Wild Card Weekend Picks

It's Wild Card Weekend, everybody!!!! The playoffs are upon us!!! We had to wave good-bye to 20 NFL teams last weekend who packed their bags for an early off season.  We also saw the ax fall upon the jobs of 5 coaches-Rob Chudzinski (Cleveland), Mike Shanahan (Washington), Leslie Frazier (Minnesota), Jim Schwartz (Detroit), and Greg Schiano (Tampa Bay). On a positive note, Lovie Smith was hired to replace Schiano in Tampa Bay.

My back-up Chiefs almost beat the 1st string San Diego Chargers.  Had it not been for the refs messing up, Ryan Succop may have gotten a second chance to make that field goal which would have eliminated San Diego and launched Pittsburgh into the playoffs.

The NFL said goodbye to two tremendous competitors this past weekend as well-London Fletcher and Tony Gonzalez. Sadly, both were on teams who ended their nightmarish seasons with a loss. Both of these guys deserved a better end to their great careers. I have a feeling one or both will still grace our television screens when football season returns, and Tony Gonzalez, most definitely, will be entering the hall in a few short years. For my money, London Fletcher should, too.

At the beginning of the season, I made my annual "Predictions sure to go wrong." I didn't fair too badly...

	My Pick	Actual Winner
AFC East	New England	New England
AFC North	Cincinnati	Cincinnati
AFC South	Houston	Indianapolis
AFC West	Kansas City	Denver
Wild cards	Denver/Baltimore	Kansas City/San Diego
NFC East	Washington	Philadelphia
NFC North	Green Bay	Green Bay
NFC South	Atlanta	Carolina
NFC West	San Francisco	Seattle
Wild cards	Seattle/New Orleans	San Francisco/New Orleans

I did manage to pick 8 of the 12 playoff teams. Who really saw Atlanta and New Orleans dropping to Carolina?  My Chiefs Pick was more wishful thinking, but for one bright shining moment, it was almost the truth. The AFC West is sending 3 teams to the playoffs. Now, did any of us see that coming?  Seattle and San Francisco were more or less a given.  Houston and Washington, wow...those teams were just a mess.  Now, Denver, New England, Seattle, and Carolina get to sit back, watch, and wait to see who their opponents will be next week.

Last week was one of my best pick weeks of the year with a 11-5 tally.  My end of the year tally was 143-109 not a bad record.  Now for my wild card picks...

Saturday, January 4
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Indianapolis Colts
It seems as if every time the Chiefs make the playoffs their opponent is the Colts. Four of the Chiefs last six playoff appearances have been against the Indianapolis Colts.  The Chiefs have lost all four. The last time the Chiefs won a playoff game was January 16, 1994. Joe Montana was quarterback, Marcus Allen was running back, Tony Gonzalez was a senior in high school, Bill Clinton was president, and Miley Cyrus was a one year old named Destiny Hope. It has been, a long, long, long time since the Chiefs won a playoff game. Twenty years!!! I'm picking my Chiefs and let the chips fall where they may.  Go Chiefs!!!!

New Orleans Saints vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Drew Brees and Jimmy Graham are amazing. They do amazing things when they connect with one another.  However, it seems as though, things do not always fall their way on the road.  Philadelphia did not begin the year looking like a playoff team, but boy did they end it looking like one. This is going to be a tough game especially in the bad weather headed that way, but I'm picking the Saints, because I'm a homer.  Geaux Saints!!!

Sunday, January 5
San Diego Chargers vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Let's preface this by saying that I have little faith in either of these teams. San Diego almost lost to the Chiefs second string last week, and Cincinnati has been up in down all season.  Cincinnati won the last time they played in December. I'm flipping a coin.  San Diego.

San Francisco 49ers vs. Green Bay Packers
This will be a tough game. San Francisco's defense vs. Aaron Rodger's offense.  No, I have not forgotten about Colin Kaepernick.  I have no horse in this race, but I find it very hard to pick against Aaron Rodgers at home.  Green Bay.

Alright everybody, I will probably be 0-4 next week, but that's the way it goes. Until next week I leave you with one of my favorite Jim Mora quotes, "Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs. Are you kidding me? Playoffs? I'm just hoping we can win a game, another game."

Wild Card Weekend 2013...

