2009 Week 17 Picks

Win and in. Well, actually, we're already *in* but the seeding is still open. And there are other ways to the #2 seed. But the simplest way, the one I like best, is win it & get it.

I'm not saying that it's going to be easy to beat the Cowboys. Not by a long shot. They seem to have mastered their December woes, pulling off decisive wins over the Saints and Redskins in the last two weeks. Tony Romo is settling down behind the biggest offensive line in football. Their offense is clicking well behind Romo-favorite targets Jason Witten and Miles Austin. On the other side of the ball, Jay Ratliff is a big threat up the middle, and we just lost our center for the season. That neck injury doesn't seem to be bothering DeMarcus Ware too much, either.

On the other hand, we're playing pretty well too, with a 6 game winning streak. And most of them have been close games (OK, we *made* some of them close games when they didn't have to be). Which, you'll notice, we've learned how to win, even though we have a bumper crop of rookies and sophomores on our team. That's good practice for the playoffs, since you don't get a whole lot of blow outs once the crap teams are out of the picture.

If our O-line can protect McNabb - or he can scramble - well enough to allow some big pass plays to develop (because there are just too many options to cover if Big5 can avoid pressure for a few seconds)...

If we can open up some holes and get some good running out of Weaver, Westbrook, and McCoy...

If our D can force a few turnovers...

If special teams has at least an average day...

If we can go hard for all 4 quarters....

It's ours. The win, the #2 seed, the bye, the home game. It's ours.

And even if it's not, it's not disaster, as it's damn hard to beat a team THREE times in one season.

My prediction? An Eagles win, and potentially a heart attack for me while watching.

Need more convincing? Here's what Tommy has to say:

Make things simple if you want. We've won more games on the year. We've got a longer winning streak. We're the number three scoring team in the league. We have an elite offensive and STs weapon in DeSean Jackson. We have a QB who tends to win in December and January. We have a good FG kicker. We have a coach who knows how to win.

We're the better team right now.

Colts/Bills - Well, I *would* pick the Colts, but those punkasses are all resting, so I'm picking the Bills. So there.

Saints/Panthers - Looking at the way these two teams have played in the last two weeks, I'm doing something crazy and picking the Panthers. I know, I know - a month ago, unthinkable. Now? The Vikings and Giants are not exactly slouch teams, and the wins were decisive. Apparently, Julius Peppers has been eating his Wheaties, and the Panthers should have been starting Matt Moore all season.

Jaguars/Browns - Speaking of crazy picks and playing better and all that stuff, I'm going with the Browns. Yeah, the Jags are still technically in the playoff picture, but they'd need an even bigger miracle than we got at the end of last season to make it in. And the Browns have won three in a row. OK, two of those wins were over the Chiefs and Raiders, but they also beat the Steelers. I think they can close with a win and just maybe save Eric Mangini's job in the process, if Holmgren Claus is feeling generous.

Patriots/Texans - The Team of Destiny is also still technically in the playoff running and could spoil the Pats chances at the #3 seed with a win. Of course, the Pats may actually prefer the #4 seed so they can avoid the Chargers for as long as possible. To me, that adds up to a Texans win.

Giants/Vikings - The wheels are coming off BOTH these teams buses. Still, the Vikings know that their only hope of jumping back into the #2 seed and getting the bye week is to win - and hope. And they're playing at home, which means no cold breezes for the old man. I think that adds up to a Vikings win.

49ers/Rams - If they're smart, the Rams will drop this game on purpose to secure the #1 pick in the 2010 draft. 49ers.

Falcons/Bucs - Falcons. Or Bucs. Who cares? Oh all right - Falcons it is.

Steelers/Dolphins - This is going to be an ugly game. Both teams desperately need the win and a LOT of help to sneak into the playoffs. Fact 1: the Steelers are the defending champs. Fact 2: Polamalu's supposed to be back. Result? Steelers win. But it will be a close game.

