Unfortunately this Patriots team had pretty evident holes in the hull and they leaked in the fourth quarter. They lost, it sucked, we move on. It’s all you can do.

Don’t blame Wes Welker, the throw wasn’t that good. Don’t blame Tom Brady, he got us there. Don’t blame the defense, they performed better than expected. Don’t blame Coach Belichick, well except maybe for poor drafting.

Let’s not forget, the Pats were on borrowed time to begin with. It took 3 consecutive miracles to get to the Super Bowl, 2 by Sterling Moore (everyone forgets the great deflection after he knocked the ball out of Lee Evans’ grip), and one by poor Billy Cundiff.

It was a fun season. A flawed team lost to another flawed team.

I’m moving on, and I can deal with it.

What’s harder to deal with is not having football in our lives for the next 6 months. Sure we’ve got March Madness on the horizon, The Masters, Opening Day, the NHL and NBA playoffs. There’s a lot of stuff that’s coming up, but none of them are as much fun as professional football.

I used to be a baseball first guy. The Red Sox have always been my first love, but as I’ve gotten older the Patriots have become more and more important to me and they now possess the No. 1 spot in my heart. The Sox are a close second, but the Patriots lead the way.

Part of the reason that the Pats are at the top is because the NFL is so much fun to follow. Thanks to fantasy football and the once-a-week scheduling, I feel like I have a good grasp on every team. I know the most important players for each club. It’s an easier league to follow.

The baseball season is a grind. Once we reach August the games all kind of blend into one. By that time you know who most of the playoff teams are going to be and which teams are awful. Heck I can sit down and watch a Cleveland-Arizona NFL game and get lost in it. I wouldn’t even stop flipping the channels to watch the Indians play the D-Backs.

The Giants are proof positive that a team can get hot late and win it all in football. Yes the Cardinals did something similar in baseball this year, but to watch them rally from 11 games back late in the season, plus play all of those playoff games you would have had to have devoted something like 60 hours watching baseball over three weeks.

Who’s got that kind of time? I wish I did, but this 99-percenter has other commitments too.

With football, to follow your team, its a 3 or 4 hour block once a week. It’s manageable. It’s usually on Sundays, a day of rest for most of us. It’s perfect.

Over the next 6 months there will be plenty of other stuff to fill our time. Soon the grass will turn green and I will be coaching Little League and watching my daughter play softball games. We’ll be able to go the beach, take the dogs to the park and grill cheeseburgers on the deck. The warm weather is a great distraction, and it’s the best time of year to do stuff.

But a part of me will long for the cooler weather that follows and sitting on my couch with a bag of chips and the Patriots on the tube. Football, I will miss you.

Surprised? Me neither. Yes, I’m a homer. I root for the Patriots and always have. I was made fun of as a kid by the others in my neighborhood because the Patriots sucked (I grew up on Cape Cod mind you, and I was made fun of for rooting for the home team). I latched on to the Seahawks, and later the Eagles, as a kid just so that I had someone to root for that seemed “cool.” It was stupid, but I never wavered as a Pats fan. I just had to hide it from others.

That seems laughable now. Kids growing up around here have never seen anything but success. My son’s surprised when someone other than the Pats is in the Super Bowl.  I tell him to enjoy it while it lasts, but youth is wasted on the young. He doesn’t get it. To him this is just the way things are, to those of us a little more wiser because of years, and the pain of losing, we know better.

That’s why I’m having fun with this run. I don’t for a second believe that the Patriots are the best team in the NFL this year. Heck, neither of these teams are. The best team this year is back in Wisconsin watching, and in my eyes the second best is buying up all the beads they can find for Mardi Gras. The fourthbest is wondering why its punt returner called in sick two Sundays ago.

I thought that the Pats were the third best team in the league, and when the playoffs started I had the Giants somewhere around six or seven. That’s the beauty of the tournament, though. You just have to get there. Both teams survived and advanced. They each got lucky in a lot of ways, but that’s the way it is and here we are

Where we are is a funny place because somehow the Patriots are favored by Las Vegas by 3 points, yet everywhere you look the media’s talking heads are blabbering like the Giants are a 7 point favorite. The Giants have been acting like they’re huge favorites. I’m all for a little swagger, but someone needs to tell Jason Pierre-Paul and Antrelle Rolle to take it down a few notches.