Welcome back!  The NFL Regular season came to an end last week, and we bid a fond farewell to playoff stalwarts the New York Giants (too little, too late), the Pittsburgh Steelers (couldn't overcome those weeks without Big Ben), the San Diego Chargers (Here's hoping Philip Rivers remembers he's Philip Rivers), the Chicago Bears (man, it will be tragic not seeing Jay Cutler pouting on the sidelines), the New Orleans Saints (Drew and Sean are getting the band back together next season), and the Dallas Cowboys (who Romo'd their way out of the playoffs).  See ya, next season boys!

Several coaches not only had to say goodbye to the playoffs, but had to say farewell to their jobs as well.  Black Monday saw 7 NFL Coaches cleaning out their offices:   Romeo Crennel (Kansas City), Chan Gailey (Buffalo), Andy Reid (Philadelphia), Pat Shurmur (Cleveland), Lovie Smith (Chicago), Norv Turner (San Diego), and Ken Whisenhunt (Arizona). Rumors are swirling that more may be getting the ax as early as today.  In addition to head coaches, GM's have been getting kicked to the curb as well including, Rod Graves (Arizona), Tom Heckert (Cleveland), Scott Pioli (Kansas City), A.J. Smith (San Diego), Mike Tannenbaum (New York Jets), and Gene Smith (Jacksonville).  Many of these were expected (in the case of Scott Pioli hoped, wished, and protested for), but I will admit I was surprised by the firing of Lovie Smith and Ken Whisenhunt.  

If you haven't heard, Andy Reid is about to be announced as the new head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.  Reid will be the twelfth head coach in Chiefs history, and the fourth since 2005.  Sigh, I don't know how I feel about this signing.  I'm not striking up the band just yet.  I think I'm just going to take a wait and see approach.  I mean, the Chiefs ended the season with a 2-14 record-the fourth losing season since 2005.  When your team is in the basement, there is no where to look but up, right?

Ray Lewis announced that he would be retiring at the end of the Ravens run in the playoffs.  I've always been a little ambivalent about Ray Lewis.  I'll admit that I've never really quite known how to feel about him.  I will say this about Ray Lewis.  He is a heck of a football player.  The man has been an out and out leader on the field-one of the most feared defenders even as his body was starting to turn on him.  He is one of the most intense players to ever take the field, and I've enjoyed watching him play and will miss watching him explode from the Ravens tunnel. 

At the start of the season, I made my picks for the year.  Let's see how they turned out, shall we?

AFC East-New England Patriots (Right on the money.  12-4 with a bye)
AFC South-Houston Texans (Correct.)
AFC North-Baltimore Ravens (Correct. 
AFC West-Kansas City Chiefs (Eliminated. Could not have been more wrong.  Y'all forgive me for this gaffe.  Denver took the AFC West without much of a fight for the rest of the division.  Heck, the Broncos were the only team with a winning record.  Who thought Peyton would be back with such a vengeance?  Yeah, everybody.)
Wild Cards-Pittsburgh (Eliminated), Denver (Won the division)  Cincinnati made the cut.  So in the AFC, I was 4 for 6.  Not bad...I picked Houston to win it all.  I don't think I'm going to stick with that pick.

NFC East-New York Giants (Wrong.  Didn't see Washington taking this division.  Not at all.)
NFC South-Atlanta Falcons  (Correct with a bye)
NFC North-Green Bay Packers (Correct)
NFC West-San Francisco 49ers (Correct)
Wild Cards-Chicago (Eliminated.  Adrian Peterson and the Vikings power ran their way into the playoffs.), New Orleans (Eliminated. Seattle and their Rookie QB made the grade instead)
I picked Atlanta for the NFC Champs.  I'm going to stand by this pick, but they have me terrified with the way they have played as of late. 

Even with some of those craptastic predictions, I ended the season with a 135-80 pick record.  Not too shabby...

So, here are my Wild Card picks.  I will say I was more comfortable with my Saturday picks than my Sunday picks.

Saturday, January 5
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Houston Texans:  Cincinnati (I've pretty much lost faith in Houston)
Minnesota Vikings vs. Green Bay Packers:  Green Bay (I think Aaron and the boys get it together.)
Sunday, January 6
Indianapolis Colts vs. Baltimore Ravens:  Baltimore (Either of these teams are capable, and each team is playing with added inspiration)
Seattle Seahawks vs. Washington Redskins:   Washington (If this were in Seattle, I probably would have picked Seattle.  These teams are a close match up, and it really could go either way.

