Every year, millions upon millions of Americans feast on the National Football League Playoffs. Despite criticism for the harsh nature of the sport, as well as head injuries becoming a recurring issue, the National Football League continues to strive. According to Forbes, the league is worth approximately $35 Billion, the highest net worth of any professional sports league in North America.
Elmhurst, being a suburb of Chicago, is filled with Bears fans. A promising start of the season for the Bears has recently been derailed by injuries to key players such as Charles Tillman and Lance Briggs. Their record has suffered immensely; they have not won consecutive games since week three.
York students do not feel optimistic about their playoff chances.
“I don’t think the bears will make it to the playoffs, Jay Cutler has brought them down and they have had too many injuries to succeed this season.” said Alec Scinto, junior.
Despite the Bears struggles this season, the Super Bowl should be as compelling as ever, as New York City is hosting the spectacle for the first time ever. A few teams have completely dominated the NFL this season, such as the Broncos, Chiefs, Seahawks and Saints. Despite the success of these teams, George Baughman, junior, feels that none of these four teams will make it to the Super Bowl.
“An underdog contender for the National Football Conference is the Detroit Lions. Despite their mediocre record, their offense packs a punch and it is nearly impossible to defend Calvin Johnson,” said Baughman.
He feels the American Football Conference will provide an underdog contender as well.
“The New England Patriots will make it to the Super Bowl, all good teams have had trouble stopping them and they’re the true dynasty of the NFL,” said Baughman.
Charlie Pomrehn, junior, feels that regular season success this year will correlate to playoff wins.
“The Broncos will make it to the Super Bowl, Peyton Manning will be unstoppable come playoff time, especially since he has so many weapons in his offense such as Wes Welker and Demaryius Thomas,” said Pomrehn.
“In the NFC, the Seahawks will definitely reach the Super Bowl. No one in the NFL has a tougher defense than the Seahawks, and the run/pass capability their offense provides with Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch cannot be stopped.”
There’s still several games left, so only time will tell who ends up becoming NFL champions.