So the G-Men are confident and the “experts” are confident in the G-Men. Is any of this starting to sound familiar? Remember Super Bowl 36, New England v. St. Louis? The Patriots were the lost cause, the Rams were unbeatable. Pats by 3.

I hate to bring it up, but how about Super Bowl 42? David Tyree? Asante Samuel? Anyone? I know, it’s painful, but the roles were reversed. The Pats were the juggernaut uber-team without a chance of losing and the Giants were the to-be whipping boys. But it didn’t work out that way, unfortunately.

Not only have the Giants seemed a bit too pleased with themselves this week, but the Patriots are back to doing Patriots things. They’ve been lying low — well except for Rob Gronkowski’s family — and keeping their mouths shut. They haven’t said a disparaging word about New York, they’ve had fun with one another (Wes Welker’s breakdown of Tom Brady’s hair was outstanding) and they’ve focused on football. Even Gronk, who is just a 6-7 teenager with freakish talent, has kept things quiet and never boasted. He could have easily said “Of course I’m going to play, and I’m going to be awesome,” but instead he just towed the company line.

They haven’t grabbed for headlines. They haven’t been flamboyant. They’ve just been a football team.

Hmmm.

More than any X’s and O’s, this is what I’m hanging my hat on for Sunday at 6:29. The Patriots have gone about their business and seem focused on winning this game. They are relaxed (have you ever seen Coach Belichick look so at ease during Super Bowl week?) and excited to play football. The Giants have been acting like they’re trying to prove to themselves that they belong on this stage and can be the top dogs again. The Pats know they belong here.

Listen, if the Giants win the Super Bowl I won’t be that surprised. Both teams are good. Both teams are flawed. It really is going to come down to which one plays better on Sunday, one game for all the marbles.

I just feel pretty good about casting my lot with the team that is acting like they know how to handle the moment.

** This game has to come down to the wire again, doesn’t it. We all remember Super Bowl 42 and the Velcro Helmet Catch and Asante Samuel’s gaffe and then Plaxico’s game-winner. Do you remember when the Pats played the Giants back on November 6?

That day the Pats rallied from behind to take the lead with 1:36 to go, a touchdown pass from Brady to Gronk for 14-yards. Eli got the ball back and drove down the field, and threw a 1-yarder to Jake Ballard with 15 seconds left to win it, 24-20.

** Turnovers are going to be the big difference in this one, I think. The Pats coughed it up 4 times in that loss to New York, a season-high. In the AFC championship game — the Cundiff Bowl — they committed 3, and probably should have lost. Taking care of the football is paramount. If the Patriots win the turnover battle, they can win the game. It’s simplistic, but so true.

** Non-football. Staying eligible to play on a high school team is not that hard. If you don’t do it, you let your team down, and yourself. You can read between the lines here, but I can’t really say any more than that.

** Blake Griffin’s dunk last night was pretty awesome, but was it really the greatest dunk ever? It was something to see, but we live in such a now-now-now society that the superlatives fly a little fast and loose. It was awesome, but I’m not ready to crown it the best ever.

** Rob Gronkowski is going to play. You know it, I know it, he knows it, his dad knows it. That said, I really think Aaron Hernandez is going to have a huge day. He’s more of the speed guy of the pair, and look what Vernon Davis did against the Giants in the NFC title game.

** I’m not an MMA guy by any means. That said, you should go out and rent The Warrior. It was awesome, and I can’t wait to see Tom Hardy play Bane in the new Batman movie now.

** Falmouth High School is having a fantastic winter right now, the boys’ hockey is 9-2-3, girls hockey is 7-4-1, girls hoop is 12-2 and boys hoop is 12-1. That’s a combined record of 40-9-4. I don’t think many high schools in the state can stack up to that.

** Those 4 teams have so many players that are fun to watch. I have a lot of favorites, but a quick list would have to include: Andrew McGill, Maddie Scavotto, Cy Wickersham and Nick Lineaweaver and Elizabeth Knox and Grace Geary. I’m also a fan of: Damien Reid, Devon Soares, Kyle Kasprzyk, Brenna Callahan, Durham Ghelfi, The Taylor Bros, The Cardeiro twins, Cody Murray, Zack Zaino.

