As for playoffs, we in Houston can but dream. But the AFC wildcard chase is more crowded than an elevator holding the Patriots offensive line. This might be the best last week of the season in a while. I can’t wait to watch some hardcore, heartfelt football on Sunday.

For those people hoping Belichick will play a soft game against the Texans on Sunday can keep dreaming. There’s no way Mean Ol’ Belichick is going to let another playoff contender just waltz their way to a win. Maybe he might rest the starters if they’re ahead but probably in the fourth quarter. People claim he did it in Miami a couple years back but Miami wasn’t going to the playoffs and Nick Saban is part of the Belichick mafia. Gary Kubiak won’t be so lucky. Kubiak is going to have to outwit the Pats. He’s going to have to play aggressive. He’s going to have to prove that he’s the coach that can lead this team into the playoffs. This is the defining moment of Kubiak’s coaching career in Houston. Houston fans will remember this game win or lose. If he losses, he might be back next season as head coach but no one will respect him and the whole season would be just waiting for him to mess up to kick him out of town. If he wins, he lives to see another day and he might be a hero if we sneak into that last wildcard spot.

Indy over Buffalo.

New Orleans over Carolina.

Cleveland over Jacksonville.

Houston over New England.

Minnesota over Giants.

San Fran over St. Louis.

Atlanta over Tampa Bay.

Pittsburgh over Miami.

Chicago over Detroit.

Philly over Dallas.

Kansas City over Denver.

Baltimore over Oakland.

Tennessee over Seattle.

San Diego over Washington.

Green Bay over Arizona.

Cincinnati over Jets.

Chargers over Titans.

Bengals over Chiefs.

Falcons over Bills.

The Pack over Seahawks.

Texans over Dolphins not because we need it, because I believe it.

Steelers over Ravens.

Giants over Panthers.

Pats over Jags.

Browns over Raiders.

Saints take frustration out on Bucs.

Cardinals over Rams.

‘Niners over Lions.

Eagles over Broncos.

Colts over Jets.

Cowboys over Redskins.

Vikings over Bears.

This was sitting in my folder of drafts…I’m still getting used to this new format stuff. This was to be published on the 12th, I didn’t make any changes scouts honor.

New Orleans over ATL

Baltimore over Detroit

Green Bay over Chicago

Houston over Seattle

Indy over Denver

Miami over Jacksonville

KC over Buffalo

Minnesota over Cincy

New England over Carolina

Tampa Bay over the Jets

St. Louis over Tennessee

Oakland over Washington

San Diego over Dallas

Giants over Philly

Arizona over San Francisco

Chicago over St. Louis.

Cincy over Detroit.

Carolina over Tampa.

Pittsburgh over Oakland.

New Orleans over Washington.

New England over Miami.

Atlanta over Philly.

Indy over Tennessee.

If Tennessee wins this one, I will cry. I’d prefer the Colts to be perfect than the Titans and VY to be on a roll.

Denver over KC.

Houston over Jacksonville.

San Diego over Cleveland.

Giants over Cowboys.

San Fran over Seattle.

Minnesota over Arizona.

Baltimore over Green Bay.

Green Bay over Detroit

Dallas over Oakland

New York Giants over Denver

Atlanta over Tampa

Miami over Buffalo

Philly over Washington

Seattle over St. Louis

Carolina over New York Jets

Cincy over Cleveland

Houston over Indy…please

SD over KC

San Fran over Jacksonville

Minnesota over Chicago

Tennessee over Arizona

Pittsburgh over Baltimore

New England over New Orleans

Miami over Carolina

This is going to be a good game but in the end I bet on the Dolphins run defense and their own running game winning the game for them.

Indy loses to Baltimore

Alright I’m picking their first loss. Baltimore needs to win some games and Indy is showing their weaknesses.

Dallas over Washington

Both of these coaches could be out of a job at the end of the season but this one will show who’s on the hot seat first.

Detroit over Cleveland

Wow, officially the worst game of the season. I’m going with Detroit because they have home field advantage.

Green Bay over San Fran

I’m thinking the Pack will pull through and get a tough one over the ‘Niners.

