We are doomed

[Jetfan13]

Super Bowl XLVI prediction: New York Jets will face Philadelphia Eagles, assuming CBA deal occurs

Gary Myers

ARLINGTON, Tex. - It has become a Daily News tradition: Picking the two Super Bowl teams for next season before the last piece of confetti comes down the Packers.

Now, you might say I should hold off on making the picks for Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis until at least knowing for sure that there will be a 2011 season.

So, that's where I will start with my first prediction: It seems inevitable the NFL owners will lock out the players at 12:01 a.m. on March 4. The trash-talking and venom will carry over into the summer. Then, on Aug. 1, six weeks before the scheduled start of the regular season and really the absolute deadline to get a deal and still allow the season to start on time, magically a solution will appear.

The players will come pouring back into camp. The record 495 unrestricted free agents will hit the market at the same time that teams finally will be allowed to sign their draft choices. It will be total chaos for six weeks, but also a lot of fun. The amount of money spent between Aug. 1 and the Sept. 11 season openers will be enough to feed several small countries until 2030.

Anyway, assuming the labor unrest doesn't turn the 2011 season into a complete aberration, here's my pick for Super Bowl XLVI:

Jets vs. Eagles.

For the Jets, they will get it done the third time, after losing on the road to the Colts and Steelers in the last two AFC Championship Games. I picked the Jets vs. Cowboys this year. The Jets at least made it close. Jerry Jones admitted he gave up on the Cowboys being the first team to play the Super Bowl on its home field around the sixth game of the season.

There are two things the Jets must do to get to Indianapolis:

Win the AFC East. The Packers were just the fourth team to get to the Super Bowl by winning three playoff games on the road. It's just too hard. The Jets got two-thirds of the way there the last two years. They will find a way to beat out the Patriots during the regular season, then have at least one home game in the wild-card round. More likely, the winner of the AFC East will have a record good enough to get a first-round bye and a home game in the divisional round. The Jets have been on the verge the last two years. I think they become finishers in 2011.

They must play a complete game in the AFC title game. From the point there was 1:13 left in the first half against the Colts last year until there was 1:13 left in the first half against the Steelers two weeks ago, the Jets were outscored 48-0. That's 60 minutes. One full game. Up until that point in Indy and after that point in Pittsburgh, they outscored the Colts and Steelers 36-6.

As far as the Eagles go, they looked like the best team in the NFC after that wild four-touchdown barrage in the final 8:17 against the Giants in the 14th game that wiped out a 31-10 deficit and essentially won them the division. But they lost their last two games in the regular season to the Vikings and Cowboys and then were eliminated at home by the Packers in the wild-card game.

Michael Vick is a free agent but there is no way the Eagles will let him go. If franchise tags are allowed on Thursday, they will use it on Vick. They have already invested too much in him to lose him and he has found a home in Philly.

He has the most explosive firepower around him in the league with DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy.

It's hard to forecast, of course, what teams will look like next season. On the average, each team has about 15 unrestricted free agents. Should the Jets lose free agents Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards, who is Mark Sanchez going to throw to besides Jerricho Cotchery? If somehow the Eagles lose Vick, they are not going to the Super Bowl with Kevin Kolb.

Now that we've figured out who will be in Super Bowl XLVI, let's go eat a snack.

TWO-HOUR DRILL

Sources say progress was made on concepts at Saturday's two-hour bargaining session between the owners and players. The sides will meet twice this week. But why only two hours? The Hall of Fame selection meeting Saturday lasted 7-1/2 hours.

PRESSURE'S ON

Eight teams will have new coaches in 2011. Here are our coaches on this year's hot seat

(Page 2 of 2)

Tom Coughlin, Giants: I anticipate the Giants will give him only a one-year extension through the 2012 season to avoid the appearance that he's a lame duck. But he's going to be evaluated on a year-to-year basis. I don't see him back in 2012 unless the Giants make the playoffs. Another non-playoff 10-6 season won't save him.

Chan Gailey, Bills: This is his second year coming up. That's the lifespan of Bills coaches these days.

Marvin Lewis, Bengals: Why is he even back next season?

Jim Caldwell, Colts: Nice guy, bad game-day coach. Why did he call that timeout against the Jets?

Jack Del Rio, Jaguars: If Wayne Weaver was willing to pay off the $10 million left on his contract over the next two years, he would have been gone by now.

Gary Kubiak, Texans: If they underachieve again and miss the playoffs, Bill Cowher will be coaching there in 2012.

Norv Turner, Chargers: What would a hot seat list be without Norv?

Hue Jackson, Raiders: He's had the job less than one month. So, the clock is ticking. He does work for Al Davis, right?

HALL DOOR OPEN

Curtis Martin deserved to be voted in as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I am one of the 44 voters and had the responsibility - and honor - of making the presentation at Saturday's meeting on Martin's behalf. If Marshall Faulk wasn't also on the ballot, I think Martin would have been elected. Getting two running backs into Canton in the same year is not easy. But I see Martin as the favorite among all holdover and first-time candidates next year to get one of the five spots for the class of 2012. And it will be very special if Martin is inducted with his former coach Bill Parcells, who is on next year's ballot. Parcells and Martin are very close friends.

BIG 'D' . . . FOR DEBACLE

Dallas didn't distinguish itself hosting its first Super Bowl. It hurts to say that because I really enjoyed living here from 1981-89. Obviously, the weather was out of anybody's control, but couldn't the city have brought in snow removal equipment and salt trucks from neighboring states? And with the ice storm hitting Monday night, shouldn't there have been a way to get the ice off the roof at Cowboys Stadium before chunks came crashing down Friday afternoon, injuring six people? The seat fiasco was humiliating.

It will be different at the New York Super Bowl in 2014. Bad weather will be expected. Of course, the game will be outside. Two things: Nobody is forcing any fan to buy a ticket. So, if you do go to the game, you come in knowing it could be uncomfortable. And no matter how bad the weather might be in February 2014, it can't be any colder than it was for the Giants-Packers NFC title game in Green Bay three years ago.

[faba]

Myers saying something positive about the Jets- reverse psychology comes into play.

[Klecko73isGod]

[SoFlaJets]

didn't he get the memo from Vegas? The Pats are the favorites to win it all...again

[JiFtheOracle]

Philly aint making it but the Jets are winning it!!!

Jets vs. Packers - Rex makes Rodgers look like the mush.

[Jetsfan80]

Jets vs. Packers - Rex makes Rodgers look like the mush.

Rex certainly did when the Pack came to the Meadowlands earlier in the year. Then again the Packers were just getting adjusted after all their injuries. And it was windy.

[faba]

Rex certainly did when the Pack came to the Meadowlands earlier in the year. Then again the Packers were just getting adjusted after all their injuries. And it was windy.

And we were shut out in that game -not that it really matters at this point