** It’s the year of the freshman at FHS. The Class of 2015 is ridonkulous already. Scavotto, Brian Jeffrey, Ben Taylor, the litany of talented rooks on the girls’ hockey team (too many to name), Alexa Johnson, Tommi Gans. All 4 of those varsity clubs have big-time first-year players.

** Speaking of high school kids, I love how many of them are following my Twitter feed, both from Mashpee and Falmouth, and even some from D-Y and beyond. That said, here’s an important piece of advice to all of the Twitterati. What you say on your feed, unless you have a private account, is public record. People can, and will, check up on you. If you are out doing stupid things, and you post it, people will see that.

I’ve said this before, and I will say it again. When I was younger, when your parents were younger, when your coaches were younger, they too did stupid things. The big difference was and is, we did not document our idiocy for the world to see on Facebook and Twitter. If you post photos and status updates that are against the rules of what athletes/students are allowed to do, you will get noticed by someone that you don’t want to see it. Maybe a parent, maybe a coach, or maybe someone from another school that would love for you to miss a couple of games due to a suspension.

One of these days I’m going to hold a social media symposium at one of the schools.

** Mashpee deserves some love too. Who is filling up my notebook there? Zak Orcutt, Cody Bingham-Hendricks, Kevin Frye, Taylor Nickerson, Kyle Murray, The Conaways, Summer Fierro, Morgen Morris (when she’s healthy), Riley Taylor and Romeo Grey jump to mind. That’s just a quick list. Oh, and Jared Taylor may be playing mostly JV minutes, but he’s hard to miss with the shock blonde hairdo.

It was worth it.

I’m here to tell you that if you said things like “we didn’t win that, they lost it,” or “I don’t feel like the Patriots deserved to win that one” that you need to check yourself.

The Pats won. There are no style points when it comes to professional football. Teams win or they lose, period. The scoreboard is used to account for the points, not how well a team played.

And for that matter the Patriots defense did play well. In my preview I said that they’d need to hold Ray Rice in check. He had 68 yards and never busted one for more than 12-yards. Vince Wilfork may have had his best game ever as a pro. The man was a beast, especially on that key fourth-and-six play in the fourth quarter that forced a turnover on downs. Sterling Moore made two of the best plays of his life when it mattered most, after getting burnt for that third quarter touchdown.

The only Patriot that stood out for not playing well was the one that you expected would be The Man, because he usually is, Tom Brady. Tommy had a bad day at the office, finishing with a QB rating that looked a lot like what Gronk’s Spanish scores probably were in high school (around 57). He still scored a clutch touchdown, going all Walter Payton over the top to put the Pats ahead for good in the fourth.

Sure, it could have been a lot easier if Brady had hit Gronkowski over the middle in the first quarter for TD, or hadn’t thrown 2 picks (that last one on the bomb after Spikes’ INT was especially infuriating). But the Patriots found a way to win the game, and that’s the bottom line.

If you’re seriously going to spend the next 2 weeks worrying about whether or not the Patriots “deserve” to be in the Super Bowl I feel sorry for you. At least it will help you pass the time while we wait out the rematch of Super Bowl 42.

I’ll be working on a full bag of cough drops, trying to get this beautiful voice primed up for February 5.

It’s also hardly relevant to this weekend’s game.

As I recall the Patriots were without Wes Welker for that one. He blew out his knee in a week 17 game against Houston and watched from the owner’s box with Mr. Kraft as the Ravens scored a 21-0 lead in a heartbeat and destroyed the Pats. Ray Rice had a huge game and the Pats never had a chance.

That game was only about 700 days ago. A lot has changed. For one, Welker is back and better than ever. The Patriots have received a ton of coverage about how they’ve revolutionized the passing game with Gronkowski and Hernandez (we’ll get to them more later). That may be true, but Welker has been a huge weapon for Tom Brady this year as well. WW had 122 catches — one shy of his career high — and over 1,500 yards and 9 TDs. He may be little, but he’s a huge weapon. To me he’s the X-factor in this one. The Ravens are going to try to do everything they can to slow down the Boston TE Party, which will open things up for Welker in the slot, not to mention Deion Branch (51 rec, 701y, 5 TD), who knows how to rise to the moment.

