Gutless. Embarrassing. Heartless. Lane Kiffin-esque. Shameful. That about sums up last weekend. Not only were we privy to three awful games before Arizona and Green Bay salvaged the weekend, but my picks started off with a solid 0-4 record. Luckily for me, Scott only managed a 1-3 record so I'm clearly still in this. Then again, I could just go the route of the Lions and run the table backwards this postseason. Don't rule it out just yet.

Before we get to this week's previews and picks; here is a quick word or two on the teams that will no longer be joining us in the quest for the Super Bowl.

After starting out 7-2 this season, the Bengals finished 3-4 in the regular season, and then capped it off by completely rolling over to the Jets twice within one week. I realize they have suffered through two tragedies this season, but this tailspin started long before the last two weeks. In their final three wins of the season, Cincinnati defeated Cleveland, Detroit, and Kansas City. So as you can see, there is a valid argument to be made that they could've easily lost their last seven games had they played anybody worthwhile.

After being in the driver's seat and on their way to the NFC East crown, the Eagles completely fell apart and were outscored 58-14 by the Cowboys in two straight weeks. Six straight victories towards the end of the season are now completely meaningless as the Eagles are once again watching the playoffs at home and debating the future of Donovan McNabb. Personally, I see no way that he is let go. Two good games by Kevin Kolb can't justify ending the McNabb era just yet. However, Michael Vick is another story. I don't see any way possible that the Eagles can justify hanging on to him and paying him what his second year option is worth.

I'm not sure where to start with New England. They clearly weren't the same team from the beginning of the season; where they needed the Bills to just completely give away the game to manage a one point victory over a team that they always dominate. Still, I was part of the majority that thought Tom Brady just needed to get back into the swing of things and the Patriots would be a top AFC team again. Obviously, I was wrong. The turning point of their season had to be the game at Indianapolis. I defended Bill Belichick's decision to go for it on fourth and two, and while I will still defend that call, it was a game changing and ultimately a season changing decision gone wrong.

After that game, New England managed three unimpressive wins against Carolina, Buffalo, and Jacksonville before being booed off the field this past Sunday in Foxboro. If there is one person that personified the lifelessness the Patriots displayed on Sunday, it is Randy Moss. He was awful in every sense of the word. Even after catching a ball, you could tell he was either going to go down quickly or run out of bounds before anybody could touch him. He looked about as interested in this game as I would look at a live taping of "The View".

Green Bay…oh Green Bay. I was genuinely rooting for the Packers on Sunday. I have nothing personal against Arizona, in fact I'm a big fan of Larry Fitzgerald, but I really wanted to see Green Bay pull it out. To me, they remind me a little bit of Buffalo. It's a small town that cares deeply for their football team and usually deserves better than what they get. Plus it would've been great to see them take Brett Favre down in the playoffs and get ultimate revenge.

While I'm not going to make any excuses for the Packers, I do want to point out that the referees were horrendous more than once in Sunday's game. On a 3^rd quarter touchdown to Fitzgerald, the Packers were also flagged for roughing the passer. Looking back on the play, Cullen Jenkins looked to be held or even pushed into Warner, and it definitely didn't warrant a penalty. On top of that, Fitzgerald completely plowed over Charles Woodson, and received no penalty for offensive pass interference. Then on the first drive of overtime, the Packers were flagged for holding, meanwhile the Cardinals clearly went helmet to helmet on Aaron Rodgers and no flag was thrown. Finally, on the game winning turnover, Rodgers nearly had his head twisted off and there was no facemasking penalty. I have no idea if that changes the game, but those were three pretty big misfires by the officials.

Through all that, once Packers fans lick their wounds and are ready for football next season, they should be especially excited. Aaron Rodgers is the real deal and they have themselves a QB who is going to be great for a long time. I can clearly see why the Packers organization had zero interest in bringing Favre back after his first retirement and stuck with Rodgers. As a Bills fan, I'm jealous.

And with that, let's get to this week's games.



Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings (1:00PM EST, FOX)

Last week we saw the Cowboys finally get that playoff monkey off their back as they thrashed Philadelphia for a second consecutive week. That now makes a four game winning streak for Dallas in which they've outscored their opponents 99-31. I think it's safe to say that Wade Phillips will still have his job in Dallas after this season is over.

Tony Romo also played very well in an important game, something he's had trouble doing in his career. He finished the game 23 for 35, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a QB rating of 104.9. Romo was well supported with a great running game that contributed 198 yards of offense Saturday night. Miles Austin also continued to cement himself as the number one receiver in Dallas as he led the team in targets, receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns.

However, the real key to victory was the play by their defense. Donovan McNabb was consistently harassed and didn't have nearly enough time to operate the offense. Demarcus Ware had another great game as he chipped in two more sacks to his ever growing career total. The defense had four sacks total, but the stats don't always tell the whole story. The Eagles offensive line was overwhelmed for the majority of the game and it was definitely a glaring issue. Good thing they spent so much money on Jason Peters. But hey, he did make the Pro Bowl again.