That's all I've got today.  Enjoy your Wild Card Weekend!  Until next week, "I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."~Vince Lombardi

"Is This The End?"-Picks from a Maniac Maenad Week 17-The Ralph Tresvant Edition

Happy New Year, everybody! I'm so glad to be back! Between moving, semester exams, mangled internet service, I just glad that Diana Dishes is back in service! Out with the old and in with the new, we know there may be more pink slips given out on Monday. I'm curious to see who will join Wade Phillips, Mike Singletary, Brad Childress, Josh McDaniels, and John Fox at the print shop copying resumes. FYI: Please stop the rumors about Josh "Lil' Hoodie" McDaniels coming to Kansas City.

Let's see...Brett Farve didn't pass his concussion test, was fined $50,000 for the Jenn Sterger incident, and ended the week by breaking out 90s dances to "Ice, Ice Baby" for his teammates. Yeah, I still don't like Lo. Charlie Weis is going to bail on the Chiefs after one year to take the OC job at the University of Florida. Just when I started likeing Charlie...oh, well...that's off the table. Antonio Gates ended up on IR. The Chiefs won the AFC West title and placed 3 players in the Pro Bowl. The Patriots and Falcons have the most players sending 6 and 7 respectively. Tony Gonzalez is on his way to #11.

Shawne Merriman signed a 2 year deal with the Buffalo Bills. He will take a physical later this week. I really, REALLY hope this works out for Shawne. I really, REALLY want to see him on the field. Not because he's cute (that's only part), but I really love the intensity that he brought to the field. I hope he can regain some of the manic play of his first 3 years. Good luck, Shawne. Oh, btw...leave the dance in San Diego...

I'm really shaking my head that it is possible for a 7-9 team will win a division-Seattle/St. Louis. What is really sad is the fact that this is the nationally televised game for Sunday Night Football who is advertising it like it's the Super Bowl. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the only people watching this game are Seattle/St. Louis fans. I love football, but I just can't stomach that. I might flip to see the score, but watch? I don't think so. There has got to be a re-run somewhere that's more entertaining.

For the Chiefs today, it's all about Pride!!! As they induct Marty Schottenheimer into the Chiefs Hall of Fame, the Chiefs are going for 8-0 at home this year against their dreaded rivals The Oakland Raiders. They lost to the Raiders earlier this year. I'm going to need the boys to rectify this, and I need Jamaal Charles to take the rushing title. Make it happen Chiefs, make it happen.

As for fantasy football, I was thisclose to playing for the Championship in one of my leagues, until Adrian Peterson's knee knocked me back to 4th. Injuries, inconsistency, injuries, bad luck, and injuries doomed my teams this year. So, here is the final carnage...

• The Kansas City Chiefs finished with a 6-7 record and 14th out of 20 teams. Team MVP was Drew Brees with 325.36 fantasy points.
• The Cromartie Eight finished with a 7-6 record and 7th out of 12 teams. Team MVP was Philip Rivers with 260 fantasy points.
• Hecate's HellHounds finished with a 10-4 record and 4th out of 12 teams. Team MVP was Philip Rivers with 270.98 fantasy points.
• The Runtelldat Homeboys finished with a 3-10 record and 10th out of 12 teams. Team MVP was Joe Flacco with 218 fantasy points.
• Matching Mugshots finished with a 3-10 record and 8th out of 10 teams. Team MVP was Philip Rivers with 327 fantasy points.

Good news...None of my teams finished last!!! Bad news...three had losing records. Memo to self...no more than 3 teams next year.

Time for the picks:

Dolphins vs. Patriots-Patriots

Buccaneers vs. Saints-Saints

Bills vs. Jets-Jets

Bengals vs. Ravens-Ravens

Panthers vs. Falcons-Falcons

Steelers vs. Browns-Steelers

Vikings vs. Lions-Vikings

Raiders vs. Chiefs-Chiefs, Chiefs, Chiefs, Chiefs, Chiefs!!!

Cowboys vs. Eagles-Eagles

Cardinals vs. 49ers-Cardinals

Giants vs. Redskins-Giants

Jaguars vs. Texans-Texans

Chargers vs. Broncos-Chargers

Bears vs. Packers-Packers

Titans vs. Colts-Colts

Rams vs. Seahawks-Who Cares...okay...Rams

Okay, guys that's it...Until next week, "If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm."-Vince Lombardi