Those tight ends are the ones getting all of the attention, and deservedly so. Rob Gronkowski (90 rec, 1,327 yards, 17 TD) had maybe the best season any TE has ever had. Hernandez would be the No. 1 guy for every other team in the league, except maybe New Orleans and San Diego. He pulled down 79 catches for 910 yards and 7 TDs, and we found out that he can run the ball too. When they’re on the field, Brady is deadly. According to ESPN Stats Tom Brady threw 25 TDs and just 3 INTs when both tight ends were on the field. I think they’ll be on the field quite a bit against the Ravens.

But Rich, the Ravens are a great defense. They’ll pressure Brady and force him to make mistakes.

My counter is that if you blitz Brady, you’d better get to him. If you don’t he finds open receivers and makes plays down the field.

The Ravens were fourth against the pass and third against the run this year, they can ball on D. However, let’s keep in mind they had 2 games against Cleveland to pad those stats, beat up on Cincy twice (who was not nearly as good as their record), not to mention games against St. Louis and Indy.

They haven’t faced any of the top passing teams in the league, except Pittsburgh, who they torched early in the season and then lost a close one. San Diego passed all over the Ravens late in the season and blew them away.

It comes down to the New England offensive line’s ability to protect Brady and give him time to throw the ball. If they do, the Pats win. I don’t expect New England to put up 45 this weekend, but I don’t think they need to. If the Patriots get to 28 they win because I don’t think Joe Flacco is good enough to win this game.

Flacco has been mediocre at best over the last two months of the season. Since November 10 he’s not thrown for more than 227 yards in a single game, and that was against Indy. He has not throw a ton of picks (4) during that stretch, but he’s hardly lighting it up either. Coach Harbaugh does not let Flacco win games for them, he just doesn’t let him lose them.

Rice has been the one solid standout on offense for Baltimore. He’s tough to tackle and he makes big plays. He had over 1,300 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, plus another 704 yards receiving and 3 TDs. He’s a weapon, no doubt.

While the Patriots defense is hardly a reincarnation of the 86 Bears, they’re not as bad as people think. Last week they looked fantastic against the Broncos, but that was an easy game plan to put together. Historically, though, Bill Belichick lies to take what you do best and take it away and make you beat them another way. The Patriots will look to take Rice out of the equation as much as possible and make Flacco beat them down the field.

That is a recipe for a high-scoring game. The Pats will make some mistakes on defense. The Ravens will have their share of big plays that go for 25-plus yards, but the Pats are also one of the best teams in the league at creating turnovers. New England created 34 takeaways this season, which is better than 2 per game. Certainly they give up yards, but they also steal the football.

NE will try to borrow from the Houston game plan of last week, the team that the Pats would be facing if they had a reliable quarterback (TJ Yates threw 3 INTs, including a horrible one in the final minute). The Texans allowed Rice just 60 yards on the ground, a 2.9 yards per carry average and he did not have a run that went for more than 10 yards. Houston has superior defensive talent than the Patriots overall, but if New England can keep Rice to around 100 or fewer yards they’ll be in great shape. Remember Houston wanted to play at a slow pace and slug it out with the Ravens, the Patriots will look to do the opposite. They’ll break out the no-huddle and try to run the long-in-the-tooth Ravens defense ragged.

My pick: Patriots 31, Ravens 20.

In the other game we’ve got a team of destiny against a team of destiny. Something’s got to give.

I won’t get into the detail I did with the previous game, but here are my quick thoughts on 49ers-Giants.

Everyone under the sun is picking the Giants. They keep saying how great it is that they can pressure the passer without blitzing and that the defense is rock solid. That’s great against teams like New Orleans and Green Bay, and they deserve a ton of credit for going to Lambeau and winning last weekend, but I’m not so sure it’s that big a deal against the 49ers.

