Conference Championship Picks!

The last real Sunday of the NFL season is upon us. Championship Sunday is the real last NFL day because the Super Bowl is about everything else but the game. The celebrities, the parties, the commercials are all elements of the Super Bowl, and the real die-hard NFL fan gets pushed aside by Moms, Wives, and mainstream America. The Conference Championships are a special day in the NFL. Two games, played back to back, that will decide who goes to the Super Bowl. The history of recent Championship Sunday is this: You usually get one good game and one blowout, and you get at least one road team winning. Also, the matchup that everyone wants to see never comes to fruition. Last year was an exception: Two home teams won (Arizona and Pittsburgh) and both games were close. In 2007, one road team won (Giants) and Giants-Packers was a classic, while Pats-SD was a boring game. 2006 saw both home teams win, but Indy-NE was a fantastic game. In 2005, one road team won (Pitt) and in 2004, both home teams won. In 2003, one road team won (Carolina) and both games were pretty close. In 2002, one road team won (Tampa) and both games were pretty close. Here's my point, since 2002, both road teams did not win the Conference Title games. You have to go back to 1997 (GB and Denver) to find two road teams winning this weekend. Throw in the fact that the enticing matchup of Jets-Vikings would require both road teams winning, then you know that it won't happen this year. In any event, enjoy the games on Sunday. It's the last great NFL day until next September. It's an exciting day of football, but it is also a sad day because it is one step closer to the end of the season. Onto to the picks....

Last Week: 2-2
Overall Playoff Record: 3-5
(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

NEW ORLEANS (-3) over Minnesota: Think about how loud the Superdome will be on Sunday. This is a great matchup for the NFC Championship. These two teams were the best in the NFC from Week 1. Philly got some publicity late in the season, and the Cowboys gained some credibility from Week 17 into the playoffs, but if you look at the bigger picture, the Vikes and Saints were the best teams in the NFC all season long. Both fanbases are dying to win this game. This is the best Viking team since '98, and a win this Sunday could alleviate some pain from the 1998 loss to Atlanta and the 2000 debacle at the Giants. The Saints have been this far only once (2006) and have never hosted a NFC Title game. This is the best Saints team ever, and this game could develop into a shootout. I think Favre will play very well on the road, but the Saints will make one more big play on offense. Drew Brees is a different QB at home, and that Saints offense resembles a fast break offense playing on their home court. The game will be back and forth, but Brees will make a play or two late to secure the Saints first Super Bowl appearance.
Final Score: New Orleans-34 Minnesota-24

New York Jets (+8) over INDIANAPOLIS: The last time the Colts and Jets played this big of a game it was Super Bowl III. The Colts and Peyton Manning have all the pressure. They are at home, favored, and must justify resting their starters at the end of the season and forgoing the 16-0 mark. The Jets have the classic underdog look to them. They have the free-spirited Head Coach, naive rookie QB, dominating defense, and a punishing running game. They have played the "No one thought we were here" routine since Week 16. This game just smells like a classic upset. Can't you just see Manning getting frustrated with Rex Ryan's defense and pouting on the sidelines, while yelling at his receivers for dropping some easy passes. Can't you see Matt Stover shanking two field goals, and the cameras panning to Adam Vinatieri standing on the Colts sideline? Can't you see Mark Sanchez making one or two plays that no one thought he could make? I do, and I'll tell you why: It is the Jets time. As much as I hate to say it, it is true. It is their time. As obnoxious and arrogant their fans are, it is their time. The law of averages applies to this. You root for a team long enough, and at some point they will come through for you. Look at the Red Sox in 2004. It is bound to happen. The Jets have knocked on destiny's door a few times, and they have failed their fans each time. Week 16 against the second-string Colts changed all that. Last week's win over San Diego was a game the Jets normally would lose, but they held on. It is just their time. Sometimes in sports teams will get on an improbable run, and it can't be stopped by anyone-including Peyton Manning. I don't know if the Jets will win the Super Bowl, but for the first time since Joe Namath walked off the field after Super Bowl III, the Jets will make it to the Super Bowl. I never thought I would type those words, but it is just their time.
Final Score: Jets-20 Colts-17