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Patriots Day is special around these parts, it just is. If you don’t live in Massachusetts, you don’t understand all the way. It’s our own little holiday, the Sox play at 11 AM, the Boston Marathon begins an hour before that. People flock to Boston to just revel. The bars are full, the street vendors are out, it’s just an awesome day.

They won’t take it away from us. They can’t. We won’t let them.

I got into the car this morning just before 11 to head to cover a high school baseball game. The radio was on, and the Sox were about to start, and I just smiled. “Oh yeah,” I thought, “It’s Patriots Day, awesome.”

In years past I’ve driven up to see the Sox play their early game and then headed out to eat. One year me and a friend got to see Pedro Martinez beat the Yankees on a Patriots Day morning. It was glorious. We then saw the runners coming through the finish line down near Copley Square and headed out to have lunch and some beers. It was about as perfect a day as you can have.

Thousands of people were copying that this morning. And thousands were out along the Boston Marathon route to run the race, along with the thousands that lining that route to cheer them on. That’s a lot of thousands. Nearly all of them were quite happy to be alive, and Patriots Day makes you feel a little more alive in and around Boston. Like I said, it’s our little holiday, and we love it.

But it’s changed. Two bombs, and apparently a few that didn’t work — thank God — have permanently put a stain on one of our favorite days. Patriots Day will never be the same.

I don’t know who did it, and I don’t know why, but I’m ticked off about it. Screw you, terrorists. How dare you mess with Boston. How dare you mess with Patriots Day. How dare you have the audacity to blow up people that are just living their life because of your beliefs, because of your cause.

Maybe it was a religious statement. Killing innocents is frowned upon by all of the religions I know of.

If it was some political statement, you messed up. The United States does not react well to acts of terrorism inside of our borders. It rubs us the wrong way, it just does.

Next year there will be another Patriots Day game, and another Boston Marathon. We don’t quit things around here. We’ll make it bigger and better.

Obviously you learned nothing from 9/11. You knocked New York City down pretty good, but those guys got up off the mat. In comparison, this was only a glancing blow. They got up off the mat, and so will Boston.

Patriots Day is a part of who we are, and the holiday is a celebration of some tough Bostonians that helped get this country started. They started a revolution, and it turned out pretty well. Bombs have gone off in those streets before today, and Boston is still standing. It takes a lot more than that to beat our city.

I’ve been avoiding writing this blog post for hours and hours. I should have done it last night, but opted instead to watch last week’s episode of The Office that I hadn’t seen, plus the back-to-back episodes that were taped last night. Oh, and I watched most of the Bruins game too, and introduced by daughter to the Bruins. My favorite quotes from her, “really, his name is Tuuka?” and “Where’s Finland.” She’s nine.

I could have done this much earlier today. Instead, I did busy work for the paper, cleaned the kitchen, did some laundry and played some NHL 13.

Can you tell I really am not looking forward to the Super Bowl this year?

I’m still pretty bitter, that’s the problem. I wanted the Patriots to be there, and they aren’t. I’ve been avoiding SportsCenter for the last 11 days, and WEEI and The Sports Hub. I just really don’t want to get into it, because I really hate Baltimore.

Maybe I’d be less inclined to put this off if I had some Deer Antler spray.

So here we go, one last pick for the season and then no NFL football for seven months. It’s sad. I love my NFL Sundays and had a great year picking games, and won my fantasy football league. This year will be tough to top. But, we’ll try again in 13 to do better because the fun is in the trying.

For the playoffs, I’m 6-4 overall. I had a great first week, and a subpar second week. Last week I went 1-1. So, we’re at 6-4 and about to win number 7.

Baltimore vs. San Francisco, Super Bowl Sunday, 6:30 PM: The decision here is do we go with the team of destiny, and antler spray, or the team that I thought at the beginning of the season very well could win it all? Let’s take a quick look at what we’re dealing with.

Baltimore has been playing great, there’s no question about that. They won two games that I thought they had no business winning to get here. Joe Flacco has been very good (it pains me to type that), Ray Rice is Ray Rice and the receivers have been making big plays. Defensively, they’re good, but let’s not get too excited about what they did to the Patriots. Remember, there are a handful of teams that play the Pats very well, and Baltimore and the NY Giants top that short list.

San Francisco has the second coming of Randall Cunningham, and he’s playing at a very high level. They also have a solid running game and perhaps the most physical defense in the league. Michael Crabtree appears to have made the leap to the next level over the last few weeks, and I believe he’ll have a big game. Unfortunately, the Niners aren’t very deep at receiver, but overall I think they’ve got enough playmakers on offense to win this game.

I was teetering back-and-forth with my pick in the Brother Bowl, and then noticed something that made up my mind for me. Baltimore is not prepared for this game.

What? They’ve had two weeks to get ready, you say.

Here’s the thing. I keep thinking back to the postmortem stuff on the Pats-Niners game, and how Mike Lombardi said it is difficult for teams to ready themselves to play San Francisco because of the physicality they bring on defense, and that it takes most teams a good quarter or two to adjust to it. Baltimore hasn’t played against a defense like this all year, with the exception of maybe Pittsburgh (who they split with) and Houston (who blew them out by 30).

Secondly, the Ravens have not played a read option QB like Kaepernick. The dude makes plays and can turn a busted play into 25 yards in the blink of an eye. The only really mobile QBs that they faced this year were Mike Vick in week two, who beat them by a point, and RG3 in December, another close Baltimore loss.

That’s got me leaning towards the Niners, and so that’s who I’m picking. Elias, rest easy, your boys are going to hoist the Lombardi Trophy Sunday night and the Bay Area will be enjoying another championship. I’ve got the Niners, 37-24.

Rich’s Pick: San Francisco
Matt’s Pick: San Francisco

Well, last week stunk.

Over the course of the year I’d been downright killin’ it. Every week was been a good one for me, more or less, until last.

I will stand by one loss vehemently. Seattle should have beaten Atlanta. They were the better team overall, but they came out flat and didn’t decide to play their brand of football until the third quarter. They paid for it.

As for the San Fran-Green Bay game, I was dead wrong on that one. San Francisco returned to the style of football that made them so scary for parts of the season and Green Bay looked bad. Still, you can’t help but wonder if things might have been different if the Packers hadn’t fumbled that kickoff inside their own 10 early in the game. They were up 14-7 and playing well. Then the fumble and all of a sudden Colin Kaepernick looks like he’s been spawned by a mad programmer at EA Sports looking to make a QB with a 110 rating (out of 100, for those of you who don’t play the game).

And, let’s be honest, Denver should have beaten Baltimore. How the Broncos blow that coverage inside the last minute is something that makes no sense. If the Broncos don’t screw up there, everything’s different.

But as our favorite hoodie-wearing coach would say, it is what it is.

This weekend promises to be a fun one, I just wish it would hurry up and get here already. As of this writing, the Patriots-Ravens game is 49 hours away. It’ll be painful waiting for it to get here. As you may know, I’m a huge Pearl Jam fan. The opening lyrics to one of my all-time favorite songs seem very appropriate, and sum up how I’ll be over the next few days, and at kickoff on Sunday night.

The waiting drove me mad

you’re finally here, and I’m a mess

For the record, I was 1-3 last week. Matt was 2-2.

San Francisco at Atlanta, NFC Championship Game: I have believed all year long that the Falcons are vastly overrated, and that did not change last week. Yes, they beat Seattle, who I thought was going to the Super Bowl. There are quality points in football, just results. They got it done, and Matt Ryan and company finally won a playoff game. That monkey is off of their backs.

Now they have to deal with the 800-pound gorilla that is the 49ers. When the Niners play at the top of their game, they’re the best team in the league overall. They have a superb defense, arguably the best in the league, and a dynamic offense.

I was right that Kapernick would have jitter last week. I didn’t foresee them lasting for just one drive. The pick-six interception was a bad one, but he more than made up for it over the next three and a half quarters.

