week 17

Dallas over Washington   15   W
Ravens over Browns        9     W
Colts over Titans             10    W
Texans over Jags              14    W
SD over Chiefs                8       L
Miami over Jets               11     L
Minn over Bears              3     W
Pats over Bills                 12   L
Giants over Eagles           1    L
Saints over Bucs              2    W
ATL over NC                   4    L
Pack over                         7  W
Broncos over Raiders     16   W
Cardinals over 49ers        5    L
Seahawks over Rams       13  W
Pitt over Bengals              6   W

10 AND 6

Record for year  165 and 90

week 16

JAGS over Titans 1  win
Eagles over Redskins 9  loss
Chargers over Sf        4   W
Miami over Minn   7    W  
Baltimore over Houston  8   L
Detroit over Chicago   16    W
Carolina over Cleveland 12   W
Atl over NO        3  W
GB over Tb       15   W
Pitt over KC   6  W
NE over Jets     14   W
Rams over Giants  5  L
Bills over Raiders 11   L
Colts over Dallas  2   L
Seattle over Arizona  10  W
Denver over Bengals  13  L


10 AND 6

week 15

rams over cardinals   3    loss
Atl over Pitt               1  loss
NYG over Wash        10  win
NE over Miami          11  win
KC over Oakland       12 win
IND over Houston      4 win
Balt over Jax               15 win
GB over Buff              13 loss
TB over Carolina        7   loss
Bengals over Browns   6  win
Tenn over jets               5 loss
Denver over SD           9  win
Det over Min               14  win
Seattle over SF            16  win
Dallas over Phil           2   win
Saints over Chicago     8  win

11 and 5

week 14

Dallas over Bears    2   win
Bengals over Steelers   3 loss
Rams over Redskins    8  win
Titans over Giants       4  loss
Saints over Carolina   10 loss
Vikings over Jets         9 win
Dolphins over Ravens  5 loss
Colts over Vrowns       6 win
Lions over Bucs          11 win
Houston over Jax        14 win
Denver over Buff        15 win
KC over Ariz              8  loss
Seattle over Phil          1 win
49ers over Raiders     13 loss
Pats over Chargers     7  win
Packers over Atlanta   16  loss
9 wins 7 losses

week 13

dallas over Philly   3   L
Lions over Bears  7    w
49ers over Seattle 1   L
Ind over Wash      16  w
Houston over Tenn  10  w
Bills over Browns  4  w
Ravens over Chargers  13  L
Giants over Jags       8  L
Bengals over TB      14  W
Rams over Raiders   6  W
Steelers over Saints 15 L
Vikings over Carolina  5 W
Cardinals over Atlanta  11 L
GB over NE                  2 W
KC over Denver   9       L

Miami over Jets         12  W

9 AND 7

week 12

kc over oakland conf  7  loss
Falcons  over Cleveland        1   w
Eagles over Titans                 12  w
Pats over Lions                      5    w
Packers over Vikings            13   w
Colts over Jags                      14   w
Houston over Bengals           2    l
Bills over Jets                        4   w
Bears over Bucs                    3    w
Seahawks over Cards            6    w
Chargers over Rams              8    w
Denver over Miami              10    w
49ers over Washington          15   w
Dallas over Giants             9            w
Ravens over Saints             11   w      


13 wins 2 losses

week 11

miami over buffalo               2    win
vikings over bears                 1    L
cleveland over houston         7    L
KC over Seattle                     3   W
Atlanta over Carolina            4   W
Saints over Bengals             10   L
Wash over TB                       8    L
Denver over Rams               14   L
49ers over Giants                 13  W
SD over Oakland                  12     W 
GB over Philly                   9         w
Lions over Cardinals          6      L
Pitt over Tenn                      11  W
Pats over Colts                    5   W