San Francisco is one of the most balanced defensive teams in the league. This is hardly the old days of Montana-to-Rice. They’re smash mouth football players that don’t mind settling for field goals and will hit you square in the jaw on every play. The big question mark with the 49ers has been quarterback Alex Smith, but I’d say he answered a lot of questions with two of the gutsiest drives of the season of the year inside the last 3 minutes of last week’s game against the Saints. The dude came through in a big, big way.

This Giants team has been a Jeckyl and Hyde crew all season. Let’s not forget that they were just 9-7 and needed to win a showdown against Dallas on the final night of the season just to get into the tournament. They’ve already played 2 playoff games, blowing out Atlanta and then Green Bay. New York has been too inconsistent this year, winning 3 straight games just once.

These two teams played earlier this season, in San Fran, and the 49ers hung on for a 27-20 win that day. I really love the way San Francisco is playing and I think they do it again. I know that the Patriots fans are pining for a rematch of Super Bowl 42, but I don’t see it happening. We’ll have to settle for stories about how Tom Brady loved the 49ers as a kid for 2 weeks.

My Pick: 49ers 30, Giants 24

To set the tone for the weekend, here’s one of the best football movie speeches ever, Al Pacino’s “Inches” speech. Don’t click if you don’t mind a couple of bad words. If they don’t bother you, enjoy …

During the game I was ecstatic to see the Pats defense lay to waste the Denver “attack.” New England’s dominance just magnified the disaster that was the Pittsburgh game plan a week earlier. I still can’t figure out why Mike Tomlin and Dick Lebeau decided to dare Tebow to beat them with the long ball. Did they not have any confidence at all in their linebackers? Sure New England’s defensive line was a lot more healthy than Pittsburgh’s was, but the Steelers could have won that game if they had played their safeties deeper and made Tebow throw over the middle and hit the mid-distance routes. In the end, though, I’m glad that they were so dumb because the Pats were allowed a cakewalk in the divisional round, which bodes well going into the AFC title game on Sunday afternoon.

I will get more into the Ravens on Friday afternoon. I watched most of their game against Houston, but I’m saving my thoughts on them for the breakdown.

As for the NFC, it was a wow weekend. I was in the press box at Falmouth Ice Arena watching the FHS girls’ hockey team battle Hingham (what a game that was, by the way. FHS tied the No. 4 team in the state, 2-2) when I checked ESPN and saw that the game was going to the wire and in doubt. Thankfully I know of a couple of nefarious web sites that Homeland Security does not like that streams games online. I found the 49ers-Saints feed, via the United Kingdom, and enjoyed the last 3 minutes of craziness that ensued. That game is an NFL Films masterpiece of the future. The only thing that could have made it better was if Gus Johnson were calling the action, and he might have had an aneurysm, so it’s probably for the best that he wasn’t.

The other NFC game can best be summed up by this great YouTube video.

Obviously it’s all Megan’s fault that the Packers lost, and I’d like to thank her. The lesson learned, as always, is never to put sparkles on your nails before a big game … and maybe not to drop the ball so much.

Eagle One and I had an interesting conversation last night about fantasy football. We both admitted to hating it, and loving it. I said “everyone hates it in December when they’re not in the playoffs, but when it’s August you can’t wait for it to start. It’s a sickness.”

And on top of it all we have one of the most intriguing match-ups of the year this weekend with the Patriots and Broncos battling it out in the Mile High. Can the Pats stop Tebow? Can the Broncos defense slow down Tom Brady? Can the announcers stop gushing? We’ll get to that, but before we do, check out this

Onto the picks, this week EO decided to chime in with some thoughts as well, so this read might be a bit big. His thoughts are in italics, as well as idiotic and half-true.

Dallas at Tampa Bay: Life in the NFL is truly a year-to-year experience. During the 2010 season the Bucs were the darlings and Raheem Morris was the hottest young coach going. Now the Bucs are foundering and Morris is on the chopping block. The Cowboys need this one on Saturday night and Tampa is in freefall, so give me the Cowboys in a rout.

I hate the Cowboys but Tampa is bad so I have to take Dallas.

