Pro Bowl Weekend.....

It's that annual time when the Best of the Best meet up in Hawaii to display their awesome talent or is it? Some say the NFL has worst All-Star game of any professional sport. For the players, it happens at a time of the year when they are physically and emotionally drained from the rigors of a long season. For those that made the playoffs even longer. Football is unique in that the chance of injury is much more likely (as well as finding someone to replace an injured player) that having an All-Star game at the beginning of a season or the middle of a season would not fly with most owners, coaches, or players. Basically, there is no good time to have a game except for the end of the season. I actually believe the old format was better because at least there was some competition fighting for bragging rights. For example if the NFC won the Super Bowl then the AFC could get some measure of respect or payback if you will the following week and vice versa. Of course this new format is in it's infancy so I guess it is really too early to tell how this way will be viewed over a period of time. I guess will have to just wait and see. The main thing for those of us who are just pure NFL Football fans is that it represents the second to last chance to see our heroes before that dreaded offseason that will soon be upon us. Of course you know that picking the winner of this game is a crap shoot at best but I'll take a whack at it anyway. I'll go with the NFC simply because I believe "This Year" the NFC was the more talented Conference. That is the only theory (or opinion) I can come up with right now. Enjoy the game and don't forget to come back next week for my Super Bowl pick.
Since we do discuss football here in general I would like to leave you with this other opinion. In the local rag here(Times Pic) sports writer Jeff Duncan wrote a story about how coaches in the NFL skate around injury reports and that during last week's NFC Championship game at halftime the Bears via Twitter released a report on Jay Cutler that gave everyone the impression that he could possibly return after Bears' doctors had actually determined that in fact Cutler was medically ruled out. First let me remind Mr Duncan a few short years ago there WAS no Twitter to receive any type of injury update at halftime. The only way anyone would know anything was if a sideline reporter got a chance to speak with someone on the field. So it is ridiculous that we are even discussing that aspect (Twitter). Some coaches feel it gives them an advantage or disadvantage depending on which side of the injury they are on. As a fan I really don't care what the status of the injured player is during the game other will he return. After the game I would be curious simply because I would worry that one of our players may not be available the next week. But REALLY an injury report during the game, what good is that information to a fan?  Or the specific injury itself? If you tell me he could possibly return and he is sitting on the bench, I believe I am intelligent enough to figure out he's not coming back in. All this reminded me of Coach Jim Mora when he was with the Saints. A group of reporters would not let up until Mora would give them an answer on injuries at a press conference. Finally, a reporter asked Mora "can you tell us what "particular" injury Smith has?" Mora's answer was classic as he rattled off each players injury....Smith has a "particular" knee; Jones has a "particular" elbow; Jackson has a "particular" shoulder....etc etc etc. It was hilarious and Classic Mora! Even then it gave us an insight on coaches. They will always find a way around giving the opposing team any kind of edge. That has been and always will be a part of the game. Get used to it!

Championship Weekend............

