So it seems that I can pick a winning football team in the playoffs. In fact, from the looks of today’s scores I am able to pick two.

Both of the teams that I chose to win today did and at the same time I got to inflate my over-inflated ego yet further. I was also able to celebrate the fact that two very close friends of mine were going to be elated at their team going to the big game. Throw in the fact that my man, Kurt Warner, gets to go back to the Super Bowl and life today was all sorts of good.

My friend Mike is a huge fan of the Cardinals. He has been for years. Since I am a huge fan of Kurt Warner I was totally able to cheer for the Cards during their furious first half of scoring. I was also able to worry during their third quarter meltdown and cheer again when they pulled out the win.

My best friend Ray is a die-hard Steelers fan. I swear if he cut himself he would bleed black and gold. Yes, he loves the Steelers. And since he is my best friend I do too. So it was easy to cheer for them in their victory over Baltimore. The game was a snooze-fest, but Palumalu’s interception for a score late in the fourth made it worth watching.

So I am patting myself on the back right now. I have not been able to pick a winner for my life this post season. Until today. I am a little proud of me right now. Hopefully two weeks from now I will be able to say the same thing.

Last week proved to be my utter demise in picking a winner. If I wasn’t bad enough in the first weekend (going a paultry 1-3) then last weekend sealed that deal as I went 0-4 on the weekend. That makes my pick score for the playoffs a wild 1-7. So if there is anything to learn from any of this it is: do not bet according to my picks; pick against them.

With that in mind, let’s see how bad I can screw up today’s Championship games, shall we?

Game 1 – NFC Championship Game: Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals
The Eagle have made five of the last eight NFC title games but have won only one of them. This year they were a bubble team that pulled out what was needed to get into the playoffs. The Cardinals were a sort of run of the mill team that in any other division wouldn’t have even made the playoffs, but in the weak NFC West they exceled and made it in. And surprisingly they won both of their post-season games this year to make it to the title game. Playing in Arizona, in a very loud dome and in a hostile environment, is not at all going to work in favor of the Eagles. And as much as Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb are the people’s favorite, the Cardinals have the experience in Kurt Warner and Edgerrin James to blow this one out. I expect this be a win for the birds. The Cardinals that is.

Game 2 – AFC Championship Game: Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh opened it up last week against San Diego in a savage way. They showed some grit and guts in that game and looked like a world champion caliber team. The Ravens have been playing crazy defense all year  long and have relied on a stupid +7 turnover rating in the playoffs to bring the wood to their opponents. This is going to be one heck of a game. One that I am going to look forward to until the last whistle blows. In the end I see the Steelers being a little too much for the stingy Ravens defense. Big Ben takes this one to the house and sets up a Cardinals/Steelers match up for Super Bowl XLIII.

Alright, you got all that? Ready? Set? Bet!

Yesterday I showed what a tool I can be when it comes to predicting football games. Home field advantage? No such thing. Better record? Not a factor. Higher seed? Apparently seeding meant nothing. No, in both games yesterday I got it wrong. So wrong. In fact, I even got it wrong as to who was playing when.

But not today. Looking at what is coming down the pipe there is no way today’s games can let me down. Of course, if you are a betting person, take that last statement with a grain of salt. I do the best I can. So far, that means 1-5.

Game 1 – NFC Divisional Game: Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants
Ok, seriously. Is this even a question? Yes, the Eagles beat the Giants just a few weeks ago. But the Giants had already clinched at that point and were not really playing for anything. The Eagles on the other hand were playing for a trip to the playoffs. They had to win just to get in. Today, in New York, the playing is over. The Giants are going to bring it and bring it hard. Just like last year’s playoffs.

Game 2 – AFC Wildcard: San Diego Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh is charging ahead on all cylinders. They are playing at home. Where it is cold. The sun bleached surfers of San Diego are going to be wondering why the game is still going to be played in freezing temperatures while the steel curtain brings the heat. That said, in a rare twist, I see the Chargers charging ahead in this game and pulling off the upset in grand fashion. My call: San Diego.

I am so glad I don’t have any money riding on these games. Now that would suck.

So last week I showed what a n00B I was when I went 1-3 on my playoff predictions and got pwned by the NFL playoffs. This weekend I am hoping for a better showing and looking forward to being at 2-2 on the weekend.

