Few NFL seasons in recent memory have been as crazy as the 2022 campaign. The league tied a record for the most quarterbacks to start a game (64). A game was postponed indefinitely when a player (Damar Hamlin) suffered a cardiac arrest on the field in front of millions of viewers – and in front of his family members in the stands. Two quarterbacks (Marcus Mariota and Derek Carr) have been benched – and have then left the team altogether to avoid being a distraction. A third-string quarterback (Brock Purdy) could lead his team to the NFC’s #1 seed and get a bye the first week of the playoffs. Who will come away with the title – regardless of the NFL betting odds? Here are some ideas.
NFL News: Forget the Odds – Who Will Win Super Bowl LVII?
Buffalo has been one of the odds-on favorites for most of the season. The first half of the year saw them drop some winnable games with late collapses, but then they reversed that trend, stopping Cincinnati and Kansas City in the process. Having their game against Cincinnati come to such an awful halt on Monday Night Football has had significant emotional impact on the team, but the Bills did go through a walk-through and hold meetings on Wednesday, and Hamlin is showing signs of improvement (although he remains in the hospital). Hamlin’s GoFundMe toy drive had an initial goal of $2,500, but now it is pushing $8 million. The Bills already had terrific talent on both sides of the ball, so don’t be surprised if the desire to devote the rest of this season to their teammate motivates the Bills to steamroll everyone in their path and claim the first Super Bowl title in franchise history.
Green Bay has been creeping around the edges of the playoff conversation for the second half of the season. The Packers had a rough start to 2022, but after Mike McCarthy waltzed into Lambeau Field dressed like Vince Lombardi, of all people, before mismanaging Dallas to another signature loss, Aaron Rodgers believed that Green Bay could finish the season with five wins and a 9-8 record – and he has the Packers on the verge, as long as they can beat Detroit at home. After routing Minnesota on the “frozen tundra,” the Detroit Lions have years of history to fight through to beat Rodgers on the road. And once the Packers are in, can anyone stop them? They have a way of fizzling out in the NFC Championship, but with Philadelphia and San Francisco either injured or inexperienced at the quarterback position, and with Dallas bringing in a track record of failing even to reach a conference championship since 1995, can anyone really stop them? The secondary is stout, and the Packers can run the ball.
Cincinnati has charged hard down the stretch to move into the lead of the AFC North, and if the NFL cancels their Week 17 showdown with Buffalo, they will have clinched the division title. They would also clinch it with a win over Baltimore in Week 18 anyway. Joe Burrow’s duo of Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase might be the best pair of receivers in the league, and Burrow might be the most confident quarterback in the league not named Aaron Rodgers. The Bengals finished 2021 strong and rolled to a title game, and then they retooled their offensive line and have put up even better numbers this time around.
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