2 OUT OF 2 I Am a Genius! True? (Ok, don’t answer)

Last Week

The last few weeks, I have really been on a roll. In fact, since the last week of the NFL season and main bowl games, I am 8 out 10.. That is 80% for those of you from Arkansas. I am not mentioning some of the few weeks earlier which weren’t so hot. But, it is all about how you start (very good), and how you finish (great). True? (don’t answer). Too much gloating? Ok, I will stop. But not before reviewing last week’s winning picks.

1. GB + 3 over Chicago

What a team these Packers are. They don’t scare for s.. uh, nothing. They keep going into other people’s stadiums and beating them in a winner take all….end your season type…. intense playoff games. That takes Ba.. guts. And each week, they have done it differently. Last week it was their D, that bailed them out, not Aaron Rogers. So that means they are a solid, mentally tough team, that doesn’t get intimidated. My only concern, they did let a 3rd string QB lead a comeback. But only after dominating the first half, and then falling asleep for the second half. No wait…. That was me who fell asleep,and when I woke up some guy from Colorado State, (by way of Dallas), was leading the Bears down the field, and Jay Cutler was on the bench pretending to be injured. Fortunately, the Packers, and I, woke up at the right time and intercepted the last pass to seal the deal.

2. Steelers – 3 over NY

And the second game was a deja vue.. It started it out to be a blow out, then the Steelers fell asleep. Me too. In fact, this wasn’t a great game. The only interesting parts of the game came when I was asleep! An obvious conspiracy against me personally. Ok, maybe not. The only concern for the Steelers, would be the fact that the Jets came back and ran the ball pretty well against the vaunted Pittsburgh D. The no.1 rated Rush D in the league and it wasn’t even close. In fact, if King Rex had stayed with the run on the last goal line drive, the game would have been even closer. Which sets up a very interesting………

Next Week ( Ok, 2 Weeks from now). The SUPER BOWL

GB -2.5 over Pittsburgh @ Cowboy Stadium
(referred to locally as Jerry World or the Death Star)

The Super Bowl at Cowboy Stadium will have everything. Everything but the Cowboys, of course. Who played the first half of the season like Jay Cutler with a hang nail. Ok, no more Cutler jokes. I promise….kind of. But the game will have 2 really good teams with likable players, good story lines, and lots of history. Just not much history against each other. Which is the problem. They have very few common opponents this year, so they are hard teams to compare. But will give it a shot.. ..

Case for Pittsburgh

This is where the lack of common foes comes to the forefront, because the Steelers opponents were much tougher. The AFC was just better this year. The Ravens, Jets, and Pats were all probably better than any team the Packers played in the playoffs…. Advantage Steelers. The Steelers have no real weak points. The O line was supposed to be one, but have been playing great. Their QB, Running back, and Receivers get all A’s. And the Steel Curtain D, gets an A+. As does their coaching staff. Wherever you look all you see are A’s with this team. As long as you don’t look at their College Transcripts. In fact, the more I write, the more I am beginning to wonder if I took the wrong team here. The Men of Steel, are solid, tough, and won’t beat themselves. Like Michael Jackson. So you have to beat them yourselves. Easier said than done. Like forcing a hungry pit bull to give up a steak, or forcing a member of the Jersey Shore cast to give up their illiteracy. In other words, you need to a team that doesn’t scare for S…. Which bring us to:

Case for GB

In the face of such a strong endorsement of the Steelers, why I am picking the Pack? First of all, I have picked them at the beginning of the year and stayed with them through the season and the playoffs. So I have to stick with them now. Just wish they were playing someone easier. And the one thing the Steelers are not is Easy. Lady Gaga is Easy. Not the Steelers. But all year the Packers have overcome whatever obstacle they have come up against…. injuries, weather, playing on the road, etc. And the whole team gets A’s across the board also, including the coaching staff. They may have a hard time running the ball against Pittsburgh, but there was a time earlier in the year when they couldn’t run a lick and yet they continued to win. The Steelers could force them to pass, but they pass really well. Even when you know it is coming. And both Defenses are just great. Should be a low scoring game. But even that is hard to predict. This game is just hard to analyze and decipher. Like a Jay Cutler MRI.. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

I will have a Post Super bowl Blog to talk about the game and make some predictions for next year.. If there is one. And after that I go back into the cave and hibernate till August. May come out for the draft though, then roll over and go back to sleep.

Tony

2 out of 3 IT’S PLAIN TO SEE… (I am on a roll)

Last Week

The only thing keeping me from showing up with a perfect record, was the Seahawks not showing up at all. Meanwhile, I had the Steelers winning at the end by at least 3, check. And GB not getting beat by more than 3, check mate. Now, as the days dwindle down to a precious few.. 2 days really.. things are clearing up.. Kinda of. And now for:

The Final 4

1. GB + 3 over and @ Chicago

Ok the Bears are playing great. They just got thru crushing Seattle and are playing at home against a team with a worse record and plenty of injuries. So why aren’t they the Favorite? Because everyone realizes how good the Pack is. So Las Vegas picked them to win by 3. Making our job more difficult.. But i got to go with GB, as i have all year, even giving up 3 points in Chicago. Rogers is playing out of this world, more like Buck Rogers. ( Ok I dated myself with the Buck Rogers reference, but that is ok, as I have dated myself alot.) And if they can march into Atlanta like General Sherman, they should be able to handle Soldier’s Field. Even though a road team favorite in the playoffs is rarer than an honest Illinois Politician..