Bears/Lions - Jay Cutler actually played pretty decently on Monday night. It doesn't matter at this point (well, at least not for the Bears), but he was not bad. Can he keep it up for two games? Nah. But it won't matter - he could hand the ball to the Lions every other play and the Bears should still be able to pull off the win.

Broncos/Chiefs - Even though the Broncos are currently sitting in the #5 spot, they don't own it. Again, they need a win and help to hang on to a wildcard spot. All they can *do* to help themselves is win, which they should do handily.

Ravens/Raiders - The Ravens should also win. And I need a super computer to help me figure out what the AFC playoff picture would look like if my week 17 predictions all turn out to be true.

Titans/Seahawks - Titans. Not that it matters.

Redskins/Chargers - Chargers. Also not that it matters.

Packers/Cardinals - This is another BIG game that could go either way with both teams with a lot on the line. I think the Packers win (I'd be sure of it if they were playing in Green Bay), and I think the two teams will face each other again next week with, I suspect, a different outcome.

Bengals/Jets - The Bengals will know before the game starts whether or not they have a chance to jump into the #3 seed. But Marvin Lewis and Ocho Cinco have promised that, no matter what, they're not resting. I think it would be totally unfair if the Jets leaped into the playoffs because their last two opponents didn't bother to bring their A games. But that may be exactly what happens. Why is this game the 8 pm game and not our game again? Yes, I know the Jets control their destiny for the final wildcard spot, but that's only because the Colts punked out last week. I hope the Bengals whup them but good.

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Sunday Schedule: January 3, 2010

This is it! Last week of the regular season. Not the last week of *our* season, of course - we're going to the playoffs, as we have 8 of the last 10 years. By the way, we're tied with the Colts for most playoff appearances in the last 10 years. Even the mighty Pats are only on #7 this year. And the Colts have lost their first playoff game 4 times. We've NEVER lost our first playoff game in that stretch. Yeah, yeah, I know they have a Super Bowl. We will, too, some day (maybe this year). I'm just saying that December and January are great times to be an Eagles fan.

BTW, all the games are on Sunday this week. Big day for lots of teams, with the NFC seeding still completely up in the air, and the AFC wildcard still completely up in the air.

1 pm: Giants/Vikings
4 pm: Eagles/Cowboys
8 pm: Jets/Bengals

You know what's awesome? All 3 games have major playoff implications.

Menu: Chef Spouse checked what we made last year when we whupped the Cowboys on the final day of the regular season. Turns out we had leftover bouef bourgignon, and we can't do that this year, because we eated it already. So he's thinking ham and scalloped potatoes. Bring something to go with. And look for ribs (his second choice, but we don't have time to make them this weekend) to make an appearance during the playoffs.

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Congrats to our Pro-Bowlers

Six Eagles were selected to the Pro-Bowl, the most since we sent 10 in 2004 (aka "Our last trip to the Super Bowl"):

• Asante Samuel (CB) - starter
  
• DeSean Jackson (WR) - starter
  
• Jason Peters (LT) - starter
  
• Leonard Weaver (FB) - starter
  
• Trent Cole (DE)
• David Akers (PK)

Who's missing? Definitely Sheldon Brown, who is having a career year in his 8th year with the Eagles. Speaking of, we also have six alternates:

• Sheldon Brown (CB) - 1st alternate
  
• Donovan McNabb (QB) - 1st alternate
  
• Brent Celek (TE) - 2nd alternate
  
• Quintin Mikell (S) - 3rd alternate
  
• Brodrick Bunkley (DT) - 4th alternate
  
• Todd Herremans (T) - 4th alternate
  

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2009 Week 16 Recap

Eagles v. Broncos, Sunday, December 27, 2009

In attendance: the regular crew - Chef Spouse, Shoegal, Ex-Navy Cheesehead

Menu: sauerbraten, which turned out OK if a little dry, Spaaten Octoberfest, red cabbage, homemade soft pretzels, pizzelles

