Hard to say what's wrong with the Red Wings defensively these days. But beating the Canucks 6-5 last night brought me back to the early 90's days where Detroit would win wild shootouts all season long and then bow out quickly in the playoffs when every team tightens up and scores come down. This team is fundamentally unchanged from last season though, so hopefully they can pull themselves together and stop giving up so many. At least for now they've got the firepower to hang in while they get things fixed.
Now, on to the weekend to come. While college football has Championship weekend in the SEC and Big 12 to figure out who's going to play for the National Championship, pundits will continue to spout off about what a farce the BCS is and why we still can't get a playoff. But the facts remain, the BCS is run by conferences with their own financial interests in mind, and the current BCS does a better job of distributing the millions than a playoff would. Good luck convincing them to change their minds on multi-million dollar payouts every year!
While I didn't manage to post my pick for last night's game, I see that San Diego very expectedly put a beatdown on the Raiders. Everyone put your hand up if you didn't see that coming. No hands? Okay. We'll move on then.
Bears over Jaguars - What a colossal disappointment Jacksonville has been this year. I watched that Monday night game start to finish and they were just dreadful in every aspect.
Vikings over Lions - this is the only hope to avoid 0-16 really. It's entirely possible that the Leos could pull the upset, but I don't see it. Detroit got gashed by the Titans running game badly last week. Does anyone really think they'll do better against A. Pete, the best back in the league?
Packers over Texans - While Houston looked pretty good Monday night, they don't travel very well and I especially don't hold much hope for them travelling to the frozen tundra on a short week.
Titans over Browns - Tennessee really has had a pretty easy schedule, haven't they? They've only had to play four teams that are above .500 and they'll only have two more the rest of the way. That means they got nearly a third of their season against garbage teams with no playoff hopes. I'm not convinced that they're going to be prepared for football in January.
Colts over Bengals - With the Bengals, Lions, and Jags on the schedule, Indy is going to go from a 3-4 start to their last game against Tennessee at 11-4. That's an impressive run and should make them a scary wild card team to face in the first round of the playoffs!
Falcons over Saints - sounds like the Saints might not lose a bunch of guys to suspension with the legal battle ensuing, but since they can't seem to play with any consistency, I think Matt Ryan will do enough to keep Atlanta's playoff hopes alive.
Giants over Eagles - NY will battle hard to show that all this Plax mess isn't going to distract them. With the best offensive and defensive lines, I think they'll have no trouble. Besides, McNabb isn't going to put up great numbers against the G-Men the way he did against the Cardinals wobbly defense.
Ravens over Redskins - Washington seems to be sliding backwards lately and is going to leave a disappointed fan base after appearing to be a competitor at the start of the season. Baltimore is really starting to roll as they open up the playbook for Flacco.
Dolphins over Bills - How's this for good fortune? Instead of going to freezing cold, windy, probably snowy Buffalo for their road game, Miami gets to travel to Toronto for a game inside the cozy Skydome, er - Roger's Centre.
Broncos over Chiefs - Would the real Denver Broncos please stand up? Which team will it be this weekend? They lost to the Raiders, so it's entirely possible that they could lose this one. But I don't they'll get caught napping again.
Jets over 49ers - New York got humbled at home last week in a game they never should have lost. Now they've got a tough cross country trip to make. It's their good fortune, though, that they only have to face the Niners. And even though San Francisco is playing better these days, it shouldn't be enough to knock off a Jets team that needs to bounce back.
Cardinals over Rams - speaking of playoff teams who haven't really beaten anyone (see: Titans, above), the Cards are going to roll into January and we'll all be totally clueless as to whether they have any chance to win a playoff game. They're just fortunate to play in the crappy NFC West, where one more win will lock up the division title.
Steelers over Cowboys - this should be the best game of Sunday. Pittsburgh is riding high after destroying the Pats and the Cowboys are picking up after a mid-season slump with guys returning from injuries. The pick here is a bit of a toss-up, but the way the Steelers played last week and with this one being played in the Ketchup Bottle, I've got to go with Pittsburgh.
Patriots over Seahawks - New England is lucky to face a bad Seattle team to try to bounce back from that loss to the Steelers. They'll be in tougher than they might think though against the Seahawks at home. Hasselbeck is getting back into the groove and this one should at least be competitive.
Bucs over Panthers - Despite a 9-3 record, I still don't have a lot of faith in Carolina. I think that Tampa is just the better team here and I look for them to prove it and take a huge step towards the division title Monday night.
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