NFL Divisional Round Picks - Saturday

This is going to be a great weekend of football. Some tremendous physical match ups, some general real hatred between opponents, and the beginning of a coming out party (not that kind) for Matt Ryan (IMHO). Today I am just going to focus on today's games.


Things kick off with a bruising battle between the Steelers and Ravens. There's going to be a lot of pain killers taken after this one and that's just from the fans watching at home. The teams split the season series, each winning on the road.

Baltimore started things out in week four with a 17-14 win at Heinz Field on October 3. Pittsburgh came from behind late in week 13 for 13-10 win at M & T Bank Stadium.

Low scoring, physical games are the mantra when these two teams get together and today should be no different. The Steelers come in as three point favorites with the over/under at 37. I'm going with the Ravens in this one- I saw them as as the AFC champ early in the season before the Pats went on their tremendous run and still believe they could beat the winner of tomorrow's Pats-Jets battle. And I'm going to just squeak under the over/under with a Ravens 19-17 win.

I'm looking forward to this evening's game even more. Packers-Falcons. The Packers were impressive, esp. on the defensive side of the ball last week and made everyone outside of Philly smile for ending Michael Vick's (and DeSean Jackson's) season.

But this Falcons team is not talked about it at all. They are the clear favorite to emerge from the NFC and reach their second Super Bowl. (It shouldn't take a Gary Anderson miss to do it this time either). The Falcons are solid on both sides of the ball and their defense is vastly underrated.

When the two teams met on Nov. 28 it came down to a last minute drive by Matt Ryan and the Falcons that culminated in a Matt Bryant game winning FG with just 13 ticks of the clock left. The 20-17 win pushed the Falcons record to 9-2 at the time.

Ryan should get a chance to show a national TV audience just what he can do (and unfortunately that means hearing that stupid "Matty Ice" nickname several times over). The Falcons are 1.5 pt favorites with an over under of 43.5. If you haven't figured it out by now the pick here is clearly the Falcons and again a close one on the over/under, this time over. Falcons 27 Packers 17

NFL Picks - Week1

We were way off on the score, but correct in picking Big Blue to lay the points against the Redskins Thursday night. We really haven't been paying much attention to the pre-season games, so the early going could be rough. Do NOT, do NOT base any of your gambling on our picks.

Jets at Dolphins
The Brett Favre ERA/year begins in earnest. For one week, he'll look like a world beater. The Dolphins won't be significantly better than last year, even though their quarterback is one Chad Pennington. Jets -3

Bengals at Ravens
The Ravens offense still doesn't look very offensive. Hopefully not all of the Bengals have a court date. Bengals -2

Chiefs at Patriots
The Patriots haven't lost a regular season game since 2006, and their not about to lose this one. Patriots -16

Texans at Steelers
You just never know what to make of the Texans. We don't think the Steelers should have any problems in this one. Steelers -6.5

Jaguars at Titans
Will Vince Young progress or regress? Will David Garrard have another huge year? Should make for an interesting game. We think this one will be close. Jags win, but Titans +3

Lions at Falcons
Two teams that are always hard to figure. The Lions went 4-0 in the pre-season...that doesn't impress us. The Falcons had trouble scoring and that definitely made an impression. Lions -3

Seahawks at Bills
Seahawks were a big disappointment last season, while the Bills played rock 'em, sock 'em football. Seahawks +1

Bucs at Saints
The Saints were one of the biggest disappointments in '07. The Bucs lost a first round playoff match up with the Giants. Should be a good one, but the Bucs offense still stinks. Saints -3

Rams at Eagles
The Eagles, particularly Donovan McNabb, have a lot to prove. The Rams have even more to prove after a disappointing '07 season. We think this is too big of a spread for the Eagles to cover in week one, even at home. Rams +8

Cowboys at Browns
Cowboys think they should have been representing the NFC in last year's Super Bowl. The Browns came back from the dead early in the season and narrowly missed a playoff spot last year. Jamal Lewis is a game time decision. Cowboys - 5.5

Panthers at Chargers
The Chargers are looking to return to their 2006 form after not living up to last season's expectations. Jake Delhomme is back, which is great news for Panthers fans, but he won't have Steve Smith, suspended for two games after punching a teammate, to throw to this week. We think the Panthers defense can keep it close. Panthers +9

Cardinals at 49ers
Kurt Warner beat out Matt Leinart in AZ and T.J. O'Sullivan vanquished Alex Smith in San Fran. Cardinals -2.5

Bears at Colts
A rematch of Super Bowl XLI, but Kyle Orton gets the nod over Rex Grossman at QB. Not much of a difference. Peyton Manning is ready to go. Colts -9.5

Monday Night Football

Vikings at Packers
The post-Brett Favre era begins and the Packers are very happy not to be looking across the line of scrimmage at him this week. Aaron Rodgers should get his first open night win in this one. Packers -2.5

Broncos at Raiders
There's no reason to think there will be a lot of improvement in Oakland, while Denver and Jay Cutler look to attain the heights they fell short of last season. Broncos -3

NFL Picks - Week1

We were way off on the score, but correct in picking Big Blue to lay the points against the Redskins Thursday night. We really haven't been paying much attention to the pre-season games, so the early going could be rough. Do NOT, do NOT base any of your gambling on our picks.

