CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND
I'd like to preface this week's picks by saying how incredibly psyched I am for the games this weekend. Both games really are a toss-up and we should all be in for some good football. This week is huge for me. I could run my record to 7-3 or fall to 5-5 after this week's games. All right, let's get to the picks.

Falcons (+5) over EAGLES
I know the Falcons have become the trendy pick this week. I love Jim Mora and what he's done in the ATL so far this year, so perhaps my judgment is a bit clouded. I'd love to see the Eagles become the biggest chokers in the history of the NFL too. I don't have anything personal against the team or the city, but sometimes I just take a lot of joy in the misfortunes of others. I know Atlanta is a dome team playing in a cold weather city, but they're not a finesse team. They had the top running game in the NFL and the weather conditions are going to be perfect for a smash-mouth type contest. Donovan McNabb is a great quarterback, but I don't see him tearing up the Falcons secondary with the likes of Freddie Mitchell and Todd Pinkston. I know "The People's Champ" had a great game last week, but that doesn't change the fact that he sucks. "The People's Champ"? Maybe the "people" like him so much because he catches only a few more passes a season than the common man. Michael Vick is the obviously the X-factor here. Will he come out and go 7-20 with two picks and get contained by the Eagles defense or will he, TJ Duckett and Warrick Dunn run all over the Philly defense? I'm banking on the latter occurring. I think my desire to have Philly become the next Boston in terms of torturing their fans is why I want to see the Eagles lose so badly.

New England (+3) over PITTSBURGH
I vowed never to go against the Patriots again until they lost. With that said, even though I think Pittsburgh is a much more physical team than the Patriots, I'm still siding with New England. Ben Roethlisbeger finally looked like a rookie last week against the Jets. What do you think Bill Belichick's schemes will do to the rookie this week? The best way for Pittsburgh to lose would be if they completed a pass over the middle to Plaxico Burress and he spiked a live ball and New England ran it back for a TD (similar to what happened in Plax's rookie year). I don't know why I want to see people suffer this week in the NFL, perhaps it's because I lost big at the blackjack table the other night and I want others to feel my misery.

Dan Marino (-4) over Boomer Esiason
Did anybody catch Boomer and Marino having out yet-again on CBS' pregame show? Boomer said that if Manning didn't win a Super Bowl he'd be the "Dan Marino of this generation". Needless to say Marino was pissed. He first attempted to laugh it off but the camera went back to him a few seconds later and he was caught glaring at Boomer like Bobby Knight at some reporter who just asked a stupid question.


I went with two road teams this week, and I know homefield is almost everything in the NFL playoffs--the key word being "almost".