The Divisional Picks.

This could be one of the better divisional rounds with all four rematches from the regular seasons, and two games with hated rivals. I will be missing Sunday games with work, which leads me to my first DVR football day.  I will probably know who wins before the games end, but that's okay.  Here you go with the picks. 

Saturday 

Baltimore at Pittsburgh- In my opinion, this is the best rivalry in the NFL because these teams hate each other, but still have respect for one another. The Ravens impressed me with their beatdown of the Kansas City Chiefs after trailing 7-3 at halftime. The big news today though was Ray Rice caught the stomach virus, which could be a factor and we all know the flu sucks. It will be interesting to see if Rice plays or even contributes. I still don't trust Joe Flacco as much as I do with Ben Roethlisberger.   

People forget how good Big Ben is in the playoffs.  He has two Super Bowl rings already, and has a true deep threat in Mike Wallace.  The Ravens aren't that great against the pass, and I am willing to bet Wallace has at least one touchdown.  The one that pulls me towards the Ravens is the weak Pittsburgh cornerbacks. Bryant McFadden gets picked on all the time, and Anquan Boldin had two pretty solid games against the Steel Curtain.  I am torn on this one, and when that happens, you take the home team by three. PITT 23-20 (OT)  

Green Bay at Atlanta- The Packers are receiving a lot of hype in the last week as they were with Philadelphia but it still scares me.  A must for the Packers is to come out and hit the Falcons in the mouth in the first quarter. The Falcons haven't played a meaningful game since New Orleans further you can argue that game still didn't matter much because they knew Carolina was up next.  This leads us to their last important game on Thanksgiving weekend against The Pack.  If the Packers have a solid first quarter say a 10-0 lead or like a 14-3, this will be a Packer victory.  

Atlanta is a very good team when they have the lead.  They are not built as a quick strike offense that can score touchdowns at will. The Dirty Birds need to ride Michael Turner and long exhausting drives to win this game. In no way can Matt Ryan carry this team throughout the game.  For some reason ESPN fails to mention... Matt Ryan hasn't won a playoff game! Granted, it's just one game but that's the same thing with Aaron Rodgers but whatever. The Falcons are very poor against the pass and every good quarterback has done very successful against them. The Packer offensive line will be the key to this game, if they are great this could be a rout.  But it's a road playoff game so you expect to be close, and that's what I see.  GB 27-21  

Sunday 

Seattle at Chicago- I cannot believe people are buying the Seattle hype. I know this is Jay Culter's first playoff game, which scares me than becoming a part of the Human Centipede. I will be interested to see how he handles himself, but trust me, he will do enough to beat Seattle.  Here's the thing, the Hawks do have the momentum, but they went 2-6 on the road. In addition, Matt Hasselback looked the best he has in three years last week against a weak New Orleans secondary. Not to pile it on like my name is Clay Bennett, but Marshawn Lynch will not do anything against the second-best rush defense. They have four of the best tacklers in the front seven.     

Now that I am on fire like Reggie Miller at MSG, you mean to tell me that Russell Okung, the rookie left tackle has to stop Julius Peppers?! Child please.  I have a feeling we see Clipboard Jesus by the third quarter. To finish off why the Bears will win by large margin, the Seahawks are in the bottom tier at stopping the run and Matt Forte, if Mike Martz allows it, will run wild. The Saints weren't able to balance the run and pass leading to their defeat. The Bears will do it and win handily.  CHI 31-10

New York Jets at New England- People are pumped about this one because the consistent shit talking going on throughout the week.  While the Ravens-Steelers let their play do the talking, the Jets-Pats do not carry that same credence. If I am the Jets, I will take the Packers game plan from a couple of weeks ago. Just use their running game as much as possible, and try to control the clock to keep Tom Brady off the field.  But I keep coming back to Mark Sanchez's noodle arm.  I tweeted last week "Mark Sanchez blows" and "Glad to see the Jets figured out Sanchez has a noodle arm."  He isn't okay, I really think he is hurt. 

Another quick prediction is that Brady will go over the top on Antonio Cromartie in the first five plays of the game and if it's a touchdown, the rout could be on. Most people think this will be a blowout, but I honestly see a close game to the very end with Brady leading a last second drive for the win over Cromartie.  NE 31-28  

-Charlie.

Daunte's Future Home

Now that the dust has settled in Miami and the Dolphins are poised to part ways with Daunte Culpepper, the obvious question arises of where exactly Daunte will play. At this juncture there aren't any teams where Daunte could step in and start, although isn't it ironic that the Vikings would probably kill to have him back at this point? Seriously, you don't think they would want Daunte over Tavaris Jackson or Brooks Bollinger? I digress. After searching through various news reports and hearing various rumors, four destinations have jumped out as possible destinations for Daunte next season: Jacksonville, Baltimore, Detroit, and...Winnipeg?

Jacksonville: Byron Leftwich is in the final year of his contract, and the Jaguars already seem to have wavering confidence as to whether or not he is their starter for the future. David Garrard stepped in last season after Leftwich was injured, and had moderate success despite the Jaguars experiencing a three game losing streak to end the season while Garrard was under center. All indications would point to the Jags not wanting to make Garrard their long term starter either, so after Leftwich departs next season Culpepper would have the opportunity to compete for the starting job on an offense featuring three talented young wide recievers in Matt Jones, Ernest Wilford, and Reggie Williams, as well as rookies Maurice Jones-Drew and Marcedes Lewis. The Jaguars would seem to be the best situation for Culpepper in terms of prolonging his career, as he would likely step into the starting role after a year of learning the offense, and then have available to him a variety of weapons. It is rather ironic though, that in that scenario the jaguars would essentially be trading a big, strong-armed, immobile QB in Leftwich for a big, strong-armed, (now) immobile QB in Culpepper.

Baltimore: The Ravens have a slightly different problem than the Jaguars, as while Steve McNair was good for them last season there are some indications that the 34 year old QB may be nearing the end of his career. That problem is compounded by the fact that the Ravens have Kyle Boller, the current Darko Milicic of the NFL, as their backup. Culpepper would step in and immediately push Boller down the depth chart, but unlike in Jacksonville his future options to start in Baltimore are much more unclear. There is no certainty that this season or the next would be the last for McNair, and it is unlikely that Culpepper would go into a situation where he would not have a chance to compete for the starting job. The Ravens do have some nice offensive weapons in Todd Heap and Willis McGahee, but it is unlikely Culpepper would get the chance to throw to them any time soon.

Detroit: Jon Kitna was shaky for the Lions this past season, throwing the second most interceptions (22) of any quarterback in the league. Much like in Miami the future at the QB position is on the horizon in Detroit, as the Lions used a 2nd round choice in this year's draft on Drew Stanton. Stanton likely would not be ready to start for at least two seasons, and with management likely to have a short fuse with Kitna now that Calvin Johnson has been added to an already talented WR corps, Culpepper could have a legitmate chance to start this season and throw his patented long bombs to Johnson and Roy Williams.

Winnipeg: No, that isn't a typo. Evidently the Winnipeg Blue Bombers see some potential in Culpepper, as they put him on their protected player list, meaning that they would be the only CFL team that could negotiate with him. As far fetched as that may sound, bear in mind that Winnipeg did sign former Viking Onterrio Smith after the Whizzinator incident, so I guess you never know...