Now that I've covered the AFC East, what about the rest?

Don' t take my word for it because I generally don't follow the other divisions, but...

I really like underdogs, and, BTD (besides the Dolphins), who is a better underdog this year to make the playoffs than the Falcons?

Thus, I want to Falcons to make the playoffs. That means I DON"T WANT THE COWBOYS! Heck, I'm a resident of Texas and I don't want the Cowboys???? No, because in honor of my late dad I also root for the Giants, who before he died finally had some satisfaction from this bunch, what in the Lawrence Taylor years and now.

Besides, I've always thought the Pokes were overrated. America's Team? Gimme a Break! It is funny (sarcastic) how owner Jerry Jones is belly-aching about Barber and using that as an excuse for his team's giving up that game to Pittsburgh last Sunday. It is always excuses with this bunch! The Dallas Cowboys always seem to think the NFL "owes" them a playoff birth, and then when they get one they tend to screw up early in the playoffs.

Then, who do I like--Bucs or Panthers? I said in an earlier post that if I was just starting out watching NFL games and (being in a non-team market) had to pick a team to root for, it would be the Panthers. I like their balance between offense and defense--not overwhelming offense and not overwhelming defense (too bad the Steelers can't say that, especially now, but the Steelers have always, since 1972, been defense oriented, good offense or not. Now, I think their offense is mediocre at best). I do not dislike the Bucs, however. My relatives live in the Tampa Bay area and thus are Bucs fans. Thus, having to choose, I chose the Panthers not because of Monday night but because the Panthers would be a change.

I tend to want to root for the Bears, but way back in the late 60s under Bud Grant and with Joe Kapp I was a Vikes fan as well. I say the Vikes win out. Something has been eating at the Bears this season...they have not been consistent or effective the way they have been. I have a warm spot in my heart also for Gus Frerotte who played in Miami in their mediocre-before-the-2007-fall year (2005, leading them to 8-8 with a big finale over the Pats). and even if Frerotte doesn't play, Adrian Peterson is amazing and I don't see many remaining teams stopping him including the Bears. Third, I don't trust Kyle Orton, who is better than Bobby Douglass but worse than what's his name (you know who I mean, the guy who won the Super Bowl).

In the AFC North, I don't like the Steelers (because of their playoff rivalry with Miami and Oakland in the 70s...I mean, how can I possibly root for them???), but I have always respected them, don't have much against them now, letting by-gones be by-gones, for one thing because they have the goat of the Cowboys. Yet I still don't really like them, because as I said before they are all defense, and, as I said in another post, they are on TV just about every week and it would be nice to see someone else besides the Steelers on TV (you know, like the Dolphins?). As for the Ravens...I don't see why the Ravens can't overcome the Steelers to win the division and I hope they do. Their win over Miami has to count for something! But the Ravens have good offense and defense, both, I like the rookie Flacco, and the Ravens (who LOST to the Fins last year) are another "resurgent" "underdog", so goooooo Ravens!

In the AFC South which is already decided with the Titans, it would really be cool if the Texans could find their way to overcome the Colts. I don't like the Colts either. No running game..okay, no consistent running game and it's all Peyton Manning, who I am sick of hearing about. But I do like the Texans! Schaub, had he been healthy all year and they didn't have to rely on that god-awful Sage Rosenfels (gosh I wish Miami would have played the Texans with Rosenfels--they would have won easily), would have the Texans in the running and the run-less and often defense-less Colts on the run. NEXT YEAR, TEXANS! Peyton Manning will be wishing he'd stayed in bed Sundays!

The Jags? No comment!

I will say this for the AFC West:  Dear Al Davis: PLEASE SELL THE RAIDERS! When I wasn't rooting for the Fins in the AFC back in the 70s and 80s I was rooting for the black and silver. It has pained me, since that Supe appearance fairly recently, for you, Mr. Davis, to have completely let this team go to pot. And, Dear Chargers: The past is prologue, and you need to start rebuilding that team. LT is a nice guy but he needs help. Antonio Gates? Who? Dear Broncos: Do you enjoy forcing people who bet on you to lose hundreds or thousands because you can't seem to get your act together, losing when you should win and winning when you should lose? Keep that up, and you just might win the Super Bowl! and, Dear Chiefs: I don't care  what you say, do you really think the future is with a guy named Thigpen??

