NFL Prediction Round-up

A quick link back to the past for my predictions can be found here. Overall, I went 2-2 on the weekend. I called the Saints beating the Eagles and the Patriots beating the Chargers but missed on the Colts and the Bears. That puts me at 5-3 for the playoffs overall. Which isn't very good if I were to, say, be indulging in guessing the outcome of sporting events for “entertainment purposes” (That's, by the way, one of the things that bothers me. There's absolutely no mention made of any sort of betting except in a wink wink manner. Athletes who are tarred with its brush – like Shoeless Joe Jackson or Pete Rose – are blacklisted seemingly forever. There are football examples, too – indeed you can find gambling scandals in any sport - but those have largely been forgotten except by the leagues and people involved. Yet at the same time the betting lines are published in just about every newspaper. And people decide who's the favorite and who's not depending on those – even the announcers who are no doubt aware of the line and if a team is going to cover or not. And the fans in the stands are certainly aware of it, too. The networks and the leagues go out of their way to encourage fantasy sports, why can't they do the same for gambling? It's using the results of their game for a separate game that creates a lot of interest, after all. I just don't get the hypocrisy.). But since I'm just doing this for fun and to see how well I understand the game, it's not a big deal.

I've already shared my thoughts on how things went on Saturday's games so here's what I think about Sunday's:

For the Bears versus the Seahawks I came very, very close. It was an overtime game which is generally speaking a toss-up. And Seattle got the first possession in overtime – usually a very good indicator of who'll win. They couldn't do it, though, and, indeed, couldn't score at all in the last quarter or so of the game. If they'd put any points on the board at all they would have won. They didn't, though, thanks to the Bears cracking down. This result seems like a bit of a surprise to most people but it wasn't to me. Seattle was, I think, lying in the weeds. Alexander was due for a big game and the team itself had something to prove after their loss in the Superbowl last year. And something people overlooked was that the Bears team that played Sunday wasn't the same one that rolled over Seattle (and other teams) earlier in the year. Injuries have taken their toll and they're no longer the same dominating unit – often times the offense has to bail them out instead of the other way around. In so many words, they'd gotten weaker as the season went along while the Seahawks had gotten stronger. The only thing that didn't happen like I expected it was a Romo-esque meltdown from Grossman costing the Bears the game. Not to take anything away from him but I just don't trust quarterbacks who are in the playoffs for the first few times. Especially not when they're as shaky as Grossman – he'll have good games and he'll have awful games. The Bears won because he had a good one yesterday. But somewhere along the line I think he's going to cost them a game.

As for the Patriots versus the league leading Chargers, I agree with the way Mr. Simmons put it. Look, with Brady in tow Belichek is now 12-1 in the playoffs. Schottenheimer's now 5-13 (with a streak of 6 losses in a row.). That's not an accident. If you threw out all the regular season records and put both teams in gray, indistinguishable uniforms and then someone told you one would be coached by a man with a 11-1 record while the other with a 5-12 record who would you bet on? Throw in the untested Rivers and this was an easy pick for me. As I said in making the prediction if the Patriots could find a way to stick around, Brady would find a way to win it for them. And even though it took Captain Comeback 51 passes – playing from behind most of the day – he did.

That, of course, sets up the third meeting of the Colts and Patriots in the playoffs in recent memory. Which should be an amazing game one way or the other. This reminds me of hockey back when the Wings and the Avalanche were big rivals. Detroit would pile up regular season records but they just couldn't get past the 'Lanche in the playoffs. But the year they did, they went on to win the title. This rematch just might be the Colt's chance to get over a similar hump. But, you know me, I'm not going against that 12-1 record. So, I'm going to take the Patriots to win this Sunday.

The other game is the Saints at the Bears. I'd like the Saints much better if this game were being played in New Orleans – with the crowd noise and the indoor track their running assault with McAllister and Bush would be formidable. It still is and I think Brees is a good enough quarterback to make the throws he needs and, so, the Saints offense is going to be difficult for the Bears to handle. The x factor, though, is the weather – if this is a nasty, rainy/snowy game then it gives a big advantage to the Bears. Still, as I said before, picking against the Saints is like wanting the terrorists to win. Just can't do it. So I'm going to say the Saints will win Sunday, too.

This means, of course, that I'm gunning for a Superbowl featuring America's Team against the Patriots. I could think of worse things to see (There's also the Big Ten rematch factor of Brees and Brady, too.). We'll see if I change my mind as the weekend draws closer but, at the moment, I'm pretty confident.