The Crystal Ball 2008 The Wildcards

I’d make some pithy comment here, but it’s too big of a week. So big in fact that it’s taken so much time for me to figure it all out that I’m now way behind on a bunch of things and still late getting this to you, the gentle reader. Since we’ve got a bunch to get to, let’s dispense with the pleasantries and just dive right in.


Opening Kickoff

I feel this way at the end of every December. The end of season is here and I am sad. It’s always so exciting getting here seeing who makes the post season, and there’s still some thrilling football ahead of us. But the weekly buffet of NFL action is gone once again. Stadiums across the country sit empty, vacant and dark waiting until next fall for their gladiators to take the field once again and take part in the violent ballet that is professional football. Sigh, oh how I will miss it. But in the meantime, we still have eleven games left so let’s all cherish them.


Recap

They did it! They did it! Congratulations to the 2008 Detroit Lions for pulling of the unimaginable. They made it happen and captured the perfect season at 0-16! Sure, it was tough, they had some close games and a few crappy opponents that almost stopped the streak. But they persevered and now stand atop the mount of mediocrity. Congratulations boys, I am proud of you.

Boy, did Bill Cowher get fired up and take exception to the talk of Matt Ryan having the best season by a rookie quarterback ever. He almost jutted the chin and started letting spittle fly defending Big Ben. Not that I blame him. Ryan’s season was great, but Big Ben did go 13-0 and take the team to the AFC Championship game. It’s not the perfect season, but it’ll take a very special person to top that.

Bwha ha ha ha ha ha! The poor Patriots missed the post season. Oh, I’m still giddy about it! HA HA HA! Cheaters, how’s that karma taste?

Although I give them credit for pulling out the victory in the wind tunnel that was Ralph Wilson Stadium.

I’m willing to bet Dan Marino sweated out the end of the Saints game praying Drew Brees wouldn’t take another record from him. Brees came dang close, didn’t he Dan? Laces out DAN!

Ok, it’s official. The Buccaneers have no respect for themselves. In no coincidence, I have no respect for them either. How do you lose to Oakland, at home, with the playoffs on the line?

The Giants took it too easy in Minnesota. Guys, remember how you went into the playoffs last year, pumped up and on fire? Remember what happened in the playoffs when you did that? Guess what might not happen this year because you slacked off.

I’d say the Titans took it easy too, but you’d have to exert effort in order to slack off. They just outright lay down. I wonder how bad they’ll look in the first half of their playoff game after crapping the bed like that.

Oh, neck beard, where have you gone?

Really Mangini, you’re going to run a wildcat play with Favre as the receiver? Would ANYONE take that seriously other than Norv Turner?

Hmmm, I guess just going out and paying top dollar for a bunch of free agents doesn’t work. If only the Jets had other teams who did that as an example to show them it typically fails. Oh wait, they did in Washington and Dallas!

Speaking of such, who else just reveled in Philly putting the boots to Dallas? I absolutely loved it, and I’m not even an Eagle fan!

And if Jerry Jones is serious about keeping Wade Phillips on board, then he is dumber than I thought. If you want to justify every other bad thing about the Cowboys season in an effort to stick with Phillips, fine. But there is no way you can justify this. It’s the 4th quarter, the playoffs are on the line and the Cowboys have only a faint heartbeat of a chance of turning things around from the 44-3 deficit they currently face. It’s fourth down deep in Eagle territory, you need points and fast. What does Wade Phillips do? He sends out the field goal unit. A FIELD GOAL ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Your team is falling apart, your offense has given up two touchdowns, you need to do something drastic and you roll over and give up. It’s not embarrassing, it’s shameful. That alone should get him fired.


The Steel Pit

Let’s get the little stuff out of the way. The Steelers won, again. They pounded the Browns into submission again. They left Romeo Crennel with the dubious honor of being the only Cleveland coach to have never beat Pittsburgh. Tyrone Carter filled in admirably for Ryan Clark with an interception returned for a touchdown. Lawrence Timmons filled in nicely for James Harrison who was inactive and healing. Hines Ward grabbed his 800th career reception and had his fourth 1000 yard season. Willie Colon once again killed a drive with a boneheaded mistake, his new milieu. The defense pitched a shut out and Willie Parker got his groove back.