NFC West? Because they're another "resurgent" team (if you can call "resurgent" a team that hasn't been in the playoffs in 33 years!), GO CARDS! A few weeks ago on NFL Network Anquan Boldin gave an interview and was a real gentleman. But look out next year for the Niners, who are "talking spoiler" according to NFL.com. Actually, the 49ers have a history of playing spoiler when they weren't in the playoffs themselves. But it would seem Singletary has them going in the right direction at least and should challenge next year. The Seahawks might also challenge. If nothing else I am impressed by the play of Seneca Wallace.

NFC East: The Gaints have clinched, but can they get past that Plax BS? I mean I have fully expected them to win another Supe, but now I am not sure. If another NFC East team had to make the playoffs I'd go with the Eagles. The Skins are finished, and I wish the Cowboys were--stop hyping these turkeys! Romo isn't Aikens, or even Staubach, and their coach is no Tom Landry. They were lucky to have Bill Parcells when they had him. and yet, I have to thank the Cowboys for four things:

Tony Sparano, Jason Ferguson, Akin Ayodele and Tony Fasano. And, oh yeah, Bill Parcells. Go Dolphins!

This week I'm just gonna list my picks with no explanations...after last weeks's 6 - 8, I have to agree with slshusker...my picks deserved no respect! Rams over Skins?? Browns over Giants?? Jags over Broncos???  And kudoos to that Cards fan who lambasted my Cowboys pick!

Bills over Chargers (Because it's in Buffalo and their QB is back)

Panthers over Saints

Bears over Vikes

Steelers over Bungles

Titans over Chiefs

Dolphins over Ravens

Giants over Niners

Cowboys over Rams

Texans over Lions

Colts over Packers

Jets over Raiders

Skins over Browns

Bucs over Seahawks

Broncos over Pats (good golly I picked the Broncs again??? But it is funny how it seems when the Chargers lose the Broncos win, and vice versa...but what if Bills lose? Pats might regain some incentive.)

Should that be the Sports Page Headline in the Miami Herald this morning?...Not really, because, well, some here might think it's "the curse" but I beg to differ...Houston's not-so-unlikely last minute win over Miami was not only not simply a curse but just a bit better football for just a bit longer. I would like to have seen the face of Ronnie "slinging arrows" Brown when Matt Schaub ran that ball into the endzone--the same way the Fins D refused to let LT run it in last week!

So the Texans--as I said a few days ago who are NOT the 0-4 team their record indicates--and, as some other blogger said (who picked the Texans) that the Dolphins and Texans were like mirror images of each other--young, aggressive teams which tend to do well against the run (which, Brown's stats being noted on the game...I don't recall the Texans leading rusher...were not thast great)--won by just being a little more aggressive yesterday, 29-28...a win not unlike the other three times the Texans beat the Fins...three points or less! And because Matt Schaub, unlike Matt Cassel and Phil Rivers, exposed the weaknesses of the Dolphins defense backfield for a huge amount of yardage.

I am sad the Fins lost after such stellar efforts against Pats and Chargers...but I am also glad the Texans, a fairly decent team after all (but for the stupid play of Rosenfels--get rid of him, Texans!), are no longer winless because they shouldn't have been in the first place! Good for you all, Texans! Now go out next week and whoop it up against the hopeless Lions. Just don't get smug the way the Fins did!

THAT'S RIGHT, DOLPHINS...YOU GOT SMUG! STUPID, STUPID...YOU BEAT THE PATS AND CHARGERS, KNOWN TO BE GOOD TEAMS, AND NOW YOU THINK BECAUSE YOU'RE AHEAD LATE IN THE FOURTH QUARTER (AGAINST A QB THAT APPARENTLY TOOK YOUR PASS DEFENSE APART ALL DAY, NO LESS) YOU CAN GO OUT AND CELEBRATE AT 28-23??? AND NOW YOU HAVE PAID FOR IT! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT???

