Conference Championship Predictions
- Michael Pate
- Jan 19, 2018
- 4 min read
Turns out I’m not as dumb as all of you thought huh? I know most of you picked the Saints and the Steelers and with good reason right? The Quarterback and the coach right? WRONG! Once again parody rules the land. The BETTER teams won. Like they usually do. Football proves once again that the best quarterback does not always win. Will any of you learn your lesson? Probably not. You will take the Patriots to win the whole thing and I am here for another spoiler alert: IT WON’T HAPPEN. So let’s delve into why that will happen.
Jaguars at Patriots
OK, even though I had the Jaguars winning I would’ve never guessed in a million years the Jaguars would score 45. Perhaps even more surprising (and concerning) is the fact they gave up 42. The Jaguars got off to a 28-7 lead and kind of played a weird, prevent defense the rest of the game. The Jaguars just didn’t seem like they knew how to play with that kind of lead. To be fair, no one, not even the Jaguars were expecting that sort of lead to be had. Mike Tomlin continued to prove why he is one of the most overrated coaches in the NFL with an awful onside kick decision and two dumb play calls on 4th and 1 that ultimately cost the Steelers the game.
The Patriots did what they were supposed to do. The Titans might have been the worst team in NFL history to make it to the divisional round. This was never really a game and the Patriots were not really tested. The Titans just did not have the personnel to match up with this powerhouse.
Who has had the most success against Bill Belichick and Tom Brady in the postseason? The answer is Tom Coughlin. Tom Coughlin has beaten this HOF duo twice in the Super Bowl as heavy underdogs. He knows the formula and he has built this Jaguars the same way those Giants team were built. The Jaguars are going to have to pressure Brady a lot. So that means send the house right? No. The Jaguars are going to have to pressure Brady with four. Just like the Broncos did a couple years ago. They are going to have go man across the board. They have the secondary to do it too. They are also going to have to find a way to get him to turn over a couple times. I know, it sounds like a lot, but this Jaguars team has played with a chip on their shoulder all year and this would be the ultimate “screw you” to the entire sports world and I think they can do it. This will be only the second time this since 2001 that a Super Bowl will not feature Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger or Peyton Manning.
Jaguars 24 Patriots 23
Vikings at Eagles
If you watched that first half you would think the Vikings were going to just take a cake walk to the Super Bowl. You can only keep a great offense like the Saints contained for so long. The Saints, after trailing 17-0 at half, outscored the Vikings 24-6 with only 30 seconds to go in the game. Then the craziest play in Minnesota sports history happened. Reading about it won’t do the play justice. Chances are you’ve seen the play 1,000 times already, but just in case you haven’t here it is: (I'm sorry, the NFL blocked all the other videos)
Motivation is a crazy thing in the NFL. There is no telling what a group of men can do when they feel disrespected. The Eagles were a prime example of that this past weekend. Ever since Carson Wentz went down no one has given the Eagles a realistic shot of making a run. The Eagles have continued to win football games. This game was ugly, but the Eagles found a way. The Falcons scored 10 points off of two turnovers and only came close to scoring once at the end of the game. This defense is elite. This defense has enough to win the super bowl even with Nick Foles at Quarterback.
For as good as the Vikings were in the first half, they tried to hand that game to the Saints in the second half. Case Keenum threw a costly interception and took a sack that cost the Vikings a field goal.and also had a punt blocked. The pass rush was also non existent in the second half. With all that said, no team has won the Super Bowl without luck. The Vikings have been one of the most unlucky franchises in the history of the NFL. The 1998 and 2009 Vikings remain two of the best teams to never reach a Super Bowl. It is starting to look like that luck is going the other way. The Vikings also beat a better team this past weekend and will be the better team this Sunday.
Vikings 27 Eagles 17
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