NFL Picks For Divisional Weekend

I'm kind of pressed for time and will be gone for most of the afternoon, but before I exit here's my picks for this weekend's NFL Divisional games.

Ravens at Colts.....love Ray Rice and the Baltimore ground attack, but it looks like Joe Flacco might be a little more beat up than generally known. The Ravens need a passing attack to score more points than Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne and the Colts will put up. Colts win 31-14.

Jets at Chargers.....keep riding the crest of the wave into SoCal. On paper it looks like a mismatch, Rivers has had a fantastic year for the Chargers while Sanchez is still taking baby steps in his pro career. But there's just something about the way the Jet's defense has been playing that indicates they just might be able to force some turnovers and win a squeaker. I'll go against the conventional wisdom and take the Jets in a nail biter, 24-21.

Cowboys at Vikings....if you've ever read my pro picks before you'll know what's coming next; ABC- "Anybody But (the) Cowboys". It doesn't matter that Favre and Childress will have a steel cage death match after the season is over, or that Adrian Peterson will fumble at least once. Romo must fall, once again, to the guys with the horned helmets. 21-10 Vikings.

Cardinals at Saints.....Cardinals will win on the road for no other reason but Kurt Warner is playing at an amazingly high level. I agree with most of the smart guys on this; Brees and Warner will give us an old fashioned AFL shootout. Cards win, 42-31.

Then again....I could be (and probably am)....very wrong.

Wild Card Weekend NFL Picks/ Carroll Leaves USC For Seahawks!

OK guys, I'll go on the record and give you my picks for this weekend's Wild Card weekend NFL games. Mind you, I've given up on all sound reasoning on picking pro games years ago, because there really isn't any. And this year was probably even more bizarre than most- I mean, what are the odds of having two teams play each other in the last regular game of the season, only to meet again in the next week during the first round of the playoffs?

And to have that happen in three of the four games scheduled. Albert Einstein once said that "God does not play dice".

There has to be divine intervention at work....when all else fails, either credit or blame The Big Guy.

So without further ado....here's my picks.

Jets 24, Bengals 20....a tight game won by the Jets D and the running of Thomas Jones. And they're the local team- I have to take them. I can't imagine life without one of Rex Ryan's post game pressers. He may not be the best coach in the NFL yet, but he surely might be the funniest.

Eagles 30, Cowboys 21....David Akers kicks three field goals to be the difference for the Birds. Besides, its as simple as "ABC"...."Anybody But (The) Cowboys". And the Eagles are my brother's team.

Ravens 28, Patriots 17.....Because of Pro Bowler Ray Rice. Greatest Rutgers player ever now the best the school has sent to the NFL. Also, Welker is out for the Pats, Brady is beat up, and who knows if Randy Moss is copping an attitude this week?

Packers 35, Cardinals 21.... Because the Cards are only allowed to win playoff games every 50 years. 2060 is a long way down the pike. And I really like the way Aaron Rogers and the Pack closed out the year.

That's it....

But of course.......I could be wrong.


This Just In!!! Pete Carroll to leave USC to take over the Seattle Seahawks! They say the third times the charm. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter its a done deal.



Read more from ESPN.com.....

12 Hours Later (plus).....Thoughts On A Football Couch Potato Weekend (And It Ain't Over Yet)

This is part of my weekly series following the Rutgers 2009 football season. RU had a bye this weekend, and will resume action on Thursday night at Rutgers Stadium vs the University of South Florida.

I decided to get really lazy and watch football non-stop since about noon on Saturday- so any of you regulars who drop into this quasi-political blog looking for some words of wisdom (every once in awhile I say something smart), well check back in on Monday. I'll be back with that stuff tomorrow.

Oh The Pain In Giantland!

Just a few minutes ago I finished watching the Giants blow a game to the San Diego Chargers, to extend their losing streak to four games after starting the season 5-0. New York had a 17-14 lead with a first down on the four yard line of San Diego after an interception return. A holding call moved the ball back to the 14 yard line. The Giants couldn't get it into the end zone so they kicked a field goal, making it 20-14. There was a little more than two minutes in the game and the Chargers had one time out.

Philip Rivers then led San Diego on a an 80 yard drive, capped by an 18 yard game winning touchdown to Vincent Jackson with 21 ticks left on the clock. The final- Chargers win 22-21.

Shocking....let the second guessing begin. WFAN's switchboard is going to burning up on Monday.

About six weeks ago I said the Giants would win the first five, and split the next four. Its not quite an official free fall, but its getting darn close.

Here's the box score for all who want to see a post mortem

Next up- Eagles and Cowboys. Is there any way both can loose?

