Dan's Picks

Somehow it just figures that the NFL would finally cave and I would be forced to get a severe stomach ache from watching the Patriots complete their perfect regular season on "mainstream" television. I take the NFL's side on the argument, mostly because the NFL Network ranks as the most-viewed channel in my house even in July. But then again, I haven't contacted my congressman so maybe I can't complain. Either way, here in Wisconsin where they just don't get the NFL Network at all, football fans will get to wonder with the rest of us why Bryant Gumbel is doing NFL play-by-play.

The Patriots will win tonight. If they were going to lose in the regular season they would not have not gotten 10 chances to make it on 4th down against the Ravens. Plus, I can't really figure out how the Giants won 10 games, so 11 would be a bit ridiculous. Perhaps the Giants' vaunted pass rush will at least put Brady in harm's way and everyone in the world will hate the Pats more when he's still in there underthrowing bombs to Moss when they are up by 10 in the late 4th quarter.

Did I agree with Sllaacs on that game or disagree? I can't quite tell from his post. Clever...

The Chargers are playing for the #3 seed, LT wants to win the rushing title, Lorenzo Neal always appears to be driving a snow plow through the Raiders D, Norv Turner will be seeking vengeance in the Coliseum, the Raiders are coming off a hugely demoralizing loss, Oakland coaches and players are looking over their shoulders, key Raider injuries have stacked up, and a rookie who missed all of training camp and looked terrible in his first extended action is getting the start at QB. So I'm picking the Raiders. There's something odd going on here where they can look terrible on the road and then bounce back at home. Kiffin has put a lot of emphasis on turning things around vs. the AFC West. And I'm going to say that Kiffin will make the adjustments necessary to go 3-0 against teams he's seeing for the second time. The Raiders will truly cash in on this capability in four years when they are matched up against the NFC North and AFC South again.

Although I wanted to avoid using logic related to anything on the field during these picks and say that the 49ers always finish strong and there is no way I can imagine seeing a "10" in the wins column next to the name "Cleveland," this broken back thing will lead the 49ers to a loss and the Patriots to a fine #1 pick. That will also make it such that the AFC once again has a team with 10 wins miss the playoffs.