2009 Super Bowl Predictions

Jimmy Boyd's 2008 NFL predictions showed you who the most trusted NFL handicapping expert in the industry likes to advance to the playoffs. Now, his 2009 Super Bowl predictions reveal the team he likes to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
 

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It's tough to advance to back-to-back Super Bowls, especially with the number of solid teams that we have in the league right now. With that being said, it doesn't look good for the New York Giants to get back to the promise land. I think the New Orleans Saints and the Dallas Cowboys will have the best chances of advancing to the Super Bowl out of the NFC, and I'll give the edge to Dallas because it is better defensively.

You might be saying, "wait a minute, you took the Giants to finish ahead of Dallas in the division." I did, and that's precisely why I like the Cowboys. Motivation and pressure were the two biggest reasons why Dallas did not make it to the big game last season. The Giants had the motivation to win after losing two previous games to New York and Dallas had all the pressure because it was supposed to win on its home field. Tony Romo knows he has to be better in the postseason and the rest of the Cowboys are sick of making early exits. Not being a number one seed will take some pressure off of Dallas. The Cowboys will likely advance to the Super Bowl in much the same way that the Giants did a season ago.

The AFC will be a three team race between the Chargers, Colts, and Patriots again. I don't think New England has it in them to get back to the big game. Letting the Super Bowl and a perfect season slip away will be too tough to recover from in just one year. San Diego and Indianapolis will duke it out in the playoffs again this season, and I have the Chargers advancing. San Diego has the best pass rush in all of football with Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips and that will get them to the Super Bowl.

It was the better defense and the better pass rush which won the 2008 Super Bowl and that will be the case again in 2009. Tony Romo has the ability to scramble and make plays, but Merriman and Phillips just keep coming and coming, and they will win that battle in a head to head showdown. Both teams feature high powered offensive attacks with some of the best skill players in the game, but the better defense will prevail. The Cowboys are an aggressive defense that does well against the run, but they are very susceptible against play action. Norv Turner got his claim to fame as the offensive coordinator on the Dallas Cowboys teams which won back-to-back titles in 1992 and 1993. Few offensive coordiators are more respected, and this time, he'll use his expertise to beat his former team - much to the dismay of Dallas owner Jerry Jones.

Ironically enough, these two teams face off August 9th in their first preseason game, so they potentially could be playing their first and last game of the season against each other.

July 4th, 2008