The answer is simple:  Everything.

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Since it's a slow time, and we all should be thinking of things to do if there's no football, here are a few suggestions about good books to read (at least I like them).

A couple years ago someone posted, here on MHR, a list of good movies.  It got a lot of comment.  A bit later I did one on Books, and it got a lot of comment also.

So, after the Jump, I'll list a few good books or authors I like.

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Brad's Picks was 1-1 last week.

      my good pick:

Packers 21, Chicago 14. Jay Cutler hurt his knee and left the game, and got a ton of criticism for it. But it was a coach's decision. And his replacement, Caleb Hanie (3rd year, from Colorado State) was pretty good. This was just the Packers' game.

     my bad pick:

Pittsburgh 24, Jets 19. Steelers scored the first four scores, Jets scored the last 4 scores. None in between. Mark Sanchez was the better QB, going 20/33/233 with two TD's and 0 INT's, while Ben the R was 10/19/133 with 0 TD's and 2 INT's. If not for the sluggish start (hangover from the big win over the Patriots?) the Jets probably would have won this game.

     Brad's Picks is 6-4 in the playoffs, and 160 - 106 on the season.

     so, Super Bowl 45:

Pittsburgh Steelers (14-4) at Green Bay Packers (13-6). Las Vegas says the Packers will win by 2.5 points. The game will be in Dallas, but Green Bay gets to be the "home team" and wear their green uni's. Weather sucks in Dallas, as an ice storm hit the area a few days ago. Won't matter for the game though, because the stadium is domed.

These teams played just over a year ago, at Pittsburgh on December 20. Steelers won 37-36 on a last minute 19 yard TD pass from Ben the R to Mike Wallace. Lots of offense in the game - Ben the R passed for over 500 yards, and Aaron Rodgers passed for over 400. Packers had 537 total yards. Neither team tried to run the ball much.

I want the Packers to win because their QB doesn't assault women, and also because I'm tired of the Steelers and their obnoxious fans.

I'm also picking the Packers to win, for several reasons.

Steelers O line has been banged up all year, and they lost their starting Center, Maurkice Pouncey, in the Jets game. Doug Legursky, a free agent out of Marshall in 08, gets the start. He's played a little guard, but not much center.

Packers have scored 90 points in three playoff games, while giving up just 51. Steelers have scored 55 in two playoff games, while giving up 43.

Steelers QB Ben the R has been sacked 8 times in two playoff games, and, with Pouncey out, that problem won't go away. In their last meeting, Ben the R was sacked 5 times, while Aaron Rodgers was sacked just once.

Steelers' D is designed to stop the run, a necessity in the AFC North. So, the last time the two teams played, the Packers ran the ball just 12 times, and almost won. That was in December, in Pittsburgh, a game the Packers lost by one point.

Aaron Rodgers is very good in dome games (as opposed to his predecessor, Brett Favre). Rodgers QB rating in dome games is 111.5, tops in the league since 2008 (when Rodgers took over the starting QB job in Green Bay).

Packers RB James Starks is no Terrell Davis, but his 3.8 average per carry in the playoffs (after coming off the PUP list in mid-season), will be enough to keep the Steeler's D honest. And really, Starks is just rounding into form (this is his rookie year) and might have a big play or two in the game.

Rodgers just might set some passing records. I look for a high scoring game.

Brad's Picks was 2-2 last week. The good and bad from that:

     the good:

Packers 48, Atlanta 21. Aaron Rodgers was absolutely tremendous - 31 of 36 for 366 yards and 3 TD's and 0 interceptions. Oh, and one more TD by rushing.

Chicago 35, Seahawks 24. It wasn't that close. It was Bears 28, Hawks 3 after three quarters. Jay Cutler passed for 2 TD's and ran for 2 TD's. Matt Hasselbeck passed for three TD's, but all in the 4th quarter when the game was already over.

     the bad:

Pittsburgh 31, Ravens 24. It was Ravens 21, Steelers 7 at the half. Then the Ravens turned it over on their first possession of the second half and the game was over. Might have been different if Anquan Boldin and T. J. Houshmandzadeh hadn't dropped very catchable balls from Joe Flacco.

Jets 28, New England 21. Tom Brady threw his first interception in 340 passes, and was sacked five times.

     Home teams were 143 - 113 versus the Visitors in the regular season. In the playoffs, it's Homers 3, Visitors 5. Brad's Picks is 5-3 in the playoffs, and 159 - 105 on the season.

      this week: The Conference Championship games:

    the 1:00 MST game:

Green Bay Packers (12-6) at Chicago Bears (12-5) - Las Vegas says the Packers will win the game by 3.5 points. Weather should be in the upper teens with no snow.

It was Chicago 20, Packers 17 in Week 3 on MNF. In Week 17, it was Green Bay 10, Bears 3.

These two teams are very close in all categories: 1-1 head to head, 27-23 on points. Bears are second in the league in offense (points) and the Packers are third. Packers are third on defense, Bears are fourth. The only real difference I see, and it's not huge, is at quarterback. Rodgers has a 101 rating, Cutler 86. People like to yuk about Cutler's interceptions, but, while he's thrown 16 this season, Rodgers has thrown 11. Oh, one other difference - Packers have the best wide receiver corps in the league. Should be a close game.

In my NFC Prevue (last July 25) I said this: "Bottom line - Packers are my early pick to win the NFC." Six months later, I don't see any reason to change that. Taking the Packers.