On the officiating side, I have just a few questions. How does an illegal motion offset roughing the kicker? Surely seems a bit unfair to me. How can you not call the holding penalty, or tell us who did it, but just throw the flag and recall the touchdown? Very sloppy work. Just as sloppy was the numerous times they corrected themselves on the penalty called or who actually committed it. You guys have a convention after every flag you can’t get your stories straight before turning on the microphones? And the worst was the incorrectly called incomplete pass, which was caught and fumbled by Cleveland, which negated a Pittsburgh defensive touchdown. If perhaps that score stood, a certain starter might have been pulled a bit early, and we would not have the next section.

Ok, now to the big stuff, mainly the one play at the end of the second quarter where Big Ben got his lunch handed to him. At first, it just looked like yet another pounding that Ben takes from improvising behind his questionable line. But when he would not get up, you could feel the air leave the stadium.

The team, coaches and fans all held their breath as the franchise quarterback laid there. And the announcers replayed the hit again, he got smacked high and low and his head bounced off the turf like a basketball. They kept maintaining the hit was clean, and the hit was. But the part where both Brown defenders drove him into the turf surely was not. Once again, I’m going to keep screaming this until Goodell and his minions listen. WHERE WAS THE PENALTY? They drove him into the turf, which has been repeatedly said from the league offices as a penalty drawing no no. But for the umpteenth time this season, the referees did not call that penalty.

Goodell, you can pass out fines like candy all you want, but until you get all your referees to start consistently calling those penalties it means nothing. If you are truly serious about protecting quarterbacks, then do it. Lip service does nothing but make laughable sound bites.

Everyone at and watching the game came close to coronaries when they saw the cart come out, the backboard and neck brace attached to Roethlisberger and the never good sign of the face mask being unscrewed from the helmet. But as they drove Big Ben off the field and he gave the thumbs up, you could feel the relief emanate from the stadium. And I mean literally, and I was not even near the field.

Mercifully it came out that Roethlisberger just suffered a concussion. So luckily the man’s life and long term health were not in jeopardy and the team’s medical staff just went for the ultra cautious. But watching something like that, it just puts your stomach into your throat. Here’s hoping Big Ben heals nicely, is back to his old self and contemplating what motorcycle he wants to buy when he retires 15 years from now in no time.

The team practiced this week, minus of course Ben who just observed and worked on getting his bell un-rung. Tomlin gave them the weekend off and they will relax, rehab, heal and prepare for next week when they find out who will be coming to Pittsburgh.


NFL The Alternative Universe

For their season finale, the 49ers grew mustaches as part of a throwback look. The team wore throwback uniforms and decided to add the facial fuzz as a tribute to a very manly look that has gone away in recent years. Perhaps other teams should pay attention, the 49ers won.

Terrell Davis on NFL Network’s Total access called Terrell Owens a cancer to the Cowboys. Talk about stating the obvious. 49er and Eagle fans figured that out years ago.

Larry Johnson wants out of Kansas City. Just a rat wanting to leave the sinking ship.

Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington won the NFL Comeback Player of the year award. This marks the second time Chad captured this honor. Perhaps Chad’s next team should be the Lions as the man seems to have cat lives.

Peyton Manning won his 3rd MVP award. Look, I like Manning and he has held the team together well. But it bugs me that those who vote for this and other awards seem to think the only players who can be that valuable to a team start and stop at quarterbacks and running backs. Guys, seriously there are 53 players on a team and usually only about 5 or 6 are quarterbacks and running backs.

According to Jerome Bettis, Bill Cowher wants to coach a team with a solid quarterback. Not surprising he would want such a thing. It took him 12 years to get that in Pittsburgh, and it marked the first time he had actual playoff success. But what a dumb statement, what coach would not want that? But I hate to point out the obvious, but if a team has a solid quarterback, they’re probably successful and are not in the market for a new coach.


Upon Further Review

The big discussion this week has to do with playing starters in end of the season games that have no playoff implication. Of course this discussion came about when Ben Roethlisberger was pasted to the Heinz field turf and carted off the field on a back brace. Immediately, the discussion started about playing starters in these types of games, how foolish it can be and the possible consequences that could come from it for player, his long term health and the team’s playoff future.

No one ever wants to see a player injured, and never when it looks as frightening as Big Ben’s injury did. Mercifully for him, it was merely a concussion and the training staff was just taking extra safety precautions. But that is a part of the game of football. The players accept it and have since they first donned pads many years ago. The teams expect it, which is why there are always backups ready to play. And the fans expect it. The violence of the game is one of the attractive parts for fans. We love the collisions and hard hits. None of these people ever think actively of the ramifications of these hits, until we see that cart come out. Then, it all comes back into a sobering reality.

