Well, the regular season has come to an end, yet again. I finished off the season with a rather mediocre 9-7, but had a grand total of 161-95. I had a 63% success rate in my picks, which is roughly the same as last year, which was just at 61%. So a bit of improvement! Yay!
I also managed to pick the playoffs pretty well last year, so here's hoping I continue. At any rate, here is my initial playoff picture picks.
AFC:
#1 New England & #2 Pittsburgh both have byes in the first round. But we still have some great games on tap.
#6 Jets at #3 Colts.
This has the makings for a great game, depending one which of the teams in the game decides to show up. Colts are always exciting to watch, but have had some inconsistency due to the massive amounts of injuries this season. The Jets have been scary in their own inconsistency this year, and you just can't be inconsistent against Peyton Manning. I think the Colts get the better of things in this one.
#5 Ravens at #4 Chiefs.
First, hats off to Todd Haley and the coaching staff of the Kansas City Chiefs. They took the Chiefs from being one of those circle games, games you circle on your schedule at the beginning of the year because you're fairly positive that you could play horribly and still win by 2 touchdowns, to being a tough team to play against. That being said, I don't know that they'll be able to stick around with the all around skill and toughness of the Ravens. This will be a very close, low scoring game, but I think the Ravens squeak this one out.
NFC
#1 Falcons and #2 Bears both have byes.
#6 Packers @ #3 Eagles.
This should be one of the best games in the whole playoffs. The Packers managed to recover from a down slide, and a couple Aaron Rodgers concussions to play their way into the playoffs. The Eagles have definitely been the most exciting team to watch, thanks largely in part to Michael Vick, with a bit of help from DeShawn Jackson. The Packers aren't flashy, but they can get the job done. I tell ya, I really don't know which way to go with this one. I think I'm going to go with the Eagles because you just never know what Michael Vick can do. He's pretty much permanently in my dog house, pun intended, but you can't deny that the guy has had an awesome year.
#5 Saints @ #4 Seahawks
You have to admire Pete Carroll and his reaction to all the people saying that a 7-9 team doesn't deserve to be in the playoffs. "Get over it." Gotta love it. And I agree, just get over it folks. They won their division, they're in the playoffs. I don't care their record, and you can not like it as much as you want, but division winners, however poor their record is, deserve to have a playoff game. Rest assured though, they'll get creamed by the Saints in this one. Saints should win a laugher, but you never know. That's why they play the game, as Chris Berman loves to say.
So, the divisional rounds should look like this.
AFC
#5 Ravens @ #1 Patriots
#3 Colts @ #2 Steelers
NFC
#5 Saints @ #1 Falcons
#3 Eagles @ #2 Bears
Should be a good week! Let's see what we get!
Showing posts with label Playoffs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Playoffs. Show all posts
Monday, January 3, 2011
Friday, January 15, 2010
Divisional Playoffs!
After a crazy wild card weekend, what are we going to see in the divisional round? Hopefully we will still see some awesome football!! How will the Colts and Saints do after both ending the regular season on losing streaks? Has the bye week helped? We shall see! Here are my picks for the weekend!
AFC:
#6 Baltimore @ #1 Indianapolis: I tell you what, I don't care how good the Ravens are, and they are quite good, Peyton Manning has done nothing but prove that if you bet against him, he'll burn you! So, I'm not going to bet against him. The Colts came from behind in 7 games during the regular season, against good teams. I don't see any reason that they will stumble. Colts.
#5 NY Jets @ #2 San Diego: This could be a deceptively good game, but probably not that good. Is this the year that the Chargers and Norv Turner finally get over the hump and prove that they can actually win the big games? Well, I don't really see the Jets stopping them at this particular juncture in the road. But you never know, I picked against the Jets last week and get torched, I think that it is quite possible that it can happen again if they manage to keep the Chargers receivers at bay. People always say you have to start with LT, and that used to be true, but LT is old and not anywhere near what he used to be. Now, you have to stop Rivers and the passing game. Don't get me wrong, I despise Phillip Rivers. He is a mouthy little punk who has always gotten expectations up, but then choked when it counts, but I think that he and the Chargers are too much this time around.
