Paper staff offers up Super picks
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Granted, there’s really nothing scientific about picking the winners since rarely, in recent history, have the odds-on preseason favorites even made it to the Super Bowl. No more dynasties like the Dolphins, Steelers and Cowboys. Instead, you can have lame teams who finished with 5-11 records the season before, making it all the way.
So, with the disclaimer complete, I’ve got to admit there were some pretty different picks down here in the newsroom, the oddest of which were made by Rob Nunley. His picks for the Super Bowl are the Lions and Texans with the Texans going all the way. I guess it shows his tradition for picking the underdog.
“If I can truly believe the Cubs can win the World Series, then I can believe the Texans and Lions can play in the Super Bowl,” Nunley said.
Meanwhile, graphic artist Seth Wright prefers some home cooking, taking the Titans to meet the Cowboys with the Titans taking the ring.
Frankly, the Titans are a common pick this year amongst the experts while many say the ‘Boys are a year off, given the fact they are unsettled at quarterback although Vinny will take the snaps early in the season. It should be noted Seth is a big Cowboy fan.
Editor James Clark actually made the most interesting pick of the group down here, when he picked the Chiefs and Seahawks to meet in the Super Bowl with the Chiefs to win. It’s not a bad pick when you consider the Chiefs were virtually unbeatable during much of last season, with many wondering if they would go undefeated. It was a lack of defense down the stretch and a bad game against the Colts in the playoffs which kept them from the big game. However, you can bet Dick Vermeil will be making some big adjustments on defense to complement his high octane offensive squad led by Priest Holmes. Meanwhile, Seattle is the forgotten stepsister out west, taking a back seat all these years to the high flying Rams. I think this year will be a coming out party for the Hawks who boast the most balanced offensive attack in the league.
Dale Stubblefield, after much thought, took a favorite and a team overdue, picking the Colts and the Vikings. Now if you’re not one who calls for a Pat repeat, then the Colts would be the second most common pick given the fact they were one bad Manning game away from the dance last year. Meanwhile the Vikings, like the Chiefs, were unbeatable for the first part of the season last year as Randy Moss had a career year. They did this despite not having starting tailback Michael Bennett, instead leaning a lot of veteran Moe Williams, something they will have to do again this year due to a new Bennett injury and a Ontario Smith suspension.
As for me, I watched a preview of my predicted Super Bowl Friday night in Nashville as I believe it will be the Titans and Packers in the Super Bowl with the Titans taking it all. I generally don’t like taking home cooking, but the emergence of Chris Brown, the continued improvement of McNair and the continued upturn of defensive players like Andre Dyson and Keith Bullock make me think the Titans will be hard to beat. They were one Drew Bennett drop away from likely beating the Pats last year in the playoffs, despite not having a running game to speak of. Brown has changed that, big-time, giving them a big play threat again from the backfield.