CK is basically Randall Cunningham v2.0. He’s electric, and it’s going to be interesting to see what defenses come up with to stop him. When they’re running the offense out of the pistol, and using the read option attack, they’re deadly. Now, I don’t know if they’ll get the kind of production out of Michael Crabtree that they did last week, but that’s a very good offense.

Atlanta’s best hope is that the Niners run into the jet lag issues that Seattle had last week. With the game starting later in the afternoon, 3:30 PM, that’s not as likely. Their body clocks will be three hours behind, but it’s not as jarring playing at lunchtime as it is breakfast time. Atlanta was able to get off to a huge lead early, and then held on for dear life. I don’t think they’ll be able to do that again.

Now, Matt told me he was taking the Falcons in this game. For the record, he told me this from a bar, so obviously his thinking could be clouded.

• Rich’s Pick: Niners
• Matt’s Pick: Falcons

Baltimore at New England, AFC Championship Game: And here we are again, one year removed. I wonder if Billy Cundiff will be watching (he was waived by the Niners today)? If he is, which team is he rooting for? Is there anyone who would want to see a SF-BAL Super Bowl less than Cundiff?

Well, I think Billy is going to be okay. There are always job openings for mediocre place kickers, and his former team that wears purple is not going to be playing in the Super Bowl.

I get it, the Ravens have been on a roll, and they’re playing their best football, blah, blah, blah. They’ve figured it out with their new offensive coordinator.

This game is all about what Tom Brady is able to do. Against the Ravens, he’s been very good. He threw for 335 yards, on 28-of-41 passing, in the first game against the Ravens this year, with 1 TD and 0 INTs. In five career games against Baltimore, he’s lost just once, and that was the game this year, 31-30, with some very questionable replacement referee stuff happening late in the game. The replacement refs were rattled that night. If you remember, the loudest ever “B###S###” chant ever was serenaded on those officials in the third quarter. Everything seemed to go Baltimore’s way after that. Coincidence?

I totally expect that this game will be close. It just will. If I had to bet the spread, I’d be taking the Ravens, because 10 points is ridiculous. The last two games between these teams were both decided by a single point. The one before it was a field goal. The Ravens always play the Patriots close.

This game is in Foxboro, with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. The Patriots win this game, they just do, and we all say goodbye to Ray Lewis. His final dance will be at Foxboro, but it will be during the pregame. The Patriots will be doing the postgame jigs.

• Rich’s Pick: Patriots
• Matt’s Pick: Patriots

It’s funny when you realize that your children have it so much easier, and better, than we did as kids. Yes, we were raised in a much simpler time. I don’t think my son, who just turned 11 the other day, has ever spent an entire afternoon making up a world of his own with action figures like I used to at his age. Instead he has devised an entire world on a computer inside a computer on a game called “Minecraft” which is far more intricate than anything I could come up with.

So Mr. 11 Years old got a card in the mail from my parents for his birthday, and inside it was a check to buy himself a laptop. He freaked out, and inside so did I. I was certainly psyched for him, and glad that I wasn’t going to have to shell out the money to buy him a computer, but I never got anything close to that big for any of my birthdays. Am I jealous, yeah, probably.

This weekend in the NFL it’s also a case of comparing the past to the new. Back in the day there was no way that you’d ever trust a rookie to win a playoff game as the quarterback. Now, there are many people that believe that a rookie could take his team to the Super Bowl this year, and there are rookies starting for two of the final eight teams. Back in the day, teams that lived by the pass were said to be the ones to shy away from in the playoffs. There’s no way that you would say that now. Almost all of the top teams have superstars QBs that sling it all over the field. The running game is a complement.

This may be the best weekend of the year when it comes to football. Four games, all with huge implications, and we’re not sidled with any bad teams. You can honestly make a case for any of the eight to win it all this year, and I could see any of five teams really doing it.

Going into this weekend, I believe that the Broncos are No. 1, the Patriots a close No. 2 and Seattle is No. 3 followed closely by both San Francisco and Green Bay at 4A and 4B.

So, if you’re rooting for Baltimore, or Houston, or Atlanta, I’m sorry. I just don’t see your team winning it all, but honestly, that doesn’t mean that they couldn’t pull an upset. This is the NFL, and the beauty is that anything can happen. Teams get hot, just look at the Giants last year and 2007.

Speaking of hot, I went 4-0 last weekend in round one. Matt went 2-2, so that finished off his chances of beating me for the season. He owes me lunch, and I will cherish every bite of burger and sip of Guinness. Good times.

Rich: 4-0 (playoffs) 183-75-1 (overall) .709 winning percentage

Matt: 2-2 (playoffs) 173-85-1 (overall) .670 winning percentage

Baltimore at Denver, Saturday at 4:30 PM: You can certainly make a case for the Ravens winning this game, and you might even be able to talk yourself into it. Baltimore did a nice job against the Colts last weekend, the defense looked good and the defense was menacing.

But let’s calm ourselves first, okay. First, it’s still Joe Flacco behind center. Baltimore completed just 12 passes in the game, and the biggest one was all improvisation by Ray Rice on a late second quarter screen that was the big play in the game. The Colts actually had the screen read perfectly, but Rice found a tiny amount of space and did what Ray Rice can do, busting it for 45-yards and taking the ball down to the two. The Ravens scored on the next play and Indy was never in the game after that.

The Ravens played that whole game on emotion. It was Ray Lewis’ final home game, and he fed off the crowd. Now he’s taking his team into the most hostile of places (in my opinion, Denver is the 2^nd best home field advantage) and has to take down a team that is playing better than anyone.

Denver is the real deal. Offensively, they’re pretty awesome. Peyton Manning has been great and he’s got two legitimate outside threats, in Thomas and Decker, that make plays. Brandon Stokley has made big plays out of the slot and Jacob Tamme is a good tight end. Knowshon Moreno has done a nice job filling in for the injured Willis McGahee, and the Broncos don’t seem to have missed a step with him hauling the rock.

The Bronco defense is also quite good. Von Miller and company get after the quarterback, and this is where I see the biggest advantage for Denver. Ray Rice does a nice job in blitz pickup for the Ravens, but if he has to stay in to block, then one of the Ravens’ biggest weapons isn’t out in a pattern. That puts the game on the shoulders of Flacco, and I don’t think he can make enough big plays against a good defense to win on the road here.

• Rich’s Pick: Broncos
• Matt’s Pick: Broncos

Green Bay at San Francisco, Saturday, 8 PM: I’m going to be honest, I’ve gone back and forth on this game all week long. This is the game of the week, on paper. I love watching both of these teams play, because they’re just fun.

The back-and-forth keeps bringing me back to one simple thing, since Justin Smith got injured against the Patriots, the 49ers have not been getting to the quarterback with the gusto they did before that injury, especially their defensive leader, Aldon Smith. Somewhere my boy Elias is nodding his head, and hating it.

Experience is certainly a factor, and the Packers have more of it at the QB spot. I had the opportunity to sit in on a panel last night with a couple of Major League pitchers, Steve Cishek and Rich Hill, along with Red Sox manager John Farrell. They all spoke about the importance of “slowing the game down.” When you’re a rookie the game moves fast in the early going, and you have to settle into it. We saw Colin Kaepernick struggle with this in his first start of the year, a loss to St. Louis. He made mistakes because he was too amped up. This is the biggest game of his life, I see that happening.

I very well could be wrong, and if I am I’ll be happy for my old friend, but I’m picking Green Bay.

• Rich’s Pick: Packers
• Matt’s Pick: Packers

Seattle at Atlanta, Sunday 1 PM: How is it that the NFC’s top team is one of the ones I feel so sure is not a true Super Bowl contender? It’s simple really, they have a bloated record that was bolstered by some close wins over teams that aren’t really that good. The NFC South was bad this year, and they dominated the division.

Atlanta used to rely on the running game, but this year they ranked 29^th in that category. Michael Turner is no longer a burner, and they refuse to implement the underutilized Jaquizz Rodgers, even though he’s the most dynamic weapon they have out of the backfield. It makes no sense because they’ve become a throw down the field team, yet they still used Turner the majority of the time when they had a Darren Sproles clone on the sideline.