Stud of the Week: David Akers, who made a totally clutch kick to win the game. Poo-poohing a 28 yard field goal? Shaun Suisham is now a Cowboy because he couldn't make a field goal from that distance. The Saints lost this week because their kicker couldn't make a field goal from about that distance. Big shout out to Jeremy Maclin, too, who made the clutch catch that set up the field goal. And to Jason Avant. He doesn't get a lot of balls thrown his way. But every catch he makes is important. He's so clutch that when you look up "clutch" in the dictionary, there's a picture of his cute, balding self.

We have an agreement Chez Snark: when things are going badly enough that I'm swearing like a sailor and/or hitting the tequila shots, I voluntarily remove myself to the kitchen so that the rest of the people here can continue to enjoy the game. Things got so bad, between the bad officiating and our bad play, that I had to take myself UPSTAIRS. Away from TVs. Away from the game. There was much slamming of doors. It wasn't pretty.

Philly.com says we can't complain about officiating. Really? Are you nuts? I can complain. Complaint #1: taking away the Patterson TD on the Broncos first series even though Kyle Orton clearly threw a lateral. Complaint #2: the RIDICULOUS unnecessary roughness penalty on Macho Harris that basically took away Asante Samuel's pick and handed the Broncos 7 points. So a 14 point swing (between the two plays) due to bad officiating.

Can we start the "I Hate Mike Carey's Zebra Team" club? I'll be president. Even Chef Spouse, normally someone who sees only the good in people, noted that they're nit-pickers who apply it inconsistently. Look, if you want to make sure the game stays close so that the network doesn't switch games (hello, Panthers/Giants) and deny people the glory of your Mr. Roboto officiating signals, at least own up to it.

Let's see - what else? DMac was hot - then cold - then hot, including a big-time 27-yard scramble. Westy didn't have a big day, but he played and didn't get another concussion, and Dawk got away with MURDER blanketing him on a big pass play on our first offensive possession. Celek had a big day. Peanut did not. Contrary to popular opinion, it *is* possible to overthrow him. Although it's not easy. Avant and Maclin, I discussed above. Up & down day on D. The Broncos were without Eddie Royal and then Brandon Stokley got himself ejected and Buck got himself hurt. And we still needed a clutch kick in the final seconds to win the game. I expected better.

Even more bad news? Jamal Jackson's out with a torn ACL. Great. Just before the playoffs. And he was, I think, the only constant on our offensive line this year. Well, until now.

One thing to remember: we're already in the playoffs (although it sure would be nice to win the NFC East and potentially move up to the #2 spot in the NFC). The Broncos were playing for their playoff lives. They had a lot more to lose, and got a major momentum swing with 14 points in about 27 seconds. And we hung tough and won. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't nice, it wasn't nearly as easy at it looked like it would be when it was 27-10. But we stuck it out and won.

Around the rest of the NFL...

Chargers over Titans. Well, I was right about that part. I was wrong about the "good game" part. In the 3rd quarter, we couldn't take it any more and switched over to TBS's 24 hours of "A Christmas Story." "You'll shoot your eye out!" You know who has the best winning streak in the NFL? Chargers at 10. You know who has the second best winning streak in the NFL? Eagles at 6!

Falcons over Bills. On Monday Night Countdown, they pointed out that, if they can beat Tampa next week, the Falcons have the chance to have their first back to back winning seasons in their 40 year + history. Ouch.

Bengals over Chiefs. By only a TD. Yeah, the Bengals may have won the AFC North this year, but guarantee they're going down early in the playoffs.

Browns over Raiders. Did you know that the Raiders made more appearances on "C'mon Man!" than any other team this year? Did you know that about 1/2 of their appearances were a result of two defenders running into each other and letting the opposing receiver run free? C'mon man, indeed.