• Rich Picks: Cowboys
• Matt Picks: Cowboys
• Rye Picks: Cowboys

Miami at Buffalo: Ugly game here. Miami had been rolling, lost one and then they fired Sparono, which I think was a mistake. It seemed like they were figuring it out with the gangsta Head Coach. Now they’ve got an interim and they’re heading to Buffalo on a cold weekend. Miami in the cold is never a good thing, so give me the Bills.

the battle of the Who Cares bowl.  I’ll take Buffalo in the cold windy confines of Ralph Wilson Stadium

• Rich Picks: Bills
• Matt Picks: Bills
• Rye Picks: Bills

Seattle at Chicago: Somehow, someway the Seahawks are still in the mix for a playoff spot, and so are the Bears. Both teams need this one, but the Bears quarterback situation is horrible. I like the way that Seattle is playing right now — and I can’t believe i just typed that — so I’m going with Tavaris and company.

Chicago is in rapid free fall with no parachute.  Marshawn Lynch is becoming a beast again.  Seattle in a mild upset.

• Rich Picks: Seahawks
• Matt Picks: Seahawks
• Rye Picks: Bears

Tennessee at Indianapolis: We could really have a 16-0 and an 0-16 team in the same season. The Colts will do there part in keeping that alive here as the Titans run all over them.

Indy may not score in this one.  Titans crush ‘em.

• Rich Picks: Titans
• Matt Picks: Titans
• Rye Picks: Titans

Green Bay at Kansas City: Slam dunk for the Packers here, but going forward potentially losing Greg Jennings for the playoffs (they are saying 2-3 weeks, but we’ll see on that) could be very, very big. Something to keep an eye on.

Green Bay may score 70 points in this one.  GB without a doubt.

• Rich Picks: Packers
• Matt Picks: Packers
• Rye Picks: Packers

Cincinnati at St. Louis: Man, those Rams are horrid. Cincy needs it to keep hope alive and wins by a lot.

The Bungals come back from a tough loss and beat a St Louis team that will fire it’s entire coaching staff after the season.

• Rich Picks: Bengals
• Matt Picks: Bengals
• Rye Picks: Bengals

New Orleans at Minnesota: The Saints are fun to watch and they’ll put up Madden-like numbers in that game. The may hit the over number by themselves.

The Saints go marching in to Minny and beat them silly.  The Vikings are horrible.

• Rich Picks: Saints
• Matt Picks:  Saints
• Rye Picks: Saints

Washington at New York Giants: The G-Men are the Jason Voorhees of the NFL. You think they’re dead and then they go into Dallas and pull off an impressive comeback win. It pains me to admit it, but Eli gets it done at crunch time. This week he won’t have to worry about crunch time because they’ll have the game in hand by then.

I hate to say it, but Eli Manning is becoming a damn fine QB…Giants roll.

• Rich Picks: Giants
• Matt Picks: Giants
• Rye Picks: Giants

Carolina at Houston: TJ Yates, who knew? Yates came through huge last week and somehow, someway the Texans could be your No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs. It all seems a little 2001 Patriots-esque down there doesn’t it. Texans romp.

The Texans pulled out a miracle last week.  The Panthers are tough.  I’m taking Cam Newton and Carolina in a huge upset.  Texans clinched their playoff spot and will have a let down.

• Rich Picks: Texans
• Matt Picks: Panthers
• Rye Picks: Texans

Detroit at Oakland: Again a team that needs to win against a team that is struggling. Megatron hasn’t been heard from much in a while, I have a feeling he will be this weekend in a big Lions win.

NDonkeykong Suh may rip someone’s head off this week.  I like Detroit to go into Oakland and squeak one out.

• Rich Picks: Lions
• Matt Picks: Lions
• Rye Picks: Lions

New England at Denver: Even Eagle One is coming around on the Tebow Experience. It’s hard for me to root against the guy, but I will this weekend because my loyalty to the Patriots comes first. I have to run to Boston early on Sunday for an errand, but I’m making sure to do so to get back in time for kickoff. I haven’t looked this forward to a regular season game in a while, it’s like a Christmas present come early. Speaking of which, we had our annual early Christmas at mom and dad’s last week. I hit on 2 of the 4 scratch tix they got me, pocketed $125, not bad huh. Oh, Pats win a fun game.

Pats put an end to Tebow-mania and “crucify” the Broncos.

