As is customary this time of the year, SU runs literally thousands of statistical models to predict the winner of the Super Bowl taking into account expected weather conditions, team tendencies, player performance in January, injuries, and of course, many flips of the coin. SU is rarely correct but hey, there is always fun in trying and then bragging about the occasional correct prediction.

For this year’s playoffs, the key factors are:

1. There are so many mediocre teams in the playoffs, e.g., Philadelphia Eagles, Las Vegas Raiders, and then you have other teams that have been up and down at times during the year, i.e., Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills. It’s hard to know which team shows up.
2. There are always upsets this first weekend with road teams winning 1 or 2 of the games.
3. Green Bay seems like the safest pick playing at home and having the first week off with the bye. The Titans still don’t know if Henry will be at full strength and they tend to win ugly.
4. For SU, the Cowboys are the mystery team. They can put together a great game but can also look very ordinary.
5. You have to figure that Tampa Bay’s injuries to Fournette and Godwin will catch up with them at some point in the playoffs. That’s a lot to overcome on the road.
6. SU has a funny feeling about Matthew Stafford. He has paid his dues in his career and while he makes the dumb turnover A LOT, maybe this is his year?
7. Everyone loves Mahomes and the Chiefs but teams have figured out a way to cover Tyreek Hill and you wonder if the other receivers are good enough against the better AFC teams?
8. The Bills are effective but not always pretty. They came close last year – do they have a run in them?

OK, that’s enough context. SU says the LA Rams over the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl. It’s Stafford’s year and the Rams will host the Super Bowl in LA. Now, given the amount of tickets sold to business partners, etc., that doesn’t mean it’s a home game in the Super Bowl for the Rams with the crowd. I just don’t see Mahomes as dominant this year and the Titans are not world beaters on offense. The Rams will have to beat the Packers in Green Bay and that is not easy obviously. But may be destiny for Stafford.

Enough said. The floor is open for others to make their predictions. This year’s winner receives the SU-logoed backpack and water bottle.

Still waiting for Djokovic to voluntarily withdraw from the Australian Open but I must say I am starting to think he is going to be allowed to play. There are just too many sketchy details about his negative test, going out in public after testing positive, not correctly indicating whether he had traveled before making the trip to Australia, etc. But that is not what the Australian Immigration Minister seems to be contending now. They are saying that he is a menace to society and will rile people up on vaccines. What a sh*t show. SU is a big Djokovic fan but he needs to just go home now and let the tournament be played without this crap going on. And use the time at home to get vaccinated already. It’s not all about you – and that is the same message to the 40% of Americans who seem to feel the same way as Djokovic when it comes to vaccines.