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.

NFL: No More Eagles, Divisional Picks

Well, it was interesting in its way, yet it's also like a broken record. An Eagles team raises expectations and then drops out of the playoffs. At least this time, there's no Donovan McNabb for people to blame. But the loss to Green Bay didn't expose anything that wasn't already exposed. They have a defense that wasn't all that good during the 10-4 start and didn't get any better during the last two meaningful games (the season-ender against Dallas was just a glorified exhibition), both of which they lost. The offensive line, particularly on the right side, is a mess. Michael Vick, while showing a lot of improvement, still needs work. Of course, the Eagles have to sign him first. He's now a free agent.

Assuming they're still Vick fans, the Eagles have to decide what to do with Kevin Kolb, who still wants to start and has just one year left on his contract. Keep him as a backup again? He won't be happy with that. If they trade him, they need a backup for Vick or they're really in trouble. We saw Vick get hurt and miss some time this year. Imagine if that happens again and Kolb is gone.

Right now the Eagles' biggest problem is a two-pronged issue. They need a lot of upgrades to truly contend for the Super Bowl, but they won't be able to do anything until the NFL and its players' union have a new contract.

NFL Playoffs: Mediocrity, OT, Wild Picks

This weekend features the first round of the NFL postseason. There are a couple of perceived injustices, and I'm probably in the minority regarding both.

Let's start with the presence of 7-9 Seattle in the playoffs (because they won their division) instead of 10-6 teams Tampa Bay and the Giants (because both finished in second), and to make things worse, the Seahawks are at home against 11-5 New Orleans. Many people think that the Seahawks shouldn't be in it at all, let alone have a home game. They propose changes to allow a team with a better record to take the place of a losing team in the future. In theory this works. In reality, if you can win a division (even a pathetic one like the NFC West) and not be in the playoffs, if there's no reward for finishing first, why have divisions to begin with? For that matter, why have conferences? Just have all the teams listed 1-32 and have the top 12 in the playoffs.

Of course, you'd have to figure out a way to come up with a fair schedule (fair in strength-of-schedule as well as things like travel) without divisions, and somehow not destroy many (if not all) of the division and conference rivalries. Imagine the Eagles and Cowboys not playing a game in a season. Or the Steelers and Ravens. Or whatever. So forget that idea.

However, I do think the Seahawks should be on the road.