An omen of things to come?...and Football Fever

Mark was almost exactly on the same page as TGS on the Rose Bowl prediction. We also had SC by 12, 45-33. Though worth noting that if Austin is indeed a blue island in a sea of red in Texas, L.A. (and especially the area around the SC campus, with bloods and crips next door and the tribesmen just a few miles to the west; Ariel Sharon and the Rev run stronger in the immediate vicinity than George W) is merely varying shades of blue in the blue-est hued state west of Massachusetts!

Though I will shed no tears if the Longhorns end this SC madness.

NFL-wise (and we have been wrong at TGS many times), but here goes...

NFC: We took the Skins, 19-16, and the Pan-thas, 27-24, this weekend. Both road underdogs. This might qualify me for an insane asylum, but I actually believe Carolina and Washington could end up meeting in the NFC title game. Still not sold on Seattle's superiority, and we know of the Bears' shortcomings. Giants have been depleted on their defense, and Bucs occasionally suffer from the yips. With a young QB like Simms, whose inexperience caused Bucs to scale back offense late in the season (though it worked fairly well), it's a recipe for a quick postseason exit. I would fear both the Panthers and Redskins in the NFC. I'm sure 5 and 6 seeds have never met in a conference title game, and don't think a wild card team has ever hosted a game after the first round. Maybe this year?

AFC: We took the Pats, 23-10, and men of Steel, 24-16. Jags had a fine year, but if they bring Leftwich back this week, he could be very rusty, and I don't trust David Garrard to lead a playoff win on the road in January. Fred Taylor is also hurting. Pats seemed to get back in the groove in December, the defense is mostly healthy again, and they are a proven playoff commodity. Next week they go down in Denver. That is, as long as Steelers win (if Cincy wins, then Bengals will visit Broncos). Teams with the most-pronounced flaws are usually exposed earliest in the postseason, and Bengal defense has been exposed fore and aft, and Big Ben (even when less than 100% healthy) completed 69% of his throws vs. Cincy. Carson Palmer's strained groin is a concern for Bengals, and Cincy was really backing up the past few weeks (though it was kind of an aborted game at KC yesterday). I almost like the Steelers more on the road than I do at home.

Like I said, however, we've been wrong lots of times before.

Let's tee 'em up!!!...