Why Each NFC Team Will/Will Not Win the Super Bowl
Photo by Stephen Maturen from Getty Images
While the AFC is wide open due to countless top tier teams, the NFC is wide open for a very different reason.
There’s some good teams in the NFC, but very few that you can trust to make it the whole way.
Alas, someone has to.
So who will? Who won’t?
Let’s go over it.
Philadelphia Eagles
Why They Will
They have an MVP candidate quarterback in Jalen Hurts (Hurts won’t win but he’s still a candidate), they have quality offensive weapons in A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith. The defense has loads of game winning talent.
They were top tier in the NFC for a reason.
Why They Won’t
Jalen Hurts is coming back from injury, and there are questions about how healthy he truly is.
Not to mention, while the Eagles are for sure the best or second best team in the NFC, they didn’t exactly face murderer’s row to get that record.
There have been times this year where it feels like they’re close but not a Super Bowl team yet.
San Francisco 49ers
Why They Will
This is the most talented team in the NFC. Maybe in all of football.
They have used three different starting QBs this year, including the last pick of the 2022 NFL draft, and the offense barely missed a beat.
They have Christian McCaffery fully healthy which is always dangerous, and easily the best defense in football.
If the Niners play to their capacity, they will breeze their way through the NFC. There might not be a single competitive game.
Why They Won’t
Do you really trust Brock Purdy in a spot like this?
He’s been good, sure, but during their win streak under Purdy they beat 2 teams with a winning record.
One was the Dolphins, which was a good performance. The other was the Seahawks where they struggled compared to other performances.
There’s no easy games in the playoffs, and the pressure is going to be on Purdy big time.
If he struggles, it might sink the Niners.
Minnesota Vikings
Why They Will
Voodoo magic.
Or, the defense holds up well enough to let Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen thrive.
The Vikings can score pretty easily.
Why They Won’t
DVOA is an advanced metric in football. The metric takes into account every play, garbage time, strength of opponent blah blah blah it basically explains who is truly good and who isn’t.
The Vikings are 13-4. Their record indicates they are very good! They must be up there in DVOA!
They’re 27 out of 32. Behind the Broncos and Rams.
The underlying numbers are telling you loud and clear.
The Vikings won’t make it far in this postseason.
But then again! Voodoo!
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Why They Will
Go ahead.
Bet against Tom Brady in the playoffs.
See what happens.
Why They Won’t
The offensive line is bad. The defense has underperformed all year. The coaching has been very questionable at times.
I’m not even sure Tom Brady could drag this team to a title.
Dallas Cowboys
Why They Will
Defense wins championships, and the Cowboys defense is otherworldly.
Ignore what the talking heads say about the Cowboys.
They’re a really good team.
Why They Won’t
Dak Prescott really needs to clean up the turnovers.
It’s cliche, but a poorly timed turnover can completely change the course of a playoff game.
If Dak keeps struggling to take care of the ball like he has the past few weeks, it’s not going to be pretty.
New York Giants
Why They Will
Never underestimate the value of a well coached team.
Especially a well coached New York Giants team.
The 2008 and 2011 Giants Super Bowl winning teams weren’t the most talented, but coach Tom Coughlin had them prepared for the postseason and prepped to make a run.
Daboll has this team very well coached. They can surprise some teams.
Why They Won’t
They just aren’t very good.
I wish I could dive a little deeper in that, but it’s a simple as that.
Daniel Jones is fine. The receivers aren’t anything special. The defense is bad.
But I’m not sure Giants fans care.
They’re here, and that’s better than they thought before the season began.
Seattle Seahawks
Why They Will
Pete Carroll has a philosophy to success.
Good defense, and a good run game.
A lot of people question that philosophy, but it’s continued to be successful.
And, despite a midseason lull where the defense struggled horrible and the run game got nothing going, they started to get it back into gear over the last few weeks.
They keep that going, they can shock the league like they have all year so far.
Why They Won’t
While the defense and run game have improved over the past few weeks, Geno Smith has started to fall back a bit.
If the run game struggles or the defense can’t hold their water, Geno hasn’t shown he can hang in a shootout over the past few weeks.
But again, much like the Giants and Jaguars, I’m not sure Seahawks fans will care much about it.
They’re all playing with house money at this point.
