NFL Picks: Why the NFL is better than college football
Published 12:10 pm Thursday, December 23, 2010
I don’t talk about college football a lot on this blog and there’s a good reason why – it’s not a very relevant sport.
I’ll watch the Badgers or the occasional game, but it’s like watching an old TV show or a movie you’ve seen a couple times, there’s no real meaning in 99 percent of the games.
I’ve heard college football fans and ESPN pundits, who are paid to talk about college football, claim that it has the most exciting regular season in all of sports.
You know how many games had meaning in the last five weeks of the college football regular season this season? Ten.
Every game that Auburn and Oregon had some meaning because once a team from a major conference gets into the No. 1 or No. 2 spot in the second half of the season, it is pretty much guaranteed a trip to the title game, even if they end up losing a game down the stretch.
The rest of the games, especially for undefeated TCU, where basically exhibitions to see who gets to play in another exhibition (Bowl) game.
Wow, does that sound exciting!
Sure, I’ll watch and enjoy the Badgers in the Rose Bowl, but the Packers regular season game against the New York Giants means about three times more.
See in the NFL, you have a magical idea called a playoff, where the top teams battle it off in a do or die game that is loaded with excitement. The Packers are lucky enough (or unlucky if you’re a pessimist) to have two possible playoff games to close their regular season.
If Green Bay beats the Giants and Bears, they’re competing for a Super Bowl – if not they’re done for the year.
The same can be said for the Giants, who are also facing elimination.
That’s my two cents on why college football is an inferior sport.
Here are the picks:
Carolina at Pittsburgh
Pick: STEELERS
This is kind of like a walk-through for Pittsburgh. Play at half speed, don’t run any trick plays that another team may pick up on, and walk out healthy.
Dallas at Arizona
Pick: CARDINALS
Hard to believe both of these teams were in the playoffs last season.
Detroit at Miami
Pick: LIONS
Could the Lions win three-games in a row, with two of them on the road? I say yes and I say watch out Detroit in the next couple of years, they will be legitimate.
Baltimore at Cleveland
Pick: RAVENS
Ravens are fighting for the No. 2 seed, while the Browns are fighting for tickets to Hawaii after the season is done.
San Francisco at St. Louis
Pick: RAMS
Somebody has to win the worst division in recent memory and it might as well be the Rams.
New England at Buffalo
Pick: PATRIOTS
The Bills should keep it close, but the Pats are too complete and they get every break. What other team would have an offensive lineman make a 71-yard kickoff return right before the half when their team is down 10 points on national TV at home?
You can’t make that stuff up.
Washington at Jacksonville
Pick: JAGS
Still a little life in Jacksonville and they can still win the division after getting handled by the Colts.
New York Jets at Chicago
Pick: BEARS
Besides that loss to the Pats, the Bears are peaking at the right time. Their offense looked unstoppable against the lowly Vikes, but their biggest weapon is Devin Hester, who can always swing momentum in a heartbeat.
Tennessee at Kansas City
Pick: CHIEFS
Kansas City’s still got a good chance to make the playoffs.
Indianapolis at Oakland
Pick: RAIDERS
I think this game will be a shocker for the Colts. The Raiders run the ball as well as anybody and Indy’s always struggled against physical teams.
The Colts will also be without Austin Collie, who is one of Peyton Manning’s favorite targets, for the rest of the year.
San Diego at Cincinnati
Pick: CHARGERS
The sooner the Bengals season is over, the better for everyone involved.
Houston at Denver
Pick: BRONCOS
Tebow! It’s time to see if Tim Tebow can make it as an NFL quarterback. He had a solid opener last week and the Texans defense is about as bad as they come.
New York Giants at Green Bay
Pick: PACKERS
The Packers have played four of their last five games on the road and some home cooking good do some good. The Giants just blew a 21-point lead late in the fourth quarter to a division rival, and it’s going to be tough to get over that one.
One thing’s for sure is that Green Bay won’t likely get blown out, the 8-6 Packers haven’t lost a game by more than four points this season.
Seattle at Tampa Bay
Pick: TAMPA BAY
NFC West outside the division, nothing else to see.
Minnesota at Philadelphia
Pick: EAGLES
If Vikings’ fans thought last week’s blowout to the Bears was rough, this will even be worse. Welcome to the Mike Vick Show, and you know he’s going to be looking to impress voters for the MVP award on national TV.
New Orleans at Atlanta
Pick: NEW ORLEANS
The old champs are not going to go out quietly and just led the Falcons have the division. This should be a solid battle, but I see Drew Brees out-gunning the younger Matt Ryan.
Last week: 11-5