Who will make it to and who will win the Superbowl? (1 Viewer)

[SaintsInDome2006]

The Seahawks and the Saints finish 1-2 in overall efficiency.

http://www.advancednflstats.com/2014/01/final-team-efficiency-rankings-week-17.html

I think these are the two best teams in the league this year.

Rankings:

1. SEA

2. NO

3. DEN

4. CIN

5. PHI

6. SF

7. CAR

8. NE

9. GB

10. IND

11. SD

12. KC

it's worth noting that Seattle finished with the highest penalty rate in the league. Maybe it won't mean anything—the Ravens compiled the second-most flags in the league last year, and turned out fine—but it's something else to note.

Weird stat: nine of the top-10 teams in offensive run success rate made the postseason, but just three of the top-10 in defensive run success rate followed. Five of this year's playoff teams sneaked in with below-average run defenses, including the Chargers, who finished dead last by a massive margin.

http://www.advancednflstats.com/2014/01/final-team-efficiency-rankings-week-17.html

 

[ShamrockPride]

Pure gut picks. I got San Diego vs. San Francisco. Boy, California sure will be happy lol.

As dumb as it sounds SD cause they have the "bird blessing" and they've really found their ground game over the past month, which is almost a guarantee for a deep run in the playoffs. The fact they only needed their top 8 QB to throw 16 times last week is impressive.

SF...they're this year's hot team going into and through the playoffs. D has been looking solid again. Easy pick for me.

As far as who will win? I'm gonna take SF in that matchup just due to the good ol' D wins championships saying.

 

[St. Louis Bob]

So you guys are making picks after 4 teams have been eliminated?

 

[pizzatyme]

I shall reserve my picks until after next weekends games.

 

[FUBAR]

Halfway through the year I posted Carolina and Indy. Might as well stick with that.

Panthers win

Sticking with the Colts, but Carolina doesn't look so hot with Smith injured. They might still pull it off, but they have me nervous.

 

[Ack88]

I still marvel at the number of people who picked Denver over New England in the AFC.

You know Manning has a career 9-11 playoff record, right?

Brady is 17-7. (I think)

 

[IHEARTFF]

I still marvel at the number of people who picked Denver over New England in the AFC.

You know Manning has a career 9-11 playoff record, right?

Brady is 17-7. (I think)

I take it you're mortgaging your house on NE +186 then, right?

 

[Anarchy99]

More trends to consider (or ignore). Since going to the current format (wildcard weekend and byes for the top 2 seeds in each conference):

Overall, the home teams in conference championships have gone 27-19 (.587).

The home team went 14-9 (.609) in the AFC and 13-10 (.565) in the NFC.

In 1 vs. 2 matchups, the top seed has gone 14-9 (.609) . . . 5-3 (.625) in the AFC and 9-6 (.600) in the NFC.

Regardless of seeds, in 23 seasons, both home teams won 7 times, both road teams won 3 times, and the teams split 13 times.

From 1966-1989, the home team in conference championships went 33-15 (.688) with the AFC home teams going 17-7 (708) and NFC home teams going 16-8 (.667). However, the first few years of the SB era, the NFL did not award home games to the top seed. Instead, the league picked which division would host the conference championship and record did not come into play.

Overall, the numbers appear to show that road teams seem to have been more successful in the more recent configuration of the playoffs.

IIRC, the top seeds in each conference have met 9 times in the SB, with the IND/NOS from 2009 the most recent and the only time since 1993.