A couple of interesting notes - this is the first post - season meeting between the Bears and Packers since December 14, 1941 (Bears won 33 - 14, so it's time for a little payback by the Packers). And, in the Week 17 meeting, both teams punted 8 times. Devin Hester returned a punt in the Week 3 game for a Bears' TD, and if the Packers let that happen again, the Bears will likely win.

Oh, one more thing: President Obama is predicting Chicago 20, Packers 17.

     the 4:30 MST game:

New York Jets (13-5) at Pittsburgh Steelers (13-4) - Las Vegas says the Steelers will win the game by 3.5 points. Weather will be in the mid teens, maybe a little snow.

These teams met in Pittsburgh in Week 15. Jets won, 22 - 17. Jets got a big boost when Bart Scott took the opening kickoff 97 yards for a TD. And the Jets got a safety when Jason Taylor tackled Mewelde Moore in the end zone with 2:38 left in the game.

Steelers safety Troy Polamulu missed that game, but he's ready for this one. Jets get WR Bart Scott back, after he missed the win over the Patriots.

Steelers missed the playoffs last year, while the Jets won two playoff games on the road (Cincinnati and San Diego but then lost at the Unplace 30-17).

This year the Jets have won at the Unplace 17-16, and at New England 28-21. Pittsburgh beat the Ravens 31-24.

I'm taking the Jets for several reasons: One, when a team makes it to a Conference Championship game two years in a row, it says something. Two, the win at New England was very impressive. Three, Rex Ryan is smarter than Mike Tomlin, the Steelers HC (he used a challenge last week that was successful but only took 14 yards away from the Ravens on the opening kick return - not too smart, when you only get two challenges a game.) Also, the Jets have more recent playoff experience lately, and are 4-1.

Brad's Picks was 3-1 last week: the good and the bad from that:

Jets 17, Undy 16. Colts thought they had the game won when they went up 16-14 on a 50 yard field goal with just 53 seconds left. But a 47 yard kick off return by Antonio Cromartie paved the way for a 32 yard field goal by the Jets to win the game.

Ravens 30, Kansas City 7. The only beat down of the weekend. Chiefs managed just 25 yards of offense in the second half.

Packers 21, Philadelphia 16. Another close game, but Vick the dog torturer threw an INT to Tramon Williams in the end zone with 33 seconds left. Really nice play by Tramon.

     the bad:

Seattle 41, Saints 36. Seattle went up 41-30 on Marshawn Lynch's incredible 67 yard TD run with 3:22 left in the game.

     Home teams were 143 - 113 versus the Visitors in the regular season. Counting the playoffs, it's H 144 and V 116. Brad's Picks is now 157 - 103 on the season.

     this weekend's games: (It's interesting that all these teams have played each other at least once this year) (It's also interesting that the Visiting teams went 3-1 last week) (It's also interesting that, since 2005, teams that enjoyed a bye in the first week of the playoffs are only .500 in the second week of the playoffs).

the Saturday games:

at 2:30 MST:

Baltimore (13-4) at Pittsburgh (12-4) - Las Vegas says the Steelers will win by three points. Third meeting this year, and they're tied 1-1. Baltimore won in Week Four 17-14, while Pittsburgh won in Week Thirteen 13-10. That's pretty much the way it goes between these teams. Low scoring, and a win by a field goal (the last 8 games have been decided by 3,3,3,3,9,4,3 and 6 points). Weather should be decent - high 20's, maybe a little snow. Ravens started slow in Kansas City last week, but then took over. Steelers had the week off. I'm taking the Ravens for two reasons: their win at Arrowhead (a tough place to play) but more because the Steelers O line has had a lot of injuries this year. They've held it together all year, but I've been saying for awhile now that some good defense will expose it. Maybe the Ravens will do it. But I bet the game comes down to a big play by one of the two best safeties in the league - Troy Polamalu or Ed Reed.

     the 6:00 MST game:

Green Bay (11-6) at Atlanta (13-3) - Las Vegas says the Falcons will win by 2.5 points. Packers played in Atlanta on November 28, and lost 20-17. Matt Ryan was hot, throwing only 4 incompletions. He was 24 - 28 - 197 with one TD and no INT's. Aaron Rodgers was actually better, throwing for 344 yards and a TD on 25 completions (35 attempts) with no INT's. Packers have found a bit of a run game with rookie James Starks, a 6th round pick out of Buffalo, who got 123 yards on 23 carries against the Eagles last week. If not for too many penalties and a fumble by the Packers on the Atlanta one yard line on November 28, the Packers would have won that game. Falcons are like 20-2 at home with Matt Ryan as QB, but only one of those games was really important - three weeks ago, when the Saints won 17-14. I'm taking the Packers.

     the Sunday games:

      at 11:00 MST:

Seattle (8-9) at Chicago (11-5) - Las Vegas says the Bears will win by ten. Seahawks have a win at Soldier Field this year - 23-20 on October 17 (Week Six). Hawks sacked Jay Cutler six times (Hasselbeck wasn't sacked at all) and Cutler completed only 17 of 39 with no touchdowns. But the Bears O line, which gave up 4.3 sacks per game in the first seven games - before the Bears bye - have only given up 2.8 since then. Weather will be cold, in the high teens. Seahawks LB Lofa Tatupu has missed practice all week because of a concussion suffered in the Saints game, and I doubt he'll be able to play. I suppose you should take the Bears here.

     at 2:30 MST:

New York Jets (12-5) at New England (14-2) - Las Vegas says the Patriots will win by 7.5 points. Two meetings this year - Jets won at home in Week Two 28-14, but the Patriots won in New England in Week Thirteen 45-3. Patriots lead the league in takeaways with 28, due at least in part to Tom Brady's 335 consecutive passes without an interception. Patriots defense is 25th in the league (Jets rushed for 509 yards in the last four games against the Patriots), while the Jets defense is 3rd. Weather will be in the 20's. Lots of trash talking by the Jets. Kind of fun, but I'll take the Patriots. If there's a blowout this weekend, I think it will be in New England.