Packers over Seahawks. What has happened to Matt Hasselbeck? Bet TJ Housh wishes he'd gone anywhere else. How does Jim Mora keep getting hired?

Texans over Dolphins. Told you! Not that the Texans are going to the playoffs this year - yes, I realize they're not officially out of it yet, but they're out of it. But neither are the Dolphins. Man, am I bad at pre-season picking the AFC divisions.

Steelers over Ravens. OK, the Ravens GAVE that game away. It should've been about 52-23 in the Ravens favor. I would've said they'd get into the playoffs and go far, but not after this game. Ed Reed was out, but they were penalized for over 100 yards and gave away two TDs. Sad. Speaking of sad...

Panthers over Giants. Did the Giants not understand that their playoff hopes depended on winning out? What a disaster. The game was being played on one of the local networks and they cut it off and switched to Saints/Bucs because it was so bad. You know, we lost our final game at the Vet. The Cowboys lost their final game at Texas Stadium. Anyone know about the Redskins and RFK? Seems like a pattern here.

Pats over Jags. Another team that's not going to make the playoffs. Also, the Pats are getting hot at the right time. Be afraid.

Bucs over Saints. WTF? Seriously. I think the Saints peaked too soon. Losing to the Cowboys, who are playing better this December than they have in a really long time, is one thing. But the Bucs are - now - 3-12. That's just painful. OK, divisional games can get wacky and whatnot. But the Saints still should've put the Bucs away. They were playing their starters for God's sake!

Cards over Rams. Speaking of putting away bad teams...did you know that all the Rams have to do to score the #1 pick is lose to the 49ers next week? Hell, for that, throw the game. Not that anyone would be able to distinguish that from the way the Rams usually play.

49ers over Lions. Well, sure, but neither team has anything to play for, so who cares?

Jets over Colts. OK, so there's been the big continuing debate about whether the Colts should risk injury in pursuit of the perfect season, or whether they should start resting people. Obviously, Jim Caldwell decided to rest people. And the Jets are still vying for a playoff spot, so not the Colts not giving their best effort is even doucheyer. And the Colts have been down this road before - wrapping up early, resting people, going down in the first round of the playoffs. Usually to the Chargers. That won't happen this year, since the Chargers have the #2 spot in the AFC, but I'll bet that the Colts go down early.

Cowboys over Redskins. Talk about a bad game. I went to bed at the end of the 3rd quarter. The Redskins are a freakin' disaster. I thought I'd seen the worst with that dumb swinging gate play against the Giants last week. Nope. The Skins didn't win a SINGLE divisional game this year. Good luck to you, Bruce Allen. You're going to need it. Also, the Cowboys have no idea how to psych up on the sidelines. Check it out:



You want to psych up? Learn from the Master, Grasshopper:



And on MNF, the Vikings are doing everything they can to give away the game. Let's see if the Bears can pick up what they're putting down, and help us move into the #2 spot.

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Sunday Schedule: December 27, 2009

Playoff spot secured, now we're gunning for the NFC East and possibly the #2 spot in the NFC if the Vikings can keep screwing up. Bonus? Life-long Eagles Fan Mom and You-Two-Calm-Down-or-I'm-Turning-Off-the-TV Dad will be in town for the weekend and the game!

FNF (aka "Christmas"): Chargers/Titans

1 pm: Panthers/Giants
4 pm: Eagles/Broncos. Welcome back, Wolverine. Too bad you're going to lose.
8 pm: Cowboys/Redskins

MNF: Bears/Vikings

Menu: we'll make another go at the sauerbraten and red cabbage, and I'll whip up some more of the soft pretzels I tested out this weekend (they got the Chef Spouse seal of approval). And there will be cookies galore, because I made a few batches during the Snowpocalypse, and I'm sure the 'rents will bring some with. Someone bring us something healthy, please! And perhaps some good German beer or wine?

