Divisional Weekend Picks

I suppose it could have been worse--I was two for four picking winners duirng Wild Card weekend, but the only one that peeves me is SEA's sucker punch of NO. So I gave it another go this week at PocketDoppler.com:


Steelers over Ravens – When I’m recording the Packers Therapy podcast, I usually have a TV on, tuned to whatever game is playing. The last time these two teams met, it was the featured game while we were recording. That contest was so brutal, so compelling that I listened even less to Dave’s bizarre ramblings and was sucked into the horror that was unfolding in front of me. So I suspect the winner of this rematch will be the orthopedic surgeons for each team–they should be plenty busy after the game. The winner on the score board is a much more difficult call. While BAL impressed me with their strong game v. KC, and Joe Flacco appeared better than I recall him looking in the past, I give the edge to PIT as they are playing at home and have the better QB. Most importantly, they are coming off a bye week, and I think that will be enough to give them the win over the Ravens.

Patriots over Jets – I have a hunch that these two teams don’t like each other. The advance rhetoric has been intense, setting the stage for what I expect to be a disappointing game. Yes, that’s right: Disappointing. I think NE is just a far better team than NYJ, so I expect them to win convincingly. That’s not to say that the Jets can’t soar past and punk the Pats (they certainly can) but their public utterances suggest a team that is trying to pump itself up, possibly because they don’t really believe in themselves. NE is coming off a bye, playing at home, and has Coach Poindexter — he of the greasy hair and natty, cut-off hoodie — on the sidelines. I just don’t see Buddy’s Boy having an answer for that. Well, unless they somehow form a wall and trip every Patriot this side of Ben Franklin.

Packers over Falcons – Sorry, Packers fans: I’m picking our team to win again this week. I apologize for having to do this, but my ample gut says GB can win. I am picking the Pack because I thought they were the better team when these two teams played in late November. I realize the Falcons are coming off a bye and, once again, playing at home. But the Packers appear improved over the past six weeks, and given they only lost by three last time, I don’t think it’s out of the question that they could surprise ATL this time around. At some point, GB will cave to the unrelenting pressure of a string of elimination games. But I don’t think it will be this week.

Bears over Seahawks – I tisk-tisked SEA’s chances v.  the defending Super Bowl Champions last week, and I think I was right to do so. What I failed to take into account is the Bears uncanny luck. Of course SEA won–that gave CHI the easiest possible path to the NFC Championship Game, playing a team with a losing record at home coming off a bye week. It’s another reason why GB will probably win–because that will allow the Bears to play at home for the right to go to the Super Bowl. I am sticking with my theory that the Staleys have made a Faustian Bargain that will allow them to play (and get ceremoniously disemboweled by) the Patriots in DAL next month. The first step along that Highway to Hell is to dispatch the Seahawks this weekend.