Not a prediction - it's who I will be rooting for, in inverse order, as a Niners fan. Enjoy the hate.
12. New England
-I'm in the Glory Days Protection Business (even more important now that the current Niners have cratered) so I primarily root against those who claim the Crown of Montana. Top on that list is Brady, I will root against the Patriots in every conceivable matchup.
11. Seattle
-The rivalry is dead; a year ago I rooted for the Patriots with the desire to avoid back to back Seahawk titles; those equities shift today.
10. Denver
-This is actually a variable prediction, absent Peyton Manning the Broncos wouldn't be on my radar, but I'd rather keep his SB wins locked in place. If he is the starter, a Seahawk/Broncos SB is actually a tough call, two years ago, even after our NFC Title game loss in Seattle, I rooted for them to beat Denver. If Manning is the QB, this is a challenging potential root.
9. Pittsburgh
-Roethlisberger is unlikely to ever be seen on the same tier as Montana, but I'd like to avoid another ring for Ben nonetheless. If there's no Manning, the Denver's preferable to Pittsburgh.
8. Green Bay
-I like Rodgers as a a guy and he has a long way to go to threaten Montana, but given the rest of the options on the board, I'll slot him here.
7. Washington
-This is just a vote against Dan Snyder.
6. Carolina
-Had they remained unbeaten they'd be more of a priority; if they had lost more than a game I wouldn't care about them at all. I'd rather not see another team go 18-1.
5. Arizona
-I'm a USC guy and like Carson Palmer, so even though the Cards are in the west and therefore nomina rivals, I can't say it would bother me to see them win the SB. I'm unsure how I'd actually feel about a Cardinal/Viking game.
4. Houston
-We have no relationship with Houston at all; I have a general dislike of Texas. Probably, if they make a SB game against Arizona I find myself rooting for the Cardinals.
3. Minnesota
-My top ranked NFC team, despite Adrian Peterson's stuffing leaves into his kid's mouth while he beat him. Those old Viking teams are really underrated historically given those terrible SB performances, and a title would be a good makeup.
2. Cincinnati
-A Bengal SB appearance in the 49ers home stadium means a lot of talk about those two Super Bowls and that would be entertaining; I've got lots of residual Sam Wyche related good feelings about the franchise as some sort of third cousin to ours.
1. Kansas City
-Alex Smith. And they were cool to Joe when he was there for a couple of years.
So, for me, a SB IV rematch would be ideal. Go Chiefs.