But no matter if the game is preseason or the Super Bowl, these things can happen, and do every week. But the question every talking head kept putting forth afterwards was why was Ben playing in a meaningless game? Meaningless game? The phrase has been repeated often this week and to be honest, it ticks me off.

I don’t care what anyone says, there is no such thing as a meaningless game. If you feel that way, you reduce the meaning of any game, including the so called “important ones”. If you truly believe in the concept of meaningless games in which you hold out starters to avoid injuries and save them for more important contests, then perhaps we should start weighing NFL wins and losses upon arbitrary strength of schedule and strength of victory criteria like the NCAA instead of actual wins and losses. And if you ignore those things and believe in meaningless games, then perhaps we should look at the NFL like baseball, basketball and hockey and care just enough during the season to make the playoffs, and then show real interest. If these games are so meaningless, then start charging accordingly and giving fans a price break on tickets, parking, concessions and souvenirs when they trudge out into the cold, snow, rain or wind to root and cheer for their team to win these “meaningless” contests.

Yeah, if Pittsburgh lost to the Browns it would have no impact on their playoff seeding. But do you want your team tanking ever, no matter the reason? Crappy teams hoping to get a better draft position, put your hands down.

The one fact everyone has overlooked is that if Ben had not gotten hurt, this discussion would not even exist. And if he had been hurt in the Tennessee game, or the Baltimore game or the New England game before that, everyone would have focused on his health and not why he was out there. You want to know why? Because he’s Pittsburgh’s franchise quarterback, one of the best players on their team. He’s the reason they have recently won a Super Bowl, and he gives them the best chance to win games and capture another championship. They pay him to be a big time quarterback and with that position come big time risks.

You can argue this point until the end of time, and I believe it will be. Each year something like this will happen and the discussion will rear its ugly head yet again. But I maintain that no game is meaningless. If it is, if they mean nothing, then I want the NFL to acknowledge it in the form of lower prices for meaningless contests and less pay for star players who sit out these games. Until then everyone shut up, accept the risks involved for EVERY player not just the stars but also the all important role players, and let them and the coaches do what they get paid so well to do, play and coach football to win.


Super Bust Recap

Well, we’re at the end of the season, so it’s time to check in with our choices for this year’s Super Bust. As always, or at least until Roger Goodell starts fully funking with the Pro Bowl, the Super Bust will be played between the conference championships and the Super Bowl. So, how did our pre season choices do?

AFC – The New England Patriots finished the season with a record of 11-5 and second place in the AFC East. Unfortunately, The Colts finished 12-4 and grabbed the first wild card spot and the Ravens finished 11-5 and grabbed the second and final wild card bid. This leaves New England in an unfamiliar position, home for the playoffs. But luckily for us, it frees them up to make the trip to Las Vegas and the Super Bust!

NFC – The Dallas Cowboys started off the season on fire, as if needing to prove they did not belong in our beloved Super Bust. Ahhh, but deep down, we all knew it was only a matter of time before all of those nutty personalities crashed and burned. And it was and it was beautiful. The combo of poor coaching by Wade Phillips, an overrated Jason Garrett, Pacman being Pacman, Romo collapsing in December, and of course the incomparable TO being led by enabler numero uno Jerry Jones combined to make a potent brew that boiled over into a mess that fell apart at the end of the season and blew playoff chances at least three times. Just fantastic. That sort of egomaniacal dysfunction will go over wonderfully in Sin City.

Wow, look, both preseason favorites to make the Super Bowl did not even make the playoffs! This one was too easy. I told you so, never trust pre season predictions! We’ll see these two teams again in a few weeks for the main event before the main event! Stay tuned….


He Said He Said

“Obviously I didn’t do a good enough job.” – Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden

Well, since you dropped your last 4 games because of your rapidly aging defense which you have done little over the past 5 years to fortify, yeah, you didn’t do a good enough job. And haven’t for quite some time. It’s becoming more evident that Gruden won that Super Bowl with Tony Dungy’s team.


"A lot has not been said about Favre." – CBS announcer Phil Simms during the Dolphins/Jets game.

This is true. Like, I don’t know what kind of bicycle Favre had in 5th grade. Simms, be lucky bigger idiots reared their head this week otherwise for that statement you would have been the hands down winner.