I call it Championship Weekend because if memory serves I do believe at one time we had one game on Saturday and one on Sunday. I could be wrong but that's how I remember it. Anyway now it is Championship Sunday. It probably has something to do with TV ratings and such. Now for the games.....First up we have the Green Bay Packers leaving the frigid confines of Lambeau to travel to the freezing torn up Soldier Field. Trying hard to keep the field in somewhat decent condition at least for kickoff, the field is covered with a big tarp and hot air is being blown over it to keep the field from freezing....again just until, maybe kickoff. After that it is anyone's guess as to how long it will maintain any semblance of a football field as we know it. The big question is will this affect either team considering that they are "outdoor teams" as we so often hear. I will propose it will have an affect on the teams through maybe the 1st Quarter then after that both will adjust accordingly to the field and weather conditions. Ultimately, I believe the Packers are the best team on offense AND defense. If the Packers manage to get enough "Remember Me" hits on QB Cutler then they will have a distinct advantage. I have yet to see Jay Cutler overcome a fierce pass rush. He is easily rattled and I am sure Green Bay is aware of this fact. Unlike Aaron Rodgers who after being the most sacked quarterback in 2009 proved he has a short memory and can take a beating without affecting his overall game. The only "X" factor for the Bears is Devon Hester. If he can possibly change field position for the Bears they may make it a closer game. In the end I am going with the Packers to prevail and move on the Super Bowl.
For our second contest of the day or should I say night, as the game will be under the lights at Heinz Field. Pittsburgh is at home against the surprising Jets. No one including myself gave the Jets a chance last week. My only loss was that game as I went 3-1 over the weekend which by the way puts me at 5-3 for the playoffs. The Jets seem to be the Saints of last year. It is almost magical to watch them play. Inside The NFL did an interview about mid-season with Jason Taylor during the Jets bye week. Some of the comments Taylor made were very telling with respect to how they approached this season. He spoke of how close they were in the locker room. How the coaches believed in the players and what they could ultimately accomplish. Prophetic? Maybe. Or maybe they really do have something special going on this season. The Steelers on the other hand faced their own set of challenges winning 3 out of 4 of their first four games without their starting QB who was suspended. The Steelers won with defense and this game could very well be a defensive battle with the caliber of defenses facing off today. The game could be decided by a field goal or less. At any rate I do believe we will see a great ball game. The Steelers are a slight favorite because they are at home. I would guess on a neutral field the Jets might be a slight favorite. I am strictly going from the gut on this one. I believe the Jets will win today and we will see the first Super Bowl with two 6-seeded teams playing against each other. We always seem to have new "firsts" every year. It's hard enough to get to the Super Bowl when you have a bye week and only need to win two games but when you are a wildcard team and you get in the playoffs with the last seed you are really in a tough spot. The odds of course are against my prediction coming true but that's why they play the game.
Enjoy Championship Sunday and I will see you in two weeks if not sooner to discuss the Super Bowl. Make sure you get you picks in and let me know what you think. See you next time........

Divisional Playoffs....................

Well not bad yesterday as I went 2-0 on Saturday's contests. Today our first game has the now 8-9 Seahawks at Chicago to face the 11-5 Bears. Unlike the Saints, Chicago has had a week to rest and get fully prepared and they are at home. I am really sick and tired of hearing how great the Seahawks are considering they edged the Saints by a mere 5 points on a day when the Saints were down to a fullback as their only healthy running back and when the Saints defense played their absolute WORST game of the year. The Saints allowed 13 TD passes in the entire 2010 campaign and in Seattle last week allowed Matt Hasselback  to throw for 4 TD passes in one game not to mention an eight player missed tackle run that made Marshawn Lynch look like Jim Brown. AND with all that Seattle still could only win by FIVE points AT HOME! Now you tell me what you think will happen today. The Bears will expose the Seahawks for what they are.....A LOSING team that should not be in the playoffs regardless of their win last week. Just about any team could have beaten the Saints last week with all of the injuries they had and probably a good team would have beaten the Saints a lot worse. In the mind of the Seahawks they just won their Super Bowl last week beating the defending Champions. Today the Bears will bring them down to earth with a sound BUT-WHIPPING! Bears win BIG at home move on to the NFC Championship game against the Packers.
Next up the Game some have been waiting for. The Jets vs the Patriots. This will be a similar scenario as the Jets got the monkey off their backs by beating Peyton Manning at his own game,  a last minute drive to a winning field goal. The Patriots however, probably were hoping for this matchup instead of the against their nemesis the Colts. Either way it would be hard to pick against the Patriots if you have watched them play the last half of the season. In their final eight games(All Wins) only 2 were even close against the Colts & Packers which they beat by 4 & 3 points respectively. However, their average margin of victory over those eight games was 19 points and if you take away those two games,  it's even more incredible at 24 points per game. With those kinds of numbers it is hard to go against the grain. I won't be one of the ones to do so. The Jets 2010 story ends today at Foxboro. Patriots will show why they are the team to beat. Patriots win and move on to face the Steelers for the AFC Championship.

Divisional Playoffs....................

