Fans in Green Bay and Baltimore may want to go ahead and make travel plans for a trip to New Orleans in February, if SB Nation's preseason Super Bowl picks are any indication. A total of 46 percent of SB Nation's NFL bloggers picked the Green Bay Packers as the NFC representative for Super Bowl XLVII. On the AFC side a smaller plurality, 38 percent, picked the Baltimore Ravens to represent the AFC in the big game.
As for the winner, 29 percent picked the Packers to take home the Lombardi Trophy. That narrowly beat the Ravens, who got 25 percent of the vote when asked which team would be the champion.
New England and Houston received plenty of attention from voters as the AFC pick, respectively getting 29 and 25 percent of the vote. Denver and Buffalo also got a vote.
A total of eight teams received votes to be the NFC entrant into the Super Bowl. The second-highest vote getting was the San Francisco 49ers with 21 percent of the vote. The Bears, Cowboys, Eagles, Falcons, Giants and Lions also drew a few votes.
A couple thoughts from the bloggers:
Quarterbacks win games in the NFL. The quarterbacks in the Super Bowl since 2007: Eli Manning(2), Tom Brady(2), Ben Roethlisberger (2), Kurt Warner, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers. This year should be no different, and Brady and Rodgers are simply the best two quarterbacks in the game. They should make it to the Super Bowl -- and when they do, the best quarterback with the best supporting cast will win. That's Aaron Rodgers, leaving Brady in second place once again.
I actually picked the Texans to go to the Super Bowl before the 2011 season. I guess I was just a year ahead. They appear just as ready to go to the Super Bowl this year as last, and they are healthy again, so maybe they can make the run. Amazing that a team that lost Mario Williams could actually be better on defense. As for the Bears, they were hurt by injuries just like the Texans. With a chip on their shoulder to prove that last year's collapse was solely based on those injuries, and with Brandon Marshall teaming up with Jay Cutler again, this team could be the ones to come out of the NFC, despite being division rivals with the Packers.
Complete results, Champion:
Packers: 29 percent
Ravens: 25
49ers: 13
Patriots: 13
Texans: 8
Bears: 4
Cowboys: 4
Giants: 4
Complete results, NFC:
Packers: 46 percent
49ers: 21
Bears: 8
Giants: 8
Cowboys: 4
Eagles: 4
Falcons: 4
Lions: 4
Complete results, AFC: