So far everyone, as of Monday, December 29 at 12:50 pm central time, who has picked for the wild card playoff round, in picking the winner of the Fins-Ravens game, has picked the Ravens.

Actually, I would not expect anyone to pick the Fins. If I wasn't a Fins fan, I wouldn't pick 'em! There is NO REASON, none whatsoever, to pick the Fins. The Ravens are a better team. Period. I know that. Awesome defense. Miami's is only good. Flacco is a wonder and has a "better arm" than Chad. (Now where have I heard THAT before! Like, ALL SEASON!) Cam Cameron, who coached the Fins into oblivion last year, has the Fins offernse number as shown by how his new team clobbered his old team this past October in week 7. In fact, the Ravens are so awesome that (given that Big Ben is at this point questionable for his Steelers division playoff game) I actually see them beating Pittsburgh for a change in two weeks. That is actually what I (if I wasn't a Fins fan) would say: the Ravens annihilate the Fins and do just enough to the Steelers to shut them down (because, hey, if Big Ben's not playing the defense can't do everything!). Then (assuming the Colts beat the Chargers...again, that is what everyone is saying...what say you, Bolt Backer 21?), then go on to clobber the overrated Titans again, it sets up the Colts-Ravens. Flacco against a defense that has come on very well in the last several weeks, and Manning against a defense that has not had to come on lately because they've been there all year. I would not hazard a pick for this at this time.

And just in case you think old lady snorky is using reverse psychology, fageddaboutit! I never use reverse psychology on something so important as the NFL playoffs!

So, go ahead, pick Baltimore. I guarantee you old lady snorky will not badger you with "idiot, the Fins will win" garbage, because like I said I have NO REASON to believe the Fins will win. Simply, they have not shown all year they can beat Ravens (or Colts or Steelers or Titans or any of the NFC playoff teams)...Chad's lack of arm, Ronnie and Ricky's lack of 100 yard games, inferior defense compared to the other AFC teams, "the worst receiver corp in the NFL" as Alex Marvez keeps saying, inferior offensive line compared to the others. NO REASON. And not only that, but isn't it true that Miami is just happy to be here in the playoffs after 1-15? Sure it is! Their Super bowl was against the Jets yesterday.

But here's the thing...neither Cammat (is he a Jets or Pats fan?), Pittsburgh Mike, Snorky, Bolt Backer or anyone else on these blogs, the pundits on the NFL Network or on FOXsports, ESPN or anywhere else, actually gets to decide if the Ravens win or not. God does, and HE has already decided.

So, go ahead and pick the Ravens, and let God sort them out.

Fate. The Will of God....I had said in my last post. The Will of God, indeed, for nothing happens without HIS intervention! (But you atheists can call it FATE if you want, and don't give me that "God doesn't exist" crap-ola...denounce us Christians if you want but DO NOT SCREW AROUND WITH GOD!)

And to God's pleasure and HIS glory,

The Dolphins Moved The Dash! 1 - 15 to 11- 5!

What else can you call it when right after Favre (after Jets recover Chad's sack-fumble and score the game's first TD--with X-tra point snap screwed up) throws his TD to Coles, and the Fins get it back, and, on a beautiful pass to Ginn in end zone after Chad got away from several potential sackers to throw to Fasano...and then 20 seconds or so later rookie DE Merling reads a "double screen" right for his interception TD. Fins 14, Jets 6, then 9 at the half. And, after the Jets go ahead in 3rd quarter (because Miami STILL has a couple fo speacial teams issues!), Pennington goes to Ginn again, who back tracks an underthrown pass for another beauty catch, which sets up Fasano's TD. Fins 21-17. Then it goes after a blocked punt (but not too many special teams issues!) that Carpenter FG. Fins 24-17, and just when Jets are taking it downfield for the tie, Goodman makes his 2nd interception.

In other words, the Jets played hard but the Fins played harder, with just enough flukey stuff to make the claim that God was on the side of the Dolphins this afternoon!

I'll get into comparing them with the 1970 team later this week.

And otherwise it was a great day! The Pats won but WON'T MAKE THE PLAYOFFS ANYWAY! I call it KARMA (do unto others as you would have them do unto you...Matt Cassel is paying for some of the liberties the Pats took last year when they continued to run up scores on their AFC East opponents, and "spy gate"...Maybe from now on Bellichick will spend time building character, not lopsided scores. And from what I heard at the Bills game, the Pats were up to their old tricks of not getting penalites when they deserved them. As for Mangini and Favre, will they or won't they be back?

and speaking of the Jets...a great big

thank you for chad pennington! 

You could have traded him, but NOOOOOOO! You threw him overboard and Miami rescued him so that he could lead them to the playoffs for the first time since 2001, and the AFC EAST title!

In other games, I am also happy because the Pokes, who give a whole new meaning to OVER-RATED, got clobbered by the Eagles and will also MISS the playoffs! Good work, Tony Romo! when you turn into Troy Aikman, let me know!

and a great big CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CHARGERS! 52-21! GOOD WORK PHIL, LT, and the rest of the team...

and you too, Bolt Bakcer 21! Happy New Year! And Happy New Year to all Dolphins fans everywhere!

If you are expecting me to make a pick in Sunday's moved-to-4pm Fins at Jets game...well, you know who I'm going to pick, and for once Street Cred agrees with me! I'd also like the Bills to beat the Pats but heck you can't have everything.

