Our NFL writers have made their Super Bowl picks. Between them, they picked six teams to make the big game and three of them to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
The AFC is wide open without the Chiefs or Ravens involved this season, although that could mean a clear path for the Bills to finally break through. In the NFC, four of our writers had the Rams making it to Santa Clara.
Here’s what we think will happen.
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Let’s start here: the Rams are the most complete team in football.
We know what Matthew Stafford is capable of — he’s turned in an MVP-worthy season at 37 — but he’s supported by a rushing attack that played its best ball down the stretch, averaging 157.0 yards per game over the last six games of the regular season. Combine that with a defensive front that can play at an elite level, you have a Los Angeles team that will be very difficult to stop, even with a tough road to Super Bowl LX as a No. 5 seed.
On the AFC side, the Texans have a defense capable of leading them all the way to Santa Clara — even if it showed some cracks down the stretch. The big question is its offense, which has underwhelmed all season. But C.J. Stroud has shown enough in critical moments and has the kind of playoff experience early in his career that, combined with Houston’s defensive prowess, gives the Texans a path to the Super Bowl in a wide-open AFC field.
That doesn’t mean that recipe will be enough to win the Lombardi Trophy, though.
If the Rams-Texans season opener was any indication, a sequel in Super Bowl LX will also be low-scoring. And I don’t see Stafford losing out to Stroud with everything on the line.
I’m not a betting man at all. I’ve covered the league long enough to know how much something surprises me every week. But last year, I was in Las Vegas for a weekend and put $10 on the Texans at 25:1 to win the Super Bowl. They didn’t, of course, but a year later, it just makes sense to me, with nothing to gain now. Houston’s defense is the best unit on either side of any playoff team, and its offense is rounding into form. Houston has won nine straight, with three playoff teams in that run, and they’re favored on the road against a Steelers team that needed a missed field goal to get in.
The NFC is a tough call, and Ben already has Rams-Texans predicted, so there’s no fun in repeating that. Philadelphia’s defense is coming together, and its offense has yet to click on all cylinders the way it’s capable of, even if it’s not the same as last year’s rushing attack. Seattle and Chicago, as top seeds, have inexperienced coaches and quarterbacks, so the savvy of Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts could be enough to get them three wins and a ticket to Santa Clara.
The Bills may have a clear path on the AFC side, without Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson. But that doesn’t mean it’ll be all clear if Buffalo makes it to the Super Bowl. As easy as it is to imagine the Bills making the Super Bowl, it’s also just as easy to see them losing it. And it’s not just their (tragic) history in the big game. No, the Bills have one of the worst run defenses in the NFL(5th worst in yards per game and 2nd worst in yards per carry). They have one of the worst receiving corps in the NFL. And so Josh Allen has had to be the carrying force for the majority of the season. I can’t imagine him winning four games in a row like that against playoff-level competition.
The Rams, after all, are well equipped to beat the Bills. L.A. has an outstanding rushing attack, led by Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. It only gets more threatening when considering the Rams popularized 13-personnel (with three tight ends) to play bully ball this year. But even if the Bills can keep it close against the Rams, then Allen will have to contend with Matthew Stafford, a well-qualified MVP candidate this year. Stafford won’t buckle in a shootout — nor will he wilt in the fourth quarter.
That’s why I’m picking L.A. to win this one.
Tom Brady on Bills’ Super Bowl window, Can Josh Allen lead them to a win? | The Herd
It doesn’t matter that they have to go on the road to get there. With the Kansas City Chiefs out, that road is clear for the Bills. Their nemesis, their playoff bugaboo, is out of the way. How could this not be their year?
Karma aside, they do have all the ingredients: A strong defense, a dangerous running game, and a quarterback capable of playing like an MVP. And in those ways, they look exactly like the Los Angeles Rams — another team that seems buried in the wild-card pack, but looms as one of the most dangerous threats in their conference.
Both those teams will be unfazed by playing in hostile environments. Both are capable of stifling defenses and offensive explosions. And both can ride their battle-tested coaches and quarterbacks when the going gets really tough.
And in Super Bowl LX, count on the Bills to mount one last second-half comeback that, in many ways, has been 32 years in the making. Josh Allen will secure the MVP with one last game-winning drive. And this time Western New York can breathe easier, because it won’t come down to one final, wayward kick.
[ NFL Playoff Bold Predictions ]
It’s Josh Allen’s time to finally check the box by winning a Super Bowl and earning an NFL title for a Buffalo franchise starving for a Lombardi trophy. First off, top-tier quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow no longer stand in his way, with their teams surprisingly failing to reach the postseason this year.
Although the Bills will have to hit the road, the reigning NFL MVP is still the best player left in this year’s playoffs. And Allen has a capable running mate in James Cook, who led the league in rushing during the regular season. Yes, Buffalo’s defense remains a weak spot for this team and must perform more consistently in critical moments in the postseason.
But no player is scarier at the end of the game with the ball in his hands, and I expect Allen to put on his Superman cape and lead Buffalo to the winner’s circle this postseason. Doing it against the best defense in the league in Seattle in the Super Bowl will be icing on the cake for Allen.
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