Peculiar Super Bowl 54 Wild Cards We Could See
Super Bowl 54 is right around the corner, and with it comes rampant speculation about who will be the ultimate victor. Teams across the league have made convincing cases for themselves throughout the 2019 season, and they’ll yet prove their stuff in rapidly forthcoming playoff contests. There are still some truly unexpected Super Bowl 54 wild cards which we could see, too, though many fans haven’t been paying attention to unlikely-but-possible matchups.
Here’s a breakdown of the peculiar Super Bowl 54 wild cards we could witness, what they would mean for the sport of football, and how likely they are to actually occur.
2019 was the NFL’s 100th season
One of the reasons that Super Bowl 54 could prove to be particularly strange is that 2019 was the NFL’s 100th season. As such, we could see incredibly-unlikely-but-still-possible matchups which would be historically unique in more ways than one. Consider the case of the Kansas City Chiefs versus the Green Bay Packers; those who are laying a bet on Super Bowl 2020 will realize that the odds of this matchup occuring are immensely low, but the historical status of these teams could prove them to be a fantastic pair for Super Bowl 54.
That’s because the Packers and the Chiefs were the first teams to ever face off against one another in the original Super Bowl. For the 100th season of the NFL to be culminated in an exciting matchup between the first two Super Bowl contenders would be incredibly magical and exciting for fans everywhere. Unfortunately, it’s incredibly unlikely to ever materialize, but a fan can dream.
When the NFL recently announced that 2020’s Super Bowl would be occurring in Miami, relatively few were surprised. What could prove to be surprising, however, is a sudden showdown between two incredibly talented teams that nevertheless have a low probability of meeting one another on the field; if the New England Patriots and the New Orleans Saints were to face off, it would be a true athletic marvel to behold.
Not everything is so far-fetched, however; one well-worded analysis notes that for the 30th consecutive season, the NFL has managed to have four teams make the NFL playoffs which didn’t make them in the previous year. This diversity is appreciated by fans who don’t want to see the same players duke it out time and time again, but it also means that effectively anything could happen as teams compete for a chance to take home the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Nothing is set in stone
It’s imperative to establish that nothing in the NFL is ever set in stone; a team can be dominating one moment, only to suffer in the next after a major player encounters a serious injury. The playoffs will prove the capacity of this year’s candidates when it comes to athletic flexibility and long-term strategic decision making. If coaches who risk it all make the wrong call at an inopportune moment, their entire team’s prospects could be tanked without warning.
Certain teams like the Buffalo Bills have a tremendous defensive capability they can rely upon, but the failure to materialize an effective offense renders their overall chances grim. It’s thus incredibly difficult to determine with certainty how teams will emerge from the playoffs and which two final contenders will face off against one another.
As Super Bowl 54 grows near, be careful laying down your bets, as you’ll need to incorporate statistical analysis with tried-and-true conventional wisdom that reads between the lines to see what the numbers can’t tell us. Whoever it is that arrives in Miami, football fans are sure to have a great end to the NFL’s 100th season.