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2009 Week 16 Picks

Westy's back! Merry Christmas Eagles fans! Chef Spouse may get to hear his 3 favorite words this weekend: "Westbrook breaks free!"

Wolverine will be back, too. Miss you much, baby. Too bad your team is gonna lose.

Yes, Eagles fans, we are in the middle of our annual December romp into the playoffs. If we can pull off the win over the Broncos at the Linc this Sunday (likely), and the Redskins can pull off the upset over the Cowboys (highly unlikely, as you'll realize if you happened to see any of Monday night's disaster), we can wrap up the NFC East. You know what's funny? We could go 11-5 and be the #5 seed if we lose to Dallas on January 3 (quick, somebody knock on some goats or sacrifice some wood....wait....). In the meantime, 9-7 would win the West. No justice, man.

Anyway, back to this week: the Broncos started hot, at 6-0, had a bye, and have only won 2 games since then, losing to the Steelers, the Ravens, the Redskins, the Chargers, the Colts, and the Raiders, and beating only the Jets and the Chiefs. I can't talk smack about losing to the Raiders (sigh), but I could beat the Chiefs. All by myself. And while the Chargers and Colts are clearly very good teams, the Steelers and Ravens aren't living up to expectations this year. And the Skins? C'mon man!

What this game comes down to is that I don't think the Broncos will be able to shut down our offense - particularly at home - and I don't think they can score enough points to keep up with us. Fly, Eagles, fly!

On the increasingly-poorly-named Thursday Night football Friday night edition (Why don't they call it what it really is? Not Monday Night Football), the Chargers haven't lost in December pretty much since the powder blue throwbacks weren't throwbacks. I don't anticipate they'll have too much trouble with the Titans. But at least it should be a good game. Chargers.

Bengals/Chiefs. Bengals. Even if poor OchoCinco is too sad to play.

Bills/Falcons. Both teams are playing for nothing but pride at this point. Falcons, completing their sweep of AFC teams in New York.

Seahawks/Packers. Look for the Packers to rebound from their disappointing last minute loss to the Steelers and whup up on the Seahawks pathetic butts. Michael Wilbon recently observed that Jim Zorn will definitely get hired again after lil' Danny Snyder FINALLY fires him. Evidence? Look what's happened to Matt Hasselbeck since he left Seattle. True dat, knucklehead.

Texans/Dolphins. This should be a good game. Both teams are technically still not eliminated from the wildcard race. Team of Destiny? You bet I'm picking the Texans.

Ravens/Steelers. Ravens. Polamalu's still out, and the Steelers are NOT the same team without him.

Panthers/Giants. Think the Panthers can pull off another upset? Me neither. Giants.

Jaguars/Patriots. The Jags are also still in the playoff hunt. Won't matter. Pats.

Raiders/Browns. Really? Raiders/Browns? Ouch. Dear NFL: do us all a favor and blackout this game. EVERYWHERE. Raiders. Or whatever.

Buccaneers/Saints. Speaking of teams avenging a disappointing loss...Saints.

Rams/Cardinals. It's really not fair that there are NO other teams in the West at or better than .500. Cardinals. Who are totally feasting on an easy schedule. Again. Bastards.

Lions/49ers. Another game that NO ONE will be watching. 49ers. Which is a shame, because the Lions have really shown some stones this year.

Jets/Colts. The Colts will probably lose eventually. But not this week. Colts.

Cowboys/Redskins. I would LOVE to convince myself that the Skins can pull off the upset. Unfortunately, I watched Monday Night Football. Which means it's all coming down to week 17 in the NFC East. At least it will be exciting. Cowboys.

Bears/Vikings. Speaking of upsets I'd love to convince myself will happen...yeah, there's no way. Jay Cutler's punkosity is revealing itself more from day to day. Vikings. Damn it.