     Brad's Picks was 11-5 last week. Here's the good, bad and ugly from that:

     the good:

Raiders 31, Kansas City 10. Raiders end the season 6-0 against division opponents, but still didn't make the playoffs - first time that's happened - so they fired HC Tom Cable. Chiefs gave up 209 yards on the ground even though Raiders best RB, Darren McFadden, didn't play.

New England 38, Dolphins 7. Tom Brady played into the third quarter, and the Patriots were all over the Dolphins even though the Patriots top three receivers sat the game out.

Detroit 20, Vikings 13. Detroit is the cellar dweller of the NFC North no longer.

Atlanta 31, Panthers 10. Falcons took care of business to make sure they will enjoy a first round bye and home field throughout the playoffs. Panthers finished with 2 wins and will get the first pick in the draft next April, when daffodils will be popping up from the cold ground. At least in Colorado.

Steelers 41, Cleveland 10. Steelers seem ready for the playoffs, and get a bye to boot.

Baltimore 13, Bengals 7. A hard win for the Ravens. Are they ready for the playoffs?

San Francisco 38, Cardinals 7. Yawn.

Green Bay 10, Bears 3. With very little to play for, the Bears played their starters most of the game. Jay Cutler played the whole game, and Matt Forte most of it. But they made the Packers work hard for a game they needed to get into the playoffs. Bears have next week off, after all.

Giants 17, Washington 14. Giants needed a win and a Green Bay loss to make the playoffs. Mike Shanahan finishes his first year as HC of the Reds with a 6-10 record, a bit better than the 4-12 in 09.

Cowboys 14, Philadelphia 13. Yawn. Eagles rested a few players.

Uipolis 23, Titans 20. The 10-6 Colts have now won four in a row, by a total of 20 points. Good enough to make the playoffs.

     the rest after the jump:

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     Brad's Picks was 9-7 last week.

     the good from that:

Pittsburgh 27, Panthers 3. Carolina will get the first pick in the draft come April.

Kansas City 34, Titans 14. It wasn't that close.

St. Louis 25, Forty Niners 17.  Rams QB Sam Bradford threw his first TD pass in four games (a 3 yarder) and Mike Singletary was fired as HC of the Niners after the game.

Chicago 38, Jets 34. Jets nabbed a playoff spot despite the defeat.

Ravens 20, Cleveland 10. Ravens nabbed the other AFC playoff spot. Peyton Hillis rushed for 180 yards on 29 carries the first time these teams met, but was held to 35 on 12 this time. Still, the Browns put up 102 yards on the ground on 26 carries. Joe Flacco is now 6-0 v Browns.

Patriots 34, Buffalo 3. Tom Brady has now thrown twenty-four touchdown passes since his last interception.

Lions 34, Miami 27. Miami is now 1-7 at home this season.

Green Bay 45, Giants 17. Aaron Rodgers returned from a concussion and torched the Giants for 404 yards and 4 TD's with 0 INT's.

Tampa Bay 38, Seahawks 15. Josh Freeman threw five TD's for the Bucs. 0 INT's.

    the rest after the jump:

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Brad's Picks was 9-7 last week.

     the good from that:

San Diego 34, Forty Niners 7. Really, it wasn't that close.

Oakland 39, Broncos 23. Tim Tebow got his first NFL start, and produced a whopping 8 first downs. But also a miraculous 64 yard TD pass to Brandon Lloyd and a 40 yard TD run that was fun to watch.

Chiefs 27, St. Louis 13. It wasn't that close.

Dallas 33, Redskins 30. It was that close. Despite leading 30-14 at the end of the third quarter, Dallas needed a 39 yard field goal in the last minute to win.

Tennessee 31, Houston 17. Titans snapped a six game losing streak and kept their playoff hopes alive.

Carolina 19, Cardinals 12. Panthers snapped a 7 game losing streak with 4 field goals and a TD pass from Jimmiy Clausen.

Falcons 34, Seattle 18. 8 straight wins for the 12 - 2 Falcons.

New England 31, Packers 27. Closer than expected. How did the Patriots let rookie QB Matt Flynn go 24 - 37 - 1- 251 and three TD's? Really, if not for a 71 yard kick off return by a 315 pound offensive lineman (which led directly to a Patriots TD), the Patriots could easily have lost this game. Packers had the ball on the Patriots 15 yard line when young Mr. Flynn fumbled while being sacked. Bad call by the Packers - it was 4th and one and they tried a pass from the shotgun? So, game over, and the Patriots heaved a big sigh of relief.

