William Koehler ’20

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There are really only four legitimate contenders to win this season’s Super Bowl: the Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, and the Seattle Seahawks.

The Baltimore Ravens are the most obvious of Super Bowl contenders. The Ravens rely on the ability of Lamar Jackson’s dual threat capabilities. His speed and agility force the defense to pay special attention to his ability to scramble while his passing skill forces them to have a very strong secondary. Every team in the NFL has some big defensive flaw that Lamar can and will take advantage of, whether it is because the opposition is starting a rookie cornerback, or because their star defensive end is out. Based on the way Lamar is playing this season, the main problem for the Ravens will be getting through the AFC. Even the wild card teams in the AFC are hitting their strides and are currently playing on a Ravens caliber level. However, the biggest threat to the Ravens is the New England Patriots.

Right now the New England Patriots have possibly the best defense in NFL history. Their success this season lies solely in the hands of their future Hall of Fame quarterback, Tom Brady. This has been the only season so far that Tom Brady has shown his age even remotely. Since starting out their season 8-0, the Patriots have lost 3 out of the last 5. This current Patriots team is the most vulnerable they have been in 20 years, and yet they are still very legitimate Super Bowl contenders. Their stellar defensive play is the reason for this. The fact that their current weak spot is Tom Brady, the best Quarterback of all time, shows how strong their team really is.

The San Francisco 49ers are the second scariest team in the NFL, due to their stellar defensive play, and because of their quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, the perfect quarterback for their offense. He does exactly what is needed of him week in and week out. When the team needs a big 300+ yard performance out of hm to compete with the opposition, he gives them that. When the team needs him to handoff the ball to attack the opposing run defense, he dominates that. The 49ers problem this season is that may have peaked too soon. They are still a top 4 team in the league, but hey were firing on all cylinders starting out the season 8-0, losing to both the Ravens and Seahawks, two other legit Super Bowl contenders.

Last, but not least, is the Seattle Seahawks. They have been magnificent all season and have shown up big in big games. Their main problem lies on Russell Wilson, who was an MVP frontrunner up until a couple weeks ago. He has been playing very poorly recently and needs to regain his momentum from the beginning of the season if the Seahwaks want to remain legit Super Bowl Contenders.

Overall, it has been a fantastic NFL season, and I am sure the Super Bowl will reflect that. I think that the final two teams standing will be the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers. The Ravens will win in a shootout, 49-38.