You are going to go out next Sunday and beat the Ravens at home, that's what! And you don't even need an Peyton Manning to do it. Neither the Texans, nor the Bolts nor Pats, really stopped the Wildcat, so use it, and since "everybody knows" you can't run on the Ravens, do it anyway, because they can't stop the pass. And you pass rushers (Porter had another good day in Reliant Stadium) and especially you secondary folks, Flacco is a rookie, okay? A pretty good rookie (or else he wouldn't be starting) but a rookie nevertheless who couldn't do squat against a Colts defense that IMHO is outshined by the Fins anyway. You know what you have to do.

And the Sunday after that, you are going to beat the Bills at home.

And onto my other stupid picks...

Good golly Miss Molly! the Rams beat the Redskins--in Washington! Only one or two of the bolder bloggers picked the "hapless" Rams, and they did it by doing something no one else has been able to do to the Skins--force turnovers, and they--like 4 or 5 other teams--did it in the closing seconds (in fact time had expired). HOORAY FOR THE RAMS!

Thus the Rams and Texans have won their first games this year, and good for them. Don't like to see winless teams.

Well, my pick of the Falcons paid off. Another last second win, and this one makes the NFC North bolluxed up with no one who clearly standout (except the Lions, who just might do what the Fins couldn't and wouldn't do last year, go winless!). So the Bears, who looked at one point like they would easily take this division, are now 3-3. The Vikes, who looked like they really needed more than Frerotte to win with, are now 3-3. The Packers, who have looked either good or bad with Rodgers, are also 3-3. Sorta mediocre, these three, wouldn't you say? Now, look at the NFC South: the Panthers (wha-happen?), the Bucs (thanks you, Mr. Garcia!), and the Falcons (holder of the best rookie QB out there this year) are all 4-2 and the Saints are 3-3. Statistically the NFC East is the strongest division but I'm not buying it.

Panthers! Whaa haapen? Two words: Jeff Garcia. Okay, three more words: home field advantage...the Bucs haven't lost there in a long time. And, oh yeah, you guys were buying into that "the Panthers are playoff bound this year" stuff. As with the Fins, you folks got smug and you paid the price for it. But unlike the Fins you looked bad in losing!

And the Vikes eke out the Lions. And the Saints raid the Raiders. And the Jets buck the Bungles. And Cards clip the Cowboys (and apologies to that Cards fan who walloped my Pokes pick--see comments on previous post--you were right after all about the Cards). And Eagles fly over the Niners, who are apparently sinking fast. And the Packers drown the Seahawks.

Finally, three incredible wins that will reverberate around the league for at least this week.

I had picked the Broncos (I have to keep reminding myself never to pick this height of inconsistency!) over the Jaguars because it was at Mile High. Well, at the end of the day, it was the Cutler kids who needed air. Nice going, Jags! You needed the win with the Colts winning as well as Texans, and you did it! Have a nice week off.

I had picked the Colts, but figured it'll go either way anyway. WRONG! Peyton is back. The Colts D appears to be back. That momentum they built up against Texans in the last quarter last week carried through...what happened to the Ravens, another team that looked promising at the beginning of the year, have lost three straight now and have not looked too bad doing it (looked okay vs. Steelers and didn't look too bad vs. Titans, but what happened to that highly ranked defense??). Seems the Colts have rediscovered they are a good team after all.

And now we come to Chargers-Patriots, with the Bolts belting Bellichick's crew in a 30-10 win that took some of the sting off the Texans win over my aqua-orange boys. This puts the Chargers only one game behind the feckless horses...and they go to Buffalo next week (good luck...or will the Bills be looking ahead to Fins?) while Pats have the Broncs. Meanwhile, the Jets (who seem to have the easiest schedule in the NFL...why is it they always seem to have teams they can beat...Brett Favre, maybe?) and Pats are both at 3-2! the Bills are 4-1 and the Fins are 2-3, which means this now "not least" division is still up for grabs as only two games separate top from bottom. That is not something that happens too often. And kuddos to the Bolts, who clearly got the revenge they wanted...but what's gonna happen if they meet the Pats in the playoffs?

Remember bakc to the 70s and the Steelers-Raiders? This matchup seems similar.