Last year, the Arizona Cardinals lost a heartbreaker in the final seconds of Super Bowl 43. This year they will have an excellent shot of making it back. The NFC West is a relatively weak division with the hardest competition being the Seahawks as well as the 49ers. On the offensive side of the ball, the Cards will have to work on their rushing game, but that should work out with their first round pick in Chris “Beanie” Wells. Beanie could end up the starting running back if Tim Hightower doesn’t impress the coaches. On the other side of the ball, the Cards defense impressed the coaches during the preseason by recording five sacks for 34 yards in the 17-6 loss to the Chargers.
Super Bowl XLIV will take place in Miami, Florida. I feel that the AFC Conference Championship will be between Troy Polamalu’s Steelers and Tom Brady’s New England Patriots. Because the Patriots defense is so old, the Steelers offense is going to demolish them. Pittsburgh will end up going to their eighth Super Bowl- the third in the last five years. This season the NFC is wide open as a result of the Eagles acquiring Michael Vick, challenged by Brett Favre’s Minnesota Vikings. Both of these teams are loaded, and this will come down to how well the defenses play. Since the Vikings defense is more experienced, they make it to the NFC Championship Game, a rematch of last year’s Eagles vs. Vikings. As for the Super Bowl, the sand will fly as the Eagles play the Steelers. A close match, the Steelers will prevail, winning their seventh Super Bowl on February 7, 2010.
Each year, there are two surprise playoff teams, one from the AFC and the NFC. This year, my dark horse for the AFC is the Houston Texans. They are led on offense by Matt Schaub, Steve Slaton, and Andre Johnson and on the other side of the ball, DeMeco Ryans and Mario Williams head the defense that is much underrated. Ever since the Seahawks lost Super Bowl Xl to the Steelers, they have had a couple losing seasons, this year I expect that trend to turn around. Matt Hasselbeck is healthy and with the recent acquiring of Edgerrin James and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, they should a very good offense. This year’s draft was very kind to Seattle, giving them Aaron Curry, Max Unger and Deon Butler. Both of these teams should go far if they stay injury-proof.
Patrick
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