madame marie

"Well the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they do" ~ Bruce Spingsteen

After week two in the NFL, I made my playoff predictions. Here are the results.

AFC Picks

San Diego - #1 Seed
LT was amazing this season (1815 rushing yards & 28 TD's, 508 receiving yards & 3 TD's and two passing TD's) though he might have some competition in the amazing stat category next year from Steven Jackson. Jackson went out with a bang yesterday, running for 142 yards and three TD's on 25 carries. He also had two receptions for 24 yards and one TD.

Baltimore - #2 Seed
"Just enough offense and as always defense." The same holds true today.

New England - #4 Seed
"The running tandem of Dillon & Maroney will only become more potent as the new receivers (Gabriel & Jackson) get acclimated to the Patriots." Well, the running tandem continued to produce as evidenced by yesterday's game. Dillon ran for 67 yards & two TD's on 12 carries. Dillon also had two receptions for 59 yards. While Maroney ran for 73 yards & one TD on 13 carries. You can't split the running duties much more evenly than that. As for the receivers I was laughably off the mark. Jackson missed significant time due to a hamstring injury and never really got going. He finished the regular season with 13 receptions for 152 yards and 3 TD's. Doug Gabriel fell out of favor after fumbling in New England's loss to the Jets in week nine and was never really heard from again. He's back in Oakland, who never should have traded him especially in light of the Jerry Porter fiasco. New England's number one receiver Reche Caldwell (14 games started, 61 receptions for 760 yards and four TD's all career highs) wasn't even mentioned in my prediction.

Cincinnati - Out of the playoffs.
Final record of 8 and 8. Their potent offense sputtered and they lost three in a row to end the season. Ocho Cinco beats out Denny Green (condolences on getting sacked) for best press conference of the year.



NFC Picks

Atlanta - Out of the playoffs.
Final record of 7 and 9. The defense suffered from injuries (Patrick Kerney was put on IR & John Abraham was never at full strength) and no one on offense could hold onto the ball. Nothing was more pathetic this season than watching coach Jim Mora drop to his knees during the New Orleans game. Who knows Jim, maybe the Washington job will open up.

Dallas - #5 Seed
This pick produced the funniest prediction, "Despite all the speculation on benchings and cutting Bledsoe & Vanderjagt will be fine." Bledsoe is on clipboard duty and Vanderjagt will be looking for a team next fall.

Giants - #6 Seed
Two major losses on defense (Lavar Arrington & Michael Strahan) and Eli's back sliding almost cost them a playoff spot but thanks to a strong start to the season and Tiki's monster game on Saturday (284 yards, 3 TD's & 3 receptions for 24 yards) the Giants are in. At this point Coach Tom Coughlin owes his job to Tiki.

Seattle - #4 Seed
"Picking up where they left off last year. Deion Branch only makes them better." Seattle weathered the loss of Hasselbeck (missed four games) & Alexander (missed six games) to get back to the playoffs but their one and three record over the last month of the season is not a good sign.

Playoff Thoughts

Despite their 13 and 3 record, the Bears could make a second round exit. I'd point to a first round exit but that's impossible thanks to a first round bye

The first round of the AFC playoffs features two coaches going up against their former bosses. Herm Edwards versus Tony Dungy and Eric Mangini versus Bill Belichick. I'm sure the networks will hype that.

The Colts haven't been able to stop the run all year and now they get to face Larry Johnson who ran for 138 yards and three TD's on 33 carries.

Quote of the Week

"I don't know if global warming is fact or myth but it's 50 degrees in Chicago (on New Years Eve)." ~Al Michaels

Al Gore should send him a copy of, An Inconvenient Truth.