Matt Ryan is 0-3 in playoff games. I’m just saying.

Seattle ranks as Football Outsiders best team this year. They play great defense, have lockdown corners, they’re physical, they’re able to run the ball – both from the RB and QB spots – and can make plays in the passing game off of play-action. They’re well constructed.

So, I’m expecting a blowout? Not really. West coast teams that have to travel east for 1 PM games tend to struggle. Not only do they have jet lag, but the game is starting at 10 AM on their body clocks. It’s out of whack to the norm.

Seattle is better at home than on the road.

In the end, though, I do like the Seahawks. They are the hottest team in the NFL right now, and one of my rules is that you don’t mess with a streak. I think it will be close, but in the end Marshawn Lynch will be the difference, going Beast Mode in the second half and carrying the Seahawks to the conference championship game for a rematch of the Fail Mary Game.

•  Rich’s Pick: Seahawks
• Matt’s Pick: Falcons

Houston at New England, 4:30 PM Sunday: Gee, thanks NFL. Glad we have to wait until all of the other games are over to watch the Pats move on, thanks for that.

We’ve seen these two teams play, and it wasn’t pretty. The Patriots dominated in their win earlier this season, and I expect another win. I don’t think they’ll be up 28-0 and playing backups in the second half, but I do expect a decisive win, by 10 or 11 points.

Matt Schaub does not throw the ball down the field any more. You know that the Patriots will send help at Andre Johnson all game long and force someone else to beat them. Who will do it? Owen Daniels? I don’t see it.

New England has been much better defensively during the second half of the season, since Aqib Talib joined the team (side note, I wish Aqib was playable in Words with Friends. Not enough ‘Q’ words). Alfonzo Dennard has been better than anyone thought he’d be too, and Devon McCourty has shined at safety, but at the CB spot he’s a train wreck. If everyone’s healthy this weekend, the Pats are in great shape.

I know that Arian Foster is all pumped up about something Shank Shaughnessy wrote this week, but if Texans fans are hanging their hat on a columnist being the difference, they’re in trouble. Actually, they’re in trouble anyways. The Patriots win big here, and next weekend becomes a circus of media hype.

•  Rich’s Pick: Patriots
• Matt’s Pick: Patriots

I made the phone call today. Actually, Mrs. Maclone did. She’s the one that handles the bills, and she was looking forward to getting the extra $8 per month off of the cable bill.

Today was the day that I cancelled the Sports and Entertainment package with Comcast. Actually, there isn’t much there worth having. The NFL Network is cool, but most of the same info is available on ESPN and online. The MLB Network is okay, but the same pertains to them. The NHL Network, well what’s the point when there’s no games?

I had that package for one reason, and one reason only, NFL Red Zone, the greatest invention of all-time. Scott Hanson is out of my life for the next several months, and I will miss him greatly. It’s funny that a channel that simply has a holder screen 161 hours per week in place during the football season, and then for the entirety of the offseason is so important to me, but it is.

The regular season ended on Sunday, though, so I bid adieu to my favorite channel until next September. It will be missed, I hope it hurries back.

Unfortunately I could not embed the Week 17 TD montage, so when you’re done reading this, head over here http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/0ap2000000119610/Week-17-RedZone-recap and thank me later.

Week 17 not only had a ton of touchdowns, but a ton of wins by yours truly. I hit my season’s goal of 70-percent correct, for the second year in a row, thanks to a killer Week 17 showing, going 15-1 for the week. If only the Saints could play defense, I’d have been perfect. Matt continued his hot streak, and went 13-3 for the week and is at his best percentage of the season, but now eight games back with very few left to play.

We’ll count the playoff games towards our records. Then, when it’s all said and done, he’s going to owe me a nice lunch somewhere.

Rich: 179-75-1 (.704)

Matt: 171-83-1 (.680)

Cincinnati at Houston, Saturday at 4:30 PM: Houston choked its way into playing this weekend and all but guaranteed us a Manning v Brady game in two weeks, so we can all thank them greatly for that. As for this game, it’s easy to find reasons to pick against Houston after the way that they’ve played the last few weeks, but I’m not going to do that. The home field, in my eyes, will play a big role here, and let’s keep a few things in mind. The Bengals do not run the ball well, and they try to force it into AJ Green whenever possible. Houston has a good secondary, and a strong defense overall, led by JJ Watt, who should be the defensive MVP this year.

Cincy certainly is a strong defensive team, but it comes down to which team can score more. With your life depending on it, would you want the Houston offense or the Cincy offense? I wouldn’t want either, but I’d certainly put my life in the Texans’ hands first. I’m seeing a big day for Arian Foster and Ben Tate, and a close win by the Texans.

• Rich’s Pick: Texans
• Matt’s Pick: Texans

Minnesota at Green Bay, Saturday 8 PM: The Vikings won an exciting game last weekend to get into the playoffs, using a Blair Walsh buzzer-beating field goal to win in walk-off fashion by three over the Packers. My hero, Adrian Peterson, who I believe could face 11 man fronts each week and somehow average 5 yards per carry, was superhuman and deserves to be the league’s MVP this year. He carried the purple to the playoffs, and with Christian Ponder at the helm of the offense, that’s saying something (although Ponder does deserve some credit. He made a couple of clutch throws in that game to Michael Jenkins).

The Packers have been flying under the radar all season long. While Seattle, Washington, San Fran and Atlanta have been grabbing the headlines, the Packers have been biding their time and getting better and better each week. Yes, they lost last week, but they were locked in at the No. 3 spot and they didn’t go all-out. They still made a game of it, and Aaron Rodgers has been finding his mojo. I would not want to play Green Bay right now, especially at Lambeau.

While last week was a feel good story, and we’re all happy for the Vikings and proud of Peterson, this week is back to reality for Minnesota. I see the Packers winning, and I think it’ll be by double digits.

• Rich’s Pick: Packers
• Matt’s Pick: Packers

 Indianapolis at Baltimore, Sunday 1 PM: I told you that there was no way that the #Chuckstrong Colts were losing last weekend at home against Houston. Now I’m telling you that there’s no way that they’re going into Baltimore and winning this weekend.

Listen, I admire what the Colts have been able to do, and think that Chuck Pagano’s battle with Leukemia is inspirational. The way that the Colts have rallied behind him is awesome, and tear-inducing.

To me, this game comes down to Luck, and he’s not quite as good as everyone believes he is, not yet at least. Did you know that he ranked 26^th overall in QB Rating for the season. Yup, he was behind such superstars as Michael Vick, Nick Foles, Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder. He only completed 54-percent of his passes for the season and threw more interceptions (13) on the road than TD passes (11). Also, in the one cold weather game he played in, he completed just 48-percent of his throws. He was great at home, but he’s not at home this weekend, and he’s a rookie quarterback making his first postseason start.

Now Baltimore doesn’t really put the fear of God in you if you’re New England or Denver, but for the Colts, this is a big time game. Indy went 3-2 against playoff teams, but two of those wins came very early in the season. Since midseason the only good teams they’ve played were New England, who crushed them, and Houston twice, who they split with.

The Ravens are still trying to figure out what’s going on with their offense, but they’re better now than they were a month ago. Also, with Ray Lewis announcing his retirement, I expect that the defense is going to be fired up and they’ll be coming after Luck. Good luck, Andrew.

• Rich’s Pick: Ravens
• Matt’s Pick: Colts

Seattle at Washington, Sunday 4:15 PM: I love Robert Griffin III. He’s in my top five favorite players in the NFL right now easily, and whenever he’s on the field its must-see TV. I will certainly be glued to the television on Sunday, and I will watch him lose.

The Seahawks are playing at a level right now that the Redskins cannot match. They may have the best defense in the league, and they have a very efficient offense. The funny thing is that these teams pretty much run variations of the same offense, but with Griffin still gimpy, I just don’t see how they can keep up.

