Patriots, Packers will fall short

This is not a column about which team will be handed the Lombardi Trophy in February.

This is about who will not be awarded the trophy after the Super Bowl.

First, there are a few picks to make relatively easily.

The New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars and both teams from Los Angeles will not win the final game of the season.

Cleveland is, well, Cleveland, so it was an easy pick. As long as the Jets have Christian Hackenburg under center, they won’t make the playoffs let alone reach Super Bowl LII.

Jacksonville has hope in Leonard Fournette and a couple decent wide receivers, but the quarterback position is still a question and the Jaguars aren’t relevant just yet.

The Chargers and Rams just don’t have enough to compete in the playoffs for a few more years.

As much as I want to be a homer, I can’t. The Detroit Lions will not win the Super Bowl. Neither will their division rival Chicago Bears. Detroit took some hits on the defensive side of the ball during training camp and preseason, and are a few pieces away from being able to compete with the Green Bay Packers.

That said, the Packers will also not be hoisting the trophy named after their legendary coach, though Green Bay will win the NFC North.

With the New England Patriots perpetually dominating the AFC East, that means Jay Cutler and the Miami Dolphins, as well as the Buffalo Bills, aren’t going to be Super Bowl champs.

Staying in the AFC, the uncertainty of Andrew Luck’s injury status, as well as few key losses defensively guarantee the Indianapolis Colts don’t win the Super Bowl either.

The Denver Broncos won’t be coming out of the AFC West to win their second world championship in three years.

San Francisco, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia and Washington are all out too. Kirk Cousins and the Redskins will make a fight for the NFC East title, but the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants will finish at the top of the division. However, only the Cowboys will make the playoffs. But what once was deemed “America’s Team,” the same one that dominated the early 1990s by winning three championships in four years, will have its Super Bowl drought extended to 22 years.

The Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens and Carolina Panthers are going to miss out on the playoffs, so they will not win the Super Bowl.

For those not keeping track, my playoff teams are as follows: Arizona, Atlanta, Dallas, Green Bay, Minnesota and Seattle from the NFC; and Houston, Kansas City, New England, Oakland, Pittsburgh and Tennessee from the AFC.

Arizona won’t make it past the divisional round, and Minnesota will not be the first team to hoist the trophy in its home stadium. They’re out.

Tennessee and Kansas City will make for close contests in their playoff games, but they’re going to be the first AFC teams to get bounced.

After its historic collapse in the Super Bowl last season, Atlanta will fall short of the NFC title game this year. So too will Seattle.

It’s been said before that Dallas will not return to greatness. Instead, it will fall one game short. The Cowboys will not beat the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game.

Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots will beat Derek Carr and the Oakland Raiders by less than a touchdown to reach the AFC Championship. While there, they will not beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will have dismantled the Houston Texans.

Although Green Bay has one of the best quarterbacks in the league — Aaron Rodgers will become the next highest-paid player when he becomes a free agent in 2020 — it isn’t enough to get the Packers to Super Bowl glory.

While Green Bay’s running back situation will work itself out throughout the course of the season, it does not have what it takes to beat the team with the best combination of quarterback, running back and wide receiver in the league.

The Green Bay Packers will not beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4 in Minnesota.