Playoff Pickery - Wildcard Weekend

Last Week:
Aaron: 10-6 (0-1 vs. the spread)
Joe: 10-6 (1-0 vs. the spread)
Tom: 10-6 (0-1 vs. the spread)

Final Standings, Weekly Pickin':
Aaron: 165-90-1
Joe: 162-93-1
Tom: 148-107-1

Final Standings, Sure-Thing Suicide Spread:
Joe: 10-7
Tom: 8-8-1
Aaron: 6-11


I guess I should drop a few obnoxious taunts towards Joe and Tom, but it's hard to celebrate a third straight prognostication championship when either of my opponents could simply send me any Oakland Raiders-related link to shut me up. Also, against the spread - where the REAL money lies - I was "case-study in the evils of gambling" bad.

So, let's just agree it was a fun year for Tom's NY Giants; a fun September/first week of October for Joe's beloved Bills and that I had something to distract myself from hoping against hope that THIS is rock-bottom for my Raiders. Please?

It's playoff time, kids. We go all point spreads for here on out with a random guess at the score thrown in. Tom has incorporated our guesses alongside his own over/under predictions at his blog, which means at least 1 1/2 times the fun! (And, I'm taking the over on THAT!)

Atlanta Falcons (-1) at Arizona Cardinals

Joe: The big story this weekend is that all four road teams seem to be favored over the four home teams. It's not all going to pan out like we think it does, but I really don't think the momentum-free Cards have it in them, Matt Ryan's rookie QB jitters or not. Atlanta 31, Arizona 21

Aaron: Seeing how I finished with such an infinitesimal success percentage in our season-long single-game picks against the spread, I'll understand if you doubt my words here. That said, this is the most ridiculous free-money line of the playoffs. Bet early, bet often and thank my Black ass on Sunday. Atlanta 30, Arizona 10

Indianapolis Colts (-1) at San Diego Chargers

Joe: So, LaDanian Tomlinson looks like he's finally back in fighting shape, right? And don't sell me the line about Broncos' crappy defense -- LT played plenty of crappy Ds this season (including the Chiefs twice) and never looked half as good as he did Sunday night. Unfortunately, the Chargers' defense is for shit, and the Colts have got all cylinders firing. Indianapolis 41, San Diego 27

Aaron: Seems like we had this same scenario last year as the Colts were nine point favorites at home vs. the Chargers in last year's Divisional round, mostly off of Peyton Manning's reputation of awesome. I called the upset there and I'm calling it here. SD played Indy tough when they met in late November and I'm smelling big games from some Chargers players none of you have ever heard of. San Diego 33, Indianapolis 27

Baltimore Ravens (-3) at Miami Dolphins

Joe: So in the epic Flacco vs. Pennington battle, will Chad Pennington actually hold a competitive advantage because he's a veteran? God help me, I think he might. Miami 16, Baltimore 10

Aaron: The Ravens won by two touchdowns when these teams played earlier in the season. Even spotting Miami a flattened learning curve AND home field advantage, Flacco could completely crap the bed and still win a field goal fest if the Ravens defense just shows up. Baltimore 12, Miami 10

Philadelphia Eagles (-3) at Minnesota Vikings

Joe: Did you see that 44-6 pasting of hated divisional rival Dallas last week? With Andy Reid whooping it up on the sidelines and Eagles fans getting improbable visions back-to-back major sports titles dancing in their heads? Yeah, put that in the dictionary next to the term "blowing your wad." (It's a filthy dictionary, all right?) Minnesota 28, Philadelphia 23

Aaron: What's the word for people who take Tarvaris Jackson in a playoff game? Philadelphia 19, Minnesota 6