NFL Championship Weekend Expert (?) Picks

NFL Championship Weekend is here!

Tomorrow will feature the New England Patriots vs. the Denver Broncos at 3pm in Denver and the San Francisco 49ers vs. the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle at 6:30pm. With the Super Bowl looming in New Jersey, 2 of these teams are so close they can taste it.

The fun part for fans is the double rivalry that we get to watch with so much on the line.

Russell Wilson vs. Colin Kaepernick and Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning.

Jim Harbaugh vs. Pete Carroll and Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning.

Young Quarterback vs. Young Quarterback and Old Quarterback vs. Old Quarterback (Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning)

Let’s be honest, a lot of this weekend is about Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, 2 players who have racked up HUGE numbers in their careers. 2 dudes who have shown that they belong in “best QB of all-time” conversation. But 1 quarterback with 2 MVPs and 3 Super Bowl rings and 1 quarterback with 4 MVPs and 1 Super Bowl ring.

I hope Peyton Manning kicks Tom Brady’s ass!

With that said, I asked Twitter who they thought would win the AFC and NFC Championships this weekend and I got some answers that I’m ready to share…

Thanks to @dave_church , @DilaDeyanira, @CasanovaMo and @trishca for their picks. And thanks as well to @RonArsenault  for his inspiring declaration of “Niners ’til I die.”

Let’s take a look at the picks. 1) Dave 2) Dila 3) Mo 4) Trish 5) Me.

It’s true that we don’t have much difference in the picks here. This itty bitty sample size shows a clear lean to a Seahawks and Broncos Super Bowl.

Seattle is a team that has lost at home exactly 1 time in the last 2 seasons. And San Francisco is a team that has experience winning the NFC title and is looking to get back to the Super Bowl. This rivalry is just getting started and I expect a hell of a football game. But with the Seahawks secondary playing out of their minds and running back Marshawn Lynch ready to go beastmode, I don’t think that the 49ers will win this game and Russell Wilson will get his 1st shot at the Lombardi Trophy.

In the AFC game we get the match-up that puts a lot of people on 1 side of the fence or the other. People either love or hate Tom Brady. People either love or hate Coach Belichick. People love Peyton Manning but also love to to question his ability in the clutch. I think that this is the best team that Peyton has had around him since he won the Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts in 2007 and I think that he (and the rest of the Broncos, including a defence that will have to perform well) will get the job done and head to Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium.

If you plan on betting real money on these games please don’t use my picks as any sort of direction!

Sunday should be a great day of football. Get your nachos and chicken wings and beer ready!

NFL Week 7 Picks!

Week 7 is here!

And to be honest, I wasn’t ready for it. I missed my pick on the damn Thursday game! And that sucks because it was pretty much gonna be the Seahawks all over Cardinals 100%.

However, I’ve got to move on. And before we get to the picks this week, keep these things in mind for week 7.

☆ Gronk is back in New England. He’s practised this week and it looks like he’ll play against the Jets. Brady will be happy. And if he can move, the AFC better watch out.

☆ Megatron will play too. That’s right, Calvin Johnson is back. Albeit with a compression sleeve on his knee, but having Johnson on the field is better than not having him on the field!

☆ DeMarcus Ware travelled to Philly but will not play. He’s missing his 1st game in 9 years.

☆ Vick’s still out for the Eagles.

☆ Peyton vs Luck in Indy is going to an awesome thing… pretty much however it goes down.

☆  Stevie Johnson is in for the Bills vs Miami… and so is CJ Spiller.

So, there’s lots going on. It’s going to be a fun week. And when I picked, I tried to pick with my head and not my heart.

Let’s look:

☞ Seattle (not picked)
☞ Arizona
☞ Detroit
☞ Miami
☞ New England
☞ DALLAS
☞ Chicago
☞ Carolina
☞ San Diego
☞ San Francisco
☞ Green Bay
☞ Kansas City
☞ Pittsburgh
☞ Denver
☞ Minnesota
☞ Byes: Oakland, New Orleans

Note: Go Cowboys!

First place in the NFC East is on the line in Philly. That’s HUGE. Here’s hoping for a big Dallas win and them getting on a roll.

