This is the best weekend of the year for NFL football. The only thing that would make it better for me would be to have my Philadelphia Eagles (aka The Dream Team) playing for a shot to lose another NFC title game.
Of course it would also be great to have the Buffalo Bills back in the playoffs. I have been waiting for that since the change of the Millennium . But then again, I am also waiting for my Powerball numbers to come up and for the United States to go to a flat tax. So even without the Eagles
and the Bills, it's still great to have the top seeds back on the field and doubleheaders on both days of the weekend.
Game One: The Upset. The 49ers will beat the Saints. I know it is patently ridiculous to take Alex Smith over Drew Brees but I have my reasons. It is still possible to play defense in the NFL and no one, not even the overhyped Ravens, play it better
than the Niners. The Saints are scary good inside the Superdome, but play a little scared when they go outside in the weather on a grass field. Since Brees became a Saint his record is just 16-14 on fields that were made by God.
San Francisco is a field goal underdog but I have them winning outright. San Francisco 23 New Orleans 20
Game Two: The Hype Machine: The last time I paid attention to a John Fox/Bill Belichick matchup it was the Patriots/Panthers Super Bowl. Fox went into that one with a bad quarterback (Jake Delhomme) and nearly
pulled off a stunner. I see the same kind of thing this week. I think Denver will keep it very close for a while, but Brady is just too good. If the Broncos pull off the upset (I am trying to avoid writing HIS name)
the ESPN network will explode. While that might be a good thing, I don't see it happening. New England 30 Denver 20
Game Three: The Honey-do Game: The Ravens and the Texans is the game that you tell you give up this weekend. This is the time you tell your Significant Other that you don't really care about football and you
are available to do anything they want. (This is called building some goodwill) The game will end and you won't care that you missed it and you will be free to watch the Packers/Giants game. Ravens 23 Texans 17
Game Four: The Blowout: I know its cool now to say that the Giants are on a 2007 run. This is not 2007. Aaron Rogers is not Brett Favre. The Packers defense is not good, but it won't really matter. The Giants are doing WAY too much taking. I see Rogers throwing early and often and
Eli and company fading into a sea of mistakes. Packers 37 Giants 21
Enjoy the games and send me your comments and picks. MCatalana@13wham.com
