NFL Playoffs -- Conference Finals Edition

Zach Galianakis doing the running man, a jaguar-skin coat, and Popeye's chicken washed down with Jaegermeister?  It's kind of crazy but it just might work. 

Seeing a homemade Saints Superbowl video, plus this chick,

makes me think that there may be some sort of weird dirtbag karma going on for the Saints.  I believe in dirtbag karma, particularly when there's ample sideboob.  

I'm picking the Saints over the Vikings.   38-31.

I was sort of "meh" when the Colts won their last Superbowl, and barely recall it, even though it was only four years ago (or was it three?).   I think I was finalizing my divorce at that point, so I probably watched the game in a dark room, popping the occasional anti-depressant.   But I really don't like the Colts this year for some reason.   Maybe it's residual irritation with all the Peyton Manning commercials, maybe it's the piggy, overly earnest Indianapolis fan base, as exemplified by this little midwestern choad:

Maybe it's the Patriots rivalry, maybe it's the Mayflower truck in the middle of the night leaving Baltimore.  In any case, I just don't like them, at all.   That leaves me rooting for the Jets by default.   Good enough.

Jets 20, Colts 17.

Enjoy the games this weekend.

NFL Playoffs -- Wildcard Weekend

"Playoffs?"

Finally. Seventeen weeks and we're thankfully at one-and-done. This is the time of year where the hair stands up on the back of your neck right before kickoff, knowing that all the hype and conjecture means exactly jack-squat. Every year a team gets hot, like Arizona last year, and win-loss records don't mean much.

I think my Patriots get through the first weekend, but after that I'm not too confident. My Superbowl picks? They're probably the two sexy consensus picks right now, but I'm thinking Green Bay and San Diego meet in the final. Explosive passing offenses with decent running games and so-so defenses. In a field without a dominant defensive team ala Pittsburgh from last year, with most of the quarterbacks in the MVP race still playing, there should be a lot of scoring, and teams that consistently score through the air have an advantage. Still, a team like Arizona or Cincinnati could make it all the way through. That's why the second season is so much fun.

For Saturday's games, I like the Bengals over the Jets at home, and, only going by recent history, the Eagles over the Cowboys in Dallas. On Sunday, the Patriots squeak by the Ravens in Foxboro, while the Packers win in a shootout over the Cardinals in Arizona.