Jets at Dolphins
The Brett Favre ERA/year begins in earnest. For one week, he'll look like a world beater. The Dolphins won't be significantly better than last year, even though their quarterback is one Chad Pennington. Jets -3

Bengals at Ravens
The Ravens offense still doesn't look very offensive. Hopefully not all of the Bengals have a court date. Bengals -2

Chiefs at Patriots
The Patriots haven't lost a regular season game since 2006, and their not about to lose this one. Patriots -16

Texans at Steelers
You just never know what to make of the Texans. We don't think the Steelers should have any problems in this one. Steelers -6.5

Jaguars at Titans
Will Vince Young progress or regress? Will David Garrard have another huge year? Should make for an interesting game. We think this one will be close. Jags win, but Titans +3

Lions at Falcons
Two teams that are always hard to figure. The Lions went 4-0 in the pre-season...that doesn't impress us. The Falcons had trouble scoring and that definitely made an impression. Lions -3

Seahawks at Bills
Seahawks were a big disappointment last season, while the Bills played rock 'em, sock 'em football. Seahawks +1

Bucs at Saints
The Saints were one of the biggest disappointments in '07. The Bucs lost a first round playoff match up with the Giants. Should be a good one, but the Bucs offense still stinks. Saints -3

Rams at Eagles
The Eagles, particularly Donovan McNabb, have a lot to prove. The Rams have even more to prove after a disappointing '07 season. We think this is too big of a spread for the Eagles to cover in week one, even at home. Rams +8

Cowboys at Browns
Cowboys think they should have been representing the NFC in last year's Super Bowl. The Browns came back from the dead early in the season and narrowly missed a playoff spot last year. Jamal Lewis is a game time decision. Cowboys - 5.5

Panthers at Chargers
The Chargers are looking to return to their 2006 form after not living up to last season's expectations. Jake Delhomme is back, which is great news for Panthers fans, but he won't have Steve Smith, suspended for two games after punching a teammate, to throw to this week. We think the Panthers defense can keep it close. Panthers +9

Cardinals at 49ers
Kurt Warner beat out Matt Leinart in AZ and T.J. O'Sullivan vanquished Alex Smith in San Fran. Cardinals -2.5

Bears at Colts
A rematch of Super Bowl XLI, but Kyle Orton gets the nod over Rex Grossman at QB. Not much of a difference. Peyton Manning is ready to go. Colts -9.5

Monday Night Football

Vikings at Packers
The post-Brett Favre era begins and the Packers are very happy not to be looking across the line of scrimmage at him this week. Aaron Rodgers should get his first open night win in this one. Packers -2.5

Broncos at Raiders
There's no reason to think there will be a lot of improvement in Oakland, while Denver and Jay Cutler look to attain the heights they fell short of last season. Broncos -3

This Week in the NFL - Championship Games

Wowee Wow Wow...wow, that sounded stupid. But the Giants are in the NFC Championship game for the first time since wiping up the Meadowlands with the Vikings in January, 2001.

Unfortunately, just as we did last week, we don't think the Giants are coming out on top in this one. And hopefully, we're wrong again. Between the cold and Brett Favre, we see the Packers winning it 24-20. Which also means we are taking the Giants and the 7 points.

We don't expect the AFC game to be competitive at all. Sure the Chargers will score some points, but we see a rout here. Patriots 41-23.

Lets just talk about backup QBs for a moment. Can you imagine if the NFC game came down to Jared Lorenzen and Aaron Rodgers? As the pics below attest, one looks like a bowling ball and the other should be holding a bong and a snowboard - or perhaps reprising the role of Frank Serpico in a movie sequel.































On a sad note, we just learned that Ernie Holmes, a member of Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain" back in the '70s, died in a car crash earlier today. He was just 59.

This Week in the NFL - Championship Games

Wowee Wow Wow...wow, that sounded stupid. But the Giants are in the NFC Championship game for the first time since wiping up the Meadowlands with the Vikings in January, 2001.

Unfortunately, just as we did last week, we don't think the Giants are coming out on top in this one. And hopefully, we're wrong again. Between the cold and Brett Favre, we see the Packers winning it 24-20. Which also means we are taking the Giants and the 7 points.

We don't expect the AFC game to be competitive at all. Sure the Chargers will score some points, but we see a rout here. Patriots 41-23.

Lets just talk about backup QBs for a moment. Can you imagine if the NFC game came down to Jared Lorenzen and Aaron Rodgers? As the pics below attest, one looks like a bowling ball and the other should be holding a bong and a snowboard - or perhaps reprising the role of Frank Serpico in a movie sequel.































On a sad note, we just learned that Ernie Holmes, a member of Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain" back in the '70s, died in a car crash earlier today. He was just 59.