By the time the weekend is over, we'll know who is playing for a championship in Super Bowl XLVIII. More importantly, we'll be a little bit closer to finding out who is going to have a chance to attend Super Bowl XLIX as the winner of the NFL Playoff Challenge. But before we get there, let's take a look at our experts' picks and see which one will prevail.
The good news for Michael Fabiano is that his entire team is still intact and poised to get him triple points this weekend. That's positive considering he didn't get much from his quarterback spot last week. Even with double points, Russell Wilson managed just a 10-spot. Although it's hard to feel too bad for Fabiano after the numbers he got from Marshawn Lynch and Knowshon Moreno.
There aren't a lot of differences between Marcas Grant's lineup and the lineup of Michael Fabiano. Except at the quarterback spot. Marcas is sitting a little bit better after Peyton Manning outscored Russell Wilson. That slight advantage from last week could be what keeps Marcas ahead of Michael in the Playoff Challenge standings. However, both guys are essentially in the same boat. This weekend could be boom or bust for the two of them.
Speaking of boom or bust, Adam Rank's maverick choice to roll with the 49ers has looked genius through the first couple weeks of the playoffs. But now he'll need them to play big in Seattle -- where they've looked perfectly awful in their last two trips. But if the Niners prevail, Rank will be nearly impossible to catch among the experts and could be near the top of the leaderboard in most Playoff Challenge groups.
For the most popular roster, there wasn't a lot of change in the lineup -- except at the tight end and kicker spots. But similar to Fabiano and Grant, this roster is heavily dependent on the Broncos and Seahawks finding their way to Met Life Stadium for the Super Bowl. We'll see how it all works out.