Bears 40, Minnesota 14. Vikings made it 7-0 when Favre took them to a TD, a 23 yard pass to Percy Harvin, on the opening drive. That was pretty much it for the Vikings, though, as Favre got slammed into the frozen ground at the University of Minnesota stadium a little later and left the game.

     the rest after the jump:

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     Brad's Picks was 8-8 last week. Here's the good, bad and really bad from last week:

     the good:

Bucs 17, Washington 16.   Reds could have tied the game with a point after but a flotched snap prevented that, and the Bucs escaped after another nail biter.

Jacksonville 38, Raiders 31.    I watched this game, and it was a good one. Hats off to the Raiders for playing a tough game on the east coast against a good team trying to win their division.

Pittsburgh 23, Bengals 7.   Steelers got 14 off two Carson Palmer INT's run back for TD's.

Falcons 31, Carolina 10.   Yawn.

San Francisco 40, Seahawks 21.   Hawks turned it over five times.

New Orleans 31, Rams 13.  Good teams take care of business against lesser teams.

San Diego 31, Chiefs 0.  Chiefs were without Cassel, but this was still a little payback for the Week 1 loss at Arrowhead.

Ravens 34, Houston 28. OT.   Ravens led 21-0 with 42 seconds left in the first half. Then Houston came alive with a Matt Schaub TD toss to Andre Johnson to close the half. 28 - 28 at the end of regulation. Then Josh Wilson intercepted Matt Schaub and ran it back 12 yards for the TD in OT.

     the rest after the jump:

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Brad's Picks was 13-3 last week. Here's the good, bad and ugly: (as always, the home team goes by it's city or state, the visitor by it's team name.)

     the good:

Philadelphia 34, Texans 24. - It was Texans 24, Philadelphia 20 at the end of 3 quarters.

Kansas City 10, Broncos 6. - Kyle Orton had the worst game of his career. And then Josh McDaniels was fired as the head coach of the Broncos. Coincidence? I think so.

Green Bay 34, Forty Niners 16. - Very close game until the 3rd quarter started.

Minnesota 38, Bills 14. - Brett Favre threw one pass in the game. It was intercepted and run back 40 yards for a TD. Tarvaris Jackson finished the game and was 15-22-187 with 3 INT's and 2 TD's. Adrian Peterson had 16 carries for 107 yards and 3 TD's.

Jaguars 17, Tennessee 6. - Titans outscored the Jags 6-0 in the second half.

Bears 24, Detroit 20. - Lions led by three in the middle of the 4th.

New York Giants 31, Redskins 7. - The only fun part of the game was when Mike Shanahan lost a challenge and the Ump announced that Denver would be charged with a timeout.

Saints 34, Cincinnati 30. - Saints were down by three with 34 seconds left in the game. They had the ball on the Bengals 7. 4th down, 2 yards for a first. Saints line up and Brees starts his hut, hut thing. Everyone in the stadium knows he's trying to draw an off sides, including the Bengal player who jumps off sides. So, first down at the 2. Brees throws to Marques Colston for a TD on the next play.

Seattle 31, Panthers 14. - Panthers 14, Seattle 0 at the half.

Rams 19, Arizona 6. - Rams and Seattle are tied for the division lead at 6-6.

Falcons 28, Tampa Bay 24. - Bucs led by three with five minutes to go.

Cowboys 38, Undee 35. OT. - Peyton Manning threw four INT's. That's 11 in the last three games.

New England 45, Jets 3. Jets defense was third in the league before this game. Rex Ryan was treated to a little lesson in humility.

     the rest after the jump:

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     Brad's Picks was 11-5 last week. Here's the good, bad and ugly from that:

     the good: (as always, the home team is designated by City or State, Visitors by team name).

Patriots 45, Detroit 24. Patriots were behind 14-3 late in the second quarter, but Tom Brady finished with a perfect QB rating of 158.3.

Saints 30, Dallas 27. Saints went ahead with 1:55 to go on a 12 yard TD pass to Lance Moore. Dallas then tried a 59 yard FG that was long enough but just wide.

New York Jets 26, Bengals 10. Jets are 3-0 over the Bengals in the last 11 months.

Houston 20, Titans 0. Actually an interesting game to watch, with a fight thrown in for fun.

Atlanta 20, Packers 17. - Packers need a run game - they only gained 77 on 23. Didn't help that they fumbled 4 times, losing possession once.

Vikings 17, Washington 13. - A week after firing HC Brad (Old Baldy) Childress, the Vikings stopped a nine game road losing streak. Vikings held the Reds to 29 yards on 13 carries.

Steelers 19, Buffalo 16. OT. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a a beautiful TD pass to Stevie Johnson in OT. Right in his hands, in the end zone, no one near him. But he dropped it. Then the Steelers managed a FG to win.

Cleveland 24, Panthers 23. Peyton Hillis had three TD's for the Browns. This was closer than most people anticipated, but consider this just for fun: Browns QB Jake Delhomme played 7 years for the Panthers, before being released after last season, largely because he threw so many INT's. He then signed with the Browns for 7 million dollars. But he's still getting paid 12 million dollars by the Panthers. Then consider that he threw his only TD pass last Sunday to a Panther, a 37 yard INT return for a TD by rookie CB Captain Munnerlyn, a 7th round pick out of South Carolina. This is why we watch the NFL?

Chicago 31, Eagles 26. Jay Cutler had a very nice day - 14/21/247 with 4 TD's and 0 INT's, despite being sacked 4 times. Bears' defense pretty much kept Vick in check.