NFC:
#4 Arizona @ #1 New Orleans: Now here is a very interesting game. Arizona is deceptive in how good they are. Their defense is far better than most people give them credit for. They managed to confuse a lot of good offenses this year. We all know how explosive the Saints are, but we have also seen that they don't always play a full game. This is a case where, if they only play one half of the game, they won't win. This is a really tough one. I'm going to pick the Saints because, in every single game where they faced difficult and high quality opponents, they came out firing on all cylinders and never let up. This is definitely one of those situations, and I think that the whole team recognizes that. I'll take the Saints, but if they don't play the whole game, don't be shocked if Arizona pulls an upset.
#3 Dallas vs. #2 Minnesota: Another really good game. This is a tough one to pick because there are so many factors. Can Romo stay consistent in the playoffs for the first time in his career? Which Brett Favre is going to show up? Which defense will be the first to make a huge play? All of those things are going to affect the game. This is another one of those ones where it won't surprise me if either team wins. I'm going to take Minnesota because I believe that they are more complete on both sides of the ball, but if Dallas's defense is able to make a couple of big plays and either score, or give the offense a really short field, don't be shocked for Dallas to pull an upset here.
Tough choices, and yes, I am picking all of the home teams. Nonetheless, we are all in for another great weekend of football! Next week, the conference championships!! Let me know your picks!
AFC:
#6 Baltimore @ #1 Indianapolis: I tell you what, I don't care how good the Ravens are, and they are quite good, Peyton Manning has done nothing but prove that if you bet against him, he'll burn you! So, I'm not going to bet against him. The Colts came from behind in 7 games during the regular season, against good teams. I don't see any reason that they will stumble. Colts.
#5 NY Jets @ #2 San Diego: This could be a deceptively good game, but probably not that good. Is this the year that the Chargers and Norv Turner finally get over the hump and prove that they can actually win the big games? Well, I don't really see the Jets stopping them at this particular juncture in the road. But you never know, I picked against the Jets last week and get torched, I think that it is quite possible that it can happen again if they manage to keep the Chargers receivers at bay. People always say you have to start with LT, and that used to be true, but LT is old and not anywhere near what he used to be. Now, you have to stop Rivers and the passing game. Don't get me wrong, I despise Phillip Rivers. He is a mouthy little punk who has always gotten expectations up, but then choked when it counts, but I think that he and the Chargers are too much this time around.
NFC:
#4 Arizona @ #1 New Orleans: Now here is a very interesting game. Arizona is deceptive in how good they are. Their defense is far better than most people give them credit for. They managed to confuse a lot of good offenses this year. We all know how explosive the Saints are, but we have also seen that they don't always play a full game. This is a case where, if they only play one half of the game, they won't win. This is a really tough one. I'm going to pick the Saints because, in every single game where they faced difficult and high quality opponents, they came out firing on all cylinders and never let up. This is definitely one of those situations, and I think that the whole team recognizes that. I'll take the Saints, but if they don't play the whole game, don't be shocked if Arizona pulls an upset.
#3 Dallas vs. #2 Minnesota: Another really good game. This is a tough one to pick because there are so many factors. Can Romo stay consistent in the playoffs for the first time in his career? Which Brett Favre is going to show up? Which defense will be the first to make a huge play? All of those things are going to affect the game. This is another one of those ones where it won't surprise me if either team wins. I'm going to take Minnesota because I believe that they are more complete on both sides of the ball, but if Dallas's defense is able to make a couple of big plays and either score, or give the offense a really short field, don't be shocked for Dallas to pull an upset here.
