PAFL Superbowl IX – Chicago Bears (16-2) vs Denver Broncos (15-4)
First of all –
congratulations to both teams is in order, as neither team was the
favorite to be the representative of their respective conferences.
That said, a fan of any one of the twelve teams that made the playoffs
could have made a convincing argument as to how they had a path here,
but that just makes what both of these teams accomplished all the more
impressive.
HOW BOTH TEAMS GOT HERE
Chicago ended up as the #2
seed in the NFC, but they were never alone in 1st place
until the last game of the regular season. Chicago got here by having
the 4th rated scoring offense to go with the 2nd
rated scoring defense, giving them the 2nd best scoring
differential in the league behind the LA Rams, who they beat to make
this final game. Offensively, they have one of the premier offensive
lines that protects maybe the best young QB in the league in Joe
Burrow, who combined with the late Dwayne Haskins Jr. to pass for a
combined 37 TD’s to only 5 int’s. Fun fact: Haskins had a QBR rating
over 40 points higher behind a line that averaged a blocking rating of
8.2…made a lot easier by having WR’s such as DeAndre Hopkins, CeeDee
Lamb, Tee Higgins and DJ Chark, Jr. That said, in the the NFC
championship game, the hero was RB Ronald Jones II, who was named NFC
Championship MVP with his 136 yard/2 TD rushing performance out of the
spread that kept the Rams back on their heels. Defensively, the Bears
used their strong DL play and excellent line backing corp to support
great safeties with somewhat average CB’s, utilizing matchups and good
coaching to control teams enough to out-sprint them and control games
fairly decisively. After their week 5 loss to Minnesota, the Bears
haven’t looked back, currently riding a 14 game winning streak and
only their division playoff win over the Eagles being by less than
double digits.
Denver was the preseason
favorite to win the division, and fell to the wild card round by the
slimmest of losses to Carolina in Week 14. Denver has been a scoring
machine since the first game of the season, finishing 2nd
in the PAFL in scoring offense behind the QB Josh Allen, who threw 42
TD’s throughout the season, to the likes of WR’s Diontae Johnson, Cole
Beasley, Russell Gage, Tim Patrick and TE Darren Waller. RB Nick
Chubb pitched in nearly 1,000 yards on the ground, behind an offensive
line that is very good, though not on par with that of the Bears.
Defensively, the front 7 of the Broncos is good, and their secondary
is actually as good if not a bit better than that boasted by the Bears
(something their GOTW write-ups weren’t able to boast). The path the
Broncos took to get here had a bit more intrigue, as their wild card
win over the Browns is one of the more improbable endings you will
ever see, with the kickoff going out of bounds and then Josh Allen
connecting with Tim Patrick for 48 and 12 yards for the touchdown, all
in the span of 34 seconds, and then needing a 4th quarter
comeback over the Colts to secure the AFC Championship and get the
chance to be only the 2nd franchise in win a 2nd
Superbowl (and first for Denver since Superbowl II under different
ownership).
WHO’S GOING TO WIN
Both teams are similar on
paper, with both enjoying good top-end QB play, the ability to both
run and spread the field as needed, and possessing a defense that can
get the occasional stop to stretch the lead. If one was to read the
stats, it would say to give the trophy to the Bears, as they have been
on a roll for a while now, and just knocked off the top seed in the
NFC and the league by a fairly healthy margin. That said, both teams
had to score upsets to get where they are, and with offenses as
prolific as these teams possess, the ability to score points in a
hurry allows both teams to keep the game in sight well into the 4th
quarter. Also, let’s not forget the DKS gods and the tiny gnomes they
employ; the best laid plans of Mice and Men can be pushed asunder if
they get the hankering to do so. My gut says to ride the winning
streak and pick the Bears (it’s my philosophy at the craps table,
after all), but the improbable season the Broncos have had so far
makes this a game with all the potential of being a classic. Again,
good luck to both teams! |