One sure bet on the Super Bowl is that after it is over, “everyone” will see the final results as inevitable.
Before the game, there are two viable sides to choose from in Super Bowl LVIII. After the game, only the winning side will appear to be the viable choice. It doesn’t matter if the winning team is the underdog or favorite, the winning team will show up as if highlighted on a billboard in all caps.
Three years ago, the Kansas City Chiefs were meeting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV, and the Chiefs were favored and much like this year’s Super Bowl were picked by most of the media covering the game. The reasons were obvious, the Chiefs were the better team and while Tom Brady is great, he is at the end of his career and Patrick Mahomes will have him for lunch.
Then, after the Buccaneers blew the Chiefs out in that Super Bowl, 31-9, the postgame comments were emphatic that how could anyone not pick the Buccaneers. They had Brady at quarterback and were playing on their home field.
Super Bowl LV was staged in Tampa at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Buccaneers. But Mahomes and his Chiefs had already beaten Brady and the Bucs in Tampa earlier that season in a regular season contest played in November.
Brady, home team underdog, how could the Bucs not be the choice of everyone … was the conversation after that game. Before the contest was played, a huge majority of the wagers on the game were backing the Chiefs. After it was over, the only logical choice was Brady and the Buccaneers.
Facts, actual results, cloud the opinions of any leanings that do not align with the truth revealed by the known result.
In 1998, there were a significant number of people, both in the National Football League and fans of the game, that thought Ryan Leaf should be the first pick in the draft over the player the Indianapolis Colts ultimately chose, Peyton Manning.
In the 26 years since that draft, I have only found one person who admits to this day that before that draft he thought Leaf was the better choice. History shows, Leaf was a bust and Manning on the short list of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. He also was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Who the better first choice was in the 1998 NFL Draft is as clear as who won last year’s Super Bowl.
As a professional handicapper, I don’t get to erase my pick because the final result does not match my decision.
I did have Brady and the Bucs over Mahomes and the Chiefs three years ago, and the Chiefs over the 49ers four years ago. They both won, no need to revise my selections based on known results.
If we don’t win on Sunday, there will be plenty of criticism that my choice never had a chance. The only way to go was with the team that did actually win. But, before Sunday’s kickoff, I’m telling you there are two viable choices to emerge as the Super Bowl LVIII Champion. One of them is going to win, and we’re confident we have it.