Baltimore 17, Buccaneers 10. - A lot of defense in this game. Ravens had a 17-3 lead at the half.

Forty Niners 27, Arizona 6. Cardinals QB Derek Anderson was criticized after the game for laughing on the sideline, but sometimes laughter is the best medicine.

    the rest after the jump:

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Brad's Picks was 14-2 last week.

     the good:

Bears 16, Miami 0. - Bears sacked Tyler Thigpen 6 times.

Pittsburgh 35, Raiders 3. - A very physical game.

New York Jets 30, Texans 27. It was Texans 27, Jets 23 with 55 seconds to play. But Mark Sanchez led a long scoring drive for the win. (The final 6 yard TD pass came with ten seconds left).

Bills 49, Cincinnati 31. - Bills were down 31-14 at the half.

Kansas City 31, Cardinals 13. - It wasn't that close - Cardinals scored a TD as time expired.

Jacksonville 24, Browns 20. - Close game. Maurice Jones-Drew took a screen pass late in the game and rumbled 75 yards to the one. He then scored on a one yard run to make the score 24-20. Browns almost came back, but a pass from Colt McCoy to Mike Bell at the goal line was tipped by Sean Considine. Jags overcame 6 turnovers to win the game (Browns turned it over once).

Packers 31, Minnesota 3. Vikings fired HC Brad Childress after this game.

Falcons 34, St. Louis 17. - St. Louis had won 4 in a row at home (Panthers, Chargers, Seahawks, and Redskins).

New Orleans 34, Seahawks 19. - Matt Hasselbeck passed for 366 yards, the most allowed by the Saints this year. But they mostly had to settle for field goals.

Buccaneers 21, San Francisco 0. - First shutout at home for the Niners since 1977. Bucs are 7-3 and will be a factor as we slide through December.

New England 31, Colts 28. It was 31-14, but Manning led the Colts to two 70 yard drives for TD's. Then the Colts started another long drive (from their 26). Fifty yards later Manning threw an INT. Game over.

Philadelphia 27, Giants 17. - Michael Vick got sacked three times and hit behind the line 5 more times, richly deserved after all the torture he's laid on defenseless animals.

    the rest after the jump:

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Brad's Picks was 8-6 last week.

     the good:

Atlanta 26, Ravens 21. Zero points scored in the first quarter. Both teams scored two TD's in the 4th. Ravens took the lead with a minute left, but the Falcons scored the game winning TD with 20 seconds left.

Denver 49, Chiefs 29. - Not counting the first 19 minutes of the game, the Chiefs outscored the Broncos 29-14. Anyway, Kyle Orton turned 28 last Sunday, and his O line gave him the best birthday present a quarterback could ask for - no KC player laid a hand on him.

Buffalo 14, Lions 12. Lions have now lost 25 straight road games, beating the old record of 24 which was also set by the Lions.

Undeplis 23, Bengals 17. - Manning had a QB rating of less that 70 for the second week in a row, but the Colts scored 17 points off five turnovers by the Bengals - one of the Colts TDs was on a 31 yard INT return.

Tampa Bay 31, Panthers 16. - It was really a closer game than the score might show. But Cadillac Williams broke free late in the game with a 45 yard TD run on a third and ten play.

Seahawks 36, Arizona 18. I have to thank George for making this pick.

Patriots 39, Pittsburgh 26. - Tom Brady's Patriots are now 6-1 against the Steelers, and 4-1 in Pittsburgh.

Eagles 59, Washington 28. Eagles must have thought it was pretty cool when the Broncos went up 35-0 over the Chiefs early in the second quarter so they did the same thing to Washington.

     the rest after the jump:

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     Three games ended in overtime last week. Pretty cool. Brad's Picks called all three correctly. Even cooler.

     Brad's Picks was 10-3 last week.

     the good:

Saints 34, Carolina 3. Carolina jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

Atlanta 27, Buccaneers 21. Bucs have had several 4th quarter comebacks lately, but they had the ball on Atlanta's 11 with a first down in the 4th, and Atlanta held. Good tough division game.

Baltimore 26, Dolphins 10. Ravens safety Ed Reed is amazing. He missed the first six games of the season after hip surgery, but has 3 INT's in his two games - one yesterday.

Jets 23, Detroit 20. OT. Jets are now 4-0 on the road. Detroit had a ten point lead with less than 3 minutes to go, but then Lions QB Matt Stafford went out with another shoulder injury and Jets QB Mark Sanchez got hot when he needed to.

Minnesota 27, Cardinals 24. OT. Percy Harvin was doubtful before the game, but he ended with 9 catches for 126 yards. Was Favre the hero or the goat? His INT and incompletion in the red zone led to a late 14 point deficit. But he brought the Vikings back to send the game to OT and then win the thing.

Oakland 23, Chiefs 20. OT. More penalties in this game than any other so far this season (12 on the Chiefs, 15 on the Raiders). And there were at least four others called but declined. Chiefs led 10-0 at the half, but a lot of mistakes let the Raiders back in the game.

Giants 41, Seattle 7. It wasn't that close. Seahawks got their TD in the last two minutes, after the Giants ate up 13 minutes of the 4th quarter with 19 straight run plays. Apparently they didn't feel like scoring.

