Rich’s Super Bowl LXI Prediction Is…?

Super Bowl LXI is just down the road at SoFi Stadium, and it will be on ESPN and ABC. Rich already made his prediction on the NFL GameDay season preview. On the show, he made everyone else go first.

Chris started with history. "The last time the Patriots lost a Super Bowl, what happened, TJ? They made it the next year and they won it." It was rhetorical. Chris, whose son is a die-hard fan of both teams, has the Patriots beating the Rams.

Rich's advice: "You better save up for those tickets now, pal." Chris confirmed he is currently saving.

TJ took a moment to point out that he could cheat if he wanted to, since something arrived for him that morning that he chose not to look at. The room called it a great bit. TJ corrected them. "This is real. I don't do this for fun. This isn't a game."

His prediction came in two parts. "My heart says the Dallas Cowboys over the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl," TJ said. "But my head says the Buffalo Bills finally get over the hump. They defeat the LA Rams and win their first Super Bowl."

Rich kept the matchup and flipped the result.

"I just think the Rams, at the end of the day, are going to have the football gods smile on them with their health and win it all," he said. "They have set up everything to do it, and I think they do it over the Bills."

He admitted he considered other options. He almost put the Broncos in. He thought about Bengals and Rams again, just for kicks. He even toyed with the Ravens, partly because Derrick Henry was coming on the show.

But the logic held together. Rich has Josh Allen winning MVP and the Bills winning the AFC. "But the Rams are just too damn good."

He also pointed out that Kurt Warner, making his own predictions the night before, had Joe Burrow winning MVP without picking the Bengals to win their division. Rich wondered aloud whether that meant a wild card team would produce the MVP.

The room had an answer ready. "Last year proved you don't have to win the division to win MVP. Thanks to Rich."

Rich took the hit. "I just walked into that one, didn't I?"

"You did."

So the show's three picks cover plenty of ground. Chris has the Patriots over the Rams. TJ's head has the Bills over the Rams. And Rich has the Rams over the Bills, with the football gods, and their health, doing the rest.