Super Bowl Preview 2018

After a round one of no upsets, we had Pogiboys take down top seeded Team Grrrrifiic behind a huge week from DeAndre Hopkins. Doomed by an untimely worst week by Saquon Barkley — plus Kareem Hunt’s bad mojo — Donny’s team wilted in the Western Conference finals as Pogiboys took advantage of a soft one-seed to make it to their third Super Bowl in six years.

Pooh Bears had a tougher matchup, as Matt Ryan, Alvin Kamara were almost enough to get Squirtle Squad the upset but Brian’s team was playing short-handed with Keenan Allen and kicker Aldrick Rosas coming up with zeros. Almost any other receiver -- or Jake Elliot as the kicker -- would have won Squirtles the day, but instead 100 Acre Wood Pooh Bears slips into their fourth Super Bowl as the favorites. Let’s take a look at the matchups!

#1 100 Acre Wood Pooh Bears (9-3-1) vs #2 MoRRie’s Pogiboys (10-3)
It’s been five years since Pooh Bears have won a ring, and they are itching for another — potentially their third. Unfortunately for Pogiboys, that last 2013 Pooh title was won at their expense!

From that 2013 team, only Cam Newton and Antonio Brown remain for Pooh, while Pogiboys have completely revamped their roster since the days of Tom Brady, Calvin Johnson, and Eddie Lacy. The good news for Alvin is that this represents a redemptive chance to win their first ring and they’ve been in two Super Bowls recently, in 2013 and 2016. And while they are technically the lower seed, they have been much better over the past month, rarely dipping below 100+ points from WK8 on. During that same period, 100AW have failed to reach one hundred points four times.

QB: Pogiboys have two options here: potential NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes or recent breakout 2018 #1 overall NFL pick Baker Mayfield. Haha, okay, it’s gonna be Mahomes. The tougher decision will what J and Jayvee do at quarterback, as Cam Newton looks injured and it seems like Deshaun Watson would be the safer pick. Either way, Mahomes should outproduce anyone Pooh can put into the lineup. Hopefully.

RB: It’s Ezekiel Elliot and David Johnson versus Tarik Cohen and rookie second-half sensation Nick Chubb. It would seem that Pooh’s Elliot and Johnson have the edge but all four backs have shown the ability for big games. Right now Ezekiel has been consistently better than the other three so we’ll give the advantage to Pooh Bears on the ground.

WR/TE: Hopkins literally won Pogiboys their matchup last week and it would be greedy to ask for another thirty-point explosion. Ditto for Doug Baldwin who caught two touchdowns last week — from the bench, since Dede Westbrook was the starter opposite Hopkins. Who gets the call at WR #2 for Pogi? It won't really matter since the pass catcher who needs to have a huge game is Travis Kelce, since that would mean Mahomes is having a similarly robust weekend.

Of course, Pooh is countering with Antonio Brown and Mike Evans, two top-ten receivers who could blow up any matchup in their own right. The drop off from Kelce versus David Njoku at tight end is too big to ignore though, so receiving edge to Pogis.

DEF/K: I can’t tell. The scoring is so wild this year that frankly, every DST is a toss up as far as I’m concerned. I guess on paper Bears defense and Stephen Gostkowski out-classes Vikings and Will Lutz? Khalil Mack and Co. get to feast on Nick Mullens though, so let’s just give Pogiboys the edge here.

Intangibles: 100 Acre Wood Pooh Bears have an overall record of 125-69-1 (64.1%) since 2004, but Morrie’s Pogiboys are just a bit better at 132-59-4 (67.7%) over the past fifteen years. Pooh Bears have also dominated Ohana to the tune of ten division titles while Pogiboys have done the same to The Big House, with twelve division crowns of their own. In addition, both Pooh and Pogi have led the league in regular season wins four times each. If you’re asking, "yes, these are the two best (regular season) teams in Maize and Blue history."

So what separates them? Well, to put it kindly: 100AW Pooh Bears are winners. They’ve been to the Super Bowl in 2004, 2007, 2013, and now 2018, emerging with two rings so far. Pogiboys haven’t gotten a ring despite their 2013, 2015, and 2018 appearances. Not to mention, Pooh Bears won our inaugural Toilet Bowl in 2015 -- resulting in Elliot -- the only year they’ve entered it. Basically, Pooh Bears win, Pogiboys lose...

If there is justice in the world, Mahomes and Kelce go off for 60+ combined points and Alvin can have a celebratory Sunday evening as he watches his team finally grab a championship!