Teams Most Likely to Win Next Year’s Super Bowl

After every season in sports, we always want to look ahead and predict the team that will win a championship next season. Now that the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts for their first ever Super Bowl win, false hope will make fans of every team think that their team can do the same next season. The reality is that there are about 10 teams that have a chance of winning the Super Bowl next season. Free agency and the NFL Draft will change many teams, but the foundation is set for these 10 teams.

1. New Orleans Saints – How is this team not the favorite to win the Super Bowl next season? The Saints are 9-1 favorites to win the Super Bowl next season, behind the Colts (7-1) and the Chargers (8-1). The Saints have key free agents this offseason like Pro Bowl safety Darren Sharper, running back Pierre Thomas and tackle Jammal Brown. This team might also decide to part ways with Reggie Bush, but this team can do better without Bush. Assuming the Saints keep restricted free agent Thomas, they could look to sign LaDainian Tomlison or even trade for a back like Thomas Jones of the New York Jets or Clinton Portis of the Washington Redskins. All three running backs would be a big upgrade over Bush.
2. Green Bay Packers – This team was an Aaron Rodgers-Greg Jennings touchdown away from beating the Arizona Cardinals and possibly going on a Super Bowl run. Aaron Rodgers has not even reached his prime yet and he is already one of the five-best quarterbacks in the NFL. The Packers have key veterans that they face tough decisions with in tackle Chad Clifton, linebacker Aaron Kapman, safeties Nick Collins and Atari Bigby. The Packers can’t afford to lose all these players, but this future is one of the brightest in the NFL. Ryan Grant really came on during the end of the season and tight end Jermichael Finley is on his way to surpassing Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten as the best tight end in the NFC. Rookie Clay Matthews is a future NFL Defensive Player of the Year and will help improve this defense next season.
3. Minnesota Vikings – At this point, should the Vikings re-sign Brett Favre to a five-year extension? That sounds riduclous, but Favre is coming off his best season at the young age of 92 40. If Favre returns, this is one scary team on both sides of the ball. Besides Favre, the Vikings also might lose one of their defensive stars if veteran defensive tackle Pat Williams retires after the season. Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin, Sidney Rice and Visanthe Shiancoe form one of the best offenses in the NFL and this team will still compete for a playoff spot even if Favre doesn’t return. The Vikings should make a run at Donovan McNabb if Favre retires. Running back Chester Taylor is a free agent, but this team could replace him with a better veteran like Tomlison.
4. San Diego Chargers – Nate Kaeding, Nate Kaeding, Nate Kaeding. That is the person that fans of this team will have nightmares of all offseason. Kaeding was always a very consistent kicker until this year’s playoffs. If it weren’t for his missed, Norv Turner might have finally won his Super Bowl ring. This team will be different as LaDainian Tomlison will be gone from this team, but this team still has Phillip Rivers. He will once again lead this offense to the playoffs and this defense will be set with young players like Larry English teaming with veterans Shawne Merriman and Antonio Cromartie. Turner’s clock is ticking in San Diego and this might be his last year to win an NFL Championship, before he gets fired.
5. Indianapolis Colts – Like we mentioned earlier, this team would have been sitting home Super Bowl weekend if Kaeding had a good game. The Colts will still be strong next season and we like the upside of running back Donald Brown and wide receivers Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon. This defense could still use some secondary help and Peyton Manning would benefit from a veteran running back. The problem with this team is that we don’t have faith in Jim Caldwell being the long-term answer for this team. It would be a good story to see Bob Sanders healthy next season.
6. Dallas Cowboys – Will they be the first team to play in the Super Bowl in their home stadium? This jinx is slowly starting to rival the Sports Illustrated jinx (even though many years the game is held in cities with poor teams). Tony Romo proved many doubters wrong this past season and Miles Austin should only get better on offense. Wade Phillips is still not the coach to lead this team to a Super Bowl win, but he improved this team once he took over the defense. Running back Felix Jones is the x-factor of this team and needs more touches on offense. Defensive end Anthony Spencer and cornerback Michael Jenkins look like perennial Pro Bowlers.
7. Atlanta Falcons – We might have this team ranked higher than most going into next season, but this team returns a lot from a 9-7 team. The Falcons finally had back-to-back winning seasons and Matt Ryan is ready to lead this team on a long playoff run. If Ryan and running back Michael Turner can return healthy, this team can compete with the Saints in the NFC South. A healthy Harry Douglas should help this offense, but this defense has a lot of holes. The Falcons need to improve their pass rush and secondary. We have faith that owner Arthur Blank will make sure this team has another strong offseason.
8. New England Patriots – Why is this team so low? Wes Welker’s injury is still a big-time concern and this offense still can use more playmakers. Will Randy Moss play motivated all season? That will be a big concern for Tom Brady and this defense might lose Pro Bowl defensive tackle Vince Wilfork. He would be a huge loss to this defense and this team needs to learn how to win on the road. This is another team that needs to draft defense in the first couple of rounds.
9. New York Jets – This team is hard to figure out going into next season. Does this offense continue to improve around Mark Sanchez or did this team peak last season under Rex Ryan? This defense will once again be one of the best next season and this team could get a lot in return if it decides to trade running back Thomas Jones. Rookie running back Shonn Greene proved that he can be the lead back next season and is a very explosive back. Tight end Dustin Keller is a force on offense and this team could also use more playmakers on offense.
10. Pittsburgh Steelers – This is another 9-7 team that should get back to the playoffs next season. Ben Roethlisberger threw for over 500 yards in a win over the Green Bay Packers  and we won’t be surprised if he makes an MVP run next season. We love Big Ben’s targets on offense and the Steelers need a healthy Troy Polamalu. If he can stay healthy and the Steelers add some depth on defense, this team will once again be a top seed in the playoffs.

Why did we leave the Philadelphia Eagles off this list? We have a feeling that this is the offseason that the Eagles trade Donovan McNabb and that will set them back. The Eagles have great young talent, but this team could lose some key veterans in the offseason and they are not on the same level as the Cowboys. With an improved Washington Redskins in this division, the New York Giants and Eagles both could miss the playoffs. The Cincinnati Bengals were tempting, but Carson Palmer has to prove to us that he can lead this team far in the playoffs.