If we had a completely healthy RG3 in this game, it very well could be a different story. When he’s 100-percent, he plays the game at another level. Unfortunately he’s still not near 100-percent, it’s more like 70, and that’s just not going to be enough to knock off the Seahawks, who I legitimately consider a Super Bowl contender right now.

This game was moved to Sunday because the networks believe it is going to be the most entertaining one. I really don’t see it being all that close. The Seahawks are just too good right now for Washington. Russell Wilson may not win the Rookie of the Year, but unlike RG3 and Andrew Luck, I believe his team will still have football games to play after this weekend.

• Rich’s Pick: Seahawks
• Matt’s Pick: Redskins

Ahh, the Christmas hangover. The bills pile in, and we’re left saying “what was I thinking?” in regards to all of those purchases. It’s nice to have a tree that’s stuffed more than a Thanksgiving turkey, it just stinks to have to pay for it all.

So many gifts given and received, and not too many stand out. My son went crazy for all of his Skylanders stuff, but now I have to fight him more than ever to turn off the Wii and allow his old man access to the TV. My wife loves her buckwheat pillow, though I still can’t wrap my head around how it is actually comfortable.

The best reaction, the most “nailed it” moment, though came from my goddaughter, Sophia. She turned 16 two days before Christmas (the worst time for a birthday), but her “Uncle” Richie – we’re actually cousins, but I’m 23 years older than her – came through with a gift that she actually wanted, but probably no one else would have thought to buy it for her. We both love to watch WWE (I know, rare for a teenage girl, especially a cute one), and her favorite wrestler is Sheamus. I got her a “Brogue Kick Hooligans” hoodie. She didn’t expect it, but it caught her off guard like a boot to the face by her favorite ginger brawler. Her reaction was genuine, and made me feel like a million bucks.

Matt also had a great Christmas present, he made up a little more ground on me with his best week ever. He went 14-2 in week 16. He killed it. Me, just another solid week, posting an 11-5 mark. Old Eagle One is pumped up, but I think he’s running out of time to make the supreme comeback. We have this week, and the playoffs remaining.

Rich: 164-74-1 (.688)
Matt: 158-80-1 (.663)

This week will be a tough one to guess. We don’t know who’s going to rest their starters, and who’s going to play like it matters.

Tampa Bay at Atlanta: Here is one case where you have to believe that the Falcons will not put out a full effort. They’ve got the No. 1 seed locked up, and no reason to put Matty Ice and company at risk. The Bucs are out of it, but they’ll go with their starters and get after it. I’m going with the Bucs.

• Rich’s Pick: Bucs
  Matt’s Pick: Falcons

NY Jets at Buffalo: He’s in, he’s out, and now Mark Sanchez is back in at quarterback for the Jets. Both of these teams stink, and they’re both playing out the string. New York has had way too much strife of late, give me the Bills.

• Rich’s Pick: Bills
  Matt’s Pick: Bills

Ravens at Bengals: Again, two teams with nothing to play for. The Bengals are in, the Ravens are in. Neither team can move, really. The game’s in Cincy, and I loved the defensive effort of the Bengals last week. I’m going with the tigers.

• Rich’s Pick: Bengals
  Matt’s Pick: Bengals

Browns at Steelers: Pittsburgh’s hopes of the postseason were dashed by Cincy last week. They’re playing at home against a team that they should beat, and 8-8 seems a whole lot more palatable than 7-9, so let’s say Steelers win at home.

• Rich’s Pick: Steelers
  Matt’s Pick: Steelers

Lions at Bears: Chicago has to win. The Lions are horrid, except for Calvin Johnson, who led me to my first championship in the modern era of the Cape Cod Oblong League, something I’ll be forever grateful for. Bears get it done, and hope for help.

• Rich’s Pick: Bears
  Matt’s Pick: Bears

Jaguars at Titans: Tennessee has been a difficult team to figure all year long. When you think that they’re the worst thing ever, they have a big day. They’ve been okay at home, and the Jags aren’t. I could definitely see Jacksonville winning, but I’m going with Team Jeckyl and Hyde. They have to have some pride, don’t they.

• Rich’s Pick: Titans
  Matt’s Pick: Titans

Eagles at Giants: The Giants still have a little hope (8.5 percent) of making the playoffs. They certainly haven’t played like a team that wants to get there, but I think they’ll go for broke against Philly. I still think they’re staying home, but let’s go with the Giants one more time, shall we.

• Rich’s Pick: Giants
  Matt’s Pick: Giants

Panthers at Saints: With all New Orleans has been through this year, you have to give them a ton of credit. They simply haven’t given up, and with a win they’ll finish at .500 for the year. They’ll do that.

• Rich’s Pick: Saints
  Matt’s Pick: Saints

Texans at Colts: By now we should know better than to bet against #Chuckstrong. The Colts don’t have anything on the line, and the Texans need to win to keep the top seed, but there’s something about the way that the Colts have played with Chuck Pagano in the building that is special. Put it this way, why would they bring the coach back for a game in which they intended on laying down in? The Colts are going to go all-out, and they’re going to beat the Texans, who may not have Arian Foster this week.

• Rich’s Pick: Colts
  Matt’s Pick: Colts

Packers at Vikings: If ever there were a home field advantage to be taken advantage of, this is the week. The Minnesota fans are going to be crazy, and the Vikings are going to put themselves into the playoffs. Adrian Peterson isn’t going to get the record (he’ll be about 60 yards short), but the Vikes are going to beat the Packers this weekend, and even without the record it’s been a special year for AP.

• Rich’s Pick: Vikings
  Matt’s Pick: Packers

Rams at Seahawks: The Seahawks have put up nearly 150 points in the last three weeks. They’re crazy hot right now, and I don’t see them taking a week off, especially with an outside chance at moving up on the 49ers and grabbing the two spot.

• Rich’s Pick: Seahawks
  Matt’s Pick: Seahawks

Dolphins at Patriots: First off, Miami does horrible in the cold. Secondly, the Patriots have a chance to earn a bye with a win and some help. They’re going to go for the win and try to earn that bye.

• Rich’s Pick: Patriots
  Matt’s Pick: Patriots

Chiefs at Broncos: The Broncos can’t afford to lose. If they do, they lose their bye. If they win, they keep it, and could move into the top spot. They’re not going to take the week off either.

• Rich’s Pick: Broncos
  Matt’s Pick: Broncos

Raiders at Chargers: Could we finally see the end of the Norv Turner era? I think the pockfaced one goes out with a win, mostly because the Raiders are horrible and the Chargers have been showing signs of life.

• Rich’s Pick: Chargers
  Matt’s Pick: Chargers

Cardinals at 49ers: Poor Arizona, the 49ers have something to play for and were embarrassed last weekend. This is not going to end well for the birds, and somewhere out west Elias says “finally, Maclone, you’re back on the bandwagon.” My response, “you don’t pick against Seattle or New England at home, regardless of the competition.”

• Rich’s Pick: 49ers
  Matt’s Pick: 49ers

Cowboys at Redskins: Our game of the week has all the makings for a classic, and in my eyes another Dallas heartbreak. Washington is playing very well, and with another week of therapy I think RG3 might even do some RG3 things this week. It’s going to be a fun game, but in the end I like the Redskins to find a way.

• Rich’s Pick: Redskins
  Matt’s Pick: Redskins

…. And I feel fine.

We’re a family that sings in the car. I didn’t say we sing well, but we belt out the tunes, mostly classic rock with some modern stuff thrown into the mix. My kids know most of the staples in my iPod, Pearl Jam, U2, Green Day, Foo Fighters, along with some old 80s Hair Metal and the such. I’m a child of the 90s.

Maybe the most fun song to sing, though, is “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It.” Leanna and Rye love trying to figure out what the heck Michael Stipe is saying and will chime in when they know what’s coming, “blah blah blah BERNSTEIN blah blah blah HURRICANE.” I knew a kid that knew all the words in college, I’m sure that helped him out in the long run. I know all the words to the “Humpty Dance.”

