4 INDIANAPOLIS COLTS AT 2 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS Saturday, January 11th 8:15PM EST
6 SAN DIEGO CHARGERS AT 1 DENVER BRONCOS Sunday, January 12th 4:40PM EST
NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
6 NEW ORLEANS SAINTS AT 1 SEATTLE SEAHAWKS Saturday, January 11th 4:35PM EST
5 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS AT 2 CAROLINA PANTHERS Sunday, January 12th 1:05PM EST
I forgot to post my picks last week, but I would have gone 2-2 (got both Saturday games, somehow; missed both Sunday games)
My picks this time around: all the teams with a BYE this weekend win NEXT weekend....I guess....I have nothing to look forward to and hate all of these teams and especially their fans. (I'm sure I'll feel better by Saturday.)
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball
Either Tom Brady's going to make his most improbable Super Bowl run ever or enough people will have bitched and moaned about the way the Chargers got into the playoffs that they'll naturally run the table.
"Playing guitars. It's hard to sing while playing...guitars."
Either Tom Brady's going to make his most improbable Super Bowl run ever or enough people will have bitched and moaned about the way the Chargers got into the playoffs that they'll naturally run the table.
Yeah, I just figured it was payback to the Chargers from the bad roughness call that was flagged against the Chargers vs. The Texans. Remove that call and the stakes would have never been there in the first place, Chargers would have been in the playoffs without contingencies. That crucial call decided the Texans' win. So, really tit for tat that every team has to deal with.
Calls, bad calls and no calls are part of the game. It is what it is.
"As you may have read in Robert Parker's Wine Newsletter, 'Donaghy Estates tastes like the urine of Satan, after a hefty portion of asparagus.'" Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock
While I am not thrilled my Broncos are playing a familiar foe in the Chargers, there is no way that we are going to see a repeat of Week 15 or of last year's Divisional Round result.
Ladies and gentlemen, the following public service message is brought to you by your friends from D-Generation X, who would like to remind each and every one of you that if you're not down with that, we've got two words for you... All my picks were wrong last week, and it wouldn't surprise me if that happened again, but f it.
smark/net attack Advisory System Status is: Elevated (Holds; June 18, 2006) While the switch from Cena to RVD should alleviate some complaints, the inevitability of the belt's return to Cena (note where Summerslam is this year) and the poor initial showing by the new ECW are enough to keep the indicator where it is for now. The pieces are in place, though, especially on RAW, for improvements to be made to the IWC's psyche in the near future.
From a neutral perspective, it is very hard not to be impressed by the Patriots. Their ability to adapt to an ever-changing roster with star players coming and going, sometimes quite unexpectedly, and to alter their style to fit the personnel they have available to them is so impressive. Even the year Brady went down, they were unlucky not to make the postseason.
On the other hand, it's tough not to sympathize with the plight of Peyton Manning. He's probably a "better" quarterback than Brady, whatever that means, though both are amazing; but playing under Bill Belichick has, in my opinion, made Brady the more successful of the two. In our dualistic way of assessing sports, if Manning had won the titles that his ability deserves, then it would have had to come at the expense of the legacies of Brady and Belichick. Those postseason wins over the Colts are a big part of Brady's legacy, and so if Manning had won them instead, of course it would just be the other way around. There's not room for both of them to be the most successful quarterback of this particular era.
Anyway, it is totally appropriate and very exciting that this season's AFC comes down to those two, yet again. This is a great opportunity for Manning to get one of those wins back - to get to his third Super Bowl, at the expense of Brady and Belichick. This Patriots team has been overachieving all year, in my opinion. But nonetheless, I like New England to win and get to their sixth Super Bowl of the BBE (Brady-Belichick Era).
Honestly, while both San Francisco and Seattle are very good, the NFC is almost an afterthought to me. The AFC winners should be heavy Super Bowl favorites. I'll take New England over Seattle.
I'll also pick a New England/Seattle Super Bowl, though I disagree that the AFC winner should be a heavy favourite. I think the 49ers would destroy either of them and the Seahawks would destroy Denver....New England has a crack at beating Seattle outdoors on a cold, wintry day.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball
Well, "heavy favorite" may have been a poor choice of words. I expect it to be a close-ish (like, 10 points or less) game no matter the matchup, but the AFC winner will be my pick to win, without a doubt.
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