8 wins 6 losses

Week 10

bengals over browns   4    loss
Buffalo over KC               2  loss
Lions over Miami              7 win
Dallas over Jacksonville   3 win
Saints over 49ers               9  loss
Ravens over Titans          11 win
Steelers over Jets             12 loss
Bucs over Atlanta             1 loss
Denver over Oakland       13 win
Cardinals over Rams       10 win
Seattle over Giants          8 win
Packers over Bears          6 win
Eagles over Panthers      5  win

8 AND 5

week 9

Panthers over saints   3  loss
Browns over Bucs    8  w
Cardinals over cowboys    4  w
Bengals over Jags          12   w
Eagles over Texans      7   w
Patriots over  Broncos 1  w
Steelers over Ravens  2  w
KC over Jets   13  w
Miami over SD  5   w
Minn over Wash  6   w
SF over STL  11     l
Seahawks over Oakland  10   w
Colts over Giants 9   w


11 wins   2 losses

week 8

Denver 25 SD 20  conf 3     W    L

Lions  vs ATL (LIONS -3) Detroit 24 Falcons 14                           7     W  L
Rams vs KC (Chiefs -6) KC 21 Rams 10                                      11   W W
Vikings at Bucs (TB-2) TB 14 Vikings 13                                       1 L W
Seattle at Carolina (Seahawks -3) Panthers 27 Seattle 21                2  L  L
Ravens at Cincinatti(Bengals -2.5) Ravens 24 Bengals 17              4  L L
Miami vs Jacksonville (Dolphins -4) Miami 28 Jags 13                13 W  W
Bears vs NE (Pats -7) Patriots 24 Bears 14                                     9  W W
Bills vs Jet(Jets -2.5) Bills 17 Jets 13                                              8  W W
Eagles at Arizona (Arizona -2.5) Cardinals 30 Eagles 20              12 W W
Raiders at Browns (Cleveland -7) Browns 24 Raiders 13              5  W  W
Houston vs Tenessee (Texans -2.5) Houston 21 Titans 17             6 W W
Packers vs Saints (Saints -1.5) Packers 35 Saints 20                     10  L L
Cowboys vs Wash (Dallas -9) Dallas 42 Wash 10                         15  L  L

9 AND 5  69 points
SPREAD 8 AND 7

week 7

pats 28 jets 10  conf 10               W    L
Atl at Balt  (Raven -7.5).   Balt 24 Falcons 14                            conf 11    W W
Lions vs Saints (lions -3.5). Det  28 Saints 17                            conf 12    W  L
Carolina at GB  (GB - 7.5). Packers 24 Carolina 21                   conf 6      W W
Browns at Jaguars (Browns -5.5) Cleveland 27 Jags 17             conf 14    L L
Miami at Chicago (Bears -3.5). Bears 24 Dolphins 21               conf 1      L L
Titans at Washington (Wash -5.5). Redskins 20 Titans 17         conf 2      W  W
Seattle at Rams (Seahawks -7.5). Seattle 21 Rams 10               conf 13   L L
Minn at Bills (Buffalo -5.5) Bills 21 Vikings 17                       conf 3     W W
Cin at Ind (Ind -3.5) Colts 24 Bengals 14                                 conf 8     W W
KC at SD (Chargers - 4.5) Chargers 30 Chiefs 10                    conf 9   L L
Giants at Dallas (dallas - 6.5) Dallas 28 Giants 10                   conf 15   W W
Cardinals at Oakland (arizona -3.5). Cardinals 24 Raiders 14    conf 7 W W
SF at Denver (denver -6.5) Denver 24 49ers 20                       conf 4 W W
Texans at Pittsburgh  (Pitt -3.5) Houston 20 Steelers 17          conf 5  L L

