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2016 Super Bowl Predictions: New England Patriots or Seattle Seahawks left out?

By Dan Salem

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Making the Super Bowl is really hard, so which of last year’s finalists will miss out? Are the New England Patriots or Seattle Seahawks more likely to fall short this season? Its never too early for 2016 Super Bowl predictions. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL Sports Debate. Check out more of the brothers in Seesaw Sports Debate on BuzzChomp. Two brothers from New York yell, scream, and debate sports.

DAN:

One of the biggest draws to the NFL each season is the prospect of your formally bad team turning things around, going ‘worst to first’ and making a playoff run. But this makes the opposite also true. Are the New England Patriots or Seattle Seahawks missing the 2016 Super Bowl? One is certainly going to fail to return to the big game, and possibly miss the playoffs entirely.

Lots of teams have improved this offseason, and no one is talking about those that haven’t. For the weak to rise, the strong must fall. Between the Patriots and Seahawks, which team falls flat and fails to defend their conference crown?

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New England feels like the easy answer, with Tom Brady likely to miss the first few games of the season. The AFC East is having a resurgence on paper this offseason, making the Patriots run to postseason glory full of larger, and more powerful hurdles than ever before. They appear to be an AFC favorite, yet Darrelle Revis is gone, Stevan Ridley is gone, and very few holes got filled.

The flip side out west is full of question marks for the Seahawks. Will its division foes continue to play at a high level, or will Arizona and St. Louis take a step back to the pack and play mediocre football like the 49ers?

Outside of the NFC West, Seattle will face a gauntlet come playoff time, assuming they qualify for the action. The team was a tip and call away from missing the Super Bowl last year, and its opponents haven’t missed a step. Green Bay and Dallas are the early front runners to take them down, but I expect the unexpected?

My NFL instincts are buzzing, screaming at me that both the Patriots and Seahawks miss the upcoming Super Bowl. But if I had to pick one, I’d go with Seattle. The overall NFC competition still feels higher. What’s your take?

Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) reacts after throwing a touchdown with two minutes left in the fourth quarter against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

TODD:

For starters, just based on probability, chances are both of these teams miss the Super Bowl. It’s hard to make the Super Bowl! But if I had to pick one team to miss it, it would be the New England Patriots.

You said as much yourself that New England seems like the easy answer. Don’t out-think yourself. The easy answer is often the correct one. Assuming Tom Brady’s suspension isn’t reduced or eliminated entirely, the Patriots are going to start off the season behind the eight ball. They also need a completely healthy season from Rob Gronkowski to have any chance of competing for another title. That’s not impossible, but it also isn’t terribly likely.

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As you pointed out, the entire AFC East has improved to boot. The Pats won’t be able to meander their way to another division title in 2015. The Bills could be amazing this season if they get strong quarterback play. The Jets and Dolphins both have strong units as well, albeit not the full roster power of Buffalo or New England. But the division is not a gimme for NE, and if it starts with two losses in the season’s first month, it’ll be hard to climb back out to the playoffs, let alone to the Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, Seattle is still really strong. Next season is the one where Russell Wilson will be getting his massive, salary-cap clogging, roster-crippling contract; not this season. For now, Seattle is still deep and talented across all manners of its football team. The Seahawks also managed to add arguably the best tight-end weapon in the NFL, which continues to be an offseason move folks are forgetting just because Jimmy Graham wasn’t elite last season. He still scored 10 touchdowns and had close to 900 yards in a down year!

I’m not buying the argument that overall conference talent will make it a harder road for the Hawks. If their division was a gauntlet, that’s a different story; but it’s not. To me, the Seahawks are the better football team, and that is what makes New England more likely to miss the Super Bowl.

Dan Salem is a Staff Writer for NFL SpinZone. He’s also Lead Editor, Staff Writer, and Featured Vlogger at BuzzChomp, and a New York Jets Analyst for Pro Football Spot. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or Instagram.

Todd Salem is a Staff Writer for NFL Spinzone. He’s also a Contributing Editor at BuzzChomp, a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report, and an Analyst for Tipster Labs, among others. Follow him on Twitter.

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