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2009 Week 15 Recap

Eagles versus 49ers, Sunday, December 20, 2009

In attendance: Due to Snowpocalypse in DC, only me and Chef Spouse

Menu: In deference to Ex-Navy Cheesehead, we froze the sauerbraten and had homemade soft pretzels (which will make another appearance next week) and cream of tomato soup.

Stud of the week: It was almost the Linc grounds crew. Seriously. That was some damn fine work getting the field ready. But ultimately, I had to go with 49ers QB Alex Smith who, with 3 picks, did everything in his power to help us win. Thanks Alex!

I expected this to be a more dominating win. Not that the 49ers are bad - their whupping of the Cardinals last week showed that they're actually a pretty decent team - but I expected more of our team.

The offense seemed a little off all day. Don uncharacteristically threw 2 picks, which he pretty much never does. He overthrew Peanut, which I didn't think was possible. Although he did run for a TD for the first time in a long time. He may be 33, but he still has some wheels! AR, in a totally boneheaded move, went for it at our 29 on 4th-and-1. Weaver had a bonehead play of his own. We're out of timeouts, donkey! Save your jawing for some other time. Although, had Big5 been able to get his attention and signal him not to move, we could've snapped for a 5 yard penalty on the 4ers without him on the line. Still, big mental mistake (and Big Red clearly gave him what for on the sidelines after). He even got a shout-out on Monday Night Countdown's "C'mon Man!" segment.

Speaking of sidelines, apparently it's now OK to hit Eagles receivers out of bounds? You did see the late hit on Peanut, right? AR sure did - I'm pretty sure he rammed the 49ers defender with his shoulder in retaliation.

And we got a little pass-happy there for a while, which was making me crazy, seeing as Big5 was not having his best night. Of course, at least we have a QB who can throw the long ball in less than ideal conditions. Not that that helps us in the playoffs this year, when we'll likely be playing in some domes.

The 49ers were doing everything they could to give us the game with 4 turnovers, and in the third quarter in particular, it looked like we were trying our best to give it back. Of course, if we're going to take a quarter off, I'm glad we're choosing one of the middle quarters, rather than the fourth quarter. But it would be better to play a full, focused 60 minutes.

On the other hand, we once again found a way to win. Unlike the Saints, Vikings, and Packers. And we've secured our 8th trip to the playoffs in 11 seasons under Andy Reid. And going to the playoffs is so routine for us now that we don't even care - we're gunning for the NFC East and maybe the #2 spot (more on that below). Way too many commentators can't seem to do basic math to figure out that, in fact, we secured a playoff spot yesterday. They're still talking like we're the team that could be out of it and that the Cowboys have the East. Um, they're a game behind us, and there is NO WAY we let them win on January 3 to take the division, if it even comes to that. Catch up, dumbasses!

Oh, and the whole snowballs fracas? IT SNOWED TWO FEET. Of COURSE people threw some snowballs. Jesus! You know what happened in the Meadowlands last week? Giants fans threw BEER BOTTLES at Peanut. And there's been NO mention of that. It was SNOW. GET OVER IT.

Around the rest of the NFL...

Colts over Jaguars. They're unbeaten. They're dull. Shouldn't those offset in some way?

Cowboys over Saints. So the Saints do have feet of clay. The Cowboys also played a pretty much perfect game. In the Superdome. Not easy. Hopefully, that was their one December win this year. I still don't know what happened there. The Saints looked totally flat and didn't get a miracle this week. Maybe that's the problem? They've resorted to relying on miracles to fix their early game problems for them? Plenty of Saints fans are crying "injured players," but come on! We're playing JEREMIAH TROTTER at linebacker at this point. JEREMIAH TROTTER. We haven't seen Brian Westbrook in over a month. Don't talk to me about injuries. I say it all the time, but while it's better to be lucky than good, it's best to be both. The Saints were not good on Saturday night. Oh, and did you hear? Shaun Suisham is now a Cowboy. Guess *anything's* better than Nick Folk.