10 w 5 L

week 6

Earlier I said there would be absurd decisions by NFL front offices and we have another example
Last week Denver's Julius Thomas was fined $8,200.00 for a dirty hit (chop block) and Colin Kapernick was fined $10,000.00 for wearing a non sponsored head set. A dirty hit can potentially end a career but in the NFL's mind the wrong head set is the more severe offense. Mr. Goodell , please do us a favor and run for some political office and get the hell out of football. Below are my picks . I already picked Indy  to win and cover the spread  with a confidence of        2.
Bengals vs Panthers (Bengals -7.5). Cincy 24 Panthers 20                3   L L
Denver at Jets (Jets +9.5). Denver 100 Jets 0                                   15  (I'm only exagerrating a little)
W  W
Steelers at Cleveland ( Cleveland -1.5). Browns 27 Steelers 23        1  W W
Lions at Minn  (Vikings +1.5). Lions 27 Vikings 17                          4  W W
Baltimore at Tb (Bucs +3.5). Ravens 20 Bucs 10                            6 W W
Jaguars at Tenn (Tenn +5.5). Titans 21 Jags 13                                5 W L
GB at Miami (Miami +3.5).  Packers 28 Dolphins 14                     12  W L
NE at Buffalo (Buffalo +3.5)  Bills 24 Patriots 20                            7  L L
Chargers at Oakland (Oakland +7.5)  Chargers 42 Oakland 10      14 W L
Dallas at Seattle  (Seattle -8.5) Seattle 27 Dallas 17                       11 L L
Washington at Arizona (Wash +3.5). Arizona 20 Wash 10             8  W L
Bears at Atlanta (Atlanta -3.5) Falcons 24 Bears 17                       10  L L
Giants at Philly (Eagles - 3.5). Giants 31 Eagles 14                        9   L L
SF at STL (Rams +3.5).            49ers 28 Rams 10                          13  W W

week 5

already 1 and 0 picking GB to beat the Vikings with a confidence of 11.  w
Bills at Detroit (lions -7) Lions 35 Bills 17    (12)   L
Pitt at Jaguars (PIT -6.5). Steelers 27 Jacksonville 17  (13)  W
Balt at Ind (Ind -3.5)  Colts 16 Ravens 13  (1)   W
Chicago at Carolina (Carolina -2.5) Carolina 24 Bears 17  (2)   W
Houston at Dallas (Dallas -6.5) Dallas 27 Houston 13 (10)           W   L
Atlanta at Giant (Giants -4.5) Giants 23 Falcons 20 (3)        W
St Louis at Eagles (Eagles -7.5) Eagles 24 Rams 20 (4)   W
TB at Saints (Saints -10.5) Saints 21 TB 14 (5)  W
Cleveland at Tenessee (Titans-2.5 ) Browns 27 Titans 20   (6)   W
Cardinals at Denver (Denver -7.5) Denver 28 Cardinals 24 (7)  W
Jets at Chargers (SD -6.5) Chargers 27 Jets 10  (15)     W
KC at SF (SF -6.5) 49ers 27 Chiefs 17 (9)   W
Cincinatti at Patriots (Patriots + 1.5). Bengals 24 Patriots 20  (8)  L
Seattle at Redskins (wash + 7.5) Seattle 24 Redskins 10 (14)  W


12 Wins  3 losses

week 4

I did pick the Giants to beat Washington with a confidence of 2 and below are the rest of the picks.
W  W
Miami at Oakland (oakland +3.5). Miami 21 Oakland 20   .   1  W W
Detroit at Jets (Jets +1.5). Detroit 24 Jets 13  .   9   W W
Packers at Chicago (Bears +1.5). Bears 21 Packers 17 .   5     L L
Bills at Houston (Houston -3.5). Houston 21 Bills 14  .  8  W  W
Titans at Colts (Ind -7.5) . Ind 28 Titans 13 .        11   W  W
TB at Pitt (Pitt -7.5). Pitt 24 Bucs 7.     12  L L
Jacksonville at SD (Chargers -13.5). Chargers 27 Jags 13      W W
Atl at Minn (Vikings + 3.5) .Atl 27 Vikings 10   10  L  L
49ers at Eagles (49ers -5.5). 49ers 24 Eagles 17     7   W  W
Saints at Dallas (Dallas +3.5) Dallas 24 Saints 23   3  W W
Patriots at KC (KC +3.5) Patriots 20 Chiefs 16   4  L L
Carolina at Baltimore (Bal -3.5) Baltimore 24 Carolina 20     6  W W

