The NFL regular season wrapped up on Sunday and so did our pick competition. Week 17 saw Schaumburg Stu, Mr. Fantasy and I all go 10-6 for the week. Dan the Man was 8-8. For the regular season I won with a record of 158-97. Mr. Fantasy was able to come all the way back and tie Dan the Man for 2nd place at 147-108. Sadly it was Schaumburg Stu who ended the regular season in the cellar at 145-110. As we move into the playoffs we’ll wipe the slate clean and see how our playoff picks go.
The last game of the NFL regular season featured the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers. The winner of the game would take 1st place in the NFC North while the other would get a wild card spot and be seeded #5. Minnesota won the game 20-13 and will get to host a playoff game. The Packers as a wild card team will go on the road to play the Washington Redskins. The Vikings get to host the other wild card team the Seattle Seahawks. Looking at this did the Packers get the better end of the scheduling? Even though they have to go on the road. The Redskins did win their division, but we’re talking about the NFC East which may have been the worst division in football. For winning there division the Vikings get to play the team that has represented the NFC in the last 2 Super Bowls. In Week 13 the Seahawks went into Minnesota and beat the Vikings 38-7. Now I am in the camp that you should get something for winning your division; even if it’s a bad decision. The Redskins did go 9-7 on the season and where 6-2 at home; so maybe the match ups aren’t as one sided as they seem. If you’re a Vikings fan; who would you rather play this Sunday the Seahawks or the Redskins? These 2 NFC games will be played on Sunday with the Seahawks/Vikings game kicking off at Noon and the Packers/Redskins game scheduled to start around 3:40 p.m.
It’s the AFC who gets to get the wild card weekend started on Saturday. The Kansas City Chiefs are at the Houston Texans to get things started. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:20 p.m. Kansas City is the hottest tam in the NFL entering the playoffs. Kansas City started the season 1-5 and I had cast them off. The Chiefs then proceeded to win their next 10 games to finish 11-5 and grab #5 seed in the AFC. The Saturday night wild card game features a AFC North match up as the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Cincinnati Bengals. In Week 8 the Bengals went into Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers 16-10. Then in Week 14 the Steelers returned the favor by going into Cincinnati and beating the Bengals 33-20. Even though the game is in Houston the Chiefs opened as a 3 point favorite. Kansas City isn’t the only team coming into this game on a winning streak. While it’s not as long as the Chiefs winning streak Houston did win their last 3 games to close out the regular season and win the AFC South. The deciding factor in the Steelers/Bengals game might be which injured players make there return for the game. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton had the cast removed from his thumb yesterday, but Cincinnati is still saying they’re preparing like A.J. McCarron will be the starter. For Pittsburgh DeAngelo Williams exited Sunday’s game with an ankle injury. Williams was due to have an MRI on that ankle, but the results haven’t been released and his status is unknown. Now Dalton has struggled in the playoffs; do you think it would be better for Cincinnati to stick with McCarron? Dalton could be rusty since he hasn’t played since Week 14 loss to the Steelers. Cincinnati started off as just a 1 point favorite for the game.
In the Saturday blog I’ll reveal our picks for the Saturday games. Well I should say I’ll let you know who Schaumburg Stu, Dan the Man and I are picking in these games. If Mr. Fantasy gets me his picks for Saturday in time for the blog I’ll include them.
Today they’ll announce the new members to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. It appears as Ken Griffey Jr. is the only lock t get in. Mike Piazza is the top returning player on the ballot. Piazza got 69.9% of the vote last year. You need 75% of the vote to get into the Hall of Fame. There are a couple other players still on the ballot who might get in or closer to getting in this time around. Jeff Bagwell had 55.7% of the vote last time and Tim Raines was at 55% last year. It’s Alan Trammell and Mark McGuire, but it doesn’t look like either will get to that 75% mark. Trammell was at 25.1% last year and McGuire was at 10% last year. In their first year on the ballot Jim Edmonds, Trevor Hoffman and Billy Wagner should get quite a few votes, but I don;t think any of them will get enough to get in on the first try. Of course the big question when it comes to the Hall of Fame ballot is what about Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Bonds received 36.8% of the vote last year while Clemens got 37.5 % of the vote. With the changes that have been made to who if doing the Hall of fame voting now it will be interesting to see if Bonds and Clemens pick up some more support. There were 100 voters remove this year. The where voters who haven’t covered baseball in over 10 years. At least I believe that’s what I heard. You would think as the voters become younger Bonds and Clemens will find more support and may find there way into the Hall of Fame. I’m still in the camp of I don;t think they belong in the Hall of Fame or if they do go in there should be an asterisk or something that explains what they did or accused of doing. They where both great players and you have to wonder why they choose to go the route they did. Would you put Bonds and Clemens in the Hall of Fame?
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