2. Pittsburgh -3 @home over the Jets

You notice that the verbose Jets aren’t saying S…. uh, anything. Why piss off the Big Bad Steelers. Of course, their victory at New England was extremely impressive, so they must be more than just talk.. But they invested so much emotion into that game, you wonder if they have anything left. But you can say the same thing about the Steelers. They just beat and got beaten up by the Ravens. Which makes the game kind of even. So the home field advantage accounts for the 3 points which is about right. Even though the home field seems to mean nothing in this year’s playoffs. The underdog road teams keep winning. But in a battle of 2 tired, and spent teams, I will to will stick with Pittsburgh. The Steelers are tired from playing so hard and, and the Jets, from talking so much.

3.. Oh yeah, there is no 3rd game. Darn..Just the Super Bowl left and then back to reality.. and no more fantasy…football.

Tony

4 out of 5 I Come Back Alive!

LAST WEEK

Yes I did great, so yes it is time to dwell in the past.. but I won’t wallow in it.. Fortunately both of my locks of the year, came in with Stanford being my second one.. Va Tech is good but Stanford it the Best Team of All Time.. (Of the Teams that actually have to study and go to class). Florida proved once again that big and fast beats big and slow. In the NFL, Pittsburgh easily beat the Browns and the spread, by about 30 points. Even though the Browns had home field advantage, that advantage was not guite enough to overcome the fact that they were still the Browns. My only loss was a tiny one, as the Giants won by 3 and not 4.5 as the were favored. But on the other hand, I also won one by only one point and that was, in fact:

My Perfect Game

Many people are calling this Year’s Rose Bowl one of the great Bowl games of all time, and I must concur, as it was great to watch and a perfect game for me.. TCU was a 3 point favorite and I picked the Badgers hoping to lose, since TCU is my new fav team. But because TCU won by only 2, I won both ways! Perfect. Had my cake and eat it too. (what good would it do you to have cake and not eat it anyway?)

This Week

Again I just can’t decide who is going to win the BCS championship game next monday, so I am not going to pick it. If I had to make a pick, I would take Oregon + the 3 points. Because their spread option, hurry up, crazy offense is so.. crazy and hard to prepare for. The old Big 10 Icons Woody and Bo would roll over in their graves if a. they could see the crazy duck running game on Steroids, and b. if Bo were actually dead.. But on the other hand, Auburn has faced plenty of obstacles this year. Like trailing by over 2 TDs against Alabama.. And Alabama is pretty good.. right Spartan fans? So I will pull for the Ducks on Meth and just wont make a pick.

1. Nevada -7.5 over BC This is a reality new game.. the Fight Hunger Bowl. And the Nevada Wolfpack is plenty hungry. The game is in SF, which is only about a 4 hour drive from Reno. Where as Boston is about a 6 hour plane ride away.. Advantage Nevada. And the Wolfpack’s spread..run first option is also hard to prepare for.. And their QB is very good and their team is very good. Right Boise State Broncos?

NFL Picks

( As usual the wise guys in vegas have done a great job of setting the lines. So I normally wouldn’t pick any of these games, but I guess have to pick something right? For example, I know that the Saints are way better than the Seahawks, but so do the oddsmakers. And they have made them a 11 point fav which is a huge number in the NFL, where the talent level is relatively even. So I can’t pick this game. If you put a gun to my head.. don’t get any ideas vegas wise guys.. I would pick the Saints. But I don’t wont to, because Seattle is playing at home in the Emerald City and could keep it close. They aren’t in Kansas any more. But the Chiefs are so I will reluctantly take take their game):

2. Baltimore -3 over and @ KC By the way, the Chiefs stadium is actually across town on the Missouri side, but “we aren’t in Missouri any more “, doesn’t work that well. No, we are in the Show Me state, and the Chiefs must show us they are for real. And I really like the way the Chiefs have developed into a nice solid running team, and they have one of the loudest and best group of fans in the league. But the Ravens are the battle tested tough guys, and don’t scare easily.. So I will go with the Ravens D and improving O to beat Jamal Charles and the Chiefs running game. I reluctantly take Baltimore over a KC team that is going to be really good next year.

3. Indy -3 @ home over NYJ I really don’t like this game either. The Jets have a great corners designed to stop the Colts passing O.
These corners don’t get fooled easily, and tend to stay home, except Cromartie who has kids with about 9 different women and tends to stay in different homes. And they have a good run game designed to control the clock. But am I going to bet against Peyton at home, even a Peyton missing lots of his weapons? No. Well actually, I am not going to bet.. but I am not going to pick against him either.

4. GB -2.5 over and @ Philly This is one game I might have picked with out the proverbial gun to my proverbial head. Because I did pick the Packers, in my first blog, as the surprise team of the year.. Along with most everyone else in the world. And even though they have been decimated by injuries, I still like them because of their QB, their receivers, and what’s left of their defense. Of course they don’t have a running game, so Rogers will have to throw for 400 yards.. No problem.

Enjoy the Bowls and Playoff games ,and savoir these precious moments! It will soon be time to go back to our families.. Until March Madness anyway.