Philadelphia 26, Colts 24. Eagles are now 1-3 against Peyton Manning. It helped that the game was in Philly; the Eagles were off a bye; and the Colts were off an MNF game.

Green Bay 46, Cowboys 7. Packers had played all but one game prior to this one very close. So they probably enjoyed a blowout for a change. Gotta love the Cowboys.

Steelers 27, Cincinnati 21. Bengals came close to a late TD, but the Steelers D (James Harrison) came through at the end, knocking the ball loose from Jordan Shipley on the Steelers 5 yard line.

     the rest after the jump:

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Brad's Picks was 7-6 last week.

Here's the good, bad and ugly from that: (as always, the home team is designated by City or State, Visiting team by the team name).

     the good:

Detroit 37, Redskins 25. Mike Shanahan took a healthy Donovan McNabb out in favor of Rex Grossman in the last two minutes, with the score 30-25. Grossman promptly fumbled the ball and Ndamukong Suh picked it up and ran it 17 yards for a TD.

Kansas City 13, Bills 10. OT. Both teams missed a FG in OT, then the Chiefs made one. As time expired in OT. A moral victory for the Bills, but they're still 0-7.

St. Louis 20, Panthers 10. Rookie QB Sam Bradford was 25-32-191 with 2 TD's and 0 INT's. And second year HC Steve Spagnuolo's defense forced 4 turnovers. But I look at the stats (didn't see the game) and have to wonder why just a ten point differential? Rams didn't turn it over at all while Panthers' QB Matt Moore had about the same numbers as Bradford except for his three picks. A hand for the Panthers' defense?

Dolphins 22, Cincinnati 14. Dolphins kicker Dan Carpenter was 5-5 in FG attempts. Chad Henne led the Fins on a 96 yard TD drive in the 4th to close out the scoring.

San Diego 33, Titans 25. I read that Norv Turner got a bit irate in the locker room at the half when the Chargers were down 19-14.

Bucs 38, Arizona 35. Bucs came from behind (31-35) in the 4th quarter for the 4th time this year.

New Orleans 20, Steelers 10. - It was Steelers 3, Saints 6 after 3 quarters. Then Drew Brees threw a 16 yard TD to Marques Colston. Then Steeler Rashard Mendenhall scored on a 38 yard TD. Then Brees threw an 8 yard TD to Lance Moore.

     The rest after the jump:

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Brad's Picks was 8-6 last week. Here's the good, bad and ugly from that:

     the good:

Baltimore 37, Bills 34. OT. Ravens gave up 505 yards and 4 TD's to the 30th offense in the league.

Atlanta 39, Bengals 32. Atlanta led 24-3 at the half.

Tampa Bay 18, Rams 17.  Bucs needed a one yard TD pass from Josh Freeman with ten seconds left in the game to beat the dome team.

Kansas City 42, Jags 20. It was 14-13 Chiefs at the half. But the Chiefs put up 236 yards on 42 rushes on the game, and no one will win a game when the oppo does that.

Carolina 23, Forty Niners 20. A 37 yard FG with 39 seconds remaining gave Carolina their first win of the season.

Seattle 22, Cardinals 10. Five field goals, plus five turnovers by the Cardinals adds up to a Seahawks win.

Patriots 23, San Diego 20. Chargers were behind 20-3 after three quarters. A 50 yard FG attempt with 23 seconds left would have sent it to OT, but it hit the upright.

Giants 41, Dallas 35. Tony Romo went out early with a broken clavicle, and the Giants still struggled to get the win. 

     the rest after the jump:

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     Brad's Picks was 7-7 last week, and here's the good, bad and ugly from that:

     (As always, the home team goes by it's City, State, or Region, while the visiting team goes by it's team name)

     the good:

Dolphins 23, Green Bay 20. OT. Second straight OT loss for the Packers.

Houston 35, Chiefs 31. Houston needed a TD run by Arian Foster and an 11 yard TD catch by Andre Johnson after being down 21-31 with 7 minutes left in the game. But the win came at the cost of losing their very good LB DeMarcus Ware for the season with an achilles tear.

Pittsburgh 28, Browns 10. Ben Rapelsberger passed for 257 yards, about 120 more than his various standins passed for in the Steelers first four games.

New York Giants 28, Lions 20. Lions played tough, even though backup QB Shaun Hill left the game with a broken arm late in the 1st half. His backup, Drew Stanton, did pretty good against the Giants, going 19-34-1-222 and an 87 yard TD pass. Lions get a bye next week, and expect to have Matthew Stafford back by then.

San Francisco 17, Raiders 9. Raiders managed 69 net yards passing.

Minnesota 24, Cowboys 21. Tony Romo threw two INT's, Brett Favre threw none, and Percy Harvin ran a kick off 95 yards for a TD.

Colts 27, Washington 24. Joseph Addai gave the Colts a bit of a running game for a change, getting 128 on 17 and a 13 yard TD run.

     the rest after the jump:

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Brad's Picks was just 6-8 last week. Here's the good, bad and ugly from the week:

     the good:

Detroit 44, Rams 6. A 105 yard kick off return by the Lions didn't hurt, but it sure wasn't the difference in this game.

Falcons 20, Cleveland 10. It was 13-10 with 4 minutes left when Falcons' DE Kroy Biermann deflected a Jake Delhomme pass, made a diving catch of the ball, jumped up and raced 31 yards for the final score of the game.