9 WINS  4 LOSSES
9 WINS 4 LOSSES AGAINST SPREAD

week 3

I did pick Atlanta to beat TB 21 to 13 with a confidence level of 6 but clearly Tampa Bay was not up for this game. It is harder to watch NFL games with all the off the field issues going on. As I thought more absurd decisions would be coming this year and the NFL has not let me down. Players like North Carolina's Greg Hardy was able to play last week despite being convicted of domestic abuse and owners,GMs and Comissioner Goodell are waving their fingers in the public opinion wind to see what the right thing is to do rather than being strong leaders and making tough decisions on their own. Two cases in point involving one person I greatly respect and another I hold in complete contempt.
Regarding the Ray Rice incident it was sad to read that coach Jon Harbough lobbied to remove him from the team after seeing the original TMZ video of Rice dragging his fiancee out of the elevator only to be overruled by GM Ozzie Newsome and owner Steve Bisciotti. Afterward after the video of Rice striking his fiancee inside the elevator was made public, Harbough alone had to give a conference on Rice's removal on the team alone without eitherNewsome or Bisciotti there. Ozzie Smith is someone I have tremendous respect for but this decision along with owner Bisciotti is disgraceful and more scrutiny should be directed at these two men.
Now on to Commissioner Goodell's press conference after he has been hiding away while more scandals are being made public. Goodell admitted that he got the original ruling on Ray Rice to suspend him for two games and said that he will now get it right on matters like this. In the same press conference he still insists that he did not see the infamous video of Rice striking his fiancee even though TMZ did see it and the video was sent  to the NFL offices. This man is a phoney and a liar and my guess is the reason he was hiding out all week was to install the CYA method of staying ahead in business. I have a feeling that every employee at NFL headquarters has been told to say they never received the Rice video and to remove any evidence that suggests otherwise. Goodell should have been removed instantly but as long as owners see him as a man who brings them money, don't look for him to be gone anytime soon.
Below are my picks for games that frankly I am losing interest in.
Chargers vs Bills (bills -2.5) Bills 24 Chargers 17            2    W W
Cowboys vs Rams (Dallas  - 1.5). Dallas 31 Rams 7        14  W W
Eagles vs Redskins (philly -6.5)  Wash 27 Eagles 21        1 L L
Texans vs Giants  (even)   Houston 24 Giants 10              16   L L
Vikings vs Saints (saints -10.5) Saints 35 Vikings 10        15 W W
Bengals vs Titans (bengals -7.) Cincy 27 Titans 14          12  W W
Ravens vs Browns (ravens -2) Ravens 21 Browns 17       4  W PUSH
Lions vs Packers (Det -2.5)  Lions 24 Packers 21             3  W  W
Jaguars vs Colts  (colts - 7.5) Colts 28 Jaguars 17            11   W W
Patriots vs Raiders (patriots -14.5) NE 35 Raiders 7        13 W  L
Cardinals vs 49ers (sf -3)  49ers 21 cardinals 14               9 L L
Seahawks vs Broncos (Seattle -5) Seattle 28 Denver 20   10 W W
Chievs vs Dolphins (dolphins -4) Miami 24 Chiefs 14      8  L L
Panthers vs Steelers (carolina -3) Panthers 28 Steelers 14   5  L  L
Bears vs jets  (jets -2.5)               Bears 21 Jets 10              7  W  W
 
11 WINS 5 LOSSES
9 WINS 6 LOSES 1 PUSH AGAINST SPREAD

week 2

Earlier in the week I picked Pittsburgh to beat Baltimore with a confidence level of 2. That didn't work out well.                                                                                                                   2  L  L

