NFL: Ranking the Most Likely Matchups for Super Bowl XLVI

From a media stand point, three of the four possible Super Bowl matchups are great. Two of the four are Super Bowl rematches since 2000 and one could be a battle between brothers.

Would it get much better than an all Harbaugh Super Bowl? The older brother Jim, who used to lead the Indianapolis Colts team in the mid-90s and was deemed “captain comeback” coming back to Indianapolis in his rookie season as a coach coaching against his younger brother.

What about a Baltimore versus New York rematch from Super Bowl 35 in Tampa? Can the Ravens defense shut down Eli Manning and the New York Giants?

There could even be a Super Bowl 42 rematch from just a few seasons ago. It’s almost scripted that way anyways. The high-powered New England offense going to a new stadium hosting the Super Bowl, while playing against the underdog New York Giants.

The Giants would have a similar road in that they were just okay during the regular season, but the defense turned it up and has been stomping on teams ever since. Also, taking out the high-powered Green Bay Packers at Lambeau to get to Indianapolis would be similar to that 08 playoff run, too.

All three of those matchups would be great and highly publicized. There’s another scenario that will be talked about if the Giants make the Super Bowl as well, and that’s Peyton Manning’s younger brother Eli playing in the Super Bowl on Peyton’s homefield. He could also surpass his brother in Super Bowl rings if he does win in February.

This slideshow is my rankings in the order that these matchups will likely happen.

Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Giants

I feel like this is the most likely of the scenarios. I know it’s hard for anyone to win a road playoff game and out of the eight total playoff games this year only one has won on the road, but I do feel both road teams have the advantage on Sunday.

New England has a fast paced offense and put 45 up on Denver, but I’m not impressed. I grow tired of hearing how good Tom Brady is when in reality he’s just throwing to wide open receivers. That’s it.

I think Baltimore’s defense is more than talented enough to not let the Patriot receivers get wide open and make it tough on New England.

Too many teams respect Tom Brady too much and the ones that don’t have success. Look at how the Giants and Steelers play against them. They do an all out blitz and jam the receivers. Baltimore’s third-ranked defense can do that to New England.

I know that may make you New England fans unhappy, but it’s reality. You may fire back and say Baltimore’s offense struggled against Houston. I’ll fire right back and say Houston has the second ranked defense and New England is no where close to how good they are. In fact, New England may have the worst defense I’ve ever seen.

Joe Flacco will get his confidence back against the 31^st ranked pass defense and that will set up big gains in the running game from Ray Rice. The only reason why Rice was held to 60 yards this past Sunday was because the Texans have the fourth-ranked rush defense in the entire NFL and they’re just plain good. New England doesn’t have that personnel of the Texans on the defensive side.

Also, as good as the Texans were on defense, the Ravens never turned the ball over. That will be a huge factor in Foxboro as it has in every playoff game so far. The Ravens defense is good enough to force mistakes from New England and I don’t think New England is good enough to force mistakes on Baltimore.

I favor Baltimore in that game.

On the NFC side, there’s no team hotter right now than the New York Giants. They held the league’s best team to only 21 points and put up 37 on them. They also shutout a high powered Atlanta offense the game before as well.

This defense is just too good and I feel they can stop San Francisco on Sunday. I do feel this game will be close, but turnovers will again play a key here, too.

I think New York’s pass rush can cause the 49ers to make some mistakes. I don’t think Eli Manning will turn the ball over for the Giants and I think that’s going to be the difference.

Manning has been playing at a high level right now and I think he will lead the Giants to Indy.

Baltimore Ravens vs. San Francisco

There would be no Super Bowl that gets more attention on coaching than this one. It would be the first time that two brothers have been head coaches on two different teams met for the Super Bowl.

It would also be a testament to how good both coaches really are.

Jim Harbaugh is in his first season in San Francisco and he can take a team that has struggled this past decade to a Super Bowl. That’s remarkable.

His brother John has made the playoffs in all four seasons in Baltimore and the fact that he can take a team in that short amount of time to a Super Bowl would be amazing as well.

Both brothers have their teams playing great right now.

The 49ers will try to get revenge for the 16-6 loss at M&T Bank Stadium on Thanksgiving night this past year. That game was closer than the score indicates in that it was a 6-6 tie going into the fourth quarter.

Both teams would have gotten here by playing stout defense and not turning the ball over.

I said in the previous slide that I think Baltimore would beat New England and gave my reasons why, and I also said New York should beat San Francisco, but it would be all about turnovers.

San Francisco can beat New York if they force turnovers on the Giants. They will need to slow them down like they did the Saints last week. It’s very possible.

I think this would definitely be the second most likely scenario.

New England Patriots vs. New York Giants

I have this as the third likely scenario only because I don’t see New England winning on Sunday. I do think they have a chance, but they will need to keep the offense going against a very good Baltimore defense.

In order for both of these teams to get here, they will have to turn the ball over less and maximize their possessions. Their defenses will also have to step up big.

It will also be the first time in NFL history that a defense ranked 25^th or less will win the Super Bowl if this matchup occurs.

New York has been a lot better and I think their 27^th ranked defense is way too low for how they’re playing. But, they’re still ranked 27^th entering the playoffs.

New England, on the other hand, has a horrible defense and we say with Green Bay that when you can’t get stops on defense and a good defense stops you, then you get eliminated. The Patriots rank 31^st in total defense entering the playoffs. Enough said.

This game would be intriguing, though, as this is a rematch from New York’s 17-14 victory over the Patriots in Super Bowl 42 in which that ruined New England’s pursuit of a perfect season.

It would also be a rematch of the game this season from Nov. 6 when the Giants won 24-20 in Foxboro.

These two teams are only 201 miles apart and it will only add fuel to the New York teams vs. Boston teams rivalry.

New England Patriots vs. San Francisco 49ers

This game probably won’t happen, but it’s still a possibility. San Francisco can very easily win their game on Sunday and advance to the Super Bowl.

As stated in all the previous slides, I don’t think New England will win against Baltimore. They have a shot, but I just don't see it happening.

This game also would get the least amount of storylines. The attraction like the other three games isn't there.

These two teams really have no history against each other and fans from Indianapolis would rather not see these two teams face off in February.