My scientific method of determining the winner of Super Bowl XLIX

Most of you know that I stopped collecting football cards a while ago.   Football cards just didn't fit into my collecting repertoire, so I decided to back off.

That doesn't mean that they don't call my name when I pass through the card aisle at the big box stores.   There are days when it is very tough to resist picking up a blaster and ripping some packs.

While the wife and I were at Wal-Mart today, I headed over to the card aisle and there they were, just waiting for me.  I spotted some of the 72 card boxes, and some of them even had "relic inside" printed on them, so I figured why not?  If there was one day of the year that I would have some fun with football cards, it has to be Super Bowl Sunday.

To make it even more fun, I decided to use the cards as a method of predicting who was going to win the big game.   In order to score the game, you've got to have rules.

1 pt for any base card--1.5 if it's a Seattle or New England player
2 pts for any insert/parallel--2.5 if it's a Seattle or New England player
3 pts for the relic

New England gets all the AFC cards
Seattle gets all the NFC cards.

Simple enough?  There's 72 cards in the box, so we'll have 4 "quarters" of 18 cards each.  Time for kickoff!!

Right off the bat we have the camo parallel (why can't I pull these in baseball, huh Topps?) of Gerald McCoy of the Bucs.   Right next to it we have the Play 60 insert featuring Dontari Poe.  Say what you want about the NFL and a lot of the guys that play there, the Play 60 initiative is easily the best idea I've seen geared towards keeping children active.   Ever. 

Look at this group!  NFC a plenty.  The only AFC card in there is Trent Richardson.

Halfway through the first quarter, the NFC leads 8-3

AFC still struggling headed towards the end of the first quarter, as the NFC dominates the second half with cards of Eli Manning and Alshon Jeffery leading the way. 

The score at the end of the first quarter--NFC 15, AFC 5

The first half of the 2nd quarter is close, but the NFC moves slightly farther ahead thanks to cards of Jason Witten and LeSean McCoy.  Antonio Brown sneaks in there for the AFC, but a 5-4 first half of the quarter extends the NFC lead to 20-9.

We have our first card for a Super Bowl participant as Jimmy Garropolo sneaks in there, but again the NFC just dominates the back half of the quarter as a couple of Saints help extend the lead.  Score this group 7-2.5 for the NFC.

Half time score, NFC 27, AFC 11.5

Start of the 3rd quarter:

Another close grouping of 9, but the Adrian Peterson card moves the NFC further ahead.

NFC 32, AFC 15.5

The AFC starts mounting a bit of a comeback at the end of the 3rd quarter.    Stevan Ridley, gets the bonus half point, and the AFC overall has 6 cards in the pack, including two parallels/inserts.  AFC 8.5 - 4.5 brings the score at the end of the 3rd quarter to:

NFC 36.5 AFC 24

Start of the 4th quarter, there's still a chance for the AFC to come back.

A slight edge for the AFC in this group of nine, with Johnny can't play football yet leading the way.  Odell Beckham and the Packers team card featuring their old school unis headline the NFC cards.

NFC 40.5  AFC 29

Now if I'm Evan Grossman or Davis Dalton, I'm stoked to have my own football card.  That is just way too awesome!  Unfortunately for the AFC, they have no affiliation that I can see, so the two inserts and the great relic card of Marqise Lee don't earn enough points to catch the NFC.  Score the last group of nine 8-5 for the AFC.

Final Score:  NFC 45.5, AFC 37

A hat tip goes out to Spankee at My Cardboard Mistress for this idea, but unlike him I couldn't last through an entire season.   Just one game is enough for me.

All the cards you see are up for trading, so if you see something you want, just let me know.

thanks for reading, and enjoy the game!   Robert