There are four NFL playoff games this weekend. And for the first time in several years, they all seem pretty straight-forward…..yeah right! Except for first one, they all have a bit of risk. But I am giving it a shot anyways. Wanna hear it? This is how it goes.





1. Tennessee (-1) over BALTIMORE

Before watching last Sunday night’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, it was obvious that the Steelers were not going to let Jamal Lewis get the rushing records against them. So what did they do? They stacked the line with at least 8 guys and most times 9, and Jamal Lewis only ran for 114 yards. So that forced Anthony Wright to put the ball in the air, which is not a good thing. Against a team that had 8 guys on the line of scrimmage, Wright only passed for 163 yards. His accuracy is horrible!! What is going happen when he has Keith Bullock or The Freak breathing down his neck and facing a Dime coverage? Bad things man, bad things….

That is why I am predicting the Tennessee Titans to prevail over the Baltimore Ravens.




2. INDIANAPOLIS (-3) over Denver

Sooner or later Peyton Manning has to win the big one. No, no, no….not the Super Bowl or the MVP. Just a bloody playoff game. As great of a season as he is having this year, I still believe somewhere in his mind, between now and game time and perhaps during the game, he will remember. He will remember his last playoff game. That last playoff game when he lost 41-0. The game that firmly attached that choker label. Whether rightly or wrongly, he has been blamed for his team failures and that will continue until he wins at least one playoff game. It is a given that he will remember, but what is more important, can he forget long enough to win.

I am sticking with Manning and I think he will do it, along with his idiot kicker. Plus I do not trust Jake Plummer on the road.





3. CAROLINA (-3) over Dallas

Bill Simmons of ESPN Page 2 fame has Playoff Commandments. And commandment #1 is: Never, ever, EVER back a lousy QB on the road.

That’s all I ever have to hear. I do not need to find out if that is factually correct. I KNOW it is correct. 3 words: Music City Miracle. The playoff game between the Tennessee Titans and my favourite team, the Buffalo Bills. Idiot Head Coach (Wade Phillips) benched Doug Flutie who carried the team to the playoffs, in favour of Rob “Let us pretend that I am on a surfboard and fall down again” Johnson. I actually broke two commandments that morning before the game started. I bet on my team, the Bills. And I bet that a crappy quarterback would beat the Titans on the road. And we all know what happened. I was punished and I deserved it.

Time to get to the point as to why I am reliving my troubled past. Dallas is visiting Carolina, and we all know Dallas has a…ahem….inconsistent QB in Quincy Carter. And we all know Carolina has a deadly defense, especially at home. Let us do the math:

Bad road Quarterback + Very good home Defense = A victory for the home team.

But one must not forget the following variables:

1. Carolina’s Quarterback is crap
2. Dallas’ defense is damn good
3. Parcells is a better Coach than Fox

Adding these variables makes the prior equation non equitable. So really I have no idea who I am going to pick. The better all-around team is Carolina so I will stick with them.




4. Seattle (+7) over GREEN BAY

I called Bill Simmons personally and he gave me his blessing to post part of his article on my site. I am also banking on that Mr. Simmons is not reading this article. But time to take a chance:

....Rule No. 4 applies: "Don't bet heavily against Brett Favre under any circumstances." The rule was dormant for most of the season ... and then ... well, you know.
And yes, something strange is happening here. You can feel it. Remember two years ago, after Sweetness died, when the Bears started winning those goofy games where safeties were returning interceptions for touchdowns in overtime? Aren't you getting that same karmic feeling with the Packers right now? I don't know ... I believe in this stuff sometimes. It's enough to make you forget that Mike Sherman is coaching the team, which is the football equivalent of the movie ad slogan "From the demented mind of Danny DeVito."


Does Brett Favre have enough good karma to cover a touchdown spread?
But I think Rule No. 10 also applies here: "At least one, and possibly two, underdogs will cover every weekend."
Right now, I have all the favourites. Not good. Given that Green Bay's winning streak was against Chicago, San Diego, Oakland and a DOA Broncos team, and given that the Seahawks won an impressive game in San Fran and played tight games in Baltimore, Cincy and St. Louis during the last two months, the line just seems high to me. Both teams can move the ball. Both teams make mistakes. That's usually a recipe for a good game. At the very least, the 'Hawks could cover on a cheap TD.
Either way, I wouldn't wager heavily on this one. But since 11-0 is at stake...

The Pick: Packers 31, Seahawks 28.......



What he said.



For the first time ever, I have agreed with all of his playoff picks. So we know what that means. We will both go 0 for 4 and vomit in our mouths.