2010 NFL Superbowl Predictions
by Badger of Predictem.com
UPDATE! SUPER BOWL 44 PREVIEW AND PICK
The 17 weeks of euphoria known as the National Football League regular season opens September 10th when the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers host the Tennessee Titans in a marquee Thursday Night Kickoff special on NBC.
This year Super Bowl 44 (XLIV) will be played at Dolphins Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., Sunday, February 7th. It will be the 11th time the Super Bowl has been held in South Florida, with both Dolphins Stadium and the old Orange Bowl having already hosted it five times.
Here are my preseason predictions for division champs, wildcard winners and eventual playoff winners, complete with the futures odds. I will also offer up a short, middle and long shot winner using the current 2009-2010 Super Bowl futures odds listed at BoDog.
NFC East – Philadelphia Eagles (prediction: 11-5)
Odds to win NFC East – 33-to-20
The Eagles went out and added two bookend tackles for the offensive line in getting Jason Peters and Stacy Andrews to team up with his All-Pro brother at guard Shawn Andrews. They also added WR Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy in the draft, giving Donovan McNabb the most weapons he’s ever had in Philly.
NFC North – Minnesota Vikings (11-5)
Odds to win NFC North – 8-to-5.
The Vikings might have issues at quarterback, but they are still the top team in the NFC North even though everyone is suddenly in love with the new-look Chicago Bears. The Vikings have the best defense front-to-back, giving them the edge.
NFC South – New Orleans (10-6)
Odds to win NFC South – 2-to-1.
This is by far the most competitive division in the NFL, with three teams all capable of winning it. The Saints still possess the top offense, and they brought in Greg Williams to try and fix the 25th- ranked defense and they focused on the secondary by signing Darren Sharper to play safety and drafted corner Malcolm Jenkins. The Saints win by percentage points over the Falcons.
NFC West – Arizona Cardinals (10-6)
Odds to win NFC West – 27-to-20.
The Cardinals are still the class of the weak NFC West. Seattle, St. Louis and San Francisco are all improved, but not enough to knock off the Cards and their potent passing attack.
NFC Wildcards – Dallas Cowboys (11-5) and New York Giants (10-6)
The Cowboys will tie the Eagles record-wise, but lose out on the division title due to strength of schedule and overall conference record. The Giants slip into the last wild card spot over Chicago and Atlanta due to the same tiebreaker rules.
AFC East – New England (11-5)
Odds to win AFC East – 2-to-9.
The Patriots have quarterback Tom Brady back and therefore are once again sitting in the favorites role with a big target on their backs. They’ll lose a few more games than most will predict, but in the end the walk away with the AFC East title with relative ease.
AFC North – Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)
Odds of win AFC North – 5-to-12
The Steelers are too good, too deep and too well coached to suffer too big of a letdown following their Super Bowl win in 2008-09. With a favorable schedule featuring some of their tougher games at home in Heinz, the Steelers should have enough to outlast the Ravens. That said, with the ridiculous 5-to-12 odds, you might want to take the 3- to-1 Ravens instead and hope the legal troubles surrounding Ben Roethlisberger cause problems.
AFC South – Tennessee (12-4)
Odds to win AFC South – 12-to-5.
Tennessee surprised just about everyone but head coach Jeff Fischer last season going an NFL-best 13-3. They’ll win a very competitive division over Indianapolis and Houston, but just barely.
AFC West – San Diego Chargers (10-6)
Odds to win AFC West – 2-to-7
The Chargers didn’t exactly “win” the AFC West last season, it was given to them instead. With the other three teams in the division in full-blown rebuilding mode, the Chargers can sleep walk through the regular season again and still win it in 2009-2010.
AFC Wildcards – Indianapolis Colts (11-5) and Baltimore Ravens (10-6)
The Colts lost Marvin Harrison, but return a healthy Peyton Manning for the start of this season. Sorry, but you can’t count them out just yet. The Ravens won’t sneak up on teams this year like they did last season, but that defense is still too damn tough.
Wild Card Weekend (January 9th & 10th)
Dallas Cowboys at Arizona Cardinals – Dallas goes out to the desert in the first round and Tony Romo finally gets the monkey off his back when the Cowboys deny a last-minute comeback attempt from the Cards and Kurt Warner.
New York Giants at New Orleans Saints – The Saints are the unlucky division winner that has to deal with the Giants in the opening round. The Giants control the ball and the clock and pound the Saints into submission in the 4th quarter.
Baltimore Ravens at Tennessee Titans – The best game of the Wild Card round turns into a field goal contest with both of the top-notch defenses in this game. Flip a coin here, but I’ll take Tennessee.
Indianapolis Colts at San Diego Chargers – The Colts and Chargers clash one more time in the playoffs, but Manning makes sure it goes the Colts way this time with a last-second rally to pull it out late.
Divisional Playoffs (January 16th & 17th)
New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles – Their third meeting of the year turns into a shootout, with the newly improved Eagles offense taking advantage of the home field to slip by in a close game.
Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings – The Vikings run defense makes the Cowboys one-dimensional, and the pressure to carry the load gets to Romo in round two. Vikings win, but it’s not pretty.
Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots – The Patriots will be rested and waiting and it will be too much for Manning and Co. to overcome. Brady will outduel Manning one more time as the Pats move on.
Tennessee Titans at Pittsburgh Steelers – The Titans, having just gutted out a defensive-battle in the opening round versus Baltimore, will have trouble doing it again. Pittsburgh wins with a late score.
Conference Championships (January 24th)
Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles – The Vikings will be a tough opponent, but the Eagles will stop Adrian Peterson and thus stop the Vikings run to the Super Bowl.
New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers – I know, the two biggest chalks in the AFC meet in the Championship round … real hard prediction, right? The Pats take down the champs to move on to the big one again.
Super Bowl 44 – February 7th, Dolphins Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
Philadelphia vs. New England – The Eagles defense seals it and then gives the game ball to former D-Coordinator Jim Johnson by picking off Brady late in the fourth quarter of a 31-28 shootout.
So based on my predictions above using the current 2009-2010 Super Bowl Futures Odds at BoDog.com (Bodog Sportsbook Review):
Short Favorite – New England Patriots (currently 4-to-1) The 4-to-1 odds are better than they were last year, so even though I’m counting on them to fall one game short, I’m hedging it by taking the Pats short.
Middle of the Road – Philadelphia Eagles (currently 10-to-1) When the Eagles cash in the title I’ll be cashing in at 10-to-1.
Longshot – Dallas Cowboys (currently 15-to-1) Most of the true long shots won’t even make it into the playoffs, so my long pick really isn’t that long. Besides, I’d literally pay money to see the Cowboys win it all without T.O. just so he can shut up.
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