Fab 4 NFL playoff picks
Well, we were close. So close to a smooth week.
But, if oh so close is good in horse shoes and snuggling, it is worthless when looking for entertainment.
So last week, we had all the winners, but missed entertainment with the Steelers by half a point and the Seahawks, who were lucky to win but failed to cover.
Last week, all of the road teams won outright. What does that mean? For entertainment purposes, next to nothing. For the NFL, it could be viable lesson about the archaic way teams are seeded. Or not.
With that, where do we turn when hunting entertainment? We turn to what we know and what we think we know. And if that fails, we ask the Magic 8 ball. (Magic 8 ball questions are real and they are spectacular and the answers are listed below.)
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady watches from the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) New England minus-5 over Kansas City. Count your lucky stars that the public wave of momentum after the Chiefs exposed the fraudulent Texans has made everyone believe that Andy Reid-Alex Smith are going to beat Bill Belichick-Tom Brady. And they are going to do it in Foxboro. (Magic 8 ball question: Will Andy Reid have a doughnut hidden inside his heavy jacket Saturday night? "Reply gravy try again." Oh wait that said, "Reply HAZY try again." Next answer: "Very doubtful.")
Arizona minus-7 over Green Bay. Another sentimental pick that has Vegas really enjoying the public's support of the underdog. The Cardinals are rested. The Cardinals are better. And yes, Aaron Rodgers looked like Aaron Rodgers against the blah-tastic Redskins last week. But you only have to go back three weeks to when the Cardinals defense - one of the five best groups in the league - made him look more like Aaron Sorkin, Erin Andrews or an Aaron's Rent-to-Own manager. And yes, we are buying the half here because as we proved last week, it's the prudent play on football round numbers like 3, 7 and potentially 10. (Magic 8 ball question: The over/under on this game is 50. Do you like the over? "My reply is no.")
Seattle plus-3 over Carolina. Yes, we would like to buy the half, Alex. Yes, we are a Cam Newton supporter. Yes, we believe he will win the MVP, and he deserves it. Yes, we are taking a road team that scored all of 10 points in its wildcard win - seven of which came on a play drawn up by the coaching staff of "Little Giants (not that there's anything wrong with the "Annexation of Puerto Rico"). Yes, we are taking the team that only advance because the best kicker in the NFC shanked a 27-yarder. (Side point: Missing a kick to lose a football game is the loneliest feeling in all of sports, right? Yes, Scott Hoch missing that 2-footer that cost him a Green Jacket back in the 1980s was bad, but he only let himself and his caddie down. Yes, Bill Buckner's error in '86 let down everyone connected to Boston dating back to Paul Revere, but Buckner was with the team every step of the way and worked through the same sweat and tears in practice and everywhere else. A kicker miss like Blair Walsh's shank ends the season for 52 other guys who may have left years of their lives on the field in 0-degree temperatures, and a kicker's preparation is hardly comparable to what the rest of the team does to get ready. Painful.) Where were we? Oh yeah, the picks. Know the only team that beat the Panthers all year? It was the Atlanta Falcons, who are coached by former Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, which means a) he likely will share some tips, and b) those systems mesh with the NFL goal of making a team's second- or third-best player beat you. And there is no team in the league right now with a bigger drop between option one (Newton) and option two (everyone else). (Magic 8 ball question: Regardless of the outcome will Cam Newton wear something very stylish/outlandish to the postgame news conference? "It is certain.")
In this Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, photograph, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning passes against the San Diego Chargers during the second half of an NFL football game in Denver. Who will start for the Broncos in the Jan. 17 divisional playoff game? (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Pittsburgh plus 6.5 over Denver. We believe Pittsburgh is too banged up to win this game, but we also believe the Denver offense will have only limited success. Who knows, maybe Peyton Manning has one more playoff spin his weary right arm, but it's hard to put a lot of stock in that given the sample size of this season. We also expect Ben Roethlisberger to play - whether they have to use some of American Pharoah's shots on him or not - but the availability of Antonio Brown will be huge. (Magic 8 ball question: Will this be Peyton Manning's final game as an NFL player? "Don't count on it.")
