Who will win the Super Bowl? NFL pundits make their picks ahead of the season
The 2021 NFL regular season has yet to kick off, but the endgame is already in mind.
Winning the Super Bowl is the ultimate goal every team — and fan — hopes to accomplish at the outset of the season. But while parity is built into the league, there are certainly the haves and the have-nots.
Typically, only a select few teams have the goods to make a Super Bowl run, while the rest of the league is better off softening any "Super Bowl or bust" expectations.
Which teams are the experts tabbing to make it to Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles this season?
Skip Bayless went with the champions to defend their crown. The "Undisputed" host took it a step further, too, proclaiming that Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers will put together a flawless NFL season.
"What would he want to do most?" Bayless asked in regard to Brady. "How would he want to — as he winds down his career — cap it off? He would want to cap it off with undefeated. … It's on a silver platter. He has got the greatest collection of weapons I think I've ever seen."
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Skip Bayless explains why he believes the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will finish undefeated this season.
Over on "First Things First," Nick Wright said he believes the "Super Bowl we should have gotten last year" is in the cards.
As far as getting there, Wright has a Week 1 rematch taking place in this season's AFC Championship, with the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Cleveland Browns for the right to head to the Super Bowl.
"Much like Week 1, Week 20 is going to go like the Chiefs hosting the Browns in the playoffs last year," Wright said. "The Chiefs will win to advance to their third straight Super Bowl, becoming only the fourth team ever to do it."
On the other side of the bracket, Wright predicted a rematch of the 2019 NFC title game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers.
"This is the NFC Championship Game, but unlike in 2019, the Packers come out on top," Wright explained. "Chiefs-Packers Super Bowl. The two most talented quarterbacks in NFL history. … This year's Super Bowl will go with the Chiefs annihilating the Packers, kicking Aaron Rodgers out of Green Bay for good and winning their second Super Bowl in three seasons."
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Nick Wright tells Chris Broussard which teams he's expecting to make a Super Bowl appearance this year.
Wright's cohost, Chris Broussard, offered up the same final outcome but predicted a different set of circumstances in the NFC.
"That's where you went off the rails, all right?" Broussard said of Wright's NFC picks. "… The [Los Angeles] Rams will get to the NFC title game. That defense is stout. Matt Stafford will have a very good season. But when they run into the GOAT, Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, that defense will be too much for Stafford in his first trip that deep in the playoffs."
If Broussard is on the money, that would set up a Super Bowl rematch from this past February, a rare occurrence in the NFL.
"The first rematch in the Super Bowl since Dallas and Buffalo way back in Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII in the early '90s. … I think the Chiefs want Tampa Bay. … And the Kansas City Chiefs avenge themselves and win the Super Bowl rematch."
Shannon Sharpe of "Undisputed" said he also sees history repeating itself this season, with the Chiefs taking on the Bucs on the biggest stage.
Like Broussard, Sharpe said the outcome of the Super Bowl will tilt Patrick Mahomes' way.
Across the table from Sharpe, Bayless, as mentioned, made the case for the defending champs to run it back.
On top of that, Bayless said the Chiefs will flame out in the AFC title game against the Browns, who will subsequently come up short against Brady & Co.
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On NFL Network, the "Good Morning Football" crew also went the distance with their season predictions, with each pundit going in a different direction.
Kay Adams picked the Packers to take down the Browns, while Peter Schrager said the Stafford-led Rams would get the job done against the Chiefs.
Kyle Brandt surely fired up Bills Mafia with his choice of the Buffalo Bills to finally get a long-awaited Super Bowl win in a matchup against the Packers. Last but not least, Michael Robinson took K.C. to beat the Rams and win it all.
Mahomes and the Chiefs aren't just a trendy pick among pundits, either.
The oddsmakers at FOX Bet also favor Kansas City, with the Chiefs the odds-on favorites to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at +500, meaning a $10 bet would return a total of $60.
Of course, a lot can happen between now and Feb. 13, 2022, but the Chiefs are riding a wave of high expectations heading into the season.
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