Well, that went bad in a hurry. Looking at nothing but the scores, it would appear I at least came close to having a weekly-betswinning week, but in reality that’s not true. Kansas City’s five minute drive while down two scores at the end of the Patriots game ensured I had no chance at covering that spread. The Seahawks money line bet only missed by a TD, but Seattle was down 31 at half – there was no point after the first 15 minutes where I felt I would win that one.

Even my draw – the over/under push on the Steelers/Broncos game – did nothing more than show how freakishly good the NFL is at setting point spreads and over/under numbers.

So after a couple good weeks put me ahead for the year, I’m now substantially down again – though still not as bad as Tony, who remains at least temporarily in pretend hiding for his substantially brutal results during the season.

  Starting $$ Division wk rec Division wk $$ Playoff record Current $$
Andy $11,472 0-3-1 – $5,000 2-5-1 $6,472

So what to do in the championship games … as mentioned in picks, I initially felt like the public’s general perception was spot on: New England is too good for Denver and Carolina is on too much of a roll for Arizona.

Then I heard some analysis from Trent Dilfer, among others, and now I have no idea what to expect. I’m pulling for upsets – I’d like to either see Larry Fitzgerald get a ring or see Peyton Manning go out on top… please, Peyton, for the love of God, please retire. You look like you’re throwing a shot put even on a 10-15 yard throw.

But I digress, here are my bets for Sunday:

$2,000 – New England at Denver: Under 44.5 (-110) – Trent Dilfer says the Denver defense should be more able than most to control New England’s passing game. He indicates that this is the type of game in which the Patriots’ inability to establish a run game could hurt them. Perhaps. But Manning is going to struggle to get much going too. I don’t think Denver can get far into the 20s. I think they will have to hold the Patriots in that realm to win. So … low-scoring game.

$2,000 – Arizona at Carolina: Over 47 (-105) – I concede, I have no idea what to expect on the point spreads this week. I do think both of these teams will be able to score on each other. Cam Newton and Carson Palmer are the league MVP and the runner-up this season. Both defenses are good, but neither QB will be held in check.