Tough choices, and yes, I am picking all of the home teams. Nonetheless, we are all in for another great weekend of football! Next week, the conference championships!! Let me know your picks!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Ah what a wonderful Sunday!
Amazing first round of the playoffs that we had in the NFL. Arizona and Green Bay just scored again, by the way. What an amazing game that was! But the greatest thing, for me anyways, was the absolute beat down that the New England Patriots got today.
I think that the best part about all of this is that people will finally see the Patriots for what they actually are. Old, and mediocre. Is Brady still a good Quarterback? Sure, but he is far from the God-like player that they make him out to be. He was weak in pressure situations this year, and made a decent amount of bad decisions and bad throws. You saw some of the bad throws today, like his first interception where he under threw his receiver by, oh I dunno, 10 yards! The defense is slow and was completely dominated today. They are just plain old!
My favorite thing, of course, comes at the end of the game. After they have had their rear ends handed to them, what is the picture we see? Bellichick making the barely contacting handshake before sulking off the field. Randy Moss and Tom Brady tucking their tails between their legs and not acknowledging anybody from the other team as the go to cry in their lockers. A team's true colors are always shown in the most agonizing moments because it is easy to be classy and say the right things when you win (not that Randy Moss has ever been a classy guy). But it is hard to go across the field to the guy who just kicked you in the teeth and told you to like it and congratulate them on a job well done. Yet, almost every single other player and staff in the league manages to do it because, as we all know, every game must have a loser. So when you don't, and you make such an obvious point about not doing it every single time, it really reflects poorly on you. It's something that I've been saying about the Patriots for a long time. They have no class. Brady, Bellichick, the 2 so-called faces of the NFL are among the sorest of losers that I have ever seen.
The other benefit that I can hopefully see from all of this is a recognition by the world of the "experts" that the Patriots are not superhuman. They do not walk on water. In fact, they are actually quite human, and they have shown that a lot this year. I hope that the ESPN and NFL commentators everywhere realize that deifying a team is ridiculous, and that all of this absurd and sickening Patriot worship will finally stop. This is definitely a high hope, I realize, but a guy can dream, right? At any rate, now we get to see another round of awesome playoff football!
I think that the best part about all of this is that people will finally see the Patriots for what they actually are. Old, and mediocre. Is Brady still a good Quarterback? Sure, but he is far from the God-like player that they make him out to be. He was weak in pressure situations this year, and made a decent amount of bad decisions and bad throws. You saw some of the bad throws today, like his first interception where he under threw his receiver by, oh I dunno, 10 yards! The defense is slow and was completely dominated today. They are just plain old!
My favorite thing, of course, comes at the end of the game. After they have had their rear ends handed to them, what is the picture we see? Bellichick making the barely contacting handshake before sulking off the field. Randy Moss and Tom Brady tucking their tails between their legs and not acknowledging anybody from the other team as the go to cry in their lockers. A team's true colors are always shown in the most agonizing moments because it is easy to be classy and say the right things when you win (not that Randy Moss has ever been a classy guy). But it is hard to go across the field to the guy who just kicked you in the teeth and told you to like it and congratulate them on a job well done. Yet, almost every single other player and staff in the league manages to do it because, as we all know, every game must have a loser. So when you don't, and you make such an obvious point about not doing it every single time, it really reflects poorly on you. It's something that I've been saying about the Patriots for a long time. They have no class. Brady, Bellichick, the 2 so-called faces of the NFL are among the sorest of losers that I have ever seen.
The other benefit that I can hopefully see from all of this is a recognition by the world of the "experts" that the Patriots are not superhuman. They do not walk on water. In fact, they are actually quite human, and they have shown that a lot this year. I hope that the ESPN and NFL commentators everywhere realize that deifying a team is ridiculous, and that all of this absurd and sickening Patriot worship will finally stop. This is definitely a high hope, I realize, but a guy can dream, right? At any rate, now we get to see another round of awesome playoff football!
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