So as December 21 comes and goes, and we’re still here, I’ll be sure to crank up that song at some point and laugh. God said we wouldn’t know the date of the end of the world, or his reappearance, so I’m good with that.

We are, however, coming to the end of the football season. With two weeks left, my lead on ol’ Eagle One is comfortable. It isn’t insurmountable, but I just don’t see him beating me this year. We both had standout weeks late week, I went 12-4, Matty went 14-2, his best week of the year. Still, I’ve got a nice lead, and I’m going to put him away. That’s all there is to it.

Rich: 153-69-1 (.688)

Matt:  144-78-1 (.648)

Atlanta at Detroit: The Falcons are playing really well, and can basically guarantee the No. 1 seed for the playoffs here, which I think they will. The more interesting storyline is how many yards Calvin “Megatron” Johnson will get. He’s closing in on Jerry Rice’s record and could get it here in Week 16 with a big night. With the record in sight, I think Matthew Stafford is going to lock in on Megatron and throw to him over and over and over, you know, pretty much like every week. Since Megatron’s been carrying my fantasy team, and this is championship weekend, this is best case scenario for me. Falcons win, but Megatron has a Megaday.

• Rich’s Pick: Falcons
• Matt’s Pick: Falcons

Oakland at Carolina: If only the Panthers had played like this all season long. I’m praying that they’re figuring it out and things will be better next year because I really want SuperCam to come out and be good again next year as enter a new Golden Age of quarterbacks. Plus, who doesn’t love his NFL Play 60 commercial? I love that little kid.

• Rich’s Pick: Panthers
• Matt’s Pick: Panthers

New Orleans at Dallas: The Cowboys are dialing in a playoff spot. With the Giants falling apart, they’ve got a pretty good shot and I think they’ll find a way to beat the Saints. They have to win, and I think that they will.

• Rich’s Pick: Cowboys
• Matt’s Pick: Saints

Tennessee at Green Bay: Mr. Discount Doublecheck will do what Mark Sanchez couldn’t, throw all over the Titans defense. It’s been very snowy in Green Bay this week, I think that’s a good thing for the Packers.

• Rich’s Pick: Packers
• Matt’s Pick: Packers

Minnesota at Houston: Speaking of guys going for records, Adrian Peterson is knocking on history’s door as well. It’s going to take AP both weeks to get to Eric Dickerson though. The Texans defense is good against the run, and I can’t see them giving up close to 300-yards at home. They’ll be hellbent on making sure that the record isn’t set against them, and it won’t be. But next weekend it’s totally in play.

• Rich’s Pick: Texans
• Matt’s Pick: Texans

New England at Jacksonville: I don’t know if my old college roommate Ando reads this, but I hope he does. Andrew J Lyons is a serious newsman down in Charleston, South Carolina, a man that enjoys imbibing fine beverages, a dude that is way too in love with Bruce Springsteen and one of the only Jaguars fans left. He used to live in Florida. He’s originally from Delaware, I think we need to have an intervention and get him an RG3 jersey or something.

• Rich’s Pick: Patriots
• Matt’s Pick: Patriots

Indianapolis At Kansas City: Andrew Luck, welcome to the 2012 NFL playoffs.

• Rich’s Pick: Colts
• Matt’s Pick: Colts

Buffalo at Miami: I like to think that at some point Ryan Fitzpatrick will look around at all of the palm trees, and the sunshine, and think to himself “I’m a Harvard educated man. Why, oh why, didn’t I opt for free agency instead of signing the big deal to stay in Buffalo? We played a home game in Toronto last weekend for goodness sake.”

• Rich’s Pick: Dolphins
• Matt’s Pick: Dolphins

San Diego at New York Jets: After wondering all year what it would finally take for the Jets to divorce Mark Sanchez I finally got an answer: four interceptions against a mediocre defense and a lost fumble with a chance to win the game in the final minute. Seeing the Jets announce McElroy as their starter this weekend was like seeing a girl who’d finally had enough of her scummy boyfriend. The metro area just can’t put up with it any more Mark, it’s not them, it’s you. I think the team will have some fire this weekend, and playing a crappy San Diego club doesn’t hurt.

• Rich’s Pick: Jets
• Matt’s Pick: Chargers

Washington at Philadelphia: RG3 is back. The Eagles are horrid. Let the track meet commence. Washington needs a win for their playoff hopes (they’re actually leading the division now). I think they come to Philly with something to prove.

• Rich’s Pick: Redskins
• Matt’s Pick: Redskins

Cincinnati at Pittsburgh: Nothing better than a must-win game for both teams, and here’s one of those. Ask yourself which quarterback you trust more in a big spot, Opie or the guy with the sordid past? Me too, Big Ben and the Steelers it is.

• Rich’s Pick: Steelers
• Matt’s Pick: Bengals

St. Louis at Tampa Bay: Oh Tampa, you were rolling along, playing well, and then you just stepped in it. Josh Freeman went from potential Comeback Player of the Year to, well …. Josh Freeman v.2012 pretty quickly.

• Rich’s Pick: Rams
• Matt’s Pick: Bucs

Cleveland at Denver: My son asked me who the Broncos were playing this weekend (because he knows the Pats are chasing them). I told him it was Cleveland. He laughed, and said, “well, that’s not good for the Pats.” The 10-year old knows.

• Rich’s Pick: Broncos
• Matt’s Pick: Broncos

Chicago at Arizona: The funny thing is that the Bears are the perfect team for the Cardinals to play at home. Jay Cutler makes bad throws and forces the ball to one receiver. The Cardinals can defend the pass well enough and aren’t horrid on defense. They could keep it close, they really could. I still don’t think that they can win, though. Not two in a row, not Arizona.

• Rich’s Pick: Bears
• Matt’s Pick: Bears

NY Giants at Baltimore: Next weekend will be a lot more fun if the NFC East playoff picture is a complete mess, and for that to happen we need the G-Men to win. On top of that, the Ravens are frauds. I’ve been saying it all season, but they’re just not that good. I’m guessing that Good Eli shows up for this one. All I know for sure is that Aku and Namesh are going to be throwing Big Gulps at the windows if the Giants lay an egg this weekend. If they lose, I’m heading straight to 7-11 in downtown Falmouth to watch the show.

• Rich’s Pick: Giants
• Matt’s Pick: Ravens

San Francisco at Seattle: Eagle One will tell you, I’ve always been a fan of the Seahawks. Those of us old enough to remember when the Patriots were horrible will also remember that many of their home games were blacked out, and they threw other AFC games at us on NBC back in the day. I fell in love with the Seattle uniforms and loved Curt Warner (the running back), Steve Largent and Kenny Easley. And let’s not forget the cup of coffee that The Boz had with the Seahawks. I’m a Patriots guy first, but I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for the Seahawks. That team is for real, and I really like their chances against the 49ers this week. San Fran is coming in off a huge high, having won in New England, and is due for a little letdown. Throw in the fact that the Seahawks defense is excellent, and that they have the best home field advantage in all of football, and I’m going with the land of Pearl Jam, Jimi Hendrix and really good coffee.

• Rich’s Pick: Seahawks
• Matt’s Pick: Seahawks

Before breaking down another NFL slate, how’s about a fun story about a little boy who lost his lunch? I know I’ve got you hooked already. If you’re not interested, just skip down to the football stuff, but you’re the one missing out.

Here’s what the text read….”Rye threw up on the”

“on the ?” I responded quickly.

First of all, that’s always jarring to get a text from Mrs. Mac that informs you that your firstborn is ill. I felt for him. But what did the boy puke on?

“the phone” came back the clearly disappointed text back.

The phone in question was my wife’s brand new Samsung Galaxy S-something that I had gotten for her as an early Christmas present just four days prior. Big screen, easy to use, actual apps that she could use (her previous phone was a Palm, that only really, really bad and bored programmers seemed to make apps for). She loved it, and now it was covered it vomit.

