Super Bowl 2012: Eight Playoff Teams With Realistic Chance to Win it All

Published: 6^th Jan 12 2:32 pm

by Jeric Griffin
NFL Network Manager

9 Rants

Super Bowl 2012: Eight Playoff Teams With Realistic Chance to Win it All

Kirby Lee-US PRESSWIRE

Contrary to popular belief, there are eight teams with a realistic shot at winning the Super Bowl in 2012. There may be twelve teams in the NFL playoffs, but four of them are pretenders while, believe it or not, the other eight are true contenders.

Until Week 15, it seemed the Green Bay Packers were just waiting on Feb. 5 to get here so Aaron Rodgers and co. could hoist the Lombardi Trophy for the second straight season. Then Romeo Crennel’s Kansas City Chiefs happened. (Revenge for Super Bowl I, anybody?)

Then the New Orleans Saints rode Drew Brees to eight consecutive victories and the NFC South title, leading many to believe they can challenge Green Bay for the NFC crown. Brees’ record-breaking season seems to have revived the Saints, who suddenly appear ready to march into Lucas Oil Stadium in a month.

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, though. The San Francisco 49ers field a hit-you-in-the-mouth defense and are intriguingly confident they can win the title. If the Saints beat the Detroit Lions on Saturday night, they’ll have to go through San Francisco to even have a shot at taking down the Packers in Green Bay.

But who’s to say the Lions don’t stand a chance of beating the Saints? Matthew Stafford’s 5,000-yard passing season has been overshadowed by Brees’ and that simply won’t do. Detroit is dangerous and the Lions will bombard New Orleans if the Saints look past this game. After that, all bets are off. This young, hungry Detroit team is very capable of winning it all, but they’ll have to come of age in the process.

Still remaining in the NFC are the New York Giants, who squeaked into the playoffs in Week 17 and now host the Atlanta Falcons this weekend. While Atlanta is a pretender, New York is very much a contender. They can’t win as a low seed? The 2007 New England Patriots beg to differ. Eli Manning is as capable of leading his team to a title as any quarterback in the league. If you or any other team forgets that, it’s lights out.

By the way, that’s just one side of the bracket.

Ben Roethlisberger’s ankle may be sprained, tweaked or even broken but he’ll play and play well. The only obstacle Pittsburgh Steelers’ way to the Super Bowl is Baltimore. The Ravens swept the Steelers this season, but No. 5-seed Pittsburgh can earn a rematch with a win over the Denver Broncos this weekend because the lower-seeded Cincinnati Bengals are going to beat the AFC South champion Houston Texans.

That’s right; Denver and Houston will lose in the first round, but don’t think that means Cincy is a contender. The young Bengals will contend for several titles over the next decade, but they’re at least still two years away from that.

Quit your whining, you bandwagon Patriots fans; I haven’t forgotten about you. None of you rooted for New England before Tom Brady and Bill Belichick arrived in town and you’ll be punished for that in two weeks. Once the Patriots beat the Bengals in the divisional round, they’ll get sacked like Troy when either the Ravens or Steelers invade Foxborough.

Now these are simply my predictions. The title of this column is as true as the day is long.

The Packers could easily turn it on again and run away with the NFL playoffs this season. New Orleans could get hotter and hotter until the Lombardi Trophy melts in Drew Brees’ hands. Even though they have literally no defense, the Patriots are very capable of bringing home their fourth title in a decade. Baltimore and Pittsburgh are obviously very much in the mix as well, but that’s become a given in each NFL postseason.

The chances Detroit, New York or San Francisco brings home the Lombardi Trophy may be slim in the minds of some, but these teams’ title hopes are just as validated as any other team in the playoffs this year.

Never has the race to the Super Bowl been so wide open. Four of the five NFC teams are contenders while the Nos. 1, 2 and 5 seeds are the only AFC teams will real chances of winning the Super Bowl. I mean, who would have thought the NFC West champion would last more than one round in the playoffs? Heck, the 49ers have the league’s best defense and might ride that to a title in coach Jim Harbaugh’s first season at the helm.

Now don’t get your feelings hurt if you’re a Texans, Bengals, Broncos or Falcons fan. Think of making the playoffs as a success! The team I cover on a regular basis didn’t even get invited to the big dance.

There must be something about Atlanta that keeps good teams from becoming great. The Falcons, Hawks and Braves seem to be snake-bitten for some reason. Now that I think about it, Cincinnati, Denver and Houston have all been pretty unfortunate over the past decade or so.

How many of the 12 playoff teams do you think have a realistic shot at winning the Super Bowl this year? I’m really curious to find out what the majority believes, but please spare me the “Tebow Time” garbage and the comments about teams that are not in the playoffs. I’m not being a Super Bowl, scrooge; my team didn’t make the playoffs, either. Good luck to those of you whose team did…if you’re not a bandwagon fan, that is.

Follow Jeric Griffin on Twitter @JericGriffin