The Potential Super Bowl Matchups: Storylines and Odds

Looking ahead to the Conference Championship Round, four teams remain, which means four possible Super Bowl matchups. These are their storylines.

Kansas City Chiefs vs. New Orleans Saints

Storyline: The Best of the Best

While Chiefs vs. Saints is the most likely potential Super Bowl matchup, it carries the weakest storyline. There is no clear-cut storyline for the media to pounce on – just a bunch of micro ones. And that’s probably a good sign – it means the match is more important than the lead up.

There are great positional matchups to discuss: the quarterbacks – Patrick Mahomes II vs. Drew Brees, the wide receivers – Tyreek Hill vs. Michael Thomas. The quarterback storyline will get some play. Mahomes and Brees are, in most people’s view, the two best candidates for MVP. But Patrick Mahomes has run away with the award, and even if Brees wins the Super Bowl, few will be calling for him to win regular season MVP. That would be the dominant storyline if the MVP race was even close.

In many ways this matchup is pure. The storyline is that these are the two best teams of 2018/19, and we haven’t seen them play yet – so strap in.

Odds: $2.60

New England Patriots vs. New Orleans Saints

Storyline: The Hall of Fame Quarterbacks

This storyline is pretty obvious. As far as legacy goes, you have the two most accomplished veteran quarterbacks in the league going head to head: Tom Brady and Drew Brees.

You know what makes it even better? Somehow, two of the most consistently elite quarterbacks of the last decade have never faced off in the Super Bowl. Peyton Manning, who retired three seasons ago, played Brady many times in important AFC playoff games, and we got to see Manning vs. Brees in Super Bowl XLIV. Brees won that matchup, against who many consider a runner-up to Brady’s GOAT status. What happens if Brees beats Brady in this Super Bowl? Let me say it again for the people in the back: if this match happens, and Brees wins, his two Super Bowl victories would be against Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, by far the two best quarterbacks of his era and probably any era. Here, Brees would have a chance to launch himself into that GOAT conversation.

This game’s storyline is as quarterback-oriented as it gets, and it’s already the U.S. media’s favourite position to talk about. This discussion is all we’d hear about for two weeks straight – it would be both fun, and mind-numbingly exhausting.

Odds: $3.50

[adrotate group=”5″]

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Rams

Storyline: The Rematch

We already saw this game in Week 11 of the regular season. It made waves around the league for being the best game of the year, and for the gaudy scoreline – the Rams won 54-51. Many discussed this game as a sign of what’s to come for the NFL: offence, offence, and more offence.

The 2018 season has been the most offence-dominant season in NFL history. Out of the remaining teams left in the Super Bowl race, none of them boast a top 10 defence. The recent coaching carousel has seen some no names get head coaching jobs, because every team wants the next Sean McVay-offensive guru. And yes, all four remaining teams have an offensive play calling genius in their coaching staff. But this match would be the ultimate culmination of the New NFL: for its Week 11 outcome, and for the fact that the Saints and Patriots are the teams always in the mix.

In many ways the Saints and Pats each represent the old and the new. Their quarterbacks, who have been in this league for over a decade, keep them grounded in the past. The Chiefs and the Rams – the rematch – would represent a turn towards a bold new NFL.  

Odds: $3.75

[adrotate group=”5″]

New England Patriots vs. Los Angeles Rams

Storyline: The Old vs. New – A Battle of Genius Head Coaches

It’s difficult to imagine both first seeds missing out, but if they did, the media would be hyping up the greatest coaching chess match of the modern era. To be fair, this would be an interesting battle of the minds.

McVay and Belichick have never faced each other before. Even more interesting is the generational gap. Belichick represents the old. Somehow he has managed to stay current, refusing to let the game pass him by. McVay is the young wizkid – 32 years of age. In only two season, McVay has been so convincing as an offensive genius, it now seems every team is hiring coaches who may have some similarities with McVay – even if they’re just young and good-looking.

This match also begs the question: can McVay do with Goff, what Belichick did with Brady? Goff is not too dissimilar to a young Brady, either. While Tom Brady has always been a winner, early in his career he was still learning, and people wondered if those initial Super Bowl runs were a bit of a fluke. People are wondering similar things about Goff – is he simply a bust whose career was saved by Sean McVay’s coaching genius?

We now know that Brady was no fluke, and his hard work elevated his own role to being the focal point within Belichick’s system. If Goff plays his cards right, he has all the talent of a young Brady, and he has a coach who he can build a dynasty with for the rest of his career.

The media would be salivating over the prospect of a changing of the guard – McVay-Goff is the new dynasty that teams must contend with, they’ll say. If the Patriots win, well that’s less fun, but conversations about “their legacy is final” and “nobody can say they aren’t the greatest quarterback and coach of all time” will lead to “so will they retire into the sunset?”

Odds: $5.00

• Bet Now With Betfair
• Bet Now With Bet365
• Bet Now With Neds

*All odds are provided by Sportsbet and subject to change