Divisional Weekend-Day 2

Divisional Round - Day 1               0-2

Season                                              34-26(57%)

Luckily for me, the amount of games I can lose as we wind the down the season isn't enough to get me under 55% on the year so it will be a winning season regardless of how bad I've been down the stretch but it still makes me feel a lot like a choking Manning along the way. After the latest chapter of Peyton Manning choking, if it weren't for the flu ravaging the Patriots in the 2007 AFC Championship game we would still be saying the same thing about him not being able to win the big game. The guy's just anti-clutch while all his brother does is win games he shouldn't. It's gotta make for odd dinner conversation around the Manning table. I should have remembered that playoff trend, bet with Eli and against Peyton. As for the other game, someone ought to remind Green Bay DC Dom Capers that putting a spy on a running quarterback might be a smart thing to do the next time they play one. Donkey. Onto day 2...

Atlanta -3 vs Seattle

I think this bet will be won or lost in the opening quarter of the game. The Seahawks enter the game hot, confident and playing with house money against a franchise which is under extreme pressure to win just one playoff game. That means if Atlanta gets off to a slow start and finds themselves in a dogfight, that collar is going tighten, they'll play not to lose instead of playing to win and it will probably lead to enough mental gaffes to carry Seattle to another improbable road win. I tend to think the insanity stops here for Matt Ryan and a home team that frankly, has been a superpower since Ryan's arrival...outside of the playoffs, that is. I think the Falcon wide-outs push back against the street-fight mentality of the Seahawks secondary of mercenaries and that's where this game will be won for Atlanta. Forget about Matt Ryan, Tony Gonzalez will get his first playoff win too! Lay the short points with Atlanta.

Houston +9.5 at New England

We all know what happened the last time these two teams played, the Pats came into the game giving a field goal and embarrassed the Texans on national TV. Those things don't tend to happen in back to back meetings, just ask the Broncos. Add to that the fact that historically, New England has been brutal laying (close to) double digit points during the regular season and even worse laying any points in the playoffs. Officially, the definition of "even worse" in this case is a 1-7 record against the number. I'm not saying they'll lose to a Texans team which finds the end zone as much as a nose tackle but this should be a much closer game than the 9 and the hook.

Good luck!

Thanks.

-P