Official 2012-2013 NFL Football Thread

**IPD** · 02-02-2013, 02:30 AM

so after last week's pro bowl blowout, i maintain that the NFC is the stronger conference this year.

Originally Posted by IPD

i don't care. i'm still rooting for the falcons regardless. NFC will win this year. probably won't be the falcons. if i had to put money down, it'd be on the 49ers.....surprisingly enough. can you imagine if SF wins the SB after winning the WS the same year? yikes. that hasn't been done since pittsburgh did it in 79. i don't count the patsies/red-sox wins from 04; different cities. besides the 9ers, i'd guess maybe the giants--defending champs.

i don't think da-bears have what it takes, and none of the other NFC teams even vaguely resemble superbowl championship material. I may have been rooting for the 7-9 seahawks, but i knew they weren't going to win the big one. The AFC isn't going to win this year, but it still looks like the texans are going to be the best the conference has to offer. Ravens are slipping a bit. Patsies and rapistburger aren't consistant. manning is back with stokley (mf has 2 superbowl rings, did you know that?)--and denver is looking a bit better. don't think it's nearly enough though.

i'm surprised the ravens made it, but i'd called SF back in october., at 6-2

**stealthee** · 02-02-2013, 08:33 AM

You can't use the Pro Bowl as a gauge for anything. They don't even try to play defense.

**IPD** · 02-02-2013, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by stealthee

You can't use the Pro Bowl as a gauge for anything. They don't even try to play defense.

neither, i suspect, will the ravens.

for the sake of discussion though, here's the last 10+ years of each (calendar year of games, not the season):

99: AFC win, Broncos win SB
00: NFC win, Rams win SB
01: AFC win, Ravens win SB
02: AFC win, Patriots win SB
03: AFC win, Bucs win SB
04: NFC win, Patriots win SB
05: AFC win, Patriots win SB
06: NFC win, Steelers win SB
07: AFC win, Colts win SB
08: NFC win, Giants win SB
09: NFC win, Steelers win SB
10: AFC win, Saints win SB
11: NFC win, Packers win SB
12: AFC win, Giants win SB
13: NFC win, TBD

I could trace it back further. No, it's not a perfect litmus test. That said, there are some pretty strong indicators at times. 85 bears SB win coincides with an NFC pro-bowl win. 72 dolphins win coincides with an AFC pro-bowl win. I'll let you be the judge. To me, it looks like when the SB contender "just squeeks by" throughout the season (05 steelers, for example), there might be an upset. On the other hand, when the team has dominated throughout the year, and their conference wins the pro-bowl, it seems like a fairly solid lock.

Of course, this is only of interest NOW...because the Pro-Bowl is now before the SB....