Super Bowl Pick

First of all. Congratulations to former Minnesota Vikings center Mick Tingelhoff on his election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In his 32nd year of eligibility he finally made it as the Senior Committee nominee.

"Mick is one of the finest centers of all time."
     -Packers Hall of Fame linebacker Dave Robinson

"toughest center I ever played against."
     -Bears Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus

Tingelhoff's induction in August should bring quarterback Fran Tarkenton to Canton for the first time since his own induction in 1986. Bud Grant will likely be there as well. A Viking fine time in Canton.

Congratulations to the rest of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2015:
Junior Seau
Will Shields
Charles Haley
Tim Brown
Jerome Bettis
Bill Polian
Ron Wolf
Seau is the sole first-year eligible player. His induction in August will be a sad one. Polian and Wolf are the first to make it in the new Contributor category. The voters cleared the books with the rest of the deserving players. Haley, Brown, Bettis, and Shields have been skipped over for a while.

Now, for today's big game.

Earlier this week I ranked the 48 Super Bowls. While thinking about the combination of Bill Belichick-led New England Patriots teams and good, competitive Super Bowls, I realized that Super Bowl XXXIX was excluded from the rankings. The exciting New England Patriots-Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl. I corrected that mistake and inserted the missing game in the 10 slot. That puts all five Super Bowls involving the Belichick-led Patriots in the top 15 of this list. Three in the top 10. That sort of consistency gives me hope that today's big game will be exciting as well. The best ever? We'll see but this Seahawks-Patriots matchup looks like it could be a great one.

Instead of ranking Super Bowl XXXIX at all I had Super Bowl XXII listed twice. The Washington Redskins destruction of the Denver Broncos. That game left a lot to be decided. Except for the Redskins and their fans. Super Bowl XXII is #38 on this corrected list.

Here are the corrected rankings:

48. Super Bowl IV-Kansas City Chiefs 23, Minnesota Vikings 7

47. Super Bowl VIII-Miami Dolphins 24, Minnesota Vikings 7

46. Super Bowl VIII-Pittsburgh Steelers 16, Minnesota Vikings 6

45. Super Bowl XI-Oakland Raiders 32, Minnesota Vikings 14

44. Super Bowl XXIV-San Francisco 49ers 55, Denver Broncos 10

43. Super Bowl XLVIII-Seattle Seahawks 43, Denver Broncos 8

42. Super Bowl XX-Chicago Bears 46, New England Patriots 10

41. Super Bowl XXXV-Baltimore Ravens 34, New York Giants 7

40. Super Bowl XXIX-San Francisco 49ers 49, San Diego Chargers 26

39. Super Bowl XXXVII-Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48, Oakland Raiders 21

38. Super Bowl XXII-Washington Redskins 42, Denver Broncos 10

37. Super Bowl XXVII-Dallas Cowboys 52, Buffalo Bills 17

36, Super Bowl XII-Dallas Cowboys 27, Denver Broncos 10

35, Super Bowl XXXIII Denver Broncos 34, Atlanta Falcons 19

34. Super Bowl XVIII Los Angeles Raiders 38, Washington Redskins 9

33. Super Bowl XXVI-Washington Redskins 37, Buffalo Bills 24

32. Super Bowl XV-Oakland Raiders 27, Philadelphia Eagles 10

31. Super Bowl I-Green Bay Packers 35, Kansas City Chiefs 10

30, Super Bowl VI-Dallas Cowboys 24, Miami Dolphins 3

29. Super Bowl XL-Pittsburgh Steelers 21, Seattle Seahawks 10

28. Super Bowl XLI-Indianapolis Colts 29, Chicago Bears 17

27. Super Bowl II-Green Bay Packers 33, Oakland Raiders 14

26. Super Bowl XIX-San Francisco 49ers, 38, Miami Dolphins 16

25. Super Bowl V-Baltimore Colts 16, Dallas Cowboys 13

24. Super Bowl VII-Miami Dolphins 14, Washington Redskins 7

23, Super Bowl XXVIII-Dallas Cowboys 30, Buffalo Bills 13

22. Super Bowl XXI-New York Giants 39, Denver Broncos 20

21. Super Bowl XVII-Washington Redskins 27, Miami Dolphins 17

20. Super Bowl XXXI-Green Bay Packers 35, New England Patriots 21

19. Super Bowl XXX-Dallas Cowboys 27, Pittsburgh Steelers 17

18. Super Bowl XLIV-New Orleans Saints 31, Indianapolis Colts 17

17.  Super Bowl XIV-Pittsburgh Steelers 31, Los Angeles Rams 19
16. Super Bowl XLV-Green Bay Packers 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 25

15. Super Bowl XLVI-New York Giants 21, New England Patriots 17

14. Super Bowl XXXII-Denver Broncos 31, Green Bay Packers 24

13. Super Bowl XVI-San Francisco 49ers 26, Cincinnati Bengals 21

12. Super Bowl XLVII-Baltimore Ravens 34, San Francisco 49ers 31

11. Super Bowl XXXVI-New England Patriots 20, St. Louis Rams 17

10. Super Bowl III-New York Jets 16, Baltimore Colts 7
  9. Super Bowl XXXIV-St. Louis Rams 23, Tennessee Titans 17
  8. Super Bowl XXXIX-New England Patriots 24, Philadelphia Eagles 21

  7. Super Bowl XXXVIII-New England Patriots 32, Carolina Panthers 29

  6. Super Bowl X-Pittsburgh Steelers 21, Dallas Cowboys 17
  5. Super Bowl XXIII-San Francisco 49ers 20, Cincinnati Bengals 16

  4. Super Bowl XXV-New York Giants 20, Buffalo Bills 19

  3. Super Bowl XLIII-Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Arizona Cardinals 23

  2. Super Bowl XLII-New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14

  1. Super Bowl XIII-Pittsburgh Steelers 35, Dallas Cowboys 31

As for Super Bowl XLIX, 

Patriots over Seahawks

In the five Super Bowls led by Belichick and Tom Brady the score differential have been 3, 3, 3, 3, 4. That's great stuff. Entertaining, close games. I'm thinking that this game breaks that trend in that the Patriots will win by at least a touchdown.