Enough small talk though, here's some key points that I'm thinking about for this year's postseason...
> A River In Egypt...Denial - I have hated the Patriots for so long, that I am actually incapable of envisioning them as the Super Bowl Champs. Some people just want to see a team lose because they hate them, but I actually believe the Patriots cannot win because I despise them so much. So off the bat, there is some bias here. At the same time they DID lose to the Browns, so they are far from invincible.
> The Two Dark Horses - I'm a firm believer that a team with something to prove, or a team that has been insulted is a most dangerous team. Ironically enough, in this case, it's the two Super Bowl contenders from last year. Due to the Colts having several players in the infirmary along with the Steelers and Pats hogging headlines, the Colts are a forgotten team this year. Though I would give the Jets a 10% chance of pulling off a first round upset, it's hard to ignore that the last time the Colts were forgotten about in the playoffs, they won it all. As for the Saints, I don't know how an 11-win team can fly under the radar, but for whatever reason some people are even picking Seattle to beat them in the 1st game...are you kidding? Watch out for an angry Saints team.
> One Man Show - I never really believed when one defensive player got a ton of hype on a football team, because basic math says there are too many guys out there for one guy to change the game. Meet Troy Polamalu. Over the last two seasons the Steelers are 5-7 without him, and 16-4 with him. He literally takes their defense from average at best, to nearly impenetrable. In the playoffs the best defense usually prevails...it's hard to pick against the Steelers.
> Getting Over The Hump - It's fitting that the Jets, Ravens, Eagles, and Packers are playing on "wildcard weekend" because they are all definitely wildcard choices. All four of them have made several playoff appearances in the last decade, and they have all faced early exits, as well as making deep runs. That being said, the only time one of them took home a ring was when the Ravens did it in 2001. Any one of them could get hot for 4 games and make a deep run.
Enough beating around the bush though - if you put a loaded nerf gun to my head and forced me to pick, here's what it would look like (home team in italics):
Week 1
Saints def. Seahawks
Packers def. Eagles
Colts def. Jets
Ravens def. Chiefs
Week 2
Patriots def. Ravens
Steelers def. Colts
Packers def. Falcons
Bears def. Saints
Conference Championships
Steelers def. Patriots
Packers def. Bears
Super Bowl
Packers def. Steelers
While I am being too lazy to offer game-by-game analysis, I will defend my ultimate pick. The Packers have lost 6 games this season. Four of those losses were by 3 points, and the other two losses were by 4 points. They went into Atlanta where the Falcons are supposedly invincible, and only lost by 3. AND they went into New England and only lost by 4 points, with Matt Flynn at quarterback.
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| Clay Matthews leads a potent Packers defense. |
