I'll talk football, Mike. I'm done ranting.

I think the Vikes have a legitimate shot at Philly for three reasons:

1. Philly hasn't played as a team for five weeks. They've rested starters, which sometimes helps and sometimes hurts.

2. Minnesota's defense played as good as I've seen them (in cold weather, no less!) against the Pack.

3. No T.O. means no centerpiece to the offense. Westbrook, et al, don't put the fear into a defense like T.O.

I still think the Eagles will win, but I think the Vikes can play it tight.

The Falcons SHOULD dismantle the hapless Rams BUT the Rams are on a good roll (3 wins in a row) and Bulger has been tight the last few weeks. The Falcons have a good defense and get a lot of turnovers, while the Rams turn over the ball a LOT. I think the Falcons will win, but I worry that they're overrated.

The compelling matchup is Indy and New England. While I want to root for Indy, it's hard to pick against the Pats for reasons (two Super Bowls) not hard to comprehend. If the weather is bad in New England, I'll give the Pats the edge. If it's clear, I'll go with Indy. Talk about letting the weather decide!

Pittsburgh should handle the Jets. The Pittsburgh defense should rattle the easily rattled Chad Pennington who will, post-game, have a hissy fit in the media room akin to listening to a teenage girl rant about having her privacy violated by her parents.

Those are all very good points. BUT, I think that Indy may win with or without help from nature. Peyton is having one of the greatest seasons ever for a quarterback, he has at least three good or great recievers especially Wayne and Harrison who are comparable to Holt and Bruce for the best two recievers on the same team this year. If the Colts defensive line can put some pressure on Brady especially from the likes of Dwight Freeney then they have a legit chance for Superbowl champions. If only they could get past the Steelers, which I am highly questioning.

I have heard a couple reports that Favre is considering retiring, but I doubt it will happen this season, they said the same thing last season. I am afraid he may become the next Jerry Rice of football. One of the greatest players in his position who doesn't know when to give up the sport(which I can't blame him for).

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Originally posted by Mike:
Those are all very good points. BUT, I think that Indy may win with or without help from nature. Peyton is having one of the greatest seasons ever for a quarterback, he has at least three good or great recievers especially Wayne and Harrison who are comparable to Holt and Bruce for the best two recievers on the same team this year. If the Colts defensive line can put some pressure on Brady especially from the likes of Dwight Freeney then they have a legit chance for Superbowl champions. If only they could get past the Steelers, which I am highly questioning.

I have heard a couple reports that Favre is considering retiring, but I doubt it will happen this season, they said the same thing last season. I am afraid he may become the next Jerry Rice of football. One of the greatest players in his position who doesn't know when to give up the sport(which I can't blame him for).

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I go both ways with Indy. On the one hand, you're right: Peyton's having a season for the ages and should be unstoppable. On the other, they've never won the big one and Brady's done it repeatedly. I'd like to see some new blood in the SuperBowl.

My dream matchup: Minnesota vs. Indy.

Second best: Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh.

As far as Favre goes, I think (unlike Rice) he's still near the top of his game. His team isn't so talented and they're poorly coached. If Favre had a core of receivers like the ones in Indy or Minnesota it wouldn't even be close. I like Favre (even though he is a Packer) and would hate to see his legend tarnished by sub-par teams and too much pressure on him to carry the team...

OK Mike,

You've convinced me. Given the state of the New England secondary and the potency of the Indy offense, I'm going with Indy.

Are you gonna cover my gambling losses on the deal?

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Originally posted by philosopherEric:

Pardon my rant, but I just think there's a serious double standard here. I think Randy Moss does some dumb stuff, and often, but he's no worse than most of the receivers in the league. And he's CERTAINLY no worse than any player in the NBA. I think Randy Moss should represent his team better than he does. But I don't think he did anything even remotely "despicable" on Sunday. If you want to end questionable celebratory endzone displays, ban them ALL. Why is the worm, or pushups, or a moonwalk acceptable but a faux moon to the crowd is not?

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I have to agree with you, PE. When I saw the faux Moon live, I couldn't believe it. Buck was a little over-the-top in his condemnation, but it did strick me as terribly poor taste...much worse than the cell phone incident, or the sharpee, the Icky Shuffle, etc. But when I heard about the tradition of GB fans mooning the visitors' bus after the game, it TOTALLY changed my view on the matter. Randy just chose the wrong time to do it. He should have waited until he was out in the parking lot so he could moon those fans, and so blowhards like Buck couldn't get on their soap box without all the facts. When Tony Dugee came out in support of Moss, it cleared things up for me, big time. Typcial press move - condemn the guy with incomplete info, but don't give equal time to the other side of the story when it comes out.

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OK Mike,

You've convinced me. Given the state of the New England secondary and the potency of the Indy offense, I'm going with Indy.

