NFL expert picks: Predicting Super Bowl XLIX champion

By foxsports
Published

All season on FOXSports.com, our experts have offered their predictions for the week's NFL games.

Participating this year:

• Alex Marvez, Mike Garafolo and Peter Schrager, FOX Sports 1 NFL Insiders and FOXSports.com NFL writers;

• Brendon Ayanbadejo, former NFL player and current FOX Sports 1 NFL analyst and FOXSports.com NFL contributor;

• Jimmy Traina, of FOXSports.com's Buzzer page;

• Our in-house FOXSports.com NFL editors: James Parziale, Ross Jones and Sid Saraf. For the previous weeks, each one submitted a pick for each game and majority ruled to determine one overall pick for the group. For the Super Bowl, they'll each pick individually;

• WhatIfSports, our fantasy sports partners who provide a mathematical slant to predicting winners;

• Bing Predictions, our partners at Microsoft who have their own unique formula for breaking down winners. Click here to check out win likelihood percentages for each prediction. (Note: Bing's predictions are fluid throughout the week, and winning picks may differ from the table below. The picks here are as of Thursday morning, the deadline for all participants.)

Need more statistical analysis? Head on over to WhatIfSports.com for their full Super Bowl pick breakdown.

We've been keeping track of their records throughout the season to see who fares best. Click here for an archive of previous weeks' picks.

Brendon Ayanbadejo is our regular-season champion for 2014. The leader going into Week 17 went 13-3 in the final week and got his key win when the Panthers manhandled the Falcons. He finished two games clear of WhatIfSports for the overall crown with a 175-80 mark. Ayanbadejo nabbed the outright lead in Week 3 and never gave it up.

Alex Marvez and WhatIfSports entered the Super Bowl week tied for the overall lead in playoff picks at 8-2 ... and both picked the ill-fated Seahawks. Bing was 7-3 entering the big game and correctly chose the Patriots, giving us a three-way tie for the playoff title at 8-3. Peter Schrager, Jimmy Traina, and the majority of our three NFL editors chose the Patriots as well, moving all three of them up to 7-4 for the postseason. Ayanbadejo -- our regular-season champion -- went with the Seahawks to fall to 6-5 in the playoffs.

Thanks to everyone who came by during the year to check out our picks. Enjoy the offseason and we'll see you next year.