Jags over Bills

The Jags should win, but it doesn’t make me happy. A team on the rise in the AFC South could mean the Texans have another team to contend with for a wild card spot. I’m going to pray the Bills will play good football this week.

Pittsburgh over KC

Both teams need a win. Pittsburgh to stay in contention. KC to stay out of the NFL basement.

Minnesota over Seattle

The Vikings are too good to lose to a team that lacks spark.

Giants over Falcons

I’m still sticking with the Giants. They’ve been through a slump but they have to get better…right?

New Orleans over Tampa Bay

The Saints should make easy work of this team, even if they’re on the rise.

Arizona over St. Louis

Chalk it up.

Denver over San Diego

Ooh, this one took a while to pick. It should be a tough game but I’m banking on Denver’s defense winning it.

New England over the Jets

The Pats will punk the Jets for that loss earlier in the season.

Cincy over Oakland

Seriously this game might be more watchable than we think. Are the Bengals a Super Bowel contender? Perhaps.

Philly over Chicago

Just cause.

Houston over the Titans

No bird flipping here. We’ll win this one and it will be just as tough as the first win.

Speaking of mistakes, in my rush to get out of town I picked the Giants to beat the Jaguars. That’s a solid pick…if the two teams were playing this week. The Jags beat the JETS, the other New York team. How did I let that slide? Was I drunk? I’m going to have to take a loss on that one.

This week I went 10-4. Which brings my season total to 91-52 and my winning percent is 64 %. Not bad for a hobby.

Face it, the Redskins aren’t winning any upset games this season. Even though he is talented Jason Campbell is going to lose his job. The Redskins are the most disappointing team in the league.

Bears beat Cards

This is going to be a close game. I think these teams matchup well and the main reason I’m choosing the Bears is because they have home field advantage. Winning in Chicago can be tough for a team that plays in Arizona.

Ravens over the Cardiac Cats

This week five matchup was amazing. The Bengals are a good team and could very well win this game. But I’m going with the Ravens monster offense in this one. The Ravens want this win after getting a game taken from them. My bet would be this game won’t be as close as the last but it will be a good test for the Bengals.

Texans over Colts

Alright, half of my decision of picking the Texans is because whenever I want to pick against them I’m wrong. I think this game could be a shoot out. Matt Schaub and the Texans will find a way to spread the ball around (even with Owen Daniels out). The Texans have a good receiving core and can pass. Peyton Manning and the Colts will be…well Peyton Manning and the Colts. It won’t be a classic shoot out, punters will get some field time but I think it could be a game decided by who has the ball last. It’s going to be good, Go Texans.

Chiefs lose to Jags

Nothing would make me happier than the Jags losing to a bad team but the Chiefs are too bad. The Jags have more talent and should make easy work of the Chiefs.

New England over Miami

New England needs to win this game. Actually they really want to win this game. I think this game could go either way but my money’s on the Pats.

Bucs lose to the Pack

So enter Josh Freeman, the Bucs rookie quarterback, the third quarterback and the second by the name of Josh. The Bucs might be better but probably not this week. This will be a frustrating game for Freeman and Bucs fans.

New Orleans stay undefeated against Panthers

I keep hearing about a Panthers upset, but I’m not buying it. The Panthers defense might be improving and the offense is starting to click but the Saints are amazing and still the better team. The Panthers might give Brees unexpected trouble but I think that’s the closest this game is getting to an upset.

Seahawks over Lions

The Seahawks need a win to get going and they will probably take it against a struggling Lions team.

Giants over Chargers

The Chargers are on a winning streak and the Giants are digging themselves a hole. Not to mention that this is the “2005 Let’s Swap QBs” Bowl. This is going to be one tough fought game. I think that the Giants are the better team so I’m going with them.

Titans lose to ‘Niners

Looking at my picks I’m thinking this is going to be another tough week. Most of these games are too close to call for me. This is another good match up and I’m picking Niners because the Titans defense has been horrible. I want to go with Chris Johnson running  to a win but my gut tells me Niners will find a way.