• Rich Picks: Patriots
• Matt Picks: Patrios
• Rye Picks: Patriots

Cleveland at Arizona: Don’t look now, but the Arizona Cardinals aren’t all that bad. John Skelton looks — gulp — pretty good behind center. Cleveland is maybe my least favorite team to watch, they’re about as exciting as their uniforms. The Cards are tough at home and will get the W.

Cards have been playing great football and nothing will change this week against the Turds…I mean Browns.

• Rich Picks: Cardinals
• Matt Picks: Cardinals
• Rye Picks: Cardinals

Baltimore at San Diego: I want to pick Baltimore because they’re better, but I have that funny feeling that this might be one of those games that they don’t show up for. The Ravens lay eggs about once a month, and this could be a prime spot, on the road, going to the west coast. San Diego is still alive in the west, and very well could have gained some ground already if the Pats beat Denver earlier. If I’m going to come back on Mattie I need to pick up a game or two along the way, so I’m gambling and going with the Bolts.

Phillip Rivers has killed me this year in Fantasy Football – why should this week be different against the top defense in football.  Ravens win.

• Rich Picks: Chargers
• Matt Picks: Ravens
• Rye Picks: Ravens

Pittsburgh at San Francisco: Man, another game that’s tough to call. In a bubble, or vacuum, or piece of paper, I’d say that the Steelers are the better team and the ones to pick. However, Ben’s got a bum foot and the 49ers can make a statement in this one. With a nod to my boy Easy E out in Cali, who’s a new daddy (congrats buddy, can’t wait to meet you offspring) I’m going with the 49ers.

gonna be low scoring with two really good defenses and some banged up offenses, but I think San Fran gets it done with home field advantage.

• Rich Picks: 49ers
• Matt Picks: 49ers
• Rye Picks: Steelers

Seriously, are there any songs other than “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” “Rudolph” or “Jingle Bells.” I was also upset that not one of the kids went the wise guy route and broke out the “Batman smells/Robin laid an egg” verse for Jingle Bells. I thought my daughter might do it, but apparently she was more focused on winning Amtrak Idol.

Right now our Picks Idol is Eagle One, he gained a game on me last week and now he’s up 2 for the shortened season. I’ve got 3 weeks to make up the ground … and I plan on doing it. Rye’s a little bit further behind, but still has a chance.

Houston at Cincinnati: The battle of the rookie quarterbacks with tons on the line. I want to take the Texans so badly, but can’t do it because a rookie making his first start, on the road against a team that’s pretty good and has to win is not a good recipe for success. Gimme the Bengals in a fun game.

• Rich Picks: Bengals
• Matt Picks: Bengals
• Rye Picks: Texans

Minnesota at Detroit: The Lions are still in the hunt for a playoff spot, but they can ill afford to screw up. I think they’ll gain some traction here as long as Nate Burleson isn’t called for another 3 offensive pass interference penalties. Seriously, when was the last time anyone was called for more than 1 in a game. I saw Burleson get flagged for 3 in 2 drives. He’ll bounce back from that and the Lions win big.

• Rich Picks: Lions
• Matt Picks: Lions
• Rye Picks: Lions

New Orleans at Tennessee: New Orleans looked awesome the other night, but they were at home. Here it’s going to be a real struggle for them. Tennessee will keep it close, but can’t score enough points to beat the Saints, who are closing in on the 2 seed.

• Rich Picks: Saints
• Matt Picks: Saints
• Rye Picks: Saints

Kansas City at New York Jets: The Jets are keeping hope alive. Welcoming Tyler Palko to town has to feel good, as long as NY defends the Hail Mary well I think they roll.

• Rich Picks: NY Jets
• Matt Picks: NY Jets
• Rye Picks: NY Jets

Philadelphia at Miami: The big question is this, have the Dolphins bounced back enough to save Tony Sporano’s job? Over the last month they’re one of the best 5 or 6 teams in the league. The Iggles have been my kryptonite all year, so they’ll probably win this one, but I’m taking Miami.

• Rich Picks: Dolphins
• Matt Picks: Eagles
• Rye Picks: Eagles

New England at Washington: Yes the Patriots looked very sloppy in the 4th quarter last week, but they still won. Don’t think for a second that Belichick isn’t loving that his team has fallen asleep with big leads so he has something to yell about. He’s at his best when he’s grouchy. Pats win again.