On Wednesday, while I was running back and forth from the office to the gym at Falmouth Academy then over to Falmouth Ice Arena, Lyra and the kids headed to Foxboro to celebrate her brother’s birthday. His newest kick is survivalist stuff, and he wanted to walk around Bass Pro Shop at Patriot Place and just browse. I wasn’t all that upset that I had a busy day, because more than 20 minutes in Bass Pro Shop would make me batty. I’m a get-in and get-out shopper, not a let’s spend the day eyeballing everything on the shelves kinda guy.

Apparently BPS has a restaurant inside its vast caverns. Lyra’s mom decided to pop for dinner for everyone, and Rye got chowder and a salad. It seemed harmless enough an order, but of course it wasn’t. According to my wife, he slurped in a mouthful of chowder and crunched down on something. We’re not sure what it was, but we’re pretty sure it was carrying salmonella.

Within 15 minutes, just after he and his sister posed for a picture with Kris Kringle, his belly began to rumble. He went to the restroom for an interlude, returning to the party about a half-hour later, seemingly in better shape.

Oh, but the food poisoning had not completely cleared his system yet.

I had returned from the ice rink around 9:30 and put on the 12.12.12 concert. Sometime during the middle of Baba O’Riley I got the text from Lyra. It seems that they got into her car and she gave Rye the phone so that he could play a game to try to keep his mind off of his icky belly. Just after reaching  Route 495S, it struck like a bolt of lightning. While trying to navigate the world of Minecraft, Rye’s digestive system decided that the chowder was no longer a welcomed guest and booted the contents from his tummy like a grabby drunk at Lady’s Night.

Rye’s reaction time on the baseball diamond is pretty good, but it wasn’t so good in the backseat. Before he knew what had happened the back of Lyra’s car was violated, and ground zero was the brand new phone.

The lesson to be learned, I think, above all is this. The next time you’re in Patriot Place, perhaps choosing to eat at one of the many fine family restaurants is a better choice than fishing store. Might as well eat at this place.

Merry Christmas.

—————————

Last week was a tough one for pickers of the NFL. Weird stuff happened, as it is wont to do in the NFL from time to time. Teams that had no right to win (Yeah, I’m talking about you Philly), actually won. Teams that should have at least been competitive (cough, Houston, cough) were horrid. There are few gimmes in the NFL right now, other than maybe the Pats and Broncos, and both of them have tests this week.

I posted a 10-6 week last week. I’ll take it. Not great, but not awful. Matt went 10-6 as well. We both start this week out at 1-0, having grabbed Cincy over Philly. I wasn’t able to post this before that because I had to cover the FHS girls’ basketball opener in can’t-get-there-from-here North Dighton, MA.

Rich: 141-65-1 (.683)

Matt: 130-76-1 (.630)

Tampa Bay at New Orleans: I’m going to go with the Saints here, even though they’re pretty bad. The NFL waived all penalties against their players for Bounty Gate. Sure was nice of them to wait until New Orleans was eliminated to make that happen. They and there fans will be pumped up this weekend, and the Bucs are reeling after basically getting knocked out last week with that awful loss to the Eagles.

• Rich’s Pick: Saints
• Matt’s Pick: Saints

Green Bay at Chicago: The Pack are in the driver’s seat and the Bears are in trouble. I just don’t see Chicago keeping up, even though they’re at home. Cheeseheads win.

• Rich’s Pick: Packers
• Matt’s Pick: Packers

Vikings at St. Louis: Adrian Peterson is the $6,000,000 man. How else can you explain his bionic season? They’ve got no passing game whatsoever, and All Day sees 9-man fronts all game long, yet still seems to go for 150 every week. He’ll do it again.

• Rich’s Pick: Vikings
• Matt’s Pick: Vikings

NY Giants at Atlanta: The Falcons need to make a statement, and the Giants have a way of not showing up unless they absolutely have to. I think the Falcons come up big this weekend.

• Rich’s Pick: Falcons
• Matt’s Pick: Falcons

Indianapolis at Houston: The Colts have not been a good road team. Gary Kubiak will have the Texans deadset on making amends for the stink bomb they dropped in Foxboro. Houston wins big.

• Rich’s Pick: Texans
• Matt’s Pick: Texans

Jacksonville at Miami: The Battle For Florida, or the game that no one cares about, even in Florida. Both of these teams are going nowhere, and they’ll play before a half full stadium. I do like the Dolphins defense, and the Jags can’t run the ball at all. Dolphins, if you care.

• Rich’s Pick: Dolphins
• Matt’s Pick: Dolphins

Denver at Baltimore: Ray Lewis is coming back, but he should have stayed on the couch playing Madden with Paul Rudd. He’ll make no impact, and the Broncos will find a way to win on the road. Peyton has that team playing really well, and they’re contenders.

• Rich’s Pick: Broncos
• Matt’s Pick: Broncos

Washington at Cleveland: When RG3′s knee bent that way, we all thought it was over. The man not only is the most dynamic young player in the NFL, but he also seems to be made partly of plastic. I believe he’ll play, and make enough throws to beat a pretty bad Cleveland team. The Browns D is okay, but Griffin has shown that he can beat teams with his arm, and I don’t think he’ll be leaving the pocket too much this week, and if he does, he’d better get down or out of bounds. We need this guy in the league for years to come.

• Rich’s Pick: Redskins
• Matt’s Pick: Redskins

Seattle at Buffalo: Not even a true home game for the Bills here, they’re in Toronto. If they could only score 12 points against St. Louis last week, what will they do against that Seattle D that is playing out of this world? The sons of Pete Carroll will be too jacked and pumped for the Bills.

• Rich’s Pick: Seahawks
• Matt’s Pick: Seahawks

Detroit at Arizona: It finally happened, I’m out of jokes about just how bad the Cardinals’ quarterbacks are. I’ve got nothing, they’re so inept that I just feel bad for them, and their fans, and most of all Larry Fitzgerald. How was this team in the Super Bowl just three years ago? Detroit will run it up.

• Rich’s Pick: Lions
• Matt’s Pick: Lions

Carolina at San Diego: The Chargers looked great last weekend, and I can’t believe I just typed that. This could actually be a sneakily entertaining game. I’m going to take the Chargers, and I feel dirty.

• Rich’s Pick: Chargers
• Matt’s Pick: Panthers

Kansas City at Oakland: I mean, where to start? These teams are horrid. They both lost by a ton of points last week, and a win just hurts their pick status in the draft. Gun to my head, I think I believe in the Chiefs a little bit more.

• Rich’s Pick: Chiefs
• Matt’s Pick: Raiders

San Francisco at New England: One of the best games of the year, on paper. But, that’s what we thought on Monday Night. I know my boy Elias is going to disagree with me, but I don’t see how the 49ers win this game. First, it’s in New England and it’s supposed to be 39-degrees and dreary, advantage Pats. The SF defense is without a doubt one of the best in the league, but Tom Brady is having a sensational year. The Pats have turned the ball over just nine times all year, and Brady has thrown a total of 4 INTs, so there’s that.

While the 49ers are allowing only 14 points per game, the Pats are scoring 36. Now I don’t think they’ll reach that number, but 27 seems feasible. I don’t think that Colin Kaepernick can match Tom Brady, not yet. I’ve got the Pats, 27-17, and I feel good about it.

• Rich’s Pick: Patriots
• Matt’s Pick: Patriots

NY Jets at Tennessee: Did you know that the Jets are still in the playoff hunt? No, seriously, they are. They need to win out, and get some help, but they’re in the thick of it. But, this is Monday Night Football, and to me Mark Sanchez plays like an understudy who just found out he’s on stage for Opening Night on Broadway when the bright lights are on. Remember that Thanksgiving Day game? I do. Chris Johnson, on the other hand, tends to show up in a big way in big games on TV. I think we’ll have a spotlight on the final demise of the 2012 Jets, and doesn’t that sound like fun?

