Pairs... now you crack me up... again... choosing the worst competition of a team in 3 years to make your calls. D/R have been experimenting with the 3Ath this season and that led to some much needed adjustment after GPF. They skated a wonderfully strong SP at Nationals and their LP is recovering now... I wouldn't count them out... Leaving out some very important data here.... Like how will the Chinese pairs do... etc... they may not be a factor for the LP but they certainly will be for the SP.
of course... but it's easier IMHO to trust D/R to skate well under pressure as they have done so winning to world titles, than a team who has not yet proven that they can deliver on every element in the big events....
Well, the only way the Chinese pair wouldn't factor in is if they don't make the final round. Is it likely D/R will skate both programs? Hypothetically, Russians can have T/M for the short and S/K for the long. Same goes for Patrick...things won't work out well if he doesn't skate both programs. We'll see how D/R do at the upcoming two competitions, same for Sui and Han.