• Rich Picks: Patriots
• Matt Picks: Patriots
• Rye Picks: Patriots

Atlanta at Carolina: The Falcons do nothing for me, but they win every week. The Panthers are exciting, but they find ways to lose. Falcons win, we all yawn.

• Rich Picks: Falcons
• Matt Picks: Falcons
• Rye Picks: Falcons

Tampa Bay at Jacksonville: I cry for my buddy Ando every week when his Jags find a way to break his heart in a new way. This week it’ll be the old fashioned one, they’ll just get run over. Bucs win.

• Rich Picks: Buccaneers
• Matt Picks: Buccaneers
• Rye Picks: Buccaneers

Indy at Baltimore: Duh, Ravens.

• Rich Picks: Ravens
• Matt Picks: Ravens
• Rye Picks: Ravens

Chicago at Denver: Tebow Time! Tebow Time! Timmy T will once again lead a comeback in the 4th quarter to defeat the Bears in an ugly one at Mile High. Devin Hester will probably do something big this week for the Bears, but he’s really the only weapon they have, so Denver will get by.

• Rich Picks: Broncos
• Matt Picks: Broncos
• Rye Picks: Broncos

San Fran at Arizona: The Cardinals pulled off a big upset at home last week, can they do it again? I wish I could say yes, but they don’t have the weapons to put up enough points. The 49ers will kick 6 field goals again and win 20 (with a safety) to 7.

• Rich Picks: 49ers
• Matt Picks: 49ers
• Rye Picks: 49ers

Oakland at Green Bay: A month ago I thought this would be interesting, then the Raiders reverted to the old Raiders, a stupid group of moronic players that find ways to shoot themselves in the foot and threaten to shoot people off the field. Packers go to 13-0.

• Rich Picks: Packers
• Matt Picks: Packers
• Rye Picks: Packers

Buffalo at San Diego: San Diego, technically speaking, still has a heartbeat for the playoffs. The beat up Bills don’t, so I’ll take the team that they haven’t already made funeral arrangements for. Chargers by a field goal, 27-24.

• Rich Picks: Chargers
• Matt Picks: Chargers
• Rye Picks: Bills

NY Giants at Dallas: I’m going with my gut, and it tells me that the Giants are going to win. They played really well last week against the Pack and came close, this week I think they further jumble the NFC East race. Giants in a good one.

• Rich Picks: Giants
• Matt Picks: Giants
• Rye Picks: Cowboys

St. Louis at Seattle: With the exception of the people that have Marshawn Lynch determining a big fantasy game, who is going to cut out 3.5 hours to watch this one on Monday night? I’ll watch the highlights of the Seahawks win on Tuesday morning.

• Rich Picks: Seahawks
• Matt Picks: Seahawks
• Rye Picks: Seahawks

*** Albert Pujols signed today for ludicrous money, $250M over 10 years. He’ll make more than me this year on the first day of his contract. I’m in the wrong business.

It makes sense to break the bank for him if you’re the Angels, but it’s going to be hard to write those checks towards the latter years of that contract. He will be 32 years old (in Dominican years) on Opening Day this year.

Through the first 10 years of his career he’s put up unreal numbers. He’s swatted 445 homers and could make a legitimate run at Bonds* record if he stays healthy. If anyone was going to land A-Rod money again it was Albert. He’s got a .328 career average and a ridiculous career OPS of 1.037. No one’s worth that kind of dough, but if any baseball player ever came close it would be him.

*** The MIAA sent out a press release yesterday about the Cathedral team having a touchdown taken away because the player scoring the TD “taunted” by raising his arm in celebration before crossing the goal line, which is technically a violation and a flag-able offense.

I talked to a prominent local Head Coach about the ruling yesterday. He said that the ref made the right call and that the player turns his head and is talking trash while on his way to the end zone. Personally I did not like the ruling. If you’re scoring a TD in the biggest game of your life and you raise your arm in celebration you’re just human. You’re happy in that moment and you’re giving a genuine reaction. I think the ref ruled correctly on the letter of the law, just not its’ spirit.

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