One of the ESPN (I think) pundits said that if the Dolphins won the AFC East it would be poetic justice after their 1-15 last year. Maybe, but IMHO it's a matter of the phlying phickle phinger of phate simply "moving the dash" from 1-15 to 11-5, Omar Kayyam style..."and the finger of fate wrote" or whatever.

And I never thought I'd say this but I really do think if anyone ought to win the Coach of the Year Award it should be--not Tony Sparano--but Bill Bellichick, who actually had to wrack his playbook brains this year to get this oft injured team to the point where they are after everyone else had given up on them after they went 3-2 and the Bills and Jets were leading the division. And another thing: the Pats showed a lot of character this year...I didn't think this was possible (and under Brady, I think, they would NOT have shown this much character. There are times I think Brady is too full of himself and his supermodel girl friends. This year, of course, the too full of himelf QB award is likely to go to Brett Favre. I did not think it was possible to play as poorly as he did in Seattle...snow? Heck, he played in Green Bay!).

Now, tell me again that the Dolphins can't win in bad weather??? Arrowhead Stadium, with the thermometer showing single digits, had the coldest game in Dolphin history, and sever players on the Fins sideline wore scarves over their mouths, while on the field you could see the frigid breaths on both sides, according to the highlights. But the sun was on the field keeping it from freezing and the sweat from congealing, from that beautiful Ted Ginn run out of a reverse...as close as he looked to the sideline he never stepped over it and risked big hits he is not supposed to be able to handle. And to the Chiefs' credit they didn't fold, being ahead at the half 31-24...and putting themselves in a position they might face in the playoffs. Well, they came back in the second half and held tough on defense (3 interceptions and a fumble recovery by Roth (I think)) and Chad did what he had to do on offense--and that gutsy Fasano TD dragging several Chiefs with him to make it 38-31. And they needed this bad weather game in preparation for the Jets--who happened to lose in the Seattle snow. In fact teh home field and the possibly bad weather were the only things strictly favring the Jets this coming game, and I don't think these advantages will mean as much now as before the KC game.

Don't ask me why the Jets appear to have given up (of course, they might win Sunday), but I think maybe Brett Favre has lost his attitudinal edge, or maybe the bloggers who claim he is thinking about retiring for good after this year are just being melodramatic. I mean, really, the Jets did not really deserve to beat the Bills, and had Trent Edwards played, they would not have beaten the Bills, period.

I'll have more to say about the Dolphins amazing turn-around in future posts, but suffice it to say that this season in so many ways is looking more and more like a deja vu of the Dolphins in 1970, and we all know what happened two years later.

And, this one is for you, Bolt Backer 21: the Chargers WILL beat the Broncos and Will win the AFC West. Something has to cause the Broncos to make amends for the fact that they were almost psychotic this year, and I'd never thought I'd live to see anyone beat the Bucs in Tampa Bay this year!

Fate. The Will of God. Call it what you want. Because I am convinced that, with just about a minute left in the Jets-Bills game with Bills leading 27-24 and having possession, only the Will of God could have caused Los(er)man to attempt to throw a pass ALTHOUGH HE KNOWS HES A PASSER OF INTERCEPTIONS TO THE OTHER SIDE as sure as Jauron knows this...though basically they could have just sat on it, or maybe run it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: You DO KNOW, Bills, you have Marshawn (FOX censored)!

Well, maybe now this ridiculous play calling is THE KEY to why the Bills, 5-1 after the 7th week, have gone 1-7!

However, though Jauron must have told Losman to throw the ball with the game wrapped up (he thought), it was FATE, the Will of God, what have you, that caused to happen what could only be considered the AFC analogy of the terrible 1977 Giants play called "THE FUMBLE" against the Eagles, in which Larry Csonka, of all people!, fumbled the ball with about a minute left in a game they were winning (to finish 3-11 or something), with which the Eagles proceeded to take in for a score and win the game. (Note: After that game, two very good things happened--Head Coach Bill Arnsparger quit and headed back to the comfort of being Don Shula's Defensive Coordinater again, and Csonka pleeded to be returned to his old spot as FB of the Fins in 1978, which helped Miami to return to the AFC East title)

Need I recapitulate? Losman turns to throw and is hit by the Jets Elam, the ball comes loose and "Reefer" Ellis scoops it up for a TD, whereas the Jets, who were behind pretty much all day, win the game.

Yes, we know that Losman is not much of a QB and the Bills will never win with him. But FATE or God caused this, for one reason and one reason only:

Because it is the Jets destiny. The Football of Fate fell into the hands of Ellis, he scores, and this scenario sets up a Jets win that inexorably puts them into position that THEY MUST FIGHT for the AFC East title against a team that they, without realizing, helped immeasurably to put itself into the position to oppose them in that FATEFUL game.

ONLY FATE could have caused Losman's lost ball, and only fate could have caused the Jets this spring and summer to seek out Favre while telling Chad Pennington to not hit his head on the way out the door. And only fate could have caused the ever wise Bill Parcells to scoop up this well qualified but 2007-scapegoat QB to lead a 1-15 team to this edge of the playoffs, and to this game.

Farve beat Pennington in game one of the season in Miami. And, bad weather or not (will FATE supply unseasonably warm temperatures?), Chad Pennington is looking forward to a rematch.

Will Miami get to "move the dash" turning 1-15 into 11-5 and play out Miracle in Miami 2 (Miracle in Maimi 1 was Shula taking a 3-11 team to 10-4 and the playoffs in 1970)?

This game and maybe this season was fated to be.

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!