Pink's NFL Picks : January 8, 2010

Week 16: 11-5; for the season, 157-83

Pick of the Week: 1-0; for the season, 13-3

That was a pretty solid week, but how about those Giants? Talk about clutch! I got my Pick of the Week in with the Bengals and I had the Bears as well. Make no mistake about it, the bubble in Minnesota is about to burst. You have to take my word for this, but I’m writing this on Sunday morning (Jan. 3) because I want to give you the changes I would have made in this past weekend’s game (week 17, the final regular season games) had I the benefit of knowing the previous weeks scores.

Week 17, Jan. 3, 2010:  Here are my original picks:

San Francisco at St. Louis — Niners, 23-17.  

NYG at Minnesota — Giants, 27-23.  

Indianapolis at Buffalo — Colts, 27-23.  

Philadelphia at Dallas — Eagles, 33-31.  

New England at Houston — Texans, 28-24.  

Cincinnati at NYJ — Bengals, 20-13.  

Atlanta at Tampa Bay — Falcons, 27-20.  

New Orleans at Carolina — Panthers, 26-24.  

Pittsburgh at Miami — Dolphins, 23-21.  

Jacksonville at Cleveland — Browns, 20-17.  

Chicago at Detroit — Lions, 23-19.  

Washington at San Diego — Chargers, 30-23.  

Tennessee at Seattle — Titans, 28-24.  

Kansas City at Denver — Broncos, 20-17.  

Baltimore at Oakland — Raiders, 21-19.

Green Bay at Arizona — Cards, 30-27.

The only real changes I would have made are the Vikings over the Giants, 34-27, the Steelers over the Dolphins, 30-23, and the Cowboys over the Eagles, 23-20. With that said, my original picks ended up 7-9, but with the three adjustments, it comes out to 10-6. To the best of my knowledge, I have never had a losing week, so I’m going with the 10-6, which means that for the season I was 167-89 and 13-3 with my Pick of the Week.

THE PLAYOFFS ARE HERE!

I don’t know what the schedule makers did to get us in this predicament but the idea that three of the four games on Wild Card weekend are repeats of this past week’s games just doesn’t seem right. Initially, you would think that picking the three teams that won last week would be the right thing to do. However, it became obvious this past week that the teams that needed to win the most basically played their A-game, while teams with less at stake did just the opposite and in some cases rested their starters in anticipation of this week’s playoff games.

I’ll be honest, these are going to be tough games to handicap, but I’ll give it my best. Good luck with your picks!

Saturday, Jan. 9

N.Y. Jets at Cincinnati — If you watched this game this past Sunday, you would say there is no possible way for the Jets to lose. At the same time, you were probably left wondering how in the world the Bengals won the AFC North Division Crown. I don’t think you can put too much stock in that game, but you can’t ignore it, either. The Jets play good defense and the same can be said for their running offense. The big question is whether QB Mark Sanchez is ready to perform under playoff pressure.

As for the Bengals, QB Carson Palmer had at least five dropped passes early, so it’s hard to get a read on him. They also sat their starting RB Cedric Benson to keep him healthy for the playoffs. I’m not to big on either team, but the Jets are capable because of the defense and running game. In the end, I think the Bengals, who beat my Steelers twice, will come up big in front of their home fans and win, 23-17.

Philadelphia at Dallas — How about those “Red Hot� Cowboys, winners of five of their last seven games? Wait a minute, the Eagles have won six of their last seven, and so they must be “Super Hot.�

This is the playoffs, and experience has a lot to do with who wins or loses. The Eagles are clearly the experienced playoff team in this matchup. I admit that the Cowboy defense, running game and passing game looked good this past Sunday, but I didn’t see the Eagles blitz at all and you know they will be coming from all directions this week to rattle QB Tony Romo. I don’t know if that is enough to swing the advantage to the Eagles, but it will certainly help.

As for the Eagle offense, everything revolves around QB Donovan McNabb. He, too, like Romo, can get shaky under pressure, and that’s a problem, but I really think that you will see QB Mike Vick in this week’s game to add another element to the Eagle attack.

In the end of what should be a very exciting game I see the Cowboys advancing with a hard-fought 31-27 victory.

Sunday, Jan. 10

Baltimore at New England — It appears to me that a lot of people are giving up on the Patriots following the loss of WR Wes Welker. That could be a major mistake. Listen, the Ravens play solid defense and have an outstanding running game, but that defense gave up 325 passing yards to the Raiders and QB JaMarcus Russell. Let’s not forget who plays QB for the Patriots: Tom Brady.

Granted, the loss of Welker will hurt, but Julian Edelman replaced him and came up with 10 catches for 103 yards. Let’s not forget WR Randy Moss, TE Ben Watson and any number of backs who will provide Brady with plenty of targets. I don’t think this game will even be that close. In the end, I see the Patriots winning it, 27-17.

Green Bay at Arizona — This could very well be the most entertaining game of the weekend. If you like offense, this game should provide you with plenty.  The Cards are really the mystery team of this year’s playoffs. Between QB Curt Warner and WRs Boldin and Fitzgerald, you have one of the great aerial attacks in the game.

But Packer QB Aaron Rodgers is equally capable, while wide out Donald Driver is top shelf.

This game should come down to whose defense forces the most turnovers. This is where I think the Packers have an edge. The Packers field the top-rated defense in the NFC, while the Cards’ defense is rated in the middle of the pack. With that said, I’m going against my Cards and picking the Packers to win, 27-24.

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