While we’ve seen the Tennessee Titans get plenty of love throughout the course of the offseason in the power rankings from different outlets after their run to the AFC Championship Game last season, nobody has picked them to make it to Super Bowl LV.
Well, that is until now.
The folks over at Sports Illustrated’s MMQB made their picks for who would go to this year’s Super Bowl, among other things, and Andrew Brandt, who is also the former Vice President of the Green Bay Packers, chose his old team and the Titans for his pick.
Unfortunately, Brandt does have the Packers beating the Titans in the big game, but he does believe Tennessee will finish out the regular season as the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Here’s Brandt’s reasoning for going with the Titans and Packers:
Using no formula other than my own version of analytics, I am predicting last year’s losers in the conference championship games will meet in this year’s Super Bowl (if, of course, the virus allows for a Super Bowl). My usual full disclosure about bias toward Green Bay applies, but consider this: No one, including me, thinks that first-year head coach Matt LaFleur’s offense looked like it was in full gear last year, and all the Packers did was go 13–3 and make it to the NFC championship. Now, with a limited lifespan in Green Bay due to the Jordan Love pick, and a bruising running back in A.J. Dillon as another weapon, I like Aaron as MVP and the Packers to win it all. Biased? of course. But certainly a reasonable pick as well. As for the AFC, I was a believer in Tennessee last year and am more of a believer now. They are a team built for the playoffs and for the war of attrition that the NFL has become. No, I don’t see major drop-offs with Kansas City and San Francisco, but I just think the Packers and Titans will be better than them in January 2021.
Some might view this prediction as absurd, and that’s fine; however, it isn’t crazy to think that two of the four teams that made it to the conference championship last season can take that next step to a Super Bowl.
Interestingly enough, Tennessee and Green Bay will play each other in Week 16 at Lambeau Field in what could be a huge game for each team’s playoff chances and/or seeding.
The Titans will begin their quest to fulfill Brandt’s prediction on Monday night against the Denver Broncos, while the Packers will open up against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
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