Pats over Bills. Dear Bills: head coach. You might want to look into it. Might help with those 11 penalties for 9 million yards. It's tough to win when you hand your opponents two TDs due to dumb interference calls.

Browns over Chiefs. The ONLY interesting part of this game was that Jerome Harrison broke Jim Brown's single-game rushing record. Oh, and Mike Holmgren is headed there. Dear Eric Mangini: Nah-nah-NAH-nah, nah-nah-NAH-nah, hey-hey-hey, GOOD BYE.

Texans over Rams. Dear Team of Destiny: beating the Rams by only a field goal is NOT a good sign. You're not officially eliminated from the playoff race yet, but you might as well be.

Falcons over Jets. Upsets ahoy! The Falcons, in the last month, beat the Bucs, got KILLED by us, and dropped a close one to the Saints. They're out of the playoffs. The Jets, meanwhile, were still theoretically in the run for the division. Not anymore, particularly with the Colts and Bengals coming up. Speaking of....

Titans over Dolphins. The Dolphins were also still theoretically in the run for the division. But the Titans are also playing for their playoff lives. It's amazing to me that all these 7-7 teams are still in it in the AFC. Rob Bironas and Chris Johnson are studs, though. Everyone seems amazed at the yards Ricky Williams is still putting up at running back at age 32. Seeing as he pretty much took 4 seasons off to smoke chronic, he's actually only 28 in running back years. So the yards are not so shocking after all.

Cardinals over Lions. Yeah, but they needed a Lions screw up on their last possession to carry it off. Almost losing to the Lions? Even worse than losing to the Raiders. Trust me. Speaking of losing to the Raiders....

Raiders over Broncos. Did I mention your playoff hopes are on the line? The Broncos have only won two games since their 6-0 start. Ouch. Big game next week, with Wolverine coming home in orange and blue.

Chargers over Bengals. In fiction, the Bengals would have won this one. Just like the Redskins would've won the first game after Sean Taylor died. In reality, football doesn't play favorites, even when they really deserve it, and the Chargers were the better team. Hopefully, Chris Henry will find some peace he didn't have in life. His poor fiance, on the other hand, will have to deal with what happened for the rest of her life. Sad events, and a sad loss for the Bengals.

Ravens over Bears. Remember how I was all, "Jay Cutler is the second most overrated player in football?" Who's laughing now? Maybe the Bears should try to switch uniforms with the Vikings next week so that Cutler can complete a few passes to the right team. What a disaster!

Buccaneers over the Seahawks. Huh. Didn't see that coming. The Seahawks are a hot mess right now. Paging Mike Holmgren! Oh wait....

Steelers over Packers. Everyone's all, "The Steelers have saved their season." I think that might be a little premature. It's a long way from "beating the Pack at home in literally the last second of the game on completed pass that was more lucky than good" to "defending your Super Bowl title." They're alive for at least another week, but they need about 17 improbable things to break exactly their way. And that's already happened once this decade (for us to get into the playoffs last year, in case you forgot). Groceries is back in fine form. I was chatting with a Steelers fan recently who said (I kid you not): "Oh, Ben loves to get sacked! Hee hee!" Um, I don't have enough time to explain how stupid that is.

Panthers over Vikings. Apparently, Brad Childress wanted to get Brett Favre out of there, either because he was playing badly or because he was afraid Julius Peppers was going to put Brett in a body bag. And Brett refused to be benched. And Brad let him get away with it. End of season Brett Favre meltdown in 5...4...3....2... (which means we could take the #2 spot in the NFC! Awesome!)

I'm torn about MNF - I called the Giants, and I'd rather they get into the playoffs than the Cowboys (even though it's hard to beat a team 3 times in one season), but I'd also like the Redskins to go into next week's game against the Cowboys confident, pumped up and on a 2 game winning streak. But with a Giants lead of 14-0 at the beginning of the second quarter, it's not looking too good for the burgundy and gold.

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