Miami at buffalo  (bills +1.5). Buffalo 21 Dolphins 17                                                 5  W W
Jaguars at Washington (wash -6.5). Jaguars 23 Redskins   9. RG3 is on the way out.  8  L L
Arizona at New York Giants (Giants +2.5) . If Arizona was in the NFL east they would dominate it.                                                                                                                                        12  W W
Patriots at Minesota (vikings +3.5). Patriots 30 Vikings 7. New England never loses two in a row and Peterson is not playing.                                                                                                       14  W W
New Orleans at Cleveland (saints +6.5) . Saints 24 Browns 20                                      6  L L
Detroit at Carolina (carolina +3.5). Lions 27 Carolina 17                                                 10 L L
Cowboys at Tenessee (Tennessee -3.5) . Titans 24 Dallas 20. If Dallas doesn't run the ball the majority of the time , Tony Romo will get knocked out.                                                 4  L  L
Atlanta at Cincinatti (Bengals 5.5) .  Bengals 28 Atlanta 20                                              1 W W
Seattle at San Diego (SD+6.5). Seattle 30 Chargers 14. Percy Harvin makes Seatlle even more dominant.                                                                                                                           13 L L
KC at Denver (KC + 13.5). Denver 31 KC 14                                                                  16  W L
Houston at Oakland (Oakland +3.5). Houston 20 Oakland 3 . JJ Watt is incredible .       11 W W
Jets at Green Bay (GB -8.5) Packers 28 Jets 10                                                                15  W L
Chicago at SF (SF -7.5). 49ers 23 Bears 14.  I've given up on Jay Cutler                        3  L L
St Louis vs TB  (BUCS -4.5)  TB 17 Rams 7                                                                   9  L L         
Eagles at Indianapolis (IND -3.5). Colts 21 Eagles 20                                                       7  L L


7 wins 9 losses
11 losses 5 wins against spread

week 1

Another season has started with Seattle picking up where they left off. I texted Mr. Slag the score of Seattle 23 Packers 16 wednesday (conf level 10) and  that clearly underrated how strong Seattle is. My pick for the superbowl will be Seattle facing New England with Seattle winning another superbowl.The upcoming season will be good as far as football goes but off the field will be a bad comedy as Commissioner Goodell has proclaimed himself the moral conscience of the NFL. Let's look at his work so far.  W
Josh Gordon :suspended for the entire season for repeatedly testing positive for marijuana (that drug is now legal in two states).
Ray Rice : suspended two games for domestic abuse. He knocked his fiancee out.
Josh Brent : suspended 10 games for driving drunk resulting in the death of his teammate.
Josh Gordon hurt no one while Ray Rice almost killed someone and Josh Brent did and Gordon ends up with the harshest penalty. If you can't see the problem with this, you're either a religious whack job or Commissioner Goodell himself. I'm sure more absurd penalties are coming soon.
Now for the games and I will see how I do against the spread as well.
Patriots vs miami (patriots 5 1/2). Patriots 24 Miami 14  (3) L  L
Steelers vs Cleveland ( cleveleland +6). Steelers 17 Browns 14 (2). These teams always keep it close. Browns cover spread but won't win and Johnny Football will be a disaster in Cleveland. W W
Saints vs Atlanta (Atlanta +3) (11).Saints 27 Atlanta 20 L L
KC vs Tennessee (KC- 4.5). KC 21 Tenessee 17. (7)( KC will not have the year they did last year. L L
Baltimore vs Bengals (Baltimore - 1 1/2) (9). Baltimore 20 Bengals 14. L L
Jets vs Oakland (Jets - 5.5). (6)Jets 17 Raiders 13 W  W
Rams vs Vikings (Rams - 3.5) (1). Rams 17 Vikings 10 L L
Philadelphia vs Jaguars (eagles - 10.5) (15) . Eagles 28 Jaguars 13  W W
Buffalo vs Bears (bears -  7.5). (16). Bears 28 Bills 7 L L
Redskins vs Houston (houston - 3.5). (14) Texans 21 Redskins 3   W W
Tampa Bay vs Carolina (bucs -2.5) . (8) Bucs 24 Panthers 14  L L
SF vs Dallas (Dallas +4.5).(4) 49ers 30 Cowboys 27 W L
IND vs Broncos (Denver -7.5)  (12) Broncos 27 Colts 17 W L
Lions vs Giants (lions -5.5) (13) Lions 20 Giants 7 W W
Arizona vs SD (Cardinals -3.5) (5)Cardinals 20 SD 16 W L

