The "Fantastic" Four?

I am running a bit short on time here, so there isn’t much time to comment on all of the things I would like to say about the pandemonium that ensued last week; but, I’ll give it a try:

1) Between the phantom pass-interference call on Samuel (as well as several other questionable calls that went against the Pats) to the Polamalu interception reversal in the Steelers/Colts game, it was a horrible week all-around for officiating. Interesting sidenote: Why wasn’t Pittsburgh linebacker Joey Porter fined for making post-game comments suggesting a conspiracy (ie the NFL wanted the Colts to win)? Maybe, because he was on to something?

2) The Patriots’ train of destiny/dynasty has been derailed…but they have nobody to blame except themselves. Even with the officiating errors in that game, New England did everything in their power to give the Broncos the game. On the flip side, Denver did nothing on offense to make me believe in them or their chances of winning the Super Bowl this year. Let’s see Jake the Snake (more recently known as “No-Mistake Jake”) make some big throws when it matters.

3) Besides losing a lot of respect for Peyton Manning, stemming from both his play on the field and his post-game comments calling out his offensive line, I have also gained some serious doubts about his ability to play well in a game when it matters. Is he the next Dan Marino? I mean if I want a fantasy QB, there’s no question that I’m taking Peyton first, but if I wanted, in real-life, a quarterback capable of leading my team to the Super Bowl, I can count on two hands the number of guys I would take ahead of him.

4) When was the last time the NFL championship was this wide open? I feel that all four teams left have a legitimate chance to win it all…

Anyway, on to the picks:

Last Week: 1-3
Safe Picks: 0-2
(I guess I shouldn’t quit my day job quite yet…)

Pittsburgh at Denver:
As Bill Simmons mentions in his most recent column, the Steelers seem like a team of destiny right now…They have played as well as any team in the league over the past month, and every break has gone their way, from Carson Palmer going down on the first play of their first playoff game to Rothelisberger making that tackle of Harper after Betis made the worst fumble of his career to one of the most accurate field goal kickers in NFL history missing a game-tying field goal. Honestly, I think that these two teams match up pretty evenly. Both defenses are equally solid, as are their running games. What it will come down to will be the play of the quarterbacks, and I trust Jake Plummer (although he was my starting fantasy QB on my Fantasy Super Bowl winning team) about as far as I can throw him. Big Ben has seemed so much more confident in the playoffs this year, and he just looks to me like a winner. And, going back to the beginning of this blurb, the Steelers just seem like a team of destiny right now…

My Pick: Steelers

Carolina at Seattle:
We all know that Skip Bayless is a nutcase, but his latest column just seems completely absurd to me...
Bayless thinks that the Seahawks have benefited from an easy schedule, have had a lot of breaks go their way in close games, and played in the weakest division in football. While this may be true to some degree, let’s go back a couple years…remember the 2003 Panthers? They also benefited from a weak schedule; they also won a lot of close games on breaks that went their way; they also played in a weak division. That doesn’t change the fact that the 2003 Panthers and this year’s Seahawks are both solid teams. Seattle should, instead of being criticized, be admired, for their ability to win close games. And honestly, if there’s any team that should be critiqued here it’s this year’s version of the Panthers. With Jake Delhomme to Steve Smith being their number one, number two and number three option on offense (especially with DeShaun Foster now out for the year) Carolina is easily the most one-dimensional team left in the playoffs. I guess when that one dimension involves Steve Smith, you still have a team that is hard to beat, but there is no way I can give them the edge over the less-battle tested but more balanced Seahawks. How long can Shaun Alexander keep underperforming in the playoffs? How long can Carolina keep winning games on the road? All streaks have to come to an end sometime…unless it is Bill Simmons’ streak of picking Panthers’ games incorrectly (he picked the Panthers to win this week)…

My Pick: Seahawks