Last week's NFL playoffs against the spread: 2-2 (50 percent)
College football season total against the spread: 71-48 (59.7 percent)
NOTE: Edited to fix last week's record.
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NBA item of interest
How much has the NBA become a two superstar system?
Check this stat: Golden State is 1-1 without Steph Curry this year. The Warriors are now 0-1 without Draymond Green after last night's loss at Denver.
Denver Nuggets guard Jameer Nelson, left picks up a loose ball as Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) If there's anything that screams the value of a true second banana - especially in a system that maximizes his strengths like the way the Warriors use Green - its the fact that Curry's brilliance was not enough for the best team in basketball to beat a middle of the road bunch like the Nuggets without Green.
Golden State is a mind-blowing 36-3 and Curry has been game-changingly good. Dude put up 20 in a six-minute stretch of the fourth quarter last night but the rally fell short. (Side note: Curry already has six 20-point quarters this season. Oh my.)
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Actual decision for the college athlete
Are you sitting down? The NCAA actually made a decision that is in the best interest of the student athlete.
Crazy, right?
In fact, staying with the day's theme, we had to check with the Magic 8 ball to make sure we read that story correctly. (Magic 8 ball question: Is this the first step toward a more open-minded NCAA that focuses on fairness? "My reply is no." Oh well.)
Either way, this decision - the NCAA is pushing back the final decision deadline for basketball players to pull out of the draft process to late May. The deadline had been in the middle of April, giving players very little time to fully explore their draft status.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban speaks during a news conference for the NCAA college football playoff championship Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Alabama beat Clemson 45-40 to win the championship. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) This is a great move, and one that also allows players to enter the draft process and then pull out and return to school as many times as they would like. And one that is long over due.
Hopefully it will lead to pushing back the date of the NFL decision making process, too. That's something Nick Saban has been very vocal about, and he has a point.
Wow, this almost feels like we need a bath for saying it, but nice job NCAA.
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This and that
- Being an NFL head coach can be a very tough gig. Here's another example of it as former Miami coach Joe Philbin voiced his preference to go after Derek Carr and end the Ryan Tannehill experience at quarterback. The franchise vetoed it and Philbin is out of a gig. Life in the big leagues.
- Want to know how big Tiger Woods is to golf? For the first time since 2004 - when the rankings debuted -he's not the game's biggest earner. Yes, it took a historic season from Jordan Spieth, who made $22 million on the course, to pass him. Spieth finished 2015 with roughly $54 million. Tiger, who made roughly $500,000 on the course, finished third on the list, raking in $49 million total.
- After Alabama blasted South Carolina, there's only one NCAA basketball team unblemished. Yes, the clean-as-a-whistle bunch at SMU is the last one left unbeaten. That said, as great as the SEC is in football and as much fun as it is to watch, SEC basketball is somewhere between insurance seminar and waterboarding on our list of leisure activities. E-gad.
In this Tuesday, April 7, 2009 photo, football draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. pauses while taping at the ESPN Zone, in Baltimore. Saturday marks the 25th anniversary of Kiper's 1984 debut on ESPN's draft coverage, and while his demeanor and hair haven't changed all that much, his popularity certainly has. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)- We just saw Mel Kiper has his first mock draft out. Hey, we love the draft. You know this. But this is even a little early for us, considering we don't know all the guys in the draft yet.
- That said, speaking of the draft, the Cleveland Browns have hired Hue Jackson (no, he's not the guy who played Wolverine) and that means Johnny Football will get his walking papers. It also means with the No. 2 pick the Browns likely will be targeting a quarterback in a very weak quarterback draft. Man, it's good to be Jared Goff right about now.
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Today's question
On this day 68 years ago Carl Weather was born. Today, Alan Rickman died.
They played two of most likable movie villains of all time in Apollo Creed and Hans Gruber, respectively.
What's our Rushmore of 'likable' movie villains? (And yes, by Jaws 3 we were all cheering for the shark.)