Question of the day: Who is going to play in (and win) the Super Bowl?
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With the NFL season starting Thursday, Tribune Co. reporters share their picks for the Super Bowl. Feel free to tell them why they are wrong (or maybe even right).
Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times
The NFL has become a passing league, and two of the young, emerging star quarterbacks will lead their teams to Super Bowl XLV. In the end, it will be Green Bay over Baltimore.
Aaron Rodgers showed last season that, far from being a fill-in for a legend, he’s a ring away from joining the league’s elite passers. He has very good receivers and an offensive line that’s starting to solidify. The Packers should generate a better pass rush this season, and they have a very talented secondary – as long as age doesn’t become too much of a factor.
As for the Ravens, Joe Flacco’s first two seasons were remarkably productive – he’s the fourth starting quarterback since 1970 to make the playoffs in his first two years – and now he has receivers Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmandzadeh in his arsenal. That should be a robust complement to a defense that’s always strong.
Bradley Biggs, Baltimore Sun
A superb opening weekend of NFL action will be highlighted by Monday’s meeting between the Jets and Ravens. The Jets have been compelling to watch on “Hard Knocks” and gained valuable experience after finishing one victory short of the Super Bowl. They couldn’t make a Super Bowl run without cornerback Darrelle Revis and now that problem has been solved.
But the Ravens have quietly assembled a roster worthy of just as much hype, and they have a better quarterback in Flacco.
In the NFC, Green Bay’sRodgers is destined to have an MVP trophy soon. The Packers were a machine when offensive line woes were solved midway through 2009, and they’ll begin this season operating at a high level.
But as good as the Dom Capers defense was, it collapsed in the postseason, and an aging secondary and iffy pass rush are concerns. The Ravens will triumph over the Packers in Arlington, Texas.