This past NFL season has been a hectic one. Cincinnati Bengals fans in particular had a season riddled with injuries, surgeries, and glimpses of hope that sliver away. Or take the complete shutdown the San Francisco 49er’s had in their revenge match against the Philadelphia Eagles (last year’s Super Bowl contenders against the Kansas City Chiefs).
With past years being dominated by the same similar teams; Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, as well as the Buffalo Bills, this year has not included these last two years’ most dominant teams.
Although the Bills went 11-6 and the Bengals made the playoffs, they failed to be as dominant as past years. However, other teams have emerged to carry the torch like the Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens.
The Detroit Lions won their last divisional championship 30 years ago (1994), and their last NFC Championship succeeded their last divisional championship in 1991. They have never won a Super Bowl and are the only team that’s been operational during the entire duration of the Super Bowl Era to not have even appeared in the Super Bowl.
Lions go against the San Francisco 49er’s this Sunday (January 28, 2024) for the NFC Championship and then off to, possibly, their first Super Bowl. However, the odds are stacked against them with the 49er’s having at least a 7 point lead at the end of the game.
In the AFC Championship we see a super matchup between the reigning champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the dominant Baltimore Ravens. As the Ravens have been dominant teams in the past, especially 2012’s stacked defense, winning them their last Super Bowl.
Since the 2012 super team the Ravens would soon start to fall in dominance when trades and retirements changed the player strengths. However, with their QB pickup of Lamar Jackson in 2018 the Ravens have slowly crept back up better and stronger every season.
This season they swept the AFC North with a 13-4 record, Chiefs trailing behind at 11-6. They’re favored to win the AFC Championship by a 3.5 point favorite.
As we reach the Super Bowl one thing remains the same, people want to see their team do well, and if their team is out they usually go to the underdog. The team that seems as if there is no hope in doing well. Although the Ravens are not the underdogs they haven’t been the dominant force in that past that they have been this year.
With the Cincinnati Bengals devastating loss to rivals the Chiefs Cincy stands behind the Ravens. And as for the Lions, who have never appeared in the Super Bowl, they are the true underdogs.
Unfavored and deemed “lucky” rather than having the ability to win the NFC Championship this year is something appealing to many. So the real question is who do you want to win this weekend?