Like many I ended up the weekend last week 2-2. Let's see if I can do better this weekend. Just like last weekend I will pick Saturday's games on Saturday and Sunday's games on Sunday morning. By the way I finally corrected my time. For some reason I've been on Pacific Time and of course I am in the Central Time Zone. 1st up today the Steelers are at home against the Ravens. Now I know a lot of you are sentimental about this game since Ray Lewis will be retiring at the conclusion of this post season or so he says. I can think of only one player in recent history who was able to go out on top. That person would be John Elway with back to back Super Bowl wins. It is rare that someone in this game can leave on top and on his own terms. Of course Elway was the extreme exception which I doubt seriously will be duplicated in my lifetime again. Which brings us to our game today. Both teams seem relatively healthy for this time of year so seemingly this game would be a toss up. That's why I have to go with the home team and the extra week of rest. There is something about the playoffs that bring out the best in the Steelers especially at home. It will be a battle but in the end the Steelers will move on to the AFC championship game.
Next up the late game today has the Falcons entertaining the Green Bay Packers. The Packers are fast on real grass, just imagine how fast they will be inside a dome on turf. I believe the Falcons are full of themselves and don't think anyone is as good as they are. Never underestimate your opponent. Green Bay feels like they let it get away from them last year. They believe it should have been them last year. They are focused and most of all battle tested. They will use a similar approach this week against Matt Ryan as they did against Michael Vick. They will utilize Charles Woodson as a spy on Ryan as well as a roamer on the field. The Saints gave everyone the Blue Print on how to beat the Falcons. Shut down Michael Turner and the Falcons become one-dimensional.  As much as I agree Matt Ryan is a good QB he has not yet risen to the level of a Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or Drew Brees. He is not capable of carrying the team by himself. Some day that may be the case but not today. The Packers are on a mission this year and I do not believe they will be denied. Packers win in the upset of the weekend. Have a great Football Saturday and don't forget to check back here in the morning for my Sunday picks.

Playoffs.......

Just like the teams all of us prognosticators started out 0-0 for the Playoffs and after two shockers yesterday most of us are 0-2 including this amateur. Hopefully I can do better today. First up the Ravens are at Kansas City. For this game the underdog is once again at home. The Chiefs have shown a lot of promise this year, but I still feel they are a year or two away. The Ravens are at the end of an era and must win. Their defense will not be the same next year and they know it. Ravens win on the road.
For the second game of the day, the Packers are at Philadelphia. This is my upset special for the weekend. I believe the Packers are on fire. Their defense with Clay Matthews leading the way will find a way to contain Michael Vick just enough. If they get a few hits on him, it could be a long day for Eagles fans. Packers win. Let's see if you can do better than me. Come on I am 0-2 for the Playoffs! Have a great Football Sunday.

Finally The Playoffs Have Arrived........

Well, to wrap up my season numbers I finished with back to back weeks of 12-4 to bring my season total to 157-99. I finished higher than 3 of the Times Pic prognosticators. Not too bad for an amateur.
I don't know about you but I am excited to finally see the playoffs get here. It's one and out now and as I am sure you have heard many times already by players and announcers alike everyone has a clean slate and is starting at 0-0. This tournament  could go in many different directions so I will pick as I usually do the day of in the morning for each days games.
Now for today's picks.......1st up is my Home Town Boys(Saints) trying to win there first ever road game in the playoffs. No matter what anyone says this is not an easy game. The Saints are roughly 10 point favorites going into this game. Do not for one moment think that Pete Carroll hasn't put that and all of the pundits comments throughout the locker room as bulletin board material. He will use that as a motivational tool just as he did in the season finale when everyone thought the Rams were the better team including yours truly. To help the Saints to win this game they will need to try to take the crowd out early. That may be a problem though, with the weather conditions which favor the Seahawks simply because they have 3 good running backs in Lynch, Forsett, and Washington where as the Saints are without their two main running backs in Thomas and Ivory. For the Saints to win, not only will Reggie Bush have to step it up but also either Jones or Wynn will have to emerge as the new between the tackles runners. On a rainy cold day short passes will be the only way the Saints can move the ball efficiently.This could come down to a field goal which brings me to another story line with kickers Garrett Hartley and Olindo Mare. Those of you Saints fans will remember the experiment with Mare with the Saints. He couldn't hit a Stop Sign from 10 feet when he played with the Saints. Since he has been with the Seahawks he has missed very few including a stretch of 30 consecutive field goals ending with a miss against Oakland on Oct 31st this year. For the season both kickers are close with Hartley going 25 of 31 and Mare 25 of 30. I would like to see some Karma come back for Mare today. We will shall see. I believe the game will be close but the Saints should prevail and win their first playoff game on the road.
Next up we have the Jets at Indianapolis. The way the Colts have played the last few weeks I just can't see them losing at home. I know the Jets want to go further this year but wanting to and actually doing it are two different things. The last 4 weeks Peyton Manning has been on FIRE! He has willed his team into the playoffs and I can't see them losing in this round. It may come down to another Adam Vinatieri field goal but the Colts will win. Enjoy the games and I'll see you tomorrow morning with my Sunday Playoff picks.

