My NFL Picks, For What They're Worth

Since I've been wrong 75 percent of the time in the playoffs I'm not sure the following predictions are worth anything. I got only 2 out of 8 correct, although I got to wondering today how I did against the point spread. If anyone wants to do the research, I will reward you, but not in any valuable manner. But they'll at least give us a chuckle as we wait for the Eagles to finish scraping the bottom of the barrel for a new defensive coordinator. And I got some help in writing this from a couple of fairies, so...

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

(6) Green Bay Packers at (2) Chicago Bears: The Cliche Fairy tells us that "to be the best, you've got to beat the best." The Packers beat the best, at least in the NFC, when they buried top-seeded Atlanta last week. (They also beat the Eagles. The Disclaimer Fairy would like to announce that this in no way is to imply that the Eagles were among, or even close to, the "best.") They each won a game against the other and have strong defenses, so I'll go with the better -- and, by most accounts, the better-looking -- quarterback, Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers. (Although the hairstyle in this picture is not good at all.). I still don't believe in Jay Cutler, and if he and the Bears do get to the Super Bowl it'll be more because of the Bears defense than anything Cutler does. Packers 20, Bears 16.

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

(6) New York Jets at (2) Pittsburgh Steelers: The Cliche Fairy wishes to reiterate the previous statement regarding being/beating the best. The Jets stunned New England last week, the same New England team that dropped a 45-3 bomb on the Jets a little more than a month earlier. (The Disclaimer Fairy is glad to have a break, as neither of these teams played the Eagles in 2010.) The Jets beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh in December, two weeks after that 45-3 mess and one week after a pitiful 10-6 loss to Miami at home. Once again, I'm going with the better quarterback: the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger over the Jets' Mark Sanchez -- although considering Big Ben's douchebag behavior towards women, I wouldn't mind seeing him lose. Then again, the Jets are a New York team. Sure, they're the other New York team, but they're still a New York team. Can I root for a tie? Steelers 17, Jets 16.