Apologies for not having the time to write last week's Preview/Pick 'Em Review. There just aren't enough hours in a normal week, especially during the holidays when you're trying to move. Things happen, and we're back to review January football.
Yes, they play football in January. Maybe the Houston Texans will get to do so one of these days. A man can dream, can't he?
Wild Card weekend is upon us as the NFL's best teams, and the NFC West Champions, battle it out for the right to go on the road to continue their Super Bowl dreams.
Jump for the previews, stay for the BRB Pick 'Em update. Yes, the Pick 'Em league soldiers on.
Yes, it's at Qwest Field, you toss the records out, and the Saints haven't exactly been rolling along, but I'm not picking Seattle. Saints win 38-17.
Wild Card #2: New York Jets @ AFC South Champion Indianapolis Colts (Sat 1/8 at 7 PM CT)
Will the Jets make the Colts taste de-feet? Heh. Bad Rex Ryan Feet Fetish Jokes aside, the Colts stomped the Jets one postseason ago. While this Colts team is more vulnerable than last year's, the Jets can't score enough points (like New England) or play good enough defense (like Pittsburgh) to stop Peyton Manning and the Manningettes. Colts win 31-17.
Wild Card #1: Baltimore Ravens @ AFC West Champion Kansas City Chiefs (Sun 1/9 at Noon CT)
Well, people thought Kansas City would fade away, but the joke is on everyone else. Behind a dominant running duo of Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones, the Chiefs welcome Ray Lewis into rowdy Arrowhead. With the Charlie-Weis-to-Florida crazyness going on, the Chiefs seemed lifeless against Oakland last week. The veteran Ravens, with ball-hawk Ed Reed going crazy, should turn it up on the distracted Chiefs. Ravens win 23-16.
Wild Card #2: Green Bay Packers @ NFC East Champion Philadelphia Eagles (Sun 1/9 at 3:30 PM CT)
The widely-assumed game of the weekend matches up Mike Vick with the team who helped get him on the field. The Packers have a big weakness in their inability to run the ball, but they have the defense to stop Vick, LeSean McCoy, and DeSean Jackson. It should be a close game with a lot of big plays, but I'll side with the home team simply because it's too close to call. Eagles win 27-23.
Battle Red Blog Pick 'Em League Update
For starters, Jahon won Week 16, while TexanKevin became the third repeat winner of the season and won his second Andre Johnson Award For Excellence & Ass-Kicking in Week 17.
"Should've Put Money On It" Game of the Week: 100% got Atlanta over Carolina right.
"We Know Nothing" Game of the Week: 15% correctly selected Tampa Bay over New Orleans.
Sippin' on Battle Red Drank: Shake, papabear, txknight, Taco Joe, DilloTex, Distant_Texans_Fan, and texanmaniac were loyal 16ers until the end.
Hidin' Out In the Back of the Meeting Hall: TexansDC, WhiskeyR, Fuzion, and pvavocalist were all hoping for a better draft pick.
The Rex Grossman "F**k It, I'm Goin' Deep" Award: TexanKevin won primarily due to his 12-point pick on 7.5-point underdog Tampa Bay. Big-time points on a big underdog with major history concerns. Kudos.
The David Carr Misguided Faith Award: Pvavocalist and trex76 both threw down 16 points on 10-point underdog Chicago. That may be the most misguided pick of the season.
The Charley Casserly Decision Making Award: Fuzion was last of those who submitted, but his week wasn't bad. So, the 16 who failed to submit a pick list will share Charley for the final week. Yeah, think about that mental image - punishment enough.
BRBer with the best weekly record: TexanKevin (In Schwab We Trust) 14-2.
BRBer with the most weekly points: TexanKevin (In Schwab We Trust) 128 points.
Overall best record: SATexan (Cake) 169-87 leads by 4 games over riversmccown (Glover Quin Never Allows TD's).
Overall points leader: SATexan (Cake) 1466 points leads by 23 points over riversmccown (Glover Quin Never Allows TD's).
Since I'm in a hurry, I'll eschew records and points this week, but instead tell you how many people can walk away with a top spot. With 116 points and 11 games up for grabs, eight people can still be overall champion and eight people can win overall best record. Most of the top 30 can still climb into the top-10 in both points and record. There's still a lot to play for in the post-season...who will come out on top?
Don't forget to submit your picks for Saturday's game and the rest by Sunday, BRB Pickers. Congrats once again to TexanKevin! Enjoy this weekend's slate of football!