Week Seventeen in the NFL........

Before I get started on this week's picks, just a quick comment on last week's Monday Night Football game. At the risk of sounding like Ray Rice of the Ravens, did you see that horrible officiating at the Falcons-Saints game? I have just 2 stats for you...Saints 8 penalties for 92 yards and the Falcons ONE for 10 yards.....C'mon Man!
Just had to get that off my chest now for the picks. By the way, I had an incredible week last week at 12-4  bringing my season total to 145-95 not bad for an amateur. First up the home town team Saints are entertaining the Bucs. This is a must win for Tampa Bay. Contrary to many of the TV analysts the Saints are not going to be scoreboard watching and Drew Brees will not be pulled in the 2nd half if the Falcons are way ahead of the Panthers. You would have to drag Drew kicking and screaming to get him out of the game. Saints are at home and will come focused not to say it will be easy keep in mind the Bucs need this game to even have a slim hope of getting in the playoffs. Saints win in a close one. Panthers are at Atlanta. I am praying for the Panthers to give  John Fox a going away present. Although they lost a lot this year Fox never lost the team. In the end I believe the Falcons will be too much for the injury plagued Panthers. Falcons win. Steelers at the Browns. Pittsburgh has too much on the line. Steelers win and win AFC North. Bengals at Baltimore. This is an interesting game. After dispatching the playoff hopeful Chargers last week Marvin Lewis could possibly save his job with a win today. If they were playing in Cincinnati I'd give the Bengals a slight edge but not today in Baltimore. Ravens win. Vikings at the Lions....another situation where there are two teams going in different directions. It would be nice to see Brett Favre go out riding into the sunset unfortunately that won't happen. He will finish his last game from the bench finally coming to the realization that the body relinquishes long before the mind. Forty-one doesn't seem that old to most of us but in football age he's ninety-two. Goodbye Brett....we will miss you. Lions win.
Raiders at the Chiefs....I do not understand the complicated playoff scenarios but I do believe that the Chiefs cannot get any higher in the seeding than they already are. This might be a game where they rest some people. I am going to say the motivation will be higher for the Raiders. Raiders win. Dolphins have to travel to New England...Although New England will probably rest their starters I do believe they will play a half at least and that should be enough to put away the Dolphins. Patriots win. Bills at the Jets....I cannot see how the Jets would not be ready to play but again with the seeding pretty much set the starters will only see a half at most. But I still believe Rex Ryan would like a little momentum going into the playoffs especially after last week's loss to the Bears. Jets win. Bears at Green Bay...another very interesting game. It's a long shot but the Bears can actually get the 1st Seed if both the Falcons and Saints lose. I see the Bears coming in with chip on their shoulder trying to prove they belong. Unfortunately, the Packers need it more and they are at home. One of the toughest places to play is Lambeau in January. Packers win in a slugfest and seal the final playoff spot. Giants at Washington....Giants going nowhere have no incentive. Redskins have shown new life. Redskins win.
Titans at the Colts...Simple....Colts have too much at stake and Peyton will be more focused today than even the last three weeks. He lead his team into the playoffs. Colts win. Jaguars at the Texans....another two teams with late season collapses and in my opinion both coaches are on the bubble. Both coaches have worn out their welcome and the patients of their respective owners. Jags have a little more to play for. Jags win. Cowboys at Philly. Eagles stuck in number 3 seed no matter what. Vick will not play today along with others. Dallas is still talented enough to beat Philly's second teamers. Cowboys win. Cardinals and the 49ers...who cares??? 49ers win at home. Chargers at Denver...I said once before if the Chargers lost another one where I picked them, I would never pick them again. I am sticking to my word. Tebow and team put the Chargers out of their misery and Norv Turner out of a job. Broncos win big. Finally the primetime matchup between the Seahawks and the Rams. I am picking the Rams for two reasons. One, I don't want a team with a losing record to get into the playoffs and Two, I do believe the Rams are the better team. Either way barring a meltdown by their opposing playoff opponent neither team will get past the first round. Rams win.
Have a great football weekend and let me hear from you on who you think will win in the upcoming playoffs.