Jaguars 36, Buffalo 26. It was 13-3 Bills early in the 2nd quarter.

Undy 19, Chiefs 9. Chiefs had been averaging 22 points per game. Colts had been giving up 22 points per game. I guess the Chiefs were more rusted than rested after their bye.

New York Jets 29.  Vikings 20. Vikings had the ball with a couple minutes to go, down by two. Then Favre threw an INT that was returned for a TD.

Baltimore 31, Broncos 17. Kyle Orton tied a Broncos record by passing for 300 yards or more in four consecutive games. Only one other Bronco QB has ever done that. Guess who? Outside of that, this was a predictable, and predicted, Broncos loss on the east coast to a very good team.

     the rest after the jump:

     the bad:

Washington 16, Packers 13. OT. Packers were leading 13-3 after three quarters.

Buccaneers 24, Cincinnati 21. Carson Palmer's 3rd INT led to a Buc FG with one second left.

Titans 34, Dallas 27. Cowboys committed 12 penalties and Tony Romo was sacked 6 times.

Oakland 35, Chargers 27. This put an end to a 13 game losing streak to the Chargers. Once upon a time, the Raiders beat the Chargers 18 straight times. Raiders blocked two punts in the game, and scored a safety on the first and a TD on the second.

Eagles 27, San Francisco 24.   Niners turned the ball over five times. Eagles turned it over once.

     the ugly:

Giants 34, Houston 10.   Giants Defense! Houston was held to just 24 yards rushing on 15 carries, and 171 yards passing. Texans O has been one of the best in the league.

Bears 23, Carolina 6. Carolina lost despite intercepting Bears' backup QB Todd Collins 4 times.

Arizona 30, Saints 20. Cards undrafted rookie QB Max Hall played cool and got a little lucky to boot - he fumbled twice, but one ended up as a Cards TD as Cards' tackle Levi Brown grabbed it and ran 2 yards for a TD. The other bounced right and the Cards gained ten yards on the play.

AFC 2, NFC 3 last week. On the year, it's AFC 13, NFC 9. Home teams split with the visitors 7-7. On the season it's H 43, V 33. Brad's Picks is 39-37 on the season. George is 1-6 on the season.

Off with a bye last week were Miami, New England, Pittsburgh, and Seattle. Off with a bye this week are Buffalo (0-5), Cincinnati (2-3), Arizona (3-2), and Carolina (0-5).

     this week: the 11:00 MDT games:

Seattle (2-2) at Chicago (4-1) - Seahawks off a bye. Bears defense is off a demolition job on the Carolina offense. Bears get Jay Cutler back. Take the Bears.

Miami (2-2) at Green Bay (3-2) - Miami is off a bye. Packers got beat up last week in the loss at Washington. They lost their leading receiver, TE Jermichael Finley, maybe for the season. They also lost their best pass rusher, LB Clay Matthews, DE Ryan Pickett, and special teams ace Derrick Martin. QB Aaron Rodgers suffered a concussion but will likely play this week. But how well? Packers still have O line problems, and aren't running the ball well without Ryan Grant, at least not in the red zone. I'll take the Dolphins.

Kansas City (3-1) at Houston (3-2) - This should be an interesting game. Both teams lost last week, but to good teams. Peyton Manning had a poor game last week, 1 INT and zero TD's. Was it the Chiefs' defense or did Manning just have an off day? Texans offense was pitiful, but I do put that down to the Giants defense, which is playing like the Giants defense of a couple years ago. Anyway, what about this week? I'm taking the Texans. They've been a good team for awhile (longer than the Chiefs), and they are at home.

Cleveland (1-4) at Pittsburgh (3-1) - Steelers are off a bye. Ben Ratberger returns from his well-deserved suspension to discover that his team did pretty good without him. The bye worked pretty good for him, letting him practice for two weeks after his four game suspension. Cleveland will start rookie QB Colt McCoy, since Seneca Wallace suffered a high ankle sprain last week. Wallace was playing okay. You gotta feel sorry for McCoy - the Steeler's defense has been fierce this year.

San Diego (2-3) at St. Louis (2-3) - Rams got demolished last week in Detroit. They are at home this week, but that won't help against the Chargers.

Detroit (1-4) at New York Giants (3-2) - Lions are moving up in the world. Only five games in and they have a win. Which stopped a ten game losing streak. Yes, the win was over the Rams, but it was by 38 points. But their super WR Calvin Johnson injured his shoulder late in that game, and may not play. Giants have been up and down this year, but up the last two games, with a thumping of the Bears and then a thumping of Houston. Take the Giants.

Baltimore (4-1) at New England (3-1) - New England is off a bye, which will mean they are rested. Bill Belichick's teams don't get rusty during an off week. But the Patriots traded Randy Moss to the Vikings a week ago, and then brought in Deion Branch from Seattle. At best, a lateral move, and all about money. And the Patriots are 25th against the pass, and Joe Flacco is playing pretty good, as is Anquan Boldin. And the Patriots are 25th against the run, and here comes Ray Rice. And remember what the Ravens did in New England last January in the playoffs - a 33-14 beatdown. And Flacco was ailing at the time, but is healthy now. I'm taking the Ravens.