• Rich’s Pick: Titans
• Matt’s Pick: Titans

Christmas is barreling down on us at an alarming rate. In the blink of an eye we’ve gone from 25 days until Christmas, to just 19. Am I freaking out? Maybe a little.

First, I am the worst shopper in the history of shopping, when it comes to my wife. I’m bad at buying clothes. I’m bad at buying jewelry, and I’m bad at buying just about everything else. I’m a little better when it comes to Leanna, but not much. The only one that I am comfortable buying anything for is my son, probably because I like the same type of stuff that an 11-year old does.

As if it weren’t enough that Christmas shopping is giving me panic attacks, almost as bad as Winston’s on “New Girl,” there’s a pair of freaky eyes that are watching my every move at the house. Thanks to my mother-in-law, we now have an Elf On The Shelf, and let me tell you, there’s something about him that doesn’t sit well with me. Those eyes watch you wherever you are in the house, and that smile makes me think that he’s trying to get away with something. We named him “Buddy,” because apparently you’re supposed to name these things, and Buddy makes me uneasy. 

If it were still the 1980s this guy would star in his own horror movie. For the first half hour bodies would pile up, and then they’d cut to him and that face. Gives me chills.

What does any of this have to do with football picks? Nothing, I just had to get it off my chest.

Last week we both went 9-7. Weird week, a lot of strange upsets. Got out ahead. We’ll take it.

Rich: 131-59-1 (.688)

Matt: 120-70-1 (.631)

Denver at Oakland: I was trying to figure out which team I’d least like having to root for as a fan. Oakland is certainly one of the finalists, but they wouldn’t be the worst. Their uniforms are classic, and every now and then they’re competitive. Don’t get me wrong, It would be tough, but there are worse fates. Talking about bad fates, the Raiders will meet one tonight. Denver has become one of the league’s best teams over the last half of the season, and continue to run roughshod over poor competition. They’ll win another laugher on TNF.

St. Louis at Buffalo: Two of the league’s greatest conundrums face off in the not-so-great northeast this weekend, and I’m boggled over this one. The Rams play the 49ers like champs, and they’re pretty good overall in their own division, but against the rest of the league they’re below average. Still, how much faith can we put in the Fightin’ Fitzpatricks? Since I don’t pick ties, I’m going to roll with the Bills here, figuring that they’ll find a way to win a close one at Ralph Wilson. By the way, both of these teams, also teams that are tough to root for.

• Rich’s Pick: Bills
• Matt’s Pick: Rams

Atlanta at Carolina: The Panthers are just a bad football team. Atlanta, while severely over-rated and the beneficiary of one of the league’s softest schedules, are 11-1. Remember the rule, stay with the hot team.

• Rich’s Pick: Falcons
• Matt’s Pick: Falcons

KC at Cleveland: And here we have it, the showdown between the two teams that it would be hardest to root for. A veritable Crappy Franchise Bowl. The Chiefs edge out the Browns for team that’s hardest to root for right now. One, things couldn’t be worse there right now. I can’t imagine trying to go to work having to deal with the fallout of the last week in KC. Throw in that even before all that happened the big movement in town was @saveourchiefs on Twitter. This year can’t end fast enough for the Chiefs. The Browns are a decent defensive team. Offensively, well, they stink, but they can make things happen on D and I think they’ll win an ugly one, 13-6ish.

• Rich’s Pick: Browns
• Matt’s Pick: Browns

Baltimore at Washington: Nothing made me happier last week than to see Charlie Batch find a way to beat the Ravens and send them a little dose of reality. If Washington weren’t coming off of a short week I’d call this a lock, but since they won an emotional MNF game it’s going to be close. I don’t feel as confident as I’d like to on this one, but I’m rolling with RG3 and the Skins.

• Rich’s Pick: Redskins
• Matt’s Pick: Redskins

Philly at Tampa Bay: The Eagles stink.

• Rich’s Pick: Buccaneers
• Matt’s Pick: Buccaneers

San Diego at Pittsburgh: It’s the biggest day at Heinz Field since Bane blew the place up. The Steelers are coming off of that emotional win against the Ravens, and they’ve got Big Ben starting. To top it all off, the Chargers are playing with all of the emotion of an emo kid at a coffee house right now. Steelers in a big way.

• Rich’s Pick: Steelers
• Matt’s Pick: Steelers

Dallas at Cincinnati: Pittsburgh is in the driver’s seat for the final playoff spot in the AFC, but the Bengals are fighting to get it too. I like this Cincy team, despite the fact that the Offensive Coordinator sometimes forgets that he’s allowed to run the ball. The Cowboys  are just about out of it, and the Bengals will put them out of their misery.

• Rich’s Pick: Bengals
• Matt’s Pick: Bengals

Tennessee at Indianapolis: If you didn’t already believe in Andrew Luck, last week should have put you over the top. One more win will give him the most by a No. 1 pick in his first regular season, and that win comes against the Titans.

• Rich’s Pick: Colts
• Matt’s Pick: Colts

NYJ at Jacksonville: Mark Sanchez will be starting this weekend for the Jets, and all of New York wonders how to react. Should they be happy? Should they be angry? There are no other answers to the starting QB job for NY right now, and they’re on the hook for 8 million next year to Sanchez as well. Yes, Pats fans, it’s okay to laugh. Still, the Jags are pretty beat up right now, and Chad Henne is coming back to earth. Jets win an ugly one.

• Rich’s Pick: Jets
• Matt’s Pick: Jets

Chicago at Minnesota: The Bears have to have this game. The Vikings do too to keep alive their 3.3% chance of making the playoffs (according to Football Outsiders). I have little confidence in either team’s offense, but that Chicago D is very good, even if it has regressed a little the last few weeks. Da Bears.

• Rich’s Pick: Bears
• Matt’s Pick: Bears

Miami at San Francisco: San Fran is pretty good against everyone but St. Louis. The Dolphins offense looked very boring to me last weekend, and I just don’t see them being able to move the ball very much against a San Fran team with a chip on its shoulder.

• Rich’s Pick: 49ers
• Matt’s Pick: 49ers

Arizona at Seattle: Let’s put it like this, with me at QB, my cousin Todd (a loyal reader) at fullback and Eagle One at starting tailback I think we’d put up about as good a showing as the Cardinals are likely to in Seattle. The Seahawks have the best home field advantage in the game and they’re playing with confidence.

• Rich’s Pick: Seahawks
• Matt’s Pick: Seahawks

New Orleans at NY Giants: A battle between two teams that feel like they embarrassed themselves last weekend. Drew Brees threw 1-2-3-4-5, yes 5, INTs against Atlanta. The Giants and their fearsome defense let a rookie quarterback, albeit a special one, rally from behind to upstage them on MNF. The Giants have the most to lose by losing, so I think they’ll find a way to win. I’m always saying that they show up when they have to, and this is one time that they absolutely have to.

• Rich’s Pick: Giants
• Matt’s Pick: Saints

Detroit at Green Bay: Detroit is fun to watch, and they’re really enjoyable to use as your Madden team, but in real life they’re a disappointment. The Packers are certainly more flawed than they’ve been in recent years, but they’re good enough to win a night game in front of a national audience, at home, here. Aaron Rodgers will be giving an interview at the end of the night and there will be plenty of Packers a-leapin’ at Lambeau.

• Rich’s Pick: Packers
• Matt’s Pick: Packers

Houston at New England: Here’s how I see this game playing out. The Patriots will score a bunch of points in the first half. The Texans will rally back to within a score or so, make it interesting, but fail to get over the top. Tom Brady likes Monday Night games and I think the Pats will be extra up for this one as they show the Texans what being a big time player in the AFC is all about. I think Houston’s good, but right now it’s either Pats-Broncos or Broncos-Pats at the 1-2 spots in the AFC, and Houston is third, even though they have the best record.

