That's right, Jim Mora, we're talking about playoffs

Oh yeah, I hear you Dex - The whole team had a great showing this year. Mike Smith is a smart guy, he knows the holes that need filling.

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If I had a dollar for every existential crisis I've ever had, does money really even matter?

Wear*

Nice season, Fiscal. I think you guys'll probably be in the thick again next year. Tough loss to a very good team. For all the chattering I've seen about "losing to a 6th seed," I think anyone who's following the NFL at all knows that the Packers were a lot better than their seeding would indicate.

Meanwhile, Chicago jumps out to a 14-0 lead on Seattle.

Dex, you are wrong. Rodgers didn't get spanked by Arizona. I don't think 45 points and 5 combined TD's accounts to getting spanked. Now our defense on the other hand, they got spanked!

Bears win!!

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Terrible throw by Brady on that screen. What I find amusing is that, if Sanchez had done it, people would immediately rush to explain it with his lack of experience, or poise, or whatever.

Jets offense looked pretty bad just afterwards, though. Two terrible plays and a missed field goal. It's a shame Harris isn't built for running, because even an average runner probably would've taken that pick to the house.

Well, as bad as Sanchez looks right now (three very badly thrown balls, by my count), that's about as good as the Jets defense is looking. New England seems to be having some trouble picking up the blitzes, and the coverage has been really impressive.

The conventional wisdom (which I agree with) on New England is that they don't need big plays, they just execute the short plays really, really well and turn them into bigger ones with missed tackles and the like. That makes them pretty hard to stop, because most good defenses have a little give to them and seem centered around stopping big plays, with the idea that it's insanely hard to march down the field with lots of little ones. And it is, but New England's execution is good enough that they often can. To stop them, the Jets will need the occasional gut-check blitz, and in-between they'll need to execute just as well on the shorter plays.

All that said, Braylon Edwards caught a 37-yard pass as I was typing this, and Sanchez threw a TD pass two plays later. 7-3, Jets.

Heh, as soon as I say that about Sanchez he goes 3 for 4 for 53 yards and a touchdown. Maybe he heard me.

LT baby, this is great.

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"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." - Michelangelo.

Jets moving the ball a bit, and they're doing it the way the Patriots usually do, too. Really got ourselves a game so far.

I must say a Jets victory would be most fantastic.

The coverage sack is D the jets have employed is quite brilliant. Its not like Brady is gonna start running for yards.

and wow does Algae Crumpler look old.

Wow, that botched fake punt was pretty crazy. And kudos to the Jets for being able to capitalize on it. 14-3 at the half! Sanchez outplaying Brady thus far, and New York's defense has been fantastic.

Turnover on downs! Wow, the Jets look like they're actually going to pull this off. Superb coverage all game long.

Was that excessive celebration flag on the Jets players, or Rex Ryan?

What a game. Sanchez outplays Brady. Ryan outcoaches Belichek, I think it's fair to say, too. Give the game ball to the entire Jets defense, I suppose, particularly the coverage, which was incredible. What a huge win.

For us Steeler fans, we don't get to be the ones to end New England's season, but we do get an opponent we probably match up a lot better against, and we get to play at home for the AFC Championship, so I'll take it. Early line should be, what? Steelers by 3.5? I think it should be 4 or 5, but the betting public might give the Jets a ton of credit for this win going forward.

My uncle is a huge Jets fan, by the way, so we'll probably be avoiding each other for awhile.

The Steelers will beat the Jets because the skill set of Big Ben allows him to scramble for positive yards when coverage is tight downfield.

In Addition, while the Law Firm had a heckiva year by Pats recent standards at RB, Mendenhall is clearly a more consistent option for the Steel.

The Ravens were the toughest matchup in the AFC imo.

The Packers lay a thumpen on the Bears next week though.

Superbowl pick,

Green Bay 31-21.

I'll probably go Pittsburgh-Green Bay too. How I'd pick then would probably depend on how well each team does getting there, but I'd probably lean Pittsburgh, and I think the line in Vegas would, too, though probably only by a few points.

That'd be exciting: the unstoppable force (Packer offense) against the immovable object (Steeler defense). We saw something like that in Super Bowl XLIII with the Arizona offense and the Steelers shut them down for over 50 minutes before giving up a big play near the end.

Oh, and of course, credit to Dex, for picking all four games correctly despite two upsets.

That is pretty impressive, Dex.

I am going Pittsburg - Green Bay, with Green Bay winning it all.