Three years ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers went into the playoffs the consensus choice for Super Bowl Champion, and were handed their walking papers by the New England Patriots. Two years ago, the Colts went into the playoffs as the favorite, and were defeated by a gritty, tough Steelers team that went on to win the championship. Last year, San Diego went in as the favorite, but their loss to the Patriots opened the door for the Colts to win their rings.
Picking up on the pattern? Team goes into playoffs as favorite; team loses; following season, team (now cast as underdog) wins Super Bowl.
If I'd written that four hours ago and picked the Chargers to upset the Colts today, just imagine who might be knocking on my door right about now: ESPN.Com, SI.Com, CBS, NBC, Peter King, the list goes on...
Of course, for the scenario to fully play itself out, the Chargers would have to go into New England and beat the undefeated Patriots, which - fate be damned - I just can't imagine happening.
1 comment:
Oh, but what a story that would be... a team that hadn't won in the playoffs for so many years it was almost a joke taking out the team which their star running back has a grudge against while simultaneously ending a historic run for a team which looked like it would finally usurp the place of the 1972 Dolphins entirely.
Of course, if the Giants beat the Patriots in the Superbowl, well, that would be a great storyline as well.
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