"If you're going to worry about getting guys hurt, play tennis. It's so unplanned, so chaotic out there. If you're worried about that, you shouldn't be out there.''- CBS analyst Steve Tasker, speaking in advance regarding criticism of the Steelers for playing Ben Roethlisberger.
Agreed. And considering Pittsburgh’s offensive line, the real surprise is that this didn’t happen sooner.


"The coaches are in place. How can I be any clearer ... Look, can y'all not understand statements? What the [expletive] is going on here? The coaching staff is in place. The coaching staff is in place.''

"I'm taking everyone to the woodshed. Everyone,''- Dallas owner Jerry Jones trying desperately to defer criticism regarding his current coaching staff.

Jerry, if you want to take anyone to the woodshed start with yourself. Because your enabling ways are what have been on display this year, and the years preceding leading to your 10 + years without a playoff win. Jimmy Johnson isn’t looking so bad now, is he?


"I had a blast working with these guys. It was a lot of fun.'' – Favres QB Brett Favre

Obviously, that feeling is not mutual.


“This is us. We own this. We did this. So man up.'' - Former Lions head coach Rod Marinelli

We can make fun of the Lions until the end of time, but Marinelli has one trait I would beg to see more in this world. He has personal responsibility for his actions, which is rare.


“This is the NFL: I bet more people in America picked Dallas and New England to play in the Super Bowl -- and neither made the playoffs.” – SI.com’s Peter King

Hee hee I didn’t Peter. As a matter of fact, I picked them to not make the Super Bowl. So does that make me a genius or just more observant than those who do this for a living? Hmmmm, I’ll go with choice B.


"I almost can't believe it. It's surreal. Like, did it happen? But this is what people have been waiting for, I guess. Very sad. Very disappointing.'' – Lions kicker Jason Hanson

No Jason, it’s miraculous and brilliant! Your team will be famous forever! Revel in it. As embarrassing as it is, at least it’s memorable!


"I've had a lot worse happen to me than a loss in a sporting event, that's for sure. If this is the worst thing that ever happens to me, then I've led a pretty good life." – Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo

Ummm, Tony, I tend to agree. But perhaps when it comes to football and Cowboy fans, you should perhaps attempt to take a less macrocosm-esque look at the events that define your life.


Ring around the Rosie

Well, the season has come, at least for some, to a jarring yet merciful end. And with that, the coaching carousal has started spinning once again.

The big name this off season has been one Bill Cowher, who has been linked so far to at least two different jobs, and perhaps up to four. Whether someone lands him has yet to be seen, but I think Cowher will keep himself out of the running for perhaps even this season. Who has enough money to bribe the Chin to come out of retirement and away from his sweet gig playing 5th banana to Shannon Sharpe, Boomer Esiason and a constantly bitter Dan Marino?

So, let’s take a look at what we know this week.


Oakland – since Al Davis’ bizarre dismissal of Lane Kiffin, the Raiders have been running with Tom Cable as their head coach. Ironically, they’ve done well with Cable, but as Al is Al, they have not named him the new head coach. In my opinion, this could possibly be the dumbest thing Davis has done, and that’s saying a lot. I mean, honestly who is going to take this job otherwise?

St. Louis – Perhaps a team in even worse shape than Oakland, the Rams have employed Jim Haslett as their interim coach. And while they did get an initial boost with Haslett, afterward they received the same sort of quality Haslett employed in New Orleans. Obviously St. Louis has spread their search but so far no one had bitten.

San Francisco – Wisely, the 49ers named interim coach Mike Singletary their new head coach. The trousers incident not withstanding, I say wisely because the once proud San Francisco team finished 5-2 under Singletary. While it is no guarantee, it is hope for the future.

Cleveland – Oh, Browns ownership cleaned house. Not only did they fire Romeo Crennel, but also GM Phil Savage. Like many teams, they are after Patriots GM Scott Pioli, who has yet to say one word about his availability. Initially, the Browns reached out to former Brown assistant and player Bill Cowher, who shut them down almost immediately. They also reached out to Atlanta’s Rich McKay regarding their GM position, and he did the same. Apparently, the poor Browns can get no respect.

In an embarrassing moment, now former head coach Romeo Crennel said he would be willing to stay on and work with whatever coach they hired to replace him. Romeo, show some pride. If you wish to stay in the NFL, find a job elsewhere; don’t scrap for the leftovers the team that canned you is willing to dish out! No wonder the Browns suck.

Now, news has come out that the Browns are talking to recently deposed Jets coach Eric Mangini, Yeah, good call there go from one failed former Patriot assistant to another. You cannot say it enough, no wonder the Browns suck.

