Well, last weekend I got three of four right, being wrong about the Giants beating Carolina.  Let's see how I do this weekend.

  Washington Redskins at Seattle Seahawks:  There is no way that Seattle will cover the line, seeing as they are 9.5 point favorites.  They lost the regular season game 23-20 in Washington, and Washington has been playing with a must win mentality for the past 6 weeks.  Nonetheless, Shaun Alexander is the NFL's rushing champion, and Matt Hasselback is an underrated QB.  Washington's defense will keep them under control, but not enough to win the game.  Mark Brunell and Clinton Portis will provide the Redskins offensive punch, but Seattle is number one in red zone defense.  My pick:  Seattle 24, Washington 20

New England Patriots at Denver Broncos:  New England needs to take another look at this disrespect stuff.  New England is getting plenty of respect for being only 10-6 and in the playoffs.  In fact, some gutsy types think they can go all the way.  However, they will have to get past what is truly the most disrespected team in the NFL right now, Denver.  Nobody is talking about Denver going to the Super Bowl, despite their 13-3 record and first round bye.  Nobody is talking about how great Jake Plummer is, though he has really cut down on his picks this year to become the leader of Denver's offense.  Nobody is talking about Denver's backfield being full of potent running backs, and how that, coupled with the offensive line and Denver's unique system, allows this team to run all over the place.  How's that for disrespect?  New England can talk about disrespect, but Denver will use that talk to their advantage since they are truly the disrespected team.  It's also at Denver.  As much as I am tempted to pick New England, I think Denver deserves some respect.  My pick:  Denver 20, New England 14

Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts:  This game will be much closer than last time.  Ben Roethlisberger had just come off an injury, and Marvel Smith was out the last time these two teams had met.  Both of those situations have been remedied.  Also, Pittsburgh has played in the RCA Dome earlier this season, so they have some idea of what to expect.  Nonetheless, the Colts have the best offense/defense combination in the leaque, as both of their units have been performing admirably, and both are ranked in the top five in the NFL.  Pittsburgh will be able to keep it close, but it's still not enough.  My pick:  Indianapolis 31, Pittsburgh 24

Carolina Panthers at Chicago Bears:  The first time these two teams met on Soldier Field, Chicago won 13-3.  Now Rex Grossman is back.  Despite that, Carolina's defense has been playing very well lately, and Steve Smith is the best receiver in the NFL this year.  That combined with Deshaun Foster and Jake Delhomme make this offense potentailly deadly.  However, I still can't pick against the Bear's defense.  My pick:  Chicago 17, Carolina 13

Note:  This weekend really appears to be up for grabs in several games.  The number one seeds both have to get up to snuff quickly to avoid upsets against the 6 seeds.  Both of them haven't played a meaningful game in over a month, and right now, it is one and done.  Both the six seeds have been playing for their postseason lives since early December, as another loss would have doomed their chances. 

  Pittsburgh could upset Indy if their offense plays better and their defense is up to snuff.  They need to get Willie Parker loose against the Colts, and exploit the advantages they now have that they didn't have the first time around.

Washington could beat the Seahawks if their defense plays lights out (like it has all season), and Mark Brunell burns the secondary on a few deep balls to Santana Moss.  I was very tempted to pick the Redskins to win the rematch as well.

Carolina's defense is good enough to keep Chicago off the field.  The main thing for Carolina though, will be forcing turnovers and giving their offense good field position.  Chicago's defense is really good, and will be tough to score in when they have a long field.  Carolina though, has some of the best offensive players in the NFC on their roster.

New England is playing better than they were last time they faced Denver, and it is really amazing that this team has gone 10-6 despite having 10-12 players on injured reserve at a time.  Last time they were at Denver, they lost 28-20 in a game that was 28-6 before Tom Brady tried to engineer a comeback.  However, New England had about a dozen defensive players on the injured reserve at the time.  I think that a healthy New England team will play much closer, and could possibly pull the upset.  After all, in the past 5 years, New England hasn't lost a postseason game.