Superbowl Predictions

January 25, 2006, 8:28 PM | 0 Comments

Well, it all comes down to one. One game that will determine who is remembered and who is forgotten. One game that will cap a successful season for one team and one game that will make all the work seem like a failure for the other. Who those teams will be is a question that’s going to be answered on Sunday, February 5^th. For me, I’m looking forward to what should prove to be a great game.

No one cares what each team did all season. Forget about it. It’s all in the past and the only thing that matters is now. What is each team going to do once the ball has been kicked off? Every player will tell you that this is what they’ve prepared for their entire careers. The moment is now, how will each team respond?

The ‘Who will win’ poll is again open for your votes, so tell me who you think will be the Superbowl XL Champion. This week, I’ll be doing something a little different than the rest of this season. I’ll break down the matchup like normal, but I wont make my final prediction until sometime late next week, probably Thursday or Friday. I’ll add a date stamp here so that you’ll know when this entry was last updated.

Last week I correctly predicted both matchups, but that also doesn’t mean anything now. This is the big one.

ESPN Expert Picks.

Now, here’s my breakdown for each team:

Last Updated: January 30, 2006.

Pittsburgh Steelers (13-5): The Steelers have had a bit of an up-and-down season. About 8 weeks ago, I didn’t even think they’d make the playoffs, and now they’re headed for the ultimate contest. Without Ben Roethlisberger under center, the Steelers were a completely different team. It’s really fortunate for the Steelers that he wasn’t sidelined for too long.

The Steelers have really proven themselves over the past several weeks (not just in the playoffs) and are probably on a much larger momentum high than the Seahawks. In the last 3 weeks, the Steelers have knocked off the #1, 2 and 3 seeds in the AFC (Indianapolis, Denver and Cincinnati).

This will probably be Jerome Bettis’s final chance at winning the Superbowl, and what better place for him to do it than in his home town of Detroit. Yes, it’s an over-played argument, but everyone in that Pittsburgh locker room wants to win this one for Jerome. Not because it’s Detroit, but because ‘the Bus’ will probably be parked sometime soon.

Seattle Seahawks (15-3): The Seattle Seahawks have never made it to the Superbowl before, but they have an experienced head coach in Mike Holmgren who has been there twice, and won once. If anyone on that team can rally them for this game, it’ll have to lie on their head coach’s shoulders.

The Seahawks possess the NFL’s league MVP and the number 1 offense. Largely un-noticed, the Seahawks are starting to get some exposure this year, and they will provide an excellent challenge to the Steelers.

This is going to be one good game, despite what some of the media will have you believe. I give the emotional advantage to Pittsburgh, who is the only 6th seeded team to ever make it to the Superbowl.

Talent-wise, I don’t think either team has an advantage on the other. I really think this is going to be a very close game, that should make for an exciting end to the 2005-2006 NFL Season.

The only reason for my pick is because I just feel like they’re going to get the job done. I really don’t have any other reason because I think these two teams match up against each other very well. Pick: Steelers.

Bonus pick - Superbowl MVP: Hines Ward.

UPDATE: Well, it was a pretty exciting game but I think Steve Young said it best on the post-game show: ‘it was a little awkward.’ I’m happy that I called the game right, and even got the ‘bonus pick’ by picking Hines Ward as the MVP.

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