Detroit – Predictably, the Lions fired Rod Marinelli. But what else did anyone expect? Yes, Rod owned up to the team’s dismal performance, but that is not enough for one to keep his job. So far, Detroit has yet to find a replacement for Marinelli or the open GM position. Lion fans, it seems horrible right now but always remember it’s darkest just before the dawn. And I just cannot see how things could get much darker. Unless the team went 0-16 next year too…

New York Favres – They may revert to being the Jets next season, but it will be without Eric Mangini. After watching the team go from 8-3 and on top of the NFL heap to 9-7 and sitting home, Jets ownership tossed Mangini on the scrap heap. They have already had a brief flirtation with Bill Cowher, but The Chin prefers his own personnel man so discussions have gone nowhere.

Denver – In the surprise move of the off season thus far, Denver fired Mike Shanahan. But if you break it down, it’s really not that surprising. Consider over the last 10 years since the Broncos Super Bowl win The Ultimate Leader thought it would be best to change defensive coordinators like underwear, that Cleveland’s defensive line cast offs would be an upgrade, that dressing anyone at running back would be a good long term plan, and that he went with Cutler way too early. Come on, anyone could see that even if Jay would be good, he wasn’t ready to lead the team through a playoff push. If it weren’t for Elway and Terrell Davis, he probably would have been gone much sooner.

Denver has met with Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and new Buccaneer defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, a rising star in the NFL coaching landscape.

Kansas City – GM Carl Peterson stepped down before the end of the season. So far Herm Edwards has remained at his post. But if KC hires a GM with any sense, they’ll get a new coach.

Indianapolis – Indy is the first of our two predetermined changes, where the current head coach planned to step down after the season. However, Dungy has recently said he will take the first week of the off season to sit down and decide what he would like to do, which sounds like someone enjoyed the challenge this season and may want to ride the roller coaster again. We’ll monitor this one.

Seattle – Our second predetermined change, Seattle closed out the season as though Mike Holmgren would be walking. But through the first week of the off season, no official retirement announcement has been made and Seattle has shown no public signs of a head coach hunt or a promotion of assistant head coach Jim Mora Jr. On the radar…


Idiot of the week

Oh, we’ve got a great one here. This week, for the final regular season idiot, we’re not going with the Lions, Marinelli, Denver for blowing their playoff chances or Cleveland. No, this week the final honor goes to Brett Favre.

Yeah, you could give it to him for the nonsense about his injured shoulder, and not knowing his own limits and putting the game in the hands of Thomas Jones. For that matter you could give it to Mangini for the same reasons. Or you could give it to the 100,000, but dwindling, Favre apologists who have now started reporting breathlessly on Favre’s condition and off season plans. Or back to Favre for once again, for the umpteenth season, stating he will take a few weeks to mull things over before deciding about his future. Wow, never heard that before.

No, Favre wins for pulling the trifecta of ticking off three, count em three, different teams and fan bases.

First, he ticked off Green Bay. Now, at any point up until last June he could have kept his job in Green Bay and his status as a semi deity. No, he had to be wishy washy regarding retirement and his desire to play. He goaded Packer management into making a choice between him and Rodgers and once they did then pushed them into looking foolish for sticking by their guns and dumping him. Thus forcing the good Packer fans to have to side between team loyalty and Favre loyalty. I’m sure this caused more than a few bitter arguments during holiday meals in Wisconsin this year, and left no one happy.

Then, he ticked off New York. Oh, not right away. No, they were pleased as punch at first and talking playoffs before snap one occurred. Heck, at one point everyone was thinking Super Bowl. But I warned Jet fans and teammates that Favre would eventually screw them with one of his patented game killing interceptions. My cup runneth over with that prediction. Now Jet fans are wondering what happened, and sitting home pissed off as they watch the cast off Chad Pennington lead the Dolphins into the playoffs. And Jet teammates are sniping at him in the press and on the radio.

And third, and certainly not least, he ticked off New England. Even though they had lowered expectations without Tom Terrific, the Patriots put together a pretty good season. Unfortunately, thanks to some bad losses and excellent play by Miami, New England needed the Jets to beat the Dolphins in the season finale to make the playoffs. So every member of the team and all their fans were forced to watch New York, who had nothing to play for as soon as Baltimore scored their first touchdown, try to beat the Dolphins who were amped up and had everything to play for with a broken Favre and the terrible Mangini. You think that didn’t anger everyone in the New England area? You think Belichick didn’t take copious notes? He’s already shown a propensity for enjoying spanking the Jets. How do you think it’s gonna go down now?

