NFL Pick ‘Em: Super Bowl LV

Current Super Bowl Pick ‘Em Record: 4-5

This overweight, overzealous-about-football fool was so preoccupied with other things that he forgot to make a Pick ‘Em post last year. Therefore, all of you will have to take my word for it when I say that I did pick the Kansas City Chiefs to beat the San Francisco 49ers last year. Then again, readers had to take my word for it when I say I had, like, a 1-3 record prior to when I started making Pick ‘Em posts… When did I start making Pick ‘Em posts? Regardless, it was pretty bad, but it’s been getting better recently.

I have correctly picked the last two Super Bowls correctly, including my last written Pick ‘Em post two years ago. That has brought up my Pick ‘Em record for the Super Bowl to a respectable but not great 4-5. Looks a hell of a lot better than 2-5. Just to recap, here were my picks from the last nine years (the closer to current time, the more serious you should take my picks):

• Super Bowl XLVI – New England Patriots (L)
• Super Bowl XLVII – Baltimore Ravens (W)
• Super Bowl XLVIII – Denver Broncos (L)
• Super Bowl XLIX – Seattle Seahawks (L)
• Super Bowl 50 (lol) – Carolina Panthers (L)
• Super Bowl LI – New England Patriots (W)
• Super Bowl LII – New England Patriots (L)
• Super Bowl LIII – New England Patriots (W)
• Super Bowl LIV – Kansas City Chiefs (W)

To bring it back to the present, to get it out of me immediately, I’m leaning more towards the Chiefs to go back to back. Their roster is simply too stacked and I genuinely believe Patrick Mahomes is the next great quarterback a la Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, etc. They’re the closest to threatening New England’s dynasty as I’ve seen in a long while, and though I find it difficult to believe they’ll get to that point, at their current strength, I don’t see them randomly falling apart.

Then again, I picked the Buccaneers to win in every game in the playoffs thus far, and I haven’t been wrong yet. Is this the team of “Destiny” that I seem to believe in whenever the Super Bowl is involved? Three straight road game victories, reminiscent of the Giants that won the Super Bowl nearly a decade before. And, well, Tom Brady is at the helm, who happens to harvest victories at an insane rate because… lol? Even without Belichick, he’s once again in the Super Bowl… how is this real life?

Well, it’s mostly because he, too, has a pretty stacked roster. Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Cameron Brate, Gronk, Leonard Fournette, Ronald Jones, Ali Marpet, Ryan Jensen, and Donovan Smith on offense. Ndamukong Suh, Jason Pierre-Paul, Vita Vea, Shaq Barrett, Devin White, Lavonte David, Antoine Winfield, Jr., Jordan Whitehead, and two solid corners in Murphy-Bunting and Davis. One thing is certain: these two teams definitely would’ve been Super Bowl favorites on paper alone.

But this is not paper anymore. These two teams are both in great shape and have very few weaknesses on either side of the ball. Though with Eric Fisher’s absence, Kansas City’s offensive line becomes a tad shakier than normal. I think this game will come down to the mental aspects—who wants it more, who will thrive under pressure, who may get a sudden case of the yips? I don’t see either of these teams suddenly nosediving, and both teams have been splendid thus far—Kansas City has dominated with Mahomes in the line-up and the Bucs’ defense stepped up in big moments.

Something strange about this particularly match-up makes me iffy on my choice, though: From a quarterback situation, it’s eerily similar to Super Bowl XLIX, which featured Russell Wilson “versus” Tom Brady. (I don’t like the idea of quarterbacks “dueling,” because they’re dueling the opposing defense, not one another.) The up-and-comer versus the grizzled, proven veteran. Said up-and-comer won the previous Super Bowl and is back in it anticipating a repeat. Tom Brady, well, has a strange history of winning against teams with a good-to-great quarterback and losing to total underdogs in this game.

That sense of destiny is poking me, telling me that the wind favors the Bucs and I’m choosing the Chiefs purely for the flair of their roster. Though this isn’t to say I believe Mahomes and co. aren’t the real deal—they wouldn’t be here otherwise, and in convincing fashion. It’s just that my heart is telling me that Tom Brady is the safer bet, and with how loaded his team is, it’s hard to side with full confidence in either option. I… have admittedly been in this position before.

Notice the list above of my prior picks. Three of those picks that I’ve won were genuine, wholehearted trust. Baltimore, Kansas City, and one of the New England match-ups (against the Falcons) were picks I was actually confident in. Those were the teams that I believed, whether through destiny or cocky arrogance, would handle the big game in stunning fashion. I was also pretty confident New England would beat Philadelphia, too, but was overjoyed to be wrong there. All the rest of them were a sort of “Ehhhhh… maybe they’ll win… I’m just gonna shield me eyes…” situation. Such is the case here. It is brain versus heart, with both telling me different teams. Kansas City looks completely dominant, but Tom Brady-led teams just win, sometimes with dumb luck. Maybe Andy Reid will pull a Pete Carroll.

But if Chad Henne enters the game? 59-21, Kansas City.

Winner: Kansas City Chiefs

Thank you for your time. Have a great day.