9 wins 7 losses
vs spread 7 wins 9 losses

Season Over

That was certainly not the close superbowl everybody wanted with the exception of Seahawk fans. I thought a good defense would beat a good offense but I didn't think a good defense would obliterate a good offense like Seattle did to Denver.
This season had some good moments but the most predictable moments were generated by the Dallas Cowboys who once again finished 8 and 8 largely in part of incompetent coaching. Of course every Cowboy fan points their finger at the owner Jerry Jones but if they want any change for the better to come about the fans must point the finger at themselves. We have all seen this story before. An owner who mistakenly thinks he is a good G.M. makes bad draft picks and hires coaches no one wants will obviously put out a team that will be average at best. If the fans know this why do they continually pay way too much money to see the Cowboys play or watch them on their TV every Sunday afternoon. The myth going around is now that as long as Jerry Jones is the owner the Cowboys will never be a superbowl contender. The fans have the answer and it is easy to apply. Just ignore the Cowboys. As long as Jerry Jones keeps deciding on who to draft and lets the incompetent and boring Jason Garrett coach his team, fans should stop buying tickets and turn the television to another football game, a soccer game, or even an episode of "Downton Abbey". Jerry Jones hates being ignored and losing money and if he sees this happening it will wake him up to the fact that he has turned a once dominant football team into the butt of a joke and maybe then he will hire another GM and get a football coach like Bill Cowher who actually know what their doing. I suggest fans start now and move on to the Mavericks and Rangers which are currently much better run organizations than the Cowboys.

Personal note:
It hurt  to mention the Mavericks and Rangers because I learned today that a friend of mine Andrew Densmore who was a big Ranger and Mavericks fan passed away of leukemia at the age of 31. Andrew was a former teammate on one of my indoor soccer teams and a true friend. The obituary in the Dallas News described very well  the person and father that Andrew was. The team I played with him on for two years called "The Weekenders" was the team that I had the most fun playing on. We won many more games than we lost but beyond that, thanks in part to Andrew, I rediscovered my passion for playing soccer.
I'm very grateful to you Andrew for being the man that you were and am extremely fortunate that our paths crossed. Rest in peace bro!

SUPERBOWL SUNDAY

My conference final picks sure didn't go as I expected. New England was not a match for Denver and Colin Kapernick's interceptions would cause the 49ers to lose to Seattle. We now have the best offense and best defense playing each other.
Peyton Manning is probably the smartest quarterback in the history of the NFL but a defense with a good front 4 and a strong secondary is the best way to counter a great quarterback and this is what Seattle has. I expect the Seahawks to run Marshawn Lynch a  majority of the time and have Russell Wilson throw safe screen passes to avoid turnovers. I do expect in addition to this some deep throws to their fastest player Percy Harvin to keep the Bronco defense a little off balance.
Peyton Manning with the offensive weapons he has should sustain some drives but they will end up with field goals rather than touchdowns. The wild card for Denver could be punt returner Trindon Holliday who is a threat to return any punt for a touchdown but is also prone to turnovers. How Denver chooses to use him or not to use him remains to be seen.
In the end a good defense usually beats a good offense no matter how many records an offense sets for a season. Just ask the New England Patriots in 2008 who had the best offense at the time in the history of the NFL and only scored 14 points against the surging New York Giant defense. That game was an upset but this game won't be one as a young hard hitting Seahawk defense will create Bronco turnovers and Seattle will win in a somewhat close but decisive victory.


