2013 AFC Road to the Super Bowl Predictions
After Gary and I have previewed the eight NFC and AFC divisions respectively in the past month, the NFL department at UKAmericanSportsFans.com decided that it would be good to dream up our conference playoff scenarios using the predictions we made on the divisions, so just for a bit of fun, here’s how the AFC could pan out, firstly with the seedings:
1- Houston Texans: 12-4
2- Cincinnati Bengals: 12-4
3- Denver Broncos: 11-5
4- New England Patriots: 11-5
5- Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7
6- Miami Dolphins: 9-7
Wild Card Playoff Round:
After sneaking into the playoffs ahead of an unlucky resurgent Tennessee team, both Pittsburgh and Miami are lumbered with trips to the homes of legendary QB’s…
Miami travel to Peyton Manning’s Denver, and while their much-improved defense causes problems for the elder Manning, the Mile High snow (yeah I’m dreaming up some snow) spells doom for the men from Florida.
In New England, two old rivals square off once more; and once again the Pats squeeze past their Steeler foes, with Rob Gronkowski starring in a wild shootout at Foxboro’.
Divisional Round:
Both future hall of fame QB’s hit the road to play two of the AFC’s ‘teams-in-waiting’.
The Bengals, after one of the best regular seasons in their franchise’s history, leave their fan base bouncing off the walls after keeping the momentum going, AJ Green taking apart Denver’s porous secondary and the solid secondary releasing Geno Atkins to hunt down Manning play after play.
The Texans host the Patriots in a repeat of one of last season’s playoff games, and just like last season, the Houston game plan is the perfect matchup for the Pats, who stay strong down the centre of their defense and force Matt Schaub to win the game… which he can’t.
AFC Championship:
Bill Belichick has pulled off miracles before with no-names, and reaching the AFC Championship game can count as such with his new, rebuilt WR corps, but when that cast comes up against the explosive Bengals in Cincy, the miracle is exposed. Andy Dalton’s men are the revelation of the season, with a stifling defense under Marvin Lewis and an explosive, big play offense with AJ Green and rookies Tyler Eifert and Giovani Bernard, the men in orange sweep aside Tom Brady as the Pats once more fail to reach the big one.
However, it is clear to many this season that the AFC may have to play second fiddle to the eye-wateringly strong NFC, and although the Bengals are good, they’re not a match for the 49’ers or the Seahawks, one of which I think could prevail in the NFC, and ultimately, the first cold-weather SuperBowl in New York.