The divisional games are here and its looks to be an exciting weekend of football. Lets see what the NFL has in store for us today.

Game 1 – NFC Divisional Game: Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers
Last week I chose the Falcons to win over the Cardinals in Pheonix. It was one of my many wrong predictions for last weekend. Arizona showed some grit last weekend and Kurt Warner lit up the sky with pass after pass and yard after yard of awesomeness. While I am looking for that same type of performance from Warner today something inside tells me that he gave all he had last weekend. Carolina has been kicking butt and taking names all season, but doing it in a quiet way. Given all the conditions, I’d say this game goes to Carolina.

Game 2 – AFC Wildcard: Baltimore Ravens at Tennessee Titans
Tennessee posted the best start of the season for any team this year, going 9-0 before tasting defeat for the first time. That doesn’t automatically hand them this game, but their chances of victory are astonishing in my opinion. Baltimore is sporting the Ray Lewis led Ravens defense but today I think offense wins in this battle of power houses. My guess? Titans all the way.

Let’s see how I do. Shooting for 2-2 on the weekend has to make my chances of hitting that goal pretty decent.

Well yesterday was a complete disaster for my two picks. I think this was the case for many people speculating on the NFL playoffs this season. The thought that Arizona could beat Atlanta as well as it did yesterday AND that San Diego could take Indianapolis to overtime and subsequently march all over them in the extra period to beat them is just unfathomable.

But I digress. Let’s see if I can do better today.

Game 1 – AFC Wildcard: Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins
Everything in me tells me that Baltimore is going to hand Miami their butts. Miami is a lucky team this year, having gone from a 1-15 league laugher to an 11-5 division winner in just one season. Baltimore has a solid defense, a winning heritage (as heritages go in the NFL among expansion teams) and has played pretty darn well under rookie Quarterback Joe Flacco. But as things go when I am making winning picks, if I say I think Baltimore is going to win then Miami will. So I am going to have to say Miami will win knowing in my head Baltimore will.

Game 2 – NFC Wildcard: Philadelphia Eagles at Minnesota Vikings
This one is a complete guess on my part. The Eagles have played poorly all season long when it counted. The Vikings have been a sort of sleep team with a stellar back in Adrian Peterson. The only real deciding factor is that they are playing this game in Minnesota inside a dome. I have to say that advantage goes to Minnesota in this contest. The fact of the matter is that I don’t really car about this game though. So whoever wins, it just means more football for me next week.

There you have it. I was 0-2 yesterday. Can I get to 2-2 on the weekend?

Few things throughout the year get my engines roaring like the NFL playoffs. I love me some football. But I really freaking love me some playoff football. It just seems to me that the level of play grows exponentially the farther into the playoffs a team goes which makes for some exciting action, great plays and in half of the games, significant heartbreak. It is why they play the game. To see who the last team standing is.

This weekend starts the 2008 NFL season playoffs. There are some surprise teams in the hunt this year, and some surprise teams absent from this post-season. I will not spend any time on the teams that did not make the playoffs. No, in fact I will have a hard enough time putting together my picks for just this weekend. But I am going to take a shot at it anyway.

Game 1 – NFC Wildcard: Atlanta Falcons at Arizona Cardinals
To be painfully honest, I don’t know much about either team except that Kurt Warner is my favorite player and that Arizona has been on a downward spiral for the last few weeks. While this game is a home game for Arizona, I think that given the way Atlanta has been playing, they will walk away from this game with a solid victory. I mean solid, as it the Cardinals are going to stink it up the way they have for the last three weeks. Fans in Arizona will be disappointed, but really, they will have expected it. Falcons for the win.

Game 2 – AFC Wildcard: Indianapolis Colts at San Diego Chargers
Indianapolis comes to San Diego riding a nine game winning streak and featuring the league MVP in Peyton Manning. San Diego hosts this game as the winner of the AFC west, a division they did not win until the last game of the year. San Diego had to win its last four games of the season in order to take the division away from Denver, including a game against Denver in week 17 to seal it up. They are riding a wave of confidence this weekend, and have been known to upset a team or two (can we say Indianapolis?) in the past. Look for a high scoring affair with the Colts squeaking one out by just a few points.

I know, I would probably never make it as an NFL analyst. But this stuff sure is fun.