Seattle 23 Denver 17

Enjoy the game everybody.

conference finlals

My upset pick  didn't quite pan out but at least the Chargers covered the spread and we now clearly have the 4 best teams in the conference finals. Below are my picks .
Spread Denver +4. New England 27 Denver 21 (1). Tough one to pick not because of the quarterback match up but because both teams on defense have vulnerabilities. New England is ranked 27th against the run and Denver is without their starting corner back which will force them to play either Quentin Jammer or Champ Bailey who are past their prime. I expect a big game from Nosean Moreno for Denver and Julian Edelman for New England. The Patriots will make the fewer mistakes that will allow them to win the game and the psuedo intellectuals at ESPN (hello Skip Brainless and Screamin A Smith) will reduce a complex game to Peyton Manning not being able to win in the playoffs.

Spread Seattle +3.5
49ers 17 Seattle 7 (2). The best rivalry in football are these two teams and this must drive Commissioner Goodell crazy because both teams win with their defense. Both teams will play ground and pound football the majority of the game but when they go to the pass,the 49ers with Crabtree and Boldin and wide receiver will make more plays. Seattle QB Russell Wilson has struggled the last 4 games and the 49er defense will exploit this by making him throw errant passes on the run. Everyone wants a good game but I don't think this one wil be close. The 49ers will take control in the 2nd half and win going away. I wonder if Pete Carroll and Jim Harbough will shake hands after the game.

If the 49ers win like I think they will and they have their best players healthy they will win the superbowl.

next round of playoffs

Thanks to the astonishing incompetence of Andy Dalton my perfect play off prediction goal will not be met. I will still challenge myself this week by picking games and going against the spread to see how I do.
 Seattle 27 Saints 17 (spread Seattle + 8) conf level 4. Russell Wilson struggled late in the season but at home if he plays turnover free football the Seahawk defense should take care of the rest and Seattle pulls away in the 4th quarter.
Patriots 24 Colts 14 (spread NE+ 7.5) conf level 3. Tough one because eventually the Patriots injuries to Wolfork and Gronkowski will catch up with them but for the Colts to win Andrew Luck has to play error free and I don't trust him yet to do it.
49ers 17 Panthers 14 ( 49ers-3). conf level 2 Best match up. Two great defenses keep the score low. The improved play of Justin Smith on defense and Michael Crabtree on offense will be just enough for the 49ers to win.
Chargers 27 Denver 24 (Broncos +9). conf level 1. I'm going for the upset. Denver's below average defense will get exposed and the Chargers will maintain long scoring drives which will keep Peyton Manning off the field.

playoffs

For the regular season I had

151 wins  93 losses and 1 tie for1319 points. I'm sure that I have defeated my rival Mr. Slag (not official yet) but I have already looked forward to the playoffs and plan to get every pick right starting with this weekend. Below are my picks which I may call Paul's perfect playoff picks.
Colts 23 Chiefs 14 (4). Under the radar the Colts have greatly improved their defense. Andrew Luck will not have to be great for the Colts to win this one.
Saints 27 Eagles 17 (1). I am aware that New Orleans struggles playing in outdoor cold weather. It will be in the twenties when they play tomorrow but no rain is forecasted which will give Rob Ryan the perfect opportunity to blitz Nick Foles often. Foles at times struggled against the Cowboys blitz last week and Dallas has the worst defense ever. Against New Orleans 4th ranked defense the Eagles will turnover the ball and the Saints will finally get a road win.
Bengals 21 Chargers 10 (3). San Diego barely beat the Chiefs at home with the Chiefs resting their best players and they still needed the referees to help them out. No help is coming in this game as the Bengals defense makes Phillip Rivers looks lethargic which is not difficult to do.
49ers 20 Packers 17 (2). The frozen tundra of Lambeau field will produce a pretty good game. Even with Rodgers healthy I don't see the Packers without Matthews at linebacker being able to stop Colin Kapernick and the 49er offense. Antoin Boldin will have a big game.