Previous winners of the Super Bowl seem to be teams that get hot at the right time of the season.
In 2006, the Pittsburgh Steelers became the first number six seed in NFL history to win the Super Bowl after defeating the Seattle Seahawks 21-10. The funny thing is they had to win their last four games of the regular season just to get into the playoffs.
Last season, the New York Giants were three points away from ruining the 15-0 New England Patriots perfect season in the regular season finale when they lost 38-35.
After losing Little did the Giants know that they would get a second chance to play spoiler to the Patriots.
The Giants entered the 2008 playoffs as a number five seed and winners of seven straight games on the road. They pulled upsets in Tampa Bay, Dallas, and Green Bay on their route to a Super Bowl XLII.
In Super Bowl XLII, the New England Patriots were looking to join the Miami Dolphins as the second team in NFL history to go an entire season undefeated. Instead, the New York Giants made history by pulling off one of the biggest upsets of all time by defeating the Patriots 17-14.
What exactly is the best part about the NFL playoffs? No matter what number seed a team has, they can still win the Super Bowl. There is no best of seven series like we see in other leagues. Each team gets one chance each round of the playoffs to continue their season. On any given Sunday (or Saturday in this case), any team has the potential to do the imaginable.
The best part about the upcoming Divisional playoff match-ups is that any of the remaining eight teams has the potential to win this years Super Bowl. Each team has shown support on why they are destined to be kissing the Lombardi Trophy in Tampa Bay on February 1. Let's take a look at each team's case.
Destined To Win With A Former MVP...Arizona Cardinals
At one point in the season, the Arizona Cardinals were 7-3 and seemed to be one of the hottest teams in football. Head coach Ken Whisenhunt made the decision at the beginning of the season to make Kurt Warner his starting quarterback over Matt Leinart. With the help of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin at wide receiver, Warner appeared to be a candidate for MVP.
After losing four of their final six regular season games, everybody felt the Cardinals collapsed and didn't even deserve to be in the playoffs. The only reason they would be there was because they played in the weaker NFC West division.
Warner and the Cardinals found themselves with a first round match-up against the red-hot Atlanta Falcons, who came in winning five of their final six regular season games. With Matt Ryan and Michael Turner leading the way for the Falcons, everybody assumed an early first round exit for the Cardinals. Looks like we were wrong.
After defeating the Falcons 30-24, the Cardinals appear to be out of their late season funk. With a dynamic offense in Warner, Boldin, and Fitzgerald, the Cardinals have the potential to cause headaches for any defense. This weekend's match-up against the Carolina Panthers should be a good one.
Destined To Win After A Long Search At Quarterback...Baltimore Ravens
If you are as big of a sports fan as myself, you most likely watched Sportscenter at some point during Sunday night or Monday morning. If this is the case, you are well aware of how scary and dangerous Ed Reed is at safety.
How good is he? Earlier in the season, he broke his previous record of longest interception returned for a touchdown (106 yards) when he returned one for 107 yards. Last week against the Miami Dolphins, Reed picked off Chad Pennington twice, returning one 64 yards for a touchdown.
Ever since they joined the league in 1997, the Baltimore Ravens have always been known for their scary defense. With guys like Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, and Samari Rolle on defense, any offense will struggle against them.
Even though they always seem to have a great defense each season, the Ravens have never had a consistent quarterback. They may have finally found their man in Joe Flacco.
Flacco may be a rookie quarterback. He may not put up Tom Brady type numbers. The only fact that matters is he is performing well enough on offense for the Ravens to get by each week. Does Trent Dilfer for the Ravens in 2001 ring a bell?
Destined To Win Their First Super Bowl...Carolina Panthers
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