The NFL season has just started, with the first game being Sept. 7 between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots. With all the excitement around the start of the new season, there comes the question of who will most likely make Super Bowl LII. Everyone has their own opinion, and here are my picks for this year’s Super Bowl matchup.
NFC Champion: Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys are off to a 1-1 start this season and finished last year with a 13-3 record led by rookie sensations QB Dak Prescott and RB Ezekiel Elliott. Prescott had a 23-4 TD-INT ratio, a 67.8 completion percentage, and a 104.9 passer rating, all breaking records for a rookie quarterback in the league’s history. Elliott finished last season with the most rushing yards (1,631) and rushing touchdowns (15) in the NFL, which has only been done by Edgerrin James in 1999. Elliott racked up such a ridiculous amount of yards, he fell only 178 yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s rookie rushing record.
The ‘Boys had one of the most dynamic and best offenses in the NFL last season, with Elliott winning the NFC Air and Ground Player of the Year award, Dak Prescott winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, the offensive line winning Offensive Line of the Year and Jason Garrett winning Coach of the Year. In this year’s draft, the Cowboys also added WR Ryan Switzer to a receiving core already flowing with talent including star Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley and TE Jason Witten. With the team’s first round draft pick, the Cowboys took DE Taco Charlton at no. 28 to help out the team’s pass rush, a place where the team struggled last season. Their biggest test this year will depend on how their inexperienced secondary will perform and how well the team can do in coverage. All of the Cowboys’ weapons on offense and their new amped-up defense makes them the most scary team in the NFC this season.
AFC Champion: New England Patriots
The Patriots are off to a 1-1 start and still loaded with talent again this year with the free agency pickup of CB Stephon Gilmore and the trade for Pro Bowler WR Brandin Cooks. Last year, the Tom Brady led the Patriots to one of the best seasons in the team’s history. The team finished with a league best 14-2 record and came back from the largest comeback in Super Bowl history, adding on to Brady’s legacy as the greatest quarterback of all time.
Brady now has five Super Bowls while quarterbacking the Patriots, making him the winningest quarterback of all time passing legendary quarterbacks like Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw. The only thing that could stop this Patriots team from making the Super Bowl would be injuries. Julian Edelman, a vital part of the team’s offense, has already torn his ACL and will be out for the season. Even with Edelman out, the team still has a stacked offense with WRs Brandin Cooks, Danny Amendola, Chris Hogan, TE Rob Gronkowski and RBs Dion Lewis and James White. The team has managed to improve their offense and defense this past offseason, and they have made themselves the team to beat in the AFC this season.
