When the 2014 NFL season began, a Super Bowl matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos was certainly in the realm of possibility. After all, both teams have made the Super Bowl once in the past two seasons, and both entered 2014 with enough firepower to get back there again.
49ers vs. Broncos 2014 picks and predictions: Denver the convincing favorite
Broncos QB Peyton Manning is within three touchdown passes of breaking the all-time record of 508 held by Brett Favre. The 49ers hope to delay him breaking that record when the two teams face off in a Week 7 primetime showdown.
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Denver is off to a great start at 4-1 and coming off a 31-17 over the New York Jets. The Broncos' only blemish this year is an overtime loss at Seattle, the same team that thrashed them in last year's Super Bowl, 43-8.
Denver made a commitment to upgrade its defense this offseason to help take some of the pressure off Peyton Manning and the high-flying offense. The team signed a pair of Pro-Bowlers in cornerback Aqib Talib and linebacker DeMarcus Ware. Talib has one pick this year and has been very hard to throw at, while Ware already has four sacks.
Manning is within three touchdown passes of breaking the all-time record of 508 held by Brett Favre. The spotlight will firmly be on him this week as he looks to make NFL history on a primetime stage.
NFL, Week 7
Meanwhile, the 4-2 49ers need this win to keep pace with the 4-1 Cardinals on top of the NFC West. Winning that division is significant, as the previous three winners have advanced to the NFC Championship, and two of them, including the 2012 49ers, went to the Super Bowl.
That was Colin Kaepernick’s first year as a starting NFL QB, and he’s progressed significantly since then. He’s already thrown for 1,456 yards while completing 64.3% of his passes. He’s on pace to pass for 3,883 yards and 27 touchdowns, and both would shatter previous career-highs of 21 scores and 3,197 yards in a single season. Kaepernick is still a threat on the ground, rushing 46 times for 242 yards, but has yet to find the end zone this year.
The experts at ESPN picked the Broncos by a 12-1 margin. The CBS Sports crew has Denver on top convincingly, 7-1. Yahoo Sports' three-man panel has the Broncos getting the 2-0 sweep.
SB Nation's team rounds out the picks by giving Denver the edge, 6-1.
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