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Ask the Experts

Who will be the NFL's final four?

Ravens, Saints could crash Pats-49ers

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from training camp through the Super Bowl with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them: Who will be the NFL's final four?

DAVID DOREY

The Ravens play the Patriots because the Ravens are peaking and the best team in the NFL currently. The Patriots will be there because they play in a bad division and get six free wins every year. The Saints will play the Packers. Brees deserves one more trip to the big game and the Saints and Packers have balanced teams. The 49ers miss it because their offense just isn't good enough.

Dorey has been dealing out all the rankings and projections for The Huddle since 1997 and wrote up a preview of every game for the last 21 years. His specialty is schedule strength and he’s been in countless magazines, podcasts, and radio shows. He is the author of Fantasy Football: The Next Level.

MICHAEL NAZAREK

The four best teams will be playing in the AFC and NFC Championship games in January ... Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints vs. San Francisco 49ers. I expect the Ravens to beat the Saints in the Super Bowl.

Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc. His company offers a preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, a multi-use fantasy drafting program including auction values, weekly in-season fantasy newsletters, injury reports and free NFL news (updated daily) at its mobile-friendly web site. He has been playing fantasy football since 1988 and is a four-peat champion of the SI.com Experts Fantasy League, a nationally published writer in several fantasy magazines and a former columnist for SI.com. He's also won in excess of $20K in recent seasons of the FFPC High Stakes Main Event. www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.

SAM HENDRICKS

AFC Championship: New England. Why would you ever not pick the Pats? Baltimore. Defenses win games and with Lamar Jackson at quarterback, he can win the other games. NFC Championship: Minnesota. What can I say I am a homer. Seattle. Never bet against their head coach.

Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Basics, all available at ExtraPointPress.com, at all major bookstores, and at Amazon and BN.com. He is a 25-year fantasy football veteran who participates in the National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC). He won the Fantasy Index Open in 2013. Follow him at his web site, www.ffguidebook.com.

JUSTIN ELEFF

The Patriots look like they’re finally running out of gas after driving straight through for decades, so I’m going with Baltimore and Kansas City in the AFC. Baltimore is throttling everyone lately; KC has the best quarterback on the planet, which is definitely the best place to start if you want to win a playoff game or two. As jumbled as the playoff picture is in the NFC, that side looks almost as clear to me. New Orleans may have the best-constructed roster in the league, and I really like the look of both teams atop the West; I just don’t know which I prefer. Call it Saints-Niners on the strength of San Fran’s likely homefield advantage.

Eleff hosts the Fantasy Index Podcast, available in the iTunes Store now. He has worked for Fantasy Index off and on all century.

MICHAEL NEASE

After a grueling battle of attrition, I think the last four teams standing in the battle to reach the Super Bowl will be Baltimore, San Francisco, Seattle and Kansas City. No, I didn't forget the Patriots. I simply omitted them. The Ravens and 49ers not only have dominant defenses, but their offenses play at a level way above other NFL teams. Seattle has played like a team on a mission this season, with Russell Wilson playing at a superhuman level and they have just enough defense. I chose Kansas City over the Patriots for my fourth team. They are awesome offensively, with speed to burn. The Brady to Edelman connection can only take New England so far when the level of competition gets tougher. I can hardly wait to see which of these spectacular teams is on the top of the mountain as our 2019 champion.

Nease is a member of the FSWA and has been playing the game since 1985, while also writing about it since 2001. He is a writer for Big Guy Fantasy Sports. Over the years he has sampled about all the playing scenarios that fantasy football offers, including re-drafter, keeper, dynasty, auction, IDP and salary cap leagues. You can contact Mike at mnease23@yahoo.com anytime and during the football season follow him @mike-insights.

ANDY RICHARDSON

It is hard to imagine anyone but New England and Baltimore being there in the AFC. With injuries and backfield questions, Kansas City's offense has been a little off all season, and their defense is poor. I'm not even sure they're going to win the AFC West, and I definitely don't see them going on the road and not getting run off the field, probably by Baltimore. New England will get its bye and knock off the AFC South team that limps into town. In the NFC, it will be the Saints versus either the Packers or 49ers. Sunday night's game might determine which one.

Richardson has been a contributing writer and editor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and www.fantasyindex.com since 2002. His responsibilities include team defense and IDP projections and various site features, and he has run the magazine's annual experts draft and auction leagues since their inception. He previews all the NFL games on Saturdays and writes a wrap-up column on Mondays during the NFL season.

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