Atlanta (4-1) at Philadelphia (3-2) - Tough call here. Vick is out for the Eagles, but Kolb played good in San Francisco last week (21-31-0-253 and a TD) but the Falcons have a much better defense than the Niners. Falcons are 4-0 (Cardinals, New Orleans, Niners, Cleveland) after an opening loss (15-9) in OT at Pittsburgh. Eagles played a Sunday night game last week on the west coast, but the Falcons are on the road for the second week in a row. Real tough call. Let's ask George. George says take the Eagles. But I don't know. The little bird in my ear is saying Falcons.

New Orleans (3-2) at Tampa Bay (3-1) - Division game. Drew Brees threw three INT's last week at Arizona. Bucs QB Josh Freeman threw one at Cincinnati. Freeman is playing real well for a second year guy, but we all know what Brees can do. But these aren't the Saints of last year. And even the old Saints went 2-4 against the Bucs the last three years. The 2010 Saints are really missing Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas, so much so that they signed Julius Jones, who used to play at Dallas, then at Seattle, but was released when the Hawks picked up Marshawn Lynch from Buffalo. Confused? Me too, but I'll take the Bucs at home this week.

     the 2:05 MDT games:

New York Jets (4-1) at Denver (2-3) - Kyle Orton completed 23 - of - 38 passes (60.5%) for 314 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a QB rating of 104.5 at Baltimore last week, despite no running game. Some of those yards were in garbage time, but there's no denying the two long TD passes to Brandon Lloyd. Orton and Lloyd have been lights out this season, even without a running game to keep defenses honest. Broncos have a lot of injuries on defense though, and will be without starting CB Andre Goodman, S Brian Dawkins, and LB Robert Ayers, plus situational LB Wesley Woodyard and S Darcel McBath. But the O is basically healthy, and I'll go ahead and take the Broncos. They've had two long road trips in a row and went 1-1, and will enjoy a beautiful football day at Mile High. And this is a long road trip for the Jets, after a close win over the Vikings on MNF.

Oakland (2-3) at San Francisco (0-5) - Aargh. How you gonna call this one? Maybe the Raiders' bus will have a flat tire on the Bay Bridge? For some reason the Niners are the Vegas favorite (by 6.5), but that's just the way the betting is going. Jason Campbell starts at QB for the Raiders, but Bruce Gradkowski (shoulder) is healthy enough to suit up and be the back up. Raiders D is terrible against the run, Niners D is terrible against the pass. I'd love to be at the stadium tomorrow to watch this game. There might be a rain shower or two, but San Francisco is lovely this time of year. I have no idea how to call this game, so I'll figure that if it does rain a bit, it might favor the Forty Niners against the lousy Raiders' run D.

     the 2:15 MDT game:

Dallas (1-3) at Minnesota (1-3) - Dallas last traveled to Minnesota last January and got pasted 34-3. Brett Favre and Randy Moss have had another week to work on timing and anything else that quarterbacks and receivers work on. Vikings lost by 9 last week to the Jets at New York. Cowboys lost by 7 last week to the Titans at Dallas. Neither team is playing as good as the 09 version. So take the Vikings at home.

     the SNF game:

Undianai (3-2) at Washington (3-2) - Redskins have been living on the edge this year. Two OT games, and two others decided in the last seconds. I'm guessing another close one - the Colts are not as dominant as they used to be, especially on the road. I'm guessing another clutch win by the Reds in Washington. If the game was in the Unplace, I'd take the Colts in a heartbeat.

     the MNF game:

Tennessee (3-2) at Jacksonville (3-2) - Division game. Interesting that the AFC South is all knotted up at 3-2. I'm taking the Jags at home. Titans are a dirty team, but as a division opponent, the Jags are used to that. And dirty only gets you so far. Titans RB Chris Johnson, who ran for over 2,000 yards last year, is averaging less than 100 per game so far in 2010.

     Oh, the only other Broncos QB to pass for 300 plus yards in four consecutive games? Besides Kyle Orton? Brian Griese.

     Brad's Picks was 8-6 last week. Here's the good, bad and ugly from that:

     the good:

Green Bay 28, Lions 26. Packers needed a 48 yard INT return by Charles Woodson (last year's NFL defensive MVP) to hold off a pretty tough Lions team.

Jets 38, Buffalo 14. LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 133 on 19, and had two TD's.

St. Louis 20, Seahawks 3. Rams defense is playing pretty good under HC Steve Spagnuolo, the former defensive coordinator of the Giants.

Atlanta 16, Forty Niners 14. Niners got 7 on a blocked punt that was recovered in the end zone, but it was still a close game, even though the Niners did not score after the first quarter. Niners had the half-time lead at 14-10.

New Orleans 16, Panthers 14. Saints signed 46 year old kicker John Carney last week, and he made three field goals for the win. A tough division game.

Cleveland 23, Bengals 20. Terrell Owens had ten catches for 222 yards and is now the second leading receiver (yardage) in NFL history (Owens has 15,323 yards, Rice has 22,895 yards). 78 of those yards came on a TD gallop (his longest ever) and that TD puts him 3rd on the all time list for TD's by a receiver.

Texans 31, Oakland 24. Arian Foster, the undrafted second year RB for the Texans, is turning a few heads. 131 yards on 16 carries, including a 74 yard TD run (he didn't even play in the first quarter because he did something to tick off Coach Kubiak). Toss in a ten yard TD reception, and you see why the Texans like this kid.

San Diego 41, Cardinals 10. Cardinals are begging Kurt Warner to un-retire.

     the rest after the jump:

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