ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from training camp through the Super Bowl with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them: Who will meet in Super Bowl LXI?
KEVIN ENGLISH
Ravens and Rams. I think OC Declan Doyle — a disciple of both Sean Payton and Ben Johnson — can help Lamar Jackson bounce back. Meanwhile, Baltimore’s defense brings top-10 potential with EDGE Trey Hendrickson now on the roster and at least some hope that DL Nnamdi Madubuike can return to form after his neck injury. The Rams are an easier call. There are a few concerns, including the depth along the offensive line, but this roster simply boasts too much talent to not make a deep postseason run.
English is a Senior Analyst at DraftSharks.com and has been on staff since 2009. Draft Sharks launched in 1999 as one of the web’s first fantasy football content sites and has evolved to help fantasy managers win with cutting-edge tools for drafting and in-season management.
SAM HENDRICKS
LA Rams versus Buffalo Bills. The Rams made improvements to their defense with the additions of Aaron Donald and Myles Garrett. Buffalo has had all the components for a SB run and DJ Moore's arrival as the WR1 finally gives Josh Allen his missing piece.
Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Basics, all available at ExtraPointPress.com, at all major bookstores, and at Amazon and BN.com. He is a 30-year fantasy football veteran who participated in the National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC). He won the Fantasy Index Open in 2013 and 2018.
JASON WOOD
The Rams will face off against the Buffalo Bills. The Bills have been an AFC contender for years as Josh Allen has firmly established himself as the best player in the league. But playoff heartbreaks led to a head coaching change. With Joe Brady calling the shots, expect the Bills to take a bolder stance offensively that allows them to finally get over the hump and make it to the Super Bowl. As to the NFC, the Rams feel inevitable barring major injuries. They were arguably the best team in the NFC last year but got bounced in the playoffs. They surgically remade their defense in the offseason, including adding two top-tier starting cornerbacks, not to mention Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald on the defensive line. The true definition of a juggernaut.
Wood is Senior Editor at Footballguys.com and has been with the company since its start in 2000. For more than 20 years, Footballguys has provided rankings, projections, and analysis to help fantasy managers dominate their leagues.
IAN ALLAN
I will go with the Texans and Eagles. We have seen defenses lift teams to championships the last two years. With Houston and Philadelphia, they seem to have everything buttoned up on that side of the ball. It's just a matter of putting together offenses that can hold serve. I don't believe that C.J. Stroud and Jalen Hurts are quite as inept as they appeared to be late last year. Get those issues patched up, and I think we're looking at teams with the potential to win it all. Granted, I don't feel great about Philly losing A.J. Brown. And Houston is banking on gimpy old David Montgomery at tailback. But every team has flaws of some kind. I will go with this pair to be the two who are still standing at the end.
Allan co-founded Fantasy Football Index in 1987. He is a member of the FSGA Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame and the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame.
MICHAEL NAZAREK
This is going to be a fun one. The Bengals will take down the Rams 35-31 in an upset. QB Joe Burrow gets the MVP!
Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc, celebrating 30 years online! His company offers a preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, a multi-use fantasy drafting program including auction values, weekly in-season newsletters, injury reports and free NFL news (updated daily) at its website, www.ffmastermind.com. He has been playing fantasy football since 1988 and is a four-peat champion of the SI.com Experts Fantasy League, a nationally published writer in several fantasy magazines and a former columnist for SI.com. He's also won more than $40K in recent seasons of the FFPC High Stakes Main Event. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.
TONY HOLM
If defense truly wins championships and taking into account regular season schedule, then it's a crowded AFC side with Denver, Buffalo and New England as the top contenders. The NFC side is a bit simpler with either the L.A. Rams returning or a sneaky Chicago Bears team that finds the next gear they need to push them into the finale. Since the Super Bowl always ends up being between two teams that people never seem to expect, I'll take the Denver Broncos and the Chicago Bears in an entertaining and competitive final match up.
Holm works for Fantasy Sharks, whose rankings and content can be found at fantasysharks.com.
SCOTT SACHS
The Rams and Lions are my favorites in the NFC. Both are really good on both sides of the ball. They each have great skill players on offense, but the LA defense gives them the edge. Honorable mention to Dallas and Philadelphia. In the more wide-open AFC, it's Buffalo, Denver, New England, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and possibly Houston. In Super Bowl LXI at SoFi, the hometown Rams will meet Josh Allen's Bills. Los Angeles wins 27-24.
With 2 perfect seasons and multiple league championships to his credit, Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, featuring LIVE Talk & Text Advice. He is a 3-time winner of the Fantasy Index Experts Auction League, as well as a previous winner of the Fantasy Index Experts Poll. Follow on X: https://x.com/ffbcoach
SCOTT PIANOWSKI
Going chalk, Rams over Bills. Hard to ignore that the Rams now have a defense to match their offense. And sooner or later, the Bills figure to get a break from the football gods. My heart would prefer something like Lions and Chargers, but we'll let the head make the call.
Pianowski has been with Yahoo Sports since 2008, covering a variety of sports. On the rare occasions when the computer is turned off, he enjoys word games, poker, music, film, game theory, and a variety of condiments. He lives in suburban Detroit. Pianowski was inducted into the FSWA Hall of Fame in 2021.
ANDY RICHARDSON
It's hard to repeat. And it's especially hard when you're playing in a division like Seattle is and already facing some injuries that might turn outcomes of games early on -- including their starting quarterback on the opening series of the season. I understand the Rams are the favorites in the NFC, and I can't bring myself to argue with that. In the AFC, I think the two teams that played a great divisional round game last year -- Broncos and Bills -- are the best all-around teams. I think I'd be happy to see either one get there. Because the AFC East looks a little weaker than the West, I think the Bills get that game at home this time and advance to the Super Bowl.
Richardson has been a contributing writer and editor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and www.fantasyindex.com since 2002. He is responsible for various site features, writes a weekly gambling newsletter, Index Bets, during the NFL season and also previews all the games on Saturdays.