The other game I watched today was the Bengals and Ravens, mainly to see former Rutgers guys Ray Rice (Ravens) and Brian Leonard (Bengals). That game was won by Cincinnati 17-7, a score that wasn't as indicative as to how dominant the Bengals were in this game. They played great defense, were able to contain Rice for most of the game, and scored just enough with 17 points in the first half to get the win. I had forgotten that former Rutgers tight end Clark Harris is now the long snapper for Cincinnati.

Bearcats Keep Winning

And speaking of Cincinnati....and college football for that matter....last night's University of Cincinnati Bearcats game against the snake bit UCONN Huskies was a nail biter, and one that tells you that some times statistics don't tell the whole story. How about a Cincy offense that ran up 711 yards of offense, had a 20 point lead at the half (30-10), but when the smoke cleared it was a shootout after a furious comeback by UCONN, only to see Cincinnati hang on to win 47-45. This really was like watching two separate games, with UCONN showing a lot of heart to nearly steal this one from undefeated #5 Cincinnati (9-0). This two point loss for UCONN added to a season of unbelievable setbacks for the Huskies, this following identical 28-24 losses to West Virginia and Rutgers in consecutive weeks, a last second game winning field goal to Pitt, and a safety at the end of their game against North Carolina to give them a two point loss. All told, this makes five losses by a grand total of 15 points. Unbelievable, and it dropped the Huskies to 4-5. And of course, there is the greatest tragedy of their season, the murder of defensive back Jasper Howard. The losses to WVU, Rutgers, and Cincinnati have all come in consecutive weeks since Howard's death.

This game will be remembered as the coming out party on network TV for Cincinnati's backup quarterback Zach Collaros, who threw for 480 yards and and one touchdown, and rushed for another 75 yards and two TD's. He's the backup for starter Tony Pike, last years first team Big East quarterback....and he might be doing a Lou Gehrig-Wally Pipp thing- Pike is recovering from an injury, and who knows when- or if- he can reclaim his job. Tony Pike was getting some buzz as a potential Heisman candidate...and now he can't get back on the field .

The Big East's two best quarterbacks might be on the same team, the Cincinnati Bearcats.

How about Those Middies"

The last time an unranked Navy team beat a ranked Notre Dame was 1936. And it happened again on Saturday when the Irish (#22) fell to the Midshipmen in South Bend, 23-21. It was the second win in three years for Navy over ND, and the first time Navy has won in back to back trips to Notre Dame since the Roger Staubach era (1961 and 1963). Jimmy Clausen passed for 452 yards for ND and had two touchdowns, but also a costly interception and was taken down in his own end zone for a safety that ultimately won the game for Navy. With Navy leading 21-7 late in the fourth quarter, Clausen connected with Michael Floyd with 4:46 left in the game to make it 21-14 Navy. After a scoreless Navy possession resulted in a punt deep into Irish territory , Clausen was tackled in the end zone by Navy's Craig Schaefer for the safety, making the score 23-14 Navy with only 1:00 left in the game.

The ensuing free quick by Notre Dame was a onside, recovered by Notre Dame, who took it down field quickly and into the end zone, Clausen to Golden Tate for seven with 24 seconds in the game. The Irish tried another onside kick, but this time it was recovered by Navy, who took a knee and ended the game.

The final- Navy 23, Notre Dame 21.

The Irish turned the ball over three times to none for Navy, and couldn't contain the vaunted Navy rushing attack, the Middies racked up 348 yards on the ground.

The win for Navy made them bowl eligible at 7-3, the loss dropped ND to 6-3 and more or less eliminated them from any hope of a BCS bowl bid, and took them out of both the AP and USA TODAY Top 25's.

Orange Crushed By Pitt

If you hadn't noticed, I'm doing this in reverse order....call it The Olbermann Syndrome.

The first game I watched yesterday (Saturday) was Syracuse and Pitt from Heinz Field, at the confluence of the Allegheny and the Monongahela rivers. The final was Pitt 37, 'Cuse 10, but it wasn't that close. Both teams traded field goals for the only scoring in the first quarter (with Syracuse scoring first). Then Pitt's Greg Williams returned an interception for a 51 yard score, giving Pitt a 10-3 halftime score. After the half, the Panthers scored many and often, racking up 27 points in the second half. All told Pitt scored 37 unanswered points between Syracuse's first and last scores, the final being an Orange TD with 1:03 left in the game. Super freshman Dion Lewis ran for 110 yards and one TD for Pitt, tight end Dorin Dickerson went for 118 yards and a touchdown, steady Pitt QB Bill Stull was 16/23 for 225 yards and a TD. The Panthers (8-1) have crept into the AP and USA TODAY Top 10 (at #8 and #9 respectively) while Syracuse falls to 3-6, one loss from bowl elimination.

Those were the games I watched in their entirety...yes, the whole games. Hey, I deserve it. I did see some parts of Georgia Tech- Wake Forest, Ohio State- Penn State, and Louisville-West Virginia, but not enough to get a feel for the games.

What can I say?

I really like football.