I think the
Panthers have a great chance to win. They are the most balanced team and have the probable MVP in
Cam Newton. In the last 23 games, Carolina has only lost two. When you win that many games, your confidence is sky high. You just believe you're going to win every game no matter who the opponent is. These
Panthers will ride that confidence to the top.
The
Patriots will win the
Super Bowl because of
Tom Brady. As long as
Julian Edelman,
Danny Amendola and
Rob Gronkowski are as healthy as they were
in the Divisional Round, that offense can't be stopped by anybody. It doesn't matter how good a defense is -- those guys are playing at such a high level together.
I think both NFC teams have the ability to win. They have different styles, but they are both effective. Teams win
Super Bowls with their defense and run game, and Carolina and Arizona have had success with both. Also, Arizona's deep pass and aggressive pass defense play great against the
Patriots or
Broncos.
I feel like when the
Patriots make it this far,
history tells us you can't bet against them. There's a lot of inexperience in the NFC, and there's a lot of experience and wisdom in the AFC. At this time of year in the conference championship games and
Super Bowl, it's about guys who've done it, not guys who
want to do it.
It's likely that the
Patriots will win in the AFC Championship Game. I don't think that either NFC team can keep up with New England's weapons when they are going face to face.
With Arizona losing Tyrann Mathieu and
Carolina losing Charles Tillman, both of those teams would get outscored by Brady and the
Patriots.
If the
Panthers get to the
Super Bowl, they will win. If Arizona wins
the NFC Championship Game, I think the AFC team will win. Carolina matches up better with the AFC teams than Arizona does. The
Panthers' physical defense will help them win the team's first
Super Bowl.
The NFC has two teams that score a lot of points and pack a defense, and both are playing well right now. I think we need to wait and see which teams will be in the
Super Bowl -- to see what the matchups are -- before we decide if there's a good possibility of a first-time winner. When you think you know it all, you still don't know. Who would've thought that Carolina was going to jump on Seattle 31-0
in the first half? Nobody saw that coming. It's hard to predict.
One thing that
will factor in is
Super Bowl experience. It is one thing winning a playoff game, it's another winning the
Super Bowl. A lot of players get caught up in the experience -- and not the game -- when it's their first trip there. The teams that have been in the
Super Bowl definitely have the advantage, but either team has a chance.
