Wild Card Weekend 06

You thought I was going to forget, didn't you?

Nope, not going to forget, not going to do it.

Yup, the football playoffs are upon us once again and between nenie.net still being dead and work being RECOCKULOUS this week (gonna have to go in this weekend and do some stuff. Yay unpaid overtime) I didn't manage to get around to making my picks until right now. Nena and her friend are downstairs watching that chick flick with Jennifer Gardner where she grows up overnight. And while I would love to see it, I have football to talk.

OK, Wild Card Weekend. Which really is a prelude to DA BERRS playing next weekend. But I'm getting ahead of myself. So here, for the third year in a row, are my NFL Wildcard Weekend picks.

Wild Card Weekend

Washington@Bucs
Bucs
Don't get me wrong. The indigenous fighting men of the Potomac have come to play late this season. And I did have Brunell playing for my Fighting Vonies for a while. But, well. I need the Bucs to win this game. I need the Bucs to win and set up a showdown between two old NFC Central rivals next week at Soldier Field.

That, and NO ONE goes into Tampa on Wild Card Weekend and walks out with a win. Especially not this Washington squad.

Jaguars@Patriots
Patriots
Yeah, people have been getting off the Pats bandwagon all season. And while I'm not necessarily on it, I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid either. The Patriots don't lose at home on Wild Card Weekend. Not this version of the Patriots.

Yes, the Jags' D is hardcore. But they're Crash Holly to Tom Brady's Sabu.

Plus, I need the Pats go move on to make my BERRS fantasy come true. (yes, it's all about DA BERRS. What? You didn't get the memo?)

Panthers@Giants
Panthers
I need an upset, and this is it. I don't think Manning is ready yet. Is he really good? Yes. Is he amazing yet? No. And amazing is what they're going to need to get this one done. Well, that or some seriously cold weather. But I think good old Southern boy Manning might freeze up in true G-Men weather.

Plus, I need the Panthers to win to allow the Bucs to travel to Soldier Field next week.

Steelers@Bengals
Steelers
I regret making this pick already. This is the pick that will make this year look more like my 1-3 performance from 2005 than my 4-0 performance from 2004. But I have my reasons.

1) Almejor would eat me alive if I picked Cincinnati
2) CK has taught me to hate Ohio
3) Big Ben has been here before, he knows how to rock the funky joint (he's on point)
4) The Bengals were hot at the beginning of the season and have cooled off a bit. The Steelers were cool at the beginning and have heated up at the end. Simply put, they're peaking at the right time. They dismantled DA BERRS a few weeks ago and that game (one of the three BERRS games I saw this season) showed me not just something. It showed me a LOT.

There we go. Them be the picks. Thoughts? Picks of your own?