Saturday's Divisional Round Picks

Saturday's Divisional Round Picks Against the Spread (HOME teams in caps):
From last week’s picks…”I’m turning it around starting today, so don’t go betting against me. Ok, that might be the beer talking.” Um, definitely the beer talking. 0-3-1 against the spread last week. Ouch. 2-2 straight up isn’t much better. That being said, I prevailed where the Dolphins failed. It looked like my dream season was over when the Titans took a 6-0 lead into half time, but as usual, Vince Young and company found a way to not cover the nine point spread and keep my perfect season intact. 0-17 picking Titans games this year. There are so many people I’d like to thank; first and foremost, Sam Adams, Arthur Guinness and all the fine people at Anheuser-Busch. Without their influence, there’s no way I could have made picks like CHIEFS (+4) over Titans. I’d also like to thank my buddy Snow, who over the last two years has found a way to convince me that Vince Young is Jesus in shoulder pads. Finally, I’d like to thank Eli Manning. Its not that he had anything to do with it, but I feel it’s my duty to blame just about everything bad that happens on a football field on the person that Archie assures us is in some way related to Peyton. On to this week’s picks…

Again, Barstool Quarterback Aggregate Positional Rankings will be in order of:
Offense Rank + Defense Rank + Special Teams + Coaching = Total (Rank)

PACKERS (-7.5) over Seahawks:
On Sunday NFL Countdown (and excuse me for thinking that when ESPN runs this show on a Saturday, they could spend like 10 seconds and change the graphic to Saturday NFL Countdown) Tom Jackson said it perfectly. Picking against Brett Favre is like picking against America. Favre is going to get every call, because no one, including the refs, is even remotely interested in the possibility of a Giants v. Seahawks NFC Championship game. Seriously, regardless of what happened in week 17, does anyone think that anyone other than Green Bay or Dallas has a chance to keep within 3 touchdowns of whoever comes out of the AFC? In addition to the Favre Factor, the Pack has a few other things going for it. Deion Branch will apparently play, but I’d expect Al Harris and Charles Woodson to bump him at the line on every play and really test the durability of that right calf. The Seahawks are still soft. They can’t run the ball with any kind of consistency, and that doesn’t translate well to playing in January on the road; especially at Lambeau. Finally, the Packers are 7-1 at home, and Seattle is 3-5 on the road. I really can’t think of any reason why the Seahawks will keep this one close.
BSQ APR:
PACKERS: 5+1+6+5=17 (4)
Seahawks: 10+5+5+4=24 (5)

Jaguars (+13) over PATRIOTS:
Granted, the Patriots are 16-0, and the forecast for the game is 40 degrees, clear with little wind, but I’m a very surprised that this line is so big. The Pats will win, but they weren’t blowing people out the last few weeks of the regular season. Here’s the thing, Jacksonville has become the huge bandwagon team in this year’s playoffs… kind of like the Redskins were last week. There’re a few problems though. The strength of Jacksonville D is beat up. DTs Marcus Stroud is on IR and though John Henderson will play despite being listed as Questionable, how effective can he be playing on one leg? Mike Peterson, the only playmaker the Jags have at the linebacker position is still out. On the other hand, the Pats took advantage of the Bye to get Healthy on the O-line. RG Stephen Neal (shoulder) and RT Nick Kaczur (leg) will both be back. With their D-line depleted, the Jags are going to have to blitz to get to Brady which will open up some holes for Moss, Welker, Stallworth, and yes, even Gaffney to exploit in the secondary. The Patriots are going to put up 31+ points. As much as the Pats ability to stop the run has been questioned, do you really think that the Jags ground game is going to put up points like that? Jacksonville will keep it close by grinding the clock, but by the end of the 3rd quarter, the Pats will be up by 10, and while David Garrard is one of the better game managers in the league, he’s just not a guy who can lead a team back from a double digit deficit in the 4th quarter on the road.
BSQ APR:
Jaguars: 5+10+8+8=31 (7)
PATRIOTS: 1+1+1+1=4 (1)


On a totally unrelated note, I assume everyone has heard by now that Brian McNamee is saying that his knowledge of an abscess on Roger Clemens ass is proof that he was injecting Clemens with steroids as he has claimed. Of all the things I could hear about on Sports Center for the next several weeks, the status of a boil on Clemens' ass may not be last on the list, but it's close.