Philly over Dallas

Hey, let’s get two streaky teams and give them a primetime game! I’m going with Eagles because their defense should fair better than Dallas’. Oh man, I’m going to consult a grammar book but I’m pretty sure that apostrophe is correct there. Harkins? Dallas is tough to pick in games you think they can lose on their own. Who ever wins this game gets to be Division Champ until New York beats them.

Pittsburgh beats Denver

This could very well be a nice good defensive game. I like shoot outs as much as the next guy but every now and then I need a good old school defensive smack down. While I do think Denver is good I’m not sure if their as good as their record indicates right now. I think Pittsburgh takes ‘em down a notch on MNF. Plus Coach Mike Tomlin is 4-0 on Monday nights.

Now let me be clear: I’m not better than Bill Simmons, you shouldn’t use this as some sort of reference to bet and since I’m bragging my picks might be bad for the last half of the season.

I’m going to go to sleep. I feel good about my first half picks and the Rockets beat the Jazz tonight. All you fools who thought the Rockets were going to be some chump team can chew on that. G’night.

This one is going to be interesting. Just from preconceived notions one might think that Baltimore has the stronger defense of the two. So far this season Denver has had a stingier defense. While the Broncos are off to a great season and look better on paper, I think the Ravens will win this one. The Ravens offense is pretty potent and I think this is the toughest challenge Denver has faced this season.

Houston over Buffalo

This game is a must win for Houston. If the Texans lose this game it will prove that they are not ready to be a playoff contender. Right now the Texans are on fire and the Bills have been a fringe team. If the Texans can keep their fire from the last couple of weeks they will win, if they don’t they’ll be the same Texans we saw last year…

Cleveland looses to Chicago

I thought about picking the Browns because  that would be shocking and I’m not sold on Chicago winning this game…but these are the Browns.

Dallas should beat Seattle

The thing is they should. Dallas had a great game last week against Atlanta. Their offense looked good and their defense seemed solid. But these are two flaky teams and it might be the battle of whoever makes less mistakes wins.

Miami over the Jets

The Dolphins almost beat the Saints last week. They completely fell apart but the fact remains that the Dolphins can be spectacular. The Jets are still finding their way. I would be surprised if Mark Sanchez has another bad game and Miami has a stellar offensive game. This game will most likely be close and is a must win for the Jets, but I’m just not too sure about the Jets being for real.

Indy beats San Fran

I want San Francisco to win so badly. If my Texans are to make anything of this season, Indy needs to chill out sooner or later. But the Colts are amazing. Unless Alex Smith can match Peyton Manning the ‘Niners are done for. Who would you pick first if you were playing flag football Smith or Manning?

Giants over Philly

The Eagles need a win but I think the Giants will be too much for them. The Giants can light up the board offensively and their defense is no joke. While the Eagles look like their still trying to get into a good flow.

St. Louis falls behind Detroit

Let’s just call this the most uninteresting game of football ever played. Ok, it isn’t that bad, but it’s like watching a WNBA game. Alright, I’m sorry ladies. This game should be won by Detroit because they have a little more talent. I think the most important thing to come out of this game will be the fact that the Lions will prove they are not the worst team in the NFL anymore. Now their around second or third worst. Movin’ on up.

Oakland loses to San Diego

The last time these teams met we wondered if Oakland was a serious team. Now we no longer wonder, we know that their bad. San Diego seems to be getting their act together and should win this one easily.

The Titans beat the Jags

The Titans should beat the Jags. They have home field advantage and are angry. This should be a good game. I think the Titans finally win and Vince Young will get too much credit for it.

Minnesota losses to Green Bay

That’s right. Listen to this: on paper Green Bay has a better offense in yards per game and a better defense in yards allowed per game. Green Bay’s defense has been looking tougher and they do not want to lose to Favre at home. I’m going with Green Bay in this over-publicized game.

Arizona over Carolina

The Cards are back on the rise and Carolina is struggling to just keep their heads above water. This should be a simple win for Arizona.

The Saints beat the Falcons

The Saints are amazing this year. The Falcons are a contender but I just can’t see them beating the Saints, especially after losses to the Cowboys. Saints remain undefeated.