New York Jets at Cincinnati Bengals

Everyone is going on and on about this game being tough on the Bengals for the beating they took last week. But the Bengals had nothing to play for and didn’t want to give away any “secrets” so that they could win the playoff game. The Bengals are just like that boxer that is cornered with his gloves up taking punch after punch only to lash out and beat the snot out of the other fighter. The Jets play with a lot of emotion but will probably fall short because of a unproven quarterback and a drop happy wide out. The Bengals are the better team, but this is still going to be a close game.

Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys

This is the game that has me scratching my head the most. I think the Eagles are the better team and I hate the Cowboys with every fiber of my being, but I’d be a fool to say that there is any other team that is bringing this much fire into the playoffs. However, these Cowboys are not as good as some of the other Cowboys teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs in years past. As much as I hate to do it, I’m going with the Cowboys on this one. Although I really hope that Tony Romo finds a way to show that he’s still a bonehead. The Eagles have this game in the bag if ghost of playoffs past haunt Romo.

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots

This year I feel like all of these matchups are almost too close to call. The Ravens defense has the edge in this game but you can’t count the Pats out (even with a possibly weak Wes Welker). The Pats proved in the Texans game last week that they have a potent backup for Welker should he need to sit out on plays. The Ravens offense is no joke either, Ray Rice is going to be all over this field today. I’m going with the Patriots because they are better coached. I think that the Ravens have more fire, but I have to go with the Pats here.

Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals

This is the only pick that I feel confident about. I think the Packers are going to push around the Cardinals. The Packers are hungry and I feel the Cards are on the decline and a little complacent.

While we could sit here and play the blame game, which I’m sure myself and many other fans will do in the off season, I’d like to look at some positive.

First the defense.  After last seasons miserable excuse for a defense we made a new hire in DC, Mr. Frank Bush. Frank Bush’s defense had a rocky start, but as it started to gel with the hardcore tendencies of Brian Cushing and the acquisition of Bernard Pollard. The linebacking core was amazing and as the year went on the defense only got better.

Second, Matt Schaub started 16 games and silenced all doubters. With a little more leadership and charisma the guy should be a pro bowler next year.

Third Arian Foster. The main reason we even won the game against the Pats was the rushing effort on the new guy. He might not be the answer but he was a Godsend for the closing of our first winning record.

The season shouldn’t have ended like this yes. (Relying on other teams to win games instead of letting our record speak for itself.) We only have to look at the first game of the season and think that if we would have beat the lowly Jets we would be in the playoffs right now.

This week I improved…but only to .500. I went 7-7 which makes my record to date 56-34 and I went down to 62 %. Bummer. There were a couple shockers I thought. I mean Oakland won a game. I’m glad Houston won but I almost knew as I was writing that Cincinnati would win that Houston would win because if Cincinnati should win a game they don’t and Houston only wins on even numbered weeks so. Well I want to forget about this mediocre week and focus on the next.

Oh brother those Texans need to stop giving up the big run. That defense that I thought was going to be different is slowly going back down that same road…only time will tell. Hopefully for the Texans time will tell before the season is over.

Wow, I was wrong about the Titans bouncing back and beating the way-too-popular Jets. I thought the Titans would smack ‘em around. And right now someone needs to take that team down a notch.

However I was right going with the Bengals over the Steelers. That seemed like a ESP call on my part. This was by far the toughest week to pick. So many teams seemed close on paper and it was tough. Man oh man this week was tough. Not only to pick but as a Texans fan. Oh well, at least the Houston Cougars gave me a good game. If you didn’t see that game, you missed out on some amazing college football. The Coogs will be tough in the future, I hope they can finish and have a solid season.

Chad Ochocinco, thank you for making preseason football interesting.