With the Steelers missing the playoffs and the first round over, as a fan, can we be happy with any of the remaining teams winning the whole thing? Eight teams remain and I believe the teams can clearly be lumped into two categories. The “Please don’t let this team win” and “I guess I’m okay with them winning.”
The “Please don’t let this team win” group is the easier and most obvious of the two.
The Baltimore Ravens are the Steelers most hated rival, so they are the easiest to add to the losers list. No one in Pittsburgh wants this team to win anything, let alone the whole thing. It starts with their coach and works its way down their whole team. John Harbaugh just has a cocky vibe about him. I have never met him, but I’m sure if I did I would not like him. Players like Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and Terrell Suggs are just so easy to hate. And last but not least the biggest jerk around, Joe Flacco. There is just something about him, that makes you just want to punch him.
The Denver Broncos might not fall into this category for some, but they should. They are a different team with Peyton Manning instead of Tim Tebow at quarterback. But having lost to Tebow the last time the Steelers were in the playoffs just makes me hate them that much more. Sure he is gone now, but the team is still here. Until the Steelers beat the Broncos in the playoffs, it will be nearly impossible for me to cheer for them.
Green Bay Packers should also be an easy one for fans to cheer against. They beat the Steelers the last time they played each other in the Super Bowl. Bam! That was easy.
San Francisco 49ers might not be in this section for others, but again they are easy to put in here for me. If they win they become tied with the Steelers for most Super Bowl victories, which is less than ideal. Also, Jim Harbaugh is there head coach. Connection to the Ravens. Yeah, adding them to the list!
The “I guess I’m okay with them winning“ list is the remaining four teams. Some might disagree with one, I can already hear it, but they are the lesser of two evils in my opinion.
Let us start with the one I will get the most heat for, the New England Patriots. Hear me out. If the Patriots win this next round, that means they would have to play either the Ravens or Broncos. I would much rather see the Pats in the Super Bowl than either of those teams. And if they played either the Packers or 49ers, I think most people would, and should cheer for the Patriots. They are the team I would least like to win the whole thing out of the last group, but I think I made an okay enough case for them.
Houston Texans are the team I am cheering for the most out of the AFC. They are a good story about a team that was so bad for so long and then like a light switch started winning, and now here they are. What is not to like about them? I’m serious, I can’t think of a reason I wouldn’t want the Texans to win.
The Atlanta Falcons have been one of the best teams the past few years, well at least in the regular season. They have been choking in the playoffs the past couple years. It would be nice to see a lot of the young talent on this team make it all the way and win a title. Also, it would be amazing to see Tony Gonzalez win a Super Bowl title in his Career. He is a living fountain of youth that I have never heard a bad thing about.
Last but not least, the Seattle Seahawks. Most people would not want the Seahawks to win since they made such a fuss about when the Steelers defeated them in the playoffs, but I am not one of those people. I look at it the other way truthfully. If they win, the fan base will finally drop anything about the game vs the Steelers forever ago. Also, their rookie quarterback Russel Wilson is very easy to like and I wish him nothing but success, unless of course he is playing the Steelers.
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