Are you gonna cover my gambling losses on the deal?

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Only if you will cover my hair loss. Indy should win, but everytime I try to be sure about it, I keep thinking about how well the Patriots play, regardless of if they are injured or not. I think Indy will win, but I wouldn't put any money on it myself. BTW, from what I hear the weather should be clear and in the thirties, not too bad.

Well so far the teams that have advanced are the Eagles, Falcons, and Steelers...No surprises. I think I should go watch the Colts vs. Pats game now.

Well, I shouldn't have gone against my gut. I was pretty sure that the Falcons would slam the Rams, and they did. The Jets pushed the Steelers more than I expected, but the Steelers pulled it out. The Vikings folded as I feared (and expected) they would.

But those Colts!!!! The Pats, once again, stymied Peyton Manning. Even with a banged-up secondary they made the Colts look BAD. The Patriots have that postseason mojo. They just do.

Predictions:

Falcons over Eagles by a TD.

Pats over Steelers by less than a TD.

Visitors win both games.

Those are both valid predictions. But I feel that I must make a jackass out of myself and be wrong twice, so I have to go against the Pats again next week. Although Ben did all that he could to throw away the game vs the Jets, I don't think that the supporting cast would allow a loss to occur.

I would call the Falcons vs. Eagles game a toss-up. I like both teams and cannot go against either. I think that the Falcons may pull it out just because of how incredibly fast the entire team is. Alan Rossum is this year's Dante Hall, Michael Vick can change a game with one big play, they have a two excellent running backs with distinct styles, and the defense is, although undersized, incredibly fast.

So I am going to say the superbowl will be Steelers vs. Falcons. Or the Pats could prove me wrong again, which I fear is probable.

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Originally posted by Mike:
I am just going to say that the Eagle and Patriots are going to the super bowl. Trust me.

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Isn't it great being right? I may have been wrong about individual games, but my original picks were correct.

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Originally posted by Mike:


So I am going to say the superbowl will be Steelers vs. Falcons. Or the Pats could prove me wrong again, which I fear is probable.

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Revisionist history, eh Mike? That's a good strategy...make multiple predictions so that at least ONE is right!

Seriously, I was wrong about the Falcons. New rule: NEVER take a Dome team in a non-Dome road playoff game. I also thought the Steelers were gonna make it closer than they did.

Superbowl prediction: Pats by a TD over the Eagles UNLESS Terrell Owens plays. Then I'll have to say it's too close to call...

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Revisionist history, eh Mike? That's a good strategy...make multiple predictions so that at least ONE is right!

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I usually find that when I second guess myself I make bad predictions. Should have stayed with my original picks. But on paper anyone of the four teams could have won, on the field, that is another story. But in my defense, I made the correct picks early in the season, therefore you cannot discredit me too much. It would be understandable if I made the picks at the same time but I didn't. (Note to self: stay with your first decision.)

I am going to say that the Pats will defeat the Eagles with a double-digit victory. I am beginning to despise the Pats for the lack of a team to actually put up a fight against them, but when you can put in third-stringers and still be one of the top defenses in the league, there is no stopping you. If T.O. plays it would be greatly beneficial to the Eagles, but I doubt that it could really change the outcome of the game.

what's your tip for superbowl? for me it's patriots by 3 in a tight one.

I want the Eagles to win.

I'll just repeat that, "I want the Eagles to win".

I know the odds are stacked firmly against them, but I got a feelin'.

I said it earlier but I shall repeat myself, "Pats by double digits (Despite who I want to win)."

The Eagles really had a chance to win this game. But Mcnabb just never played like he should have, with underthrows, overthrows, interceptions, and poor decisions he is the reason the Eagles didn't win. Nothing against him, he is a great player, but the spotlight got to his game and he never got comfortable in the pocket. T.O. put up an amazing performance over 100 yards and responsible for more than a couple first downs.

Deion Branch getting "Player of the game" was surprising, but I am sure they were getting tired of giving it to Tom Brady.

Overall, I am sad that the damn Pats have started a "Dynasty" but it pisses me off more that the Eagles could have beaten the Patriots but were unable to succeed.

This match was tacticly mismanaged by the Eagles coaching staff.

The Pats found a mismatch down the left with Branch, and the Eagles defensive staff did NOTHING about it.

The Eagles did not deserve to win this game on that blunder alone.

I don't think McNabb can take any major responsibility, anymore than the rest of his underperforming teamates, except for Owen.

The truly great performance of the game.

Some of those catches where phenomonal.

They always give MVP to the winning team.

A horrendously poor standard game.

Sir Paul were good, though.

what about my tip for the 'bowl. Pats by 3. imagine how much money i could made! anyway the eagles coulda had em if their defence was better. too much room for branch.