Chargers.
That sets us up with Denver versus New England in the AFC Championship game at Foxborough. These two teams have already met this year in New England, where Brady and the Pats put a 43-21 whooping on the Broncos. Both teams seem to be hitting their stride at the right time though, so I think we’re in store for a classic game. Ultimately, Peyton and the Broncos will out-duel Brady and the Patriots in a shoot-out that we’ll look back on many years. The Broncos just have too many weapons for the talented Patriots defense to deal with.