In any good show, the writers leave a handful of Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the program for fans to discover and try to decipher what they could mean going forward. Throughout last year, the “script” of the NFL season had been a viral sensation, so much so that the league itself even played into the notion that they were cooking up storylines to play out throughout the year in one of their season preview commercials coming into 2023. Well, if the NFL were scripted, the writers may be leaving us one massive clue as to who’ll ultimately end up in Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII.
As the popular social media account “NFL Memes” previously pointed out, the last two Super Bowl logos had colors predominantly matching the teams that ended up playing in the big game. For Super Bowl LVI, the colors were orange (Bengals) and yellow (Rams). As for last year’s Super Bowl, the logo was green (Eagles) and red (Chiefs). With that in mind, we should take notice that this year’s Super Bowl logo is red and purple.
As you might expect, that’s captured the attention of the football world, including Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers. On Tuesday, he brought this happenstance up on “The Pat McAfee Show” and noted that the Super Bowl LIX logo better include green in it, especially if this upcoming Super Bowl includes teams that sport this logo’s colors.
“If the Super Bowl is Baltimore and San Fran, then I tell you what that Super Bowl LIX emblem better have Jet green on it,” Rodgers said.
Naturally, this has our heads spinning as to who could be playing in Super Bowl LVIII if this trend continues. So, let’s rank the possible matchups based on their team colors and the likelihood of them winning their conference.
This is the clear leader in the clubhouse and could very well be the matchup that we ultimately get in the Super Bowl, fulfilling the logo prophecy. These two teams are the betting favorites to win their respective conferences and already have secured the No. 1 seeds prior to Week 18. Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Ravens are the No. 1 team in CBS Sports Senior NFL Analyst Pete Prisco’s power rankings while the Niners are right behind them at No. 2.
These two teams met one another back in Week 16 where the Ravens were able to go into Levi’s Stadium and trounce the 49ers, 33-19. Baltimore has continued to play at an elite level, including a 56-19 win over the Dolphins last Sunday to lock up the top seed in the AFC and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Lamar Jackson is also the far-and-away favorite to win league MVP for the second time in his career.
While the Niners may have lost that head-to-head, they are still the top team in the NFC. And when firing on all cylinders, are arguably the best team in the NFL. They acquired Chase Young at the trade deadline, boosting their already lethal pass rush, and have the best collection of skill-position players — Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel — in the league at Brock Purdy’s disposal.
We’ll look in the NFC South to find a red team somewhat in the playoff picture to potentially go against the Ravens in this color head-to-head. The Bucs have red featured in their main uniform, so they fit the bill here and simply need a win over the Panthers on Sunday to clinch the NFC South title and keep their hopes of winning the Super Bowl — and playing a part in this color-combo conspiracy — alive.
Tampa Bay had surged back into the playoff picture thanks to a four-game winning streak that was snapped in Week 17. Baker Mayfield had come on strong over that stretch, and wouldn’t it be remarkable to see Mayfield lead the Bucs to a Super Bowl appearance in the organization’s first season following Tom Brady’s retirement? It would be one of the more improbable runs to the big game that we’ve seen in recent years.
If we want to stick with the Ravens as the most realistic purple team to make it to the Super Bowl, then we have to look for a red team in the NFC. Outside of the Niners and Bucs, another red-based team would be the Atlanta Falcons. They have an outside chance of still reaching the playoffs, despite sitting as the No. 12 seed in the conference. If they beat the Saints on Sunday and the Buccaneers lose to the Panthers, they win the NFC South, so there is a path for them to get into the postseason.
Head coach Arthur Smith has volleyed at quarterback between Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke this season, but it looks like he’ll stick with the veteran Heinicke going forward so long as health permits. While Atlanta does have highly touted players at the skill positions, its utilization (or lack thereof) has been puzzling. If something flips, the Falcons have the talent to put up points. Defensively, the unit ranks 21st in the league in DVOA. So if we did somehow get this as a Super Bowl matchup, it’s likely to be a Ravens blowout.
The only other purple team in the NFL is the Vikings, so we’ll have to throw them in the mix here. As things stand coming into Week 18, Minnesota is still alive in the NFC wild card race, but barely. They are the No. 10 seed and at 7-9 would need to essentially have every team in front of them that still hasn’t clinched to lose their Week 18 matchups in order for them to leapfrog into the postseason. So you’re telling me there’s a chance?!?!
The Vikings have gone through a whirlwind at quarterback this season, particularly after the year-ending Achilles tear of Kirk Cousins. They initially started Jaren Hall, had to turn to Joshua Dobbs due to injury, benched Dobbs due to poor performance in place of Nick Mullens, and then Mullens was benched for a now-healthy Hall. And coming into Week 18, Hall was benched for Mullens. Like I said, WHIRLWIND. Still, they technically have a glimmer of hope for a Super Bowl run and it would an absolutely bananas run if they were to somehow find themselves in Las Vegas.
Of course, if we’re talking about red teams, how can we not bring up the Chiefs? The defending champions are a legit candidate to represent that side of the color scheme, but their play as of late is a bit concerning. While they are locked in as the No. 3 seed in the AFC and have already clinched the division, Patrick Mahomes and the offense have struggled mightily, which has their chance of repeating in serious doubt. However, it’s hard to fully count someone of Mahomes’ talent out, especially when the quarterback is playing with arguably the best defense of his career.
You want chaos? HERE YOU GO! The NFL goes bananas and sees the Vikings somehow ascend out of the NFC with its rotation of quarterbacks while the Houston Texans shock the AFC and win the conference. Houston is currently the No. 8 seed heading into the final week of the regular season but could jump as high as the No. 4 seed and win the AFC South if things break in the right direction. The Texans would clinch a wild card spot simply by beating the Colts on Saturday. If the Jaguars also lose or tie against the Titans in Nashville, they’d win the division, so this possibility is technically still alive on both sides, albeit being an unprecedented long shot.
Want to know how unlikely this is? If you were to place a $10 wager on this to be the Super Bowl LVIII matchup on FanDuel Sportsbook, it’d net you $50,000.
From the Houston side of things, C.J. Stroud does seem like he has the talent to one day put his team in the Super Bowl conversation. The question is whether or not he can thrust them into it as a rookie. Remember, there has NEVER been a rookie quarterback to lead his team and win the Super Bowl. But maybe we shouldn’t temp the logo’s powers.
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Author: Tyler Sullivan
January 3, 2024 | 7:06 pm