But the story that everyone will be paying attention to tonight at 8:30 is Peyton Manning’s return to Indy where he was awesome and built his career. Nobody disputes that Andrew Luck is a great QB and could be for a long time for the Colts, but Peyton came first, and tonight he should win in front of his old fans.

And while I did pick the Patriots with my head, my heart hopes that the Jets can get he upset and beat Tom Brady. I always want Brady to lose.

Good luck to you with all of your picks this week. Unless you’re in my pool.

And I hope that you didn’t forget to pick Seattle on Thursday. I know I won’t let myself make that mistake again!

Have a great week. Be awesome.

Confession: I Also Have Non-Excitement For Fall

The other day I wrote about being excited for fall.

And while I stand by every one of the points on that list… there are points in the con section that I feel should be pointed out to even out the ledger a little bit.

1) Socks and Shoes. Hate ’em. Especially socks. I’d rather walk around in my canvas shoes or flip-flops.

2) Closing the window. I know it’s not time yet, but soon enough I’m going to have to either close the window or wear a sweater all the time. And while I do love sweaters, no thank you.

3) Baseball ends. It hasn’t been a good year for the Blue Jays and the season will indeed end with the last day of the regular season on October 3rd. Click here for tickets.

4) The Pumpkin Spice Latte. I’ve never tried one. Don’t really have any reason to dislike it. But for some reason I’ve always held a grudge against this Autumn treat from Starbucks.

5) Tom Brady. As excited as I am for the upcoming NFL season, I hate seeing Tom Borady’s face all over my TV screen. Ugh. Put on your Uggs and go away.

6) Darkness. Not The Darkness, I hear that their new record is pretty good. I’m talking about the absence of light. The sun being down more often is a bummer.

7) Soup. I don’t hate soup. I just hate that when it gets popular it’s because everyone is either sick or cold or both. I’d rather have a slushie.

8) The end of summer. It stands to reason that the start of fall means the end of summer. It’s been a pretty great summer though and I’m not sure I really want it to end yet.

9) Beach time is over. There was some good beach time had this summer. But not enough. And now it’s over.

10) Camping too. Great weekend with Rannie and J.Chan… but looks like it’ll be the only one of 2012. (Or will it?)

There you have it… it’s not all streamers and a party for the arrival of autumn. But it’s what’s coming.

Are you ready?

NFL Conference Championships – The Picks Are In!

Tom Brady, Joe Flacco, Eli Manning, Alex Smith

Okay kids, here’s the deal – I’ve been awful with my NFL playoff picks. Absolutely terrible. 3-5… that’s not good.

So, in an effort to turn things around I’ve asked my expert assistant to help me with the picks.

Without knowing anything about the teams, records, history or where the games are played I asked her to pick between cuter QBs in the AFC and NFC final games…

Tom Brady (Patriots) beat out Joe Flacco (Ravens) and Eli Manning (Giants) beat out Alex Smith (49ers)

I also asked her to pick between uniforms and the Patriots and Giants won their as well.

Looking back on the last 2 weeks I think that my biggest problem is that I picked games with my heart instead of with my head. That’s a rookie mistake. It’s not right. It’s wrong. Ugh.

And, I have to agree with my lovely assistant on both games this week, with my head that is. I would love to see both Tom Brady and Eli Manning lose. It would be great. I hate the Giants because I’m a Cowboys fan. I hate the Patriots because I’m jealous of Tom Brady and I watched the Tuck Rule game. That’s what my heart wants.

However, my head thinks that we’re going to see a Super Bowl rematch of the Pats and the New York Football Giants.

Game 1:
Sunday 3:00pm
Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots
Pick: Patriots

The Patriots have holes on D but I don’t think that those holes are big enough to drive a Joe Flacco driven truck through. At home, in a big game, with a ton of talent on the offense – the Patriots are the smart pick.

Game 2:
Sunday 6:30pm
New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers
Pick: Giants

The 49ers are great on D. They shocked the hell out of me last week. But the Giants have been playing playoff type football for over a month now and are rolling. I may hate Eli but he has been super clutch this season. Watch out for the pass rush attacking Alex Smith and taking the Giants back to the big one.

So there you have it… my expert picks for the AFC and NFC Conference Championships.

Good luck with your picks – see you again for the Super Bowl!