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The Official Guide to Picking a New Favorite Team for the 2008-09 NFL Playoffs

Senior Writer Written on January 02, 2009

(Page 99394 of 3)

Real Contenders

I don't want you to come away from this believing that these next two teams will be in the Super Bowl. That's not the purpose of this guide. I want you to understand that these are the best teams to identify as your new favorite for the next month.

Picking one of these two teams as your favorite in the postseason can lead to happiness and excitement as you watch a football team play excellent all-around football.

Pittsburgh Steelers: They can beat you on offense and they can beat you on defense. They can beat you with starters and they can beat you with backups. Most importantly, they have a Super Bowl winning quarterback who knows how to win in the postseason—no matter where they're playing. The Steelers are exciting, smashmouth football on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
Carolina Panthers: They're the best of all worlds. They have the underdog thing going for them, but they're unstoppable when they click on all cylinders. They have a Top 5 wide receiver, a running back snubbed for the Pro Bowl, and a quarterback who could've won Comeback Player of the Year. There's a coach that could've been on the hot seat this year, one of the league's best veteran pass-rushers...you get the point. The Carolina Panthers are the 2007 New York Giants...on steroids (not really, Roger Goodell).

These two teams do have the potential to lose in the playoffs. Do not take the high-risk environment of the postseason for granted. But they are the highest probability teams for exciting football in the playoffs.

The Most Therapeutic Aspect of It All

It's really a no-lose situation for you. You're providing yourself with an opportunity to enjoy the playoffs from the perspective of a fan. It's less expensive than gambling, and it's more low-risk than you can possibly imagine.

Say your new favorite team doesn't win the Super Bowl—imagine how much more you're going to appreciate your original favorite team when the 2009 regular season starts.

Good luck, and happy picking!

Angel Navedo covers the New York Jets for Examiner.com. His work can also be found on NYJetsFan.com, where he is the Head Writer, and on MyGridironSpace.com—a premier social networking site built exclusively for NFL fans.

He is also a Senior Writer at Bleacher Report, where he is one of the New York Jets Community Leaders.

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written on January 02, 2009 Opinion

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