With the NFL season in full swing, the Scout Sports staff has made their picks for who will win the Super Bowl this year.
Los Angeles Rams
By Ethan Diamond
It’s the boring pick, but the likely correct choice.
The Los Angeles Rams, already having a lineup stacked with star talent, went out and added the best defensive player in the sport, Myles Garrett, via trade with the Cleveland Browns.
Garrett is coming off a year in which he broke the NFL’s single-season sack record, and now gets paired with one of the greatest defensive linemen of all time, Aaron Donald, coming out of retirement. Not to mention, they added cornerback Trent McDuffie over the offseason.
That’s not even mentioning their stacked offense, with Matthew Stafford coming off an MVP season. Though the aging curve could impact him this year, a skill group consisting of Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, Kyren Williams and Blake Corum should help hold off potential regression.
Just like the last time the Super Bowl was held at SoFi Stadium, the Rams will lift the Lombardi Trophy in their own house.
Seattle Seahawks
By Jake Aimone
Winning the Super Bowl is no small task, but lifting the Lombardi Trophy two years in a row is truly spectacular. In fact, throughout the 60 years of championship games, only
15 reigning champs made it back to the big dance.
Of those 15, only eight NFL teams have won back-to-back, with the Pittsburgh Steelers accomplishing it twice. That number easily could have been nine teams.
Perhaps the closest team to retaining its spot on the mountain but faltering at the last second, the Seattle Seahawks look to exorcise the demons from the 2015 Super Bowl.
While the Hawks did lose some key guys in running back Kenneth Walker, safety Coby Bryant, defensive back Riq Woolen and defensive end Boye Mafe, they largely retained their roster from the previous season.
Even with those defensive departures, head coach Mike Macdonald will have some new toys to play with in the additions of Dante Fowler Jr., Trevon Diggs and potentially Terrion Arnold.
In terms of losing the Super Bowl MVP in Walker, the Seahawks made this a priority in the draft by taking Jadarian Price with the 32nd pick in the draft.
Even with Charbonnet and Darnold out early in the season, the defense can lead the team like it did last year through the playoffs and to the Super Bowl.
San Francisco 49ers
By Ian Manley
The Niners this century have been a what-if factory. A perpetually good, sometimes great, team that can never seem to win it all. Since 2011, they have lost three Super Bowls and four NFC Championship games.
This year is different.
All offseason, pundits and fans doubted whether the 49ers could make a real run. They said the roster was old; they said they lost too many pieces. But in week one of this NFL season, they played the Rams, the consensus number one team in the league, and absolutely destroyed them.
The defense was sharp, pitching a second-half shutout and making Matthew Stafford look clueless out on the field. Brock Purdy led a stellar offensive effort, posting a solid 105.6 passer rating.
With the toughest division in the league looming and uncertainty about what the future might look like beyond this season, the Niners have one goal in mind: win at all costs.
And they will.
Buffalo Bills
By Mark Wagner
Year after year, it seemed as if Buffalo would never reach the top of the mountain. But if things break right, they could find themselves in the Super Bowl for the first time since 1993 and possibly even win it.
Most people have been counting the Bills out after they fired Sean McDermott and promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach. But as long as they have Josh Allen, Buffalo will always be a contender.
Their weapons will also come in handy during their hopeful playoff run. James Cook has been consistently one of the top running backs in the league, and they’ve finally brought in a Pro Bowl wide receiver in D.J. Moore, not to mention Dalton Kincaid being a reliable tight end for Allen to throw to.
Their defense also has the potential to be dangerous, with Gregory Rousseau and Ed Oliver on the line and Terrel Bernard leading the linebacker corps. The secondary has a couple of question marks, but acquiring a veteran presence in C.J. Gardner-Johnson to pair alongside Christian Benford and Cole Bishop should give the Bills something to be excited for.
Add it all up, and you have the recipe for a Super Bowl contender. And as long as they stay healthy, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills can definitely find themselves lifting the Lombardi Trophy in February.
Cincinnati Bengals
By Paul Swartz
Five years after the Bengals sulked off the field against the Rams, Cincinnati will reach the mountaintop in Super Bowl LXI.
For years, two things have plagued the Bengals’ title hopes: injuries and defense. This year, they’ve addressed both those issues. Week one showed an improved front four, headlined by the additions of Dexter Lawrence II and Jonathan Allen, which helped stave off a comeback attempt from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. For the first time in a while, Cincinnati’s defense bailed out their offense.
Which is scary, because the offense is still electric.
Despite a shaky start, the trio of quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins will keep the Bengals a high-scoring team for as long as they’re in the orange and black. They’ll coalesce. And when they do, Cincinnati will claim the crown on the same field they lost it on in 2022.
Baltimore Ravens
By Latif Love
The Ravens’ domination of the Colts showed why this will be the season the team finally gets over the hump.
Baltimore’s offense is explosive, their defense is healthy and talented and their revamped coaching staff is the change of pace the team needed after years of stagnation under John Harbaugh.
Lamar Jackson looks primed for another MVP-level season under new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, who is a disciple of offensive gurus Ben Johnson and Sean Payton. First-year head coach Jesse Minter has the defense flying around and creating turnovers. His track record of elevating defenses far beyond their talent bodes well for a defense with All-Pro and Pro Bowl-level players.
And more than all, the Ravens feel due for a championship. It’d be a travesty to have one of the most talented quarterbacks in NFL history for a decade and not reach the promised land.
If not now, then when?