So for not knowing your limits, angering three teams and their fans, ruining your legacy for fleeting glory and destroying almost every bit of goodwill you’ve ever built up in the span of 7 months, Brett Favre you are an idiot.


Taking the Week Off

One last entry for this segment before it slips into the ether, only to return in next fall like an old friend visiting after many moons.

Titans – Worshiping at the altar of Kerry Collins that they will not need to depend on Vince “I need to grow up before I become Michael Vick” Young to win a playoff game.

Steelers – Mike Tomlin is personally administering every concussion test known to man, and inventing a few, to Ben Roethlisberger in hopes that he will maintain the party line and be ready for the playoffs. Mostly in hope that not only can the team win, but also that he does not get raked over the coals again for playing Big Ben in a “meaningless” game.

Giants – Keeping every available eye on Brandon Jacobs just to make sure nothing, and I mean NOTHING, happens to him.

Panthers – Making sure Steve Smith doesn’t get angry and take it out on a teammate, especially DeAngelo Williams.


On Tap This Week

Well, the season is over. How did I do?

Last week 11-5
Season Finale 164 - 100

Unfortunately, it was not enough to win my tournament. But how did I compare to the “professional” prognosticators? Oh, we have to take a look.

Comparing me to the “experts” at Fox Sports.com, the only one to beat me was Jay Glazer, who had 170 wins. But Jay is an NFL insider animal, and has managed to be at the forefront of almost every big story this season. So I do not feel bad about losing to him. The others should be mortally embarrassed to lose to a no one like me.

Going up against those at ESPN.com, well I did slightly worse. I came in 4th behind Fleming, Mortensen and the winner Merrill Hoge. But Merrill played for the Steelers, so that’s a win in my book.

I’d love to include a comparison to Peter King, or anyone else, at Sports Illustrated. But after spending a half hour doing numerous online searches of their website, oddly enough the only predictions I could find involved the wild card weekend. Hmmm, tell me SI.com, what do you have to hide? The fact that your name dropping, Hall of Fame voting, kiss ass MVP awarding, Favre gushing “experts” are no better than the average fan with an observant eye and an ounce of common sense? We already know that, show us their season totals for picks won and lost!

Once again, the fact that I competed so well against these so called experts with inside knowledge tells me two things. One, no one can predict how a season will go. And two, if most of these cats cannot compete with me and I have no inside knowledge, then how come no one has given me a job yet? I know some mysteries have yet to be solved but I certainly hope this does not fall into that realm.

Before we go on, I maintain I made these picks prior to any games being played. So if I should get them right, call it a brilliant pick. And if I get them wrong, well then obviously I did it without prior knowledge of the embarrassment I would suffer.

Oh boy the playoffs are here! How exciting, is it not??? This weekend is full of fun matchups, including two that feature rookie quarterbacks and head coaches. Woof, almost enough to make ones head spin!


Saturday


Atlanta (11-5) at Arizona (9-7)

I have read and heard plenty of arguments for and against each team. Most notably that Atlanta has a rookie head coach and quarterback on the road when the team had merely a 4-4 road record this season and Arizona had a 6-2 home record. But only one statistic means anything to me. Six of Arizona’s nine wins came against NFC West opponents, and that’s nothing to brag about.

Atlanta over Arizona


Indianapolis (12-4) at San Diego (8-8)

We could go into a big discussion about each team, San Diego’s ability to play Indy tough, Peyton’s difficulty against 3-4 defenses or even the Chargers recent winning streak. But all I need to determine this game is two words, Norv Turner. Enough said.

Colts over Chargers


Sunday


Baltimore (11-5) at Miami (11-5)

I love Miami’s moxie, and the fact that Joey Porter gets the team all worked up enough to win. But Baltimore already beat the crap out of them at home. And I’m sorry but I see nothing that makes me believe that things should be different this time around.

Ravens over Dolphins


Philadelphia (9-6-1) at Minnesota (10-6)

I hate this game. Minnesota is nothing without Adrian Peterson and right now he has a gimpy ankle. But I just cannot trust a team that tied the Bungles. So who to go with? Ugh, I have no idea. Unfortunately I have no choice but to choose. This time, I’ll make a home pick and hope that Brad Childress makes less bad calls than Andy Reid. As long as he gives the ball to a banged up Peterson as opposed to a healthy Tarvaris Jackson, I should be ok.

Vikings over Eagles