Men’s Journal – September 2019

BOLD, BRILLIANT &

TOTALLY BANKABLE

NFL PREDICTIONS 2019

THE PATRIOTS WILL NOT WIN THE SUPER BOWL

The last NFL team to repeat as

champions was the Patriots in 2004

and ’05, and there’s a good reason

no one has done it since. In the

modern NFL , it ’s just easier to come

out of nowhere and reach the Super Bowl than

it is to keep your momentum going in consecu-

tive seasons. So if not New England, who? The

key ingredient in the current formula seems to

be offensive firepower and defensive depth—

the ability to withstand waves of injuries. The

Cleveland Browns are the fashionable pick,

but they’re still too raw and too thin. That

leaves the Indianapolis Colts. They lost in the

divisional playoffs last season, but, with

Andrew Luck’s rebuilt arm and defensive

Rookie of the Year Darius Leonard’s explosive-

ness, a Super Bowl ring is within easy reach.

BY DEVIN GORDON

Rodgers turns

36 in December,

but he’s still the

game’s most

gifted quarter-

back. Now he’s seething

with everyone-wrote-me-

off fury and, for the first

time, has a creative

offensive coach, in Matt

L aFleur. Plus, he’s just a

goddamn dragon: He threw

for the second-most yards

of his career last season

and just two—two!—inter-

ceptions. He’s going to

smoke the NFL this season

like it’s King’s Landing.

AARON

RODGERS

WILL HAVE

THE BEST

SEASON OF

HIS CAREER

FRO

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TOP

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