Bengals 31 Eagles 13 AKA - Who I want to win the Superbowl

It wasn't meant to be like this.  This is the "business end" (as opposed to the pleasure end...ohhh pardon) of the NFL regular season, I was meant to be watching the Eagles secure their Play Off berth and planning their route to the SuperBowl.  Instead, they sit at a pathetic 4-10, are in disarray and the only thing left to play for is Draft position.  A situation that essentially means defeat is preferable to victory!  It all means that the final 2 games of the season aren't exactly going to be nerve janglers!
Don't get me wrong, I'm still delighted that I picked the Eagles as my team, it's just that I'll have to wait until the 2013 season at least, before I can experience some glory.  Luckily, there is still plenty going on in the NFL and the last 2 weeks of the regular season are full of key games that will decide the Play Off places.

Many moons ago, the first franchise I eliminated from my search for a team were the Pittsburgh Steelers.  My reason?  I don't like them.

I worked on the principle that we always want a certain outcome when we watch a sporting event.  It may not be a strong urge and it may not have us jumping out of our seats, but to some degree we will want a certain team to win.  So if I pick 2 random NFL teams....in this case, Carolina and Cleveland - I'd say that I'd rather the Browns won a match up between the two.  Why? No strong reasons, just that I quite like the way Cleveland are building a young team and I find Cam Newton a bit too arrogant.  Naturally, this inclination can change pretty quickly - a couple of years ago I wanted to see the Chargers do well, now I'm completely nonplussed by them

I could apply the same "logic" to any NFL match-up, and to take that principle to it's extreme, it dictates who I want to win the Superbowl this season.

Looking at the remaining contenders, there aren't many that I'd place near the top of my personal "want to win" table.  Indeed, teams like the Steelers, Cowboys, Patriots, Ravens and Giants are at the bottom of my table.  Nothing personal, just a subconscious and fairly inexplicable dislike of these teams.  I find Cowboys and Pats fans can often be arrogant, the Giants won last year so automatically lose a bit of appeal in my weird head, whilst the Ravens just don't float my boat.  Maybe it's the bang average QB, or maybe it's just the stupid purple uniforms!

Of course, there are inevitably teams who I am pretty apathetic towards - I like to see them beat the teams I don't like, but equally I want them to lost to the ones I do like.  Franchises such as the Colts, Broncos, Bears, Packers and Vikings leave me nonplussed.  Although it would be hilarious if Christian Ponder was a SuperBowl winner Quarterback, so I could be persuaded to route for the Vikings.

That leaves me with the franchises I like to see do well - the Texans, 49ers, Redskins, Seahawks, Falcons and Bengals.  I can't see myself cheering for the Falcons or Texans as they will probably be favourites for at least their first play off game.  The same can probably be said of the the Niners, I like watching them play, think their Defence are very exciting and I'm a fan of what Kaepernick is doing at QB.  However, I can see play off heartbreak for San Francisco in the form of a David Akers miss.  He's having a terrible season and it could see them come unstuck in a tight Post Season game.  I enjoy watching RGIII, Alfred Morris and co, but you can't escape the fact that Washington are Divisional rivals of the Eagles, so they have to be eliminated

Which means I'm left with a choice between the Bengals and Seahawks.  Realistically I just can't see the Bengals going all the way, they may not even reach the play offs for a start!  They can be fun to watch, the Dalton-Green link up is just about the best in the whole NFL. They just don't seem to beat the big teams, something they are clearly going to have to do pretty soon if they want to progress.

What about the Seahawks?  Again, I think it's a stretch to see them as SuperBowl winners, despite putting up over 100 pints in their last 2 games, there are questions makers over their offence up against elite teams.  The Defence is strong, but again are they elite?  Possibly, but I'm not convinced they're are SuperBowl winners.  However, I'm loving what Russell Wilson is doing, Marshawn Lynch is great to watch and they've got some great young players on both sides of the ball.

Hmm, it's a tough call, but I'm officially declaring that (following the Eagles elimination) the team I want to win the Superbowl are the.......Seattle Seahawks.


Beat that for logic!