• Rich’s Pick: Patriots
• Matt’s Pick: Patriots

I have a hard time accepting that it is officially Christmastime. Tomorrow the kids will start opening those Advent calendars with the doors on them, you know the ones with little chocolates behind them, to countdown the days until they open up a slew of presents under the tree. I used to love those things when I was kid, except for the one year that my mom cheaped out and bought ones that didn’t have any chocolate, just little pictures behind them. By December 6 my brother and I had stopped opening the doors, and just didn’t have any interest at all.

That’s a lesson for all of us young parents, if you’re going to do something fun for your children, don’t skimp on the chocolate. Don’t buy them Legoo’s, Barbara Dolls, or GI John. Kids know the difference, and in your heart, so do you. Is it really worth it to save a couple of bucks to see them get really excited and then have their expectant hearts destroyed when they see that they received the less expensive alternative? We’re on a budget, but I say, buy the real thing, you just don’t have to buy a billion of them. One or two video games is fine, you don’t have to get a dozen.

Speaking of gifts, we got one from the NFL Network last night. For the first time all year, an actually interesting match-up was broadcast on a Thursday night. Matt and I did pick it, I just hadn’t had time yet to finish this column. I took the Falcons, he took the Saints. As Troy Brown would say, “Bingo, I win again.” That will be added on to my lead, after last week’s 13-3 performance. Matt had a good week too, going 11-5 overall.

Rich:122-52-1 (.700)

Matt: 111-63-1 (.637)

Minnesota at Green Bay: The Packers sure got it taken to them on Monday Night. The NY D-line was in Aaron Rodgers’ face all night long and the Pack looked bad. Here’s the thing, the Minnesota front four can’t create a push like JPP and Crew, and this is a must-win for Green Bay, and they’re at home. I foresee plenty of Lambeau Leaps and Ponder INTs.

• Rich’s Pick: Packers
• Matt’s Pick: Packers

San Francisco at St. Louis: The world hasn’t enjoyed a “Cappy” this much since Louis Gossett Jr.‘s tour de force in the first Iron Eagle movie. Speaking of which, has there ever been a more unbelievable action movie plot? A 16-year old kid commandeers an F-16 and leads a bombing run on a middle eastern country. Still, the Queen soundtrack was awesome, and who didn’t leave the theater 20-something years ago wanting to be a fighter pilot? I see plenty of strafing runs by the 49ers and they’ll drop a hellfire or two on the Rams.

• Rich’s Pick: 49ers
• Matt’s Pick: 49ers

Arizona at New York Jets: Fireman Ed really hung up his hat because he didn’t want to sit through this turnover fest waiting to happen. I’d be surprised if the two teams combine for more than 400 yards. I think the Sanchize will rebound from his embarrassing moment from last week and lead the Jets to a meaningless victory. Side note, hearing the New York media hound Sanchez about running into his own teammates’ backside in the game against the Patriots on Thanksgiving was hysterical. There’s a small part of me that really wishes I’d decided to try to make it as a New York beat writer just to enjoy days like that. However, I do like having a soul, so I don’t think I would have made it there.

• Rich’s Pick: Jets
• Matt’s Pick: Jets

New England at Miami: I’m bummed because I have a commitment that I can’t get out of that starts at 2:30 PM on Sunday and will miss the second half of the Pats game. My hope, which is very much a possibility, is that by that time the Pats have a big lead.

• Rich’s Pick: Patriots
• Matt’s Pick: Patriots

Houston at Tennessee: The Texans keep finding ways to win games that they should win by more, but they are winning. I think Shaub and Johnson won’t put up the crazy offensive output that they have the last few weeks, because they probably won’t have to. This seems like an Arian Foster game to me, and another win for Houston as they march to the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

• Rich’s Pick: Texans
• Matt’s Pick: Texans

Jacksonville at Buffalo: Blaine Gabbard may never take another NFL snap. Chad Henne has exploded the last few games and has made the Jags look like a bonafide NFL team, not an exceptionally good one, but at least a somewhat exciting one. Still, I don’t like it when teams from Florida go north is the winter, and that makes me believe that the Bills win behind a big CJ Spiller day

• Rich’s Pick: Bills
• Matt’s Pick: Jaguars

Seattle at Chicago: This game may not be the most entertaining game to watch, but it has some of the biggest playoff implications. I’m sure that the Seahawks will be pumped and jacked to play the Bears, but they’ve had a lot of off-the-field issues this week with PED abuse by their cornerbacks and even though those guys will play, I don’t think it bodes well for a Pete Carroll team to have headaches. Jay Cutler is due for a big day, and I think he and Brandon Marshall will eat up the Seahawks.

• Rich’s Pick: Bears
• Matt’s Pick: Bears

Indianapolis at Detroit: The Colts are not a good road team, plain and simple. They’re undoubtedly this year’s most improved team, thanks to Andrew Luck, but they have had their issues away from Lucas Oil. Stafford and Megatron will have a day, and the Lions keep their oh-so-slim playoff hopes alive.

• Rich’s Pick: Lions
• Matt’s Pick: Colts

Carolina at Kansas City: SuperCam gets yet another patsy to beat up on late in the year to help Panthers fans get through the winter and believe that maybe next year will be their year. Carolina looked decent on Monday Night Football, but that was against a horrid Philly team. Well, the Chiefs are even more horrid than the Eagles, so I’m taking the Panthers to win their second straight road game. In other news, we are closing in on the end of the Mayan calendar.

• Rich’s Pick: Panthers
• Matt’s Pick: Panthers

Tampa Bay at Denver: Now here’s a game worth watching. I may even eschew my regularly scheduled late game nap to take in all of this one (more on that nap later). Both of these teams have a lot to play for. I’m rolling with the Broncos, because I believe they have the best home field advantage in the NFL right now. Those fans are so pumped up. I was watching one of their games a couple of weeks back, and the CBS crew couldn’t use the end zone cameras because they were shaking too much. When your fans shake cameras, that means they’re doing their job. Manning will do his too.

• Rich’s Pick: Broncos
• Matt’s Pick: Broncos

Cleveland at Oakland: If the NFL were run like the Premier League, there’s a good chance that these teams would be relegated to the CFL and we’d be adding Saskatchewan and Toronto to the NFL next year. With that said, I just don’t think the Browns will create eight turnovers again to win a close one. You know your offense is bad when your D has eight takeaways and you still only win by a few points. Begrudgingly, I’m going with the Raiders.

• Rich’s Pick: Raiders
• Matt’s Pick: Raiders

Pittsburgh at Baltimore: There will be blood, because there always is with these teams. I just hope it isn’t new dad Ben Rothlesberger in the back of an ambulance. I believe he’ll play, and he shouldn’t. I know the Steelers want to keep playoff hope alive, and Charlie Batch is not going to win them any games, but this is a dangerous situation for Big Ben. I don’t like the guy, but I don’t want to see him die on the field. I’d sit another week. Back to that nap story, you know the how did they do that 30-yard screen to Ray Rice that kept the unbelievably luck Ravens in the driver’s seat for the No. 2 seed, ya I slept through that. Didn’t know about it until Monday, but I was refreshed when I woke up later.

• Rich’s Pick: Ravens
• Matt’s Pick:Ravens

Cincinnati at San Diego: I love the way that the Bengals are playing right now. AJ Green is a tour de force, and the Red Rifle is smart enough to get him the ball, a lot. They’re starting to run the ball better too, so I’ll take them over a team that has a dead man walking on the sidelines.

• Rich’s Pick: Bengals
• Matt’s Pick: Bengals

Philadelphia at Dallas: The Cowboys have the slimmest of hopes to make the playoffs, so at least they’re playing for something. The Eagles are terrible.

• Rich’s Pick: Cowboys
• Matt’s Pick: Cowboys

New York Giants at Washington: A fun MNF game. I’m taking the Giants, because they need to win, but I won’t be surprised if the Redskins find a way. RG3 is my favorite player to watch right now, and he’s going to make a couple of big plays on the big stage. In the end, I see Eli putting together a late drive to win a close one, something like 27-24.

• Rich’s Pick: Giants
• Matt’s Pick: Redskins