The Vikings clinched the second seed and had a chance at the number one seed until Brett Favre decided to be Brett Favre. By that I mean Minnesota took a 10-1 record and proceeded to finish 12-4. While that is a good record, I wouldn't be filled with confidence in a team that lost three out of their last five games to round out the season, especially when you factor in Favre's recent late season play. But I digress. This preview isn't all about the Wrangler God, much to his dismay.

As it was shown in all four losses for Minnesota, the key to beating the Vikings is putting an insane amount of pressure on Favre and forcing him into bad throwing situations. As you read above, this appears to be a specialty for Dallas. In other words, I like how this matches up for the Cowboys. Not to be outdone, Minnesota has a pretty solid defense themselves. They are led by Jared Allen, who finished the season with 14.5 sacks, which was second in the NFL. Antoine Winfield has also been great at cornerback for Minnesota, although injuries as of late have really slowed him down. He is definitely one of the best in the league at stopping the run, but his health will be a huge factor. I fully expect Tony Romo to test him a few times early.

One huge advantage for Minnesota might actually be the fact that they are hosting this game. I don't usually put a ton of stock in home field advantage but it appears to be a real force for Minnesota as they went 8-0 this year in home games. Then again, Minnesota had an extremely difficult time selling out their playoff game last year, so there is a very good chance that Cowboys fans will be flooding the dome this Sunday.

I like Dallas in this game and I hate myself for it. As much as I dislike the Cowboys franchise for past misdeeds, there is no way in my current lifetime that I will ever root for Brett Favre. But all bias aside, I really think Dallas is the better team. We've seen it time and time again, the playoffs don't always represent a season's worth of work and it's more about who is hot at the current moment. The Cowboys are easily the hottest team in the NFC and they are rolling into Minnesota right now. After seeing how they harassed Donovan McNabb all game, I expect more of the same this week against Favre.

My Pick: Dallas (+3) over Minnesota



NY Jets at San Diego Chargers (4:40PM EST, CBS)

I should've known better than to trust the Bengals, who haven't won a playoff game since 1990, to beat the Jets this past Saturday. Even in today's pass happy NFL; the Jets led the league in team rushing and team defense, two of the most important factors in picking a game. Still, I didn't want to trust the Sanchize (or is it Sanchise?) in the playoffs. As I stated before, I was very wrong last week. Sanchez did exactly what he had to do, which is to not lose the game. He was very efficient, going 12 of 15 for 182 yards, and one touchdown. More importantly, the Jets as a team committed zero turnovers.

In my mind, the biggest disappointment was Thomas Jones, who managed only 34 yards on 15 carries. Does this disappointment have anything to do with him being on my Playoff Challenge roster last week? Yes, yes it does. Luckily for him and the Jets, rookie Shonn Greene picked up the slack, rushing for 135 yards on 21 carries. The Jets defense was very effective in shutting down the Bengals passing game, but Cedric Benson still managed 169 yards and one touchdown. In the battle between Chad Ochocinco and Darrelle Revis, Revis won yet again. Although I suppose for the Bengals fans, you could say Ochocinco won since he caught two passes for 28 yards, while Revis only managed one catch for 20 yards.

This week won't be nearly as easy for Rex Ryan's crew though. They now get to face the hottest team in football, and in my opinion, the best team in the AFC. After starting the season with an unimpressive 2-3 start, the Chargers reeled off 11 straight victories and cruised to the second seed in the AFC. Phillip Rivers is sometimes forgotten by the common fan because his draft class has already produced three Super Bowl victories to his zero, but I would easily rank him as the best QB from the 2004 draft. Then again, J.P. Losman's UFL championship might have me reconsidering that thought.

Rivers finished this season with 28 touchdowns and only nine interceptions, good for a solid 104.4 QB rating, which was third in the NFL this regular season. The weakest link for San Diego this season was their usually dominant running game. LaDainian Tomlinson never looked like his old self and only mustered 730 yards on the season. Of course, I'm sure most fantasy players are aware of this after Tomlinson was taken in the first round of most drafts. Suckers.

San Diego's defense never seemed like anything special this season, as they finished with the 16^th overall defense. In comparison, the Bills were 19^th and finished 6-10. Their run defense was 20^th in the NFL and allowed an average of 117.6 yards per game. If you're a Chargers fan and you're reading this, it should be alarming. I'm not a coach, but if I were working on San Diego's staff, I would be game planning to just stack the line and make Sanchez beat me. I know he had a decent game against Cincinnati, but his track record still isn't all that great and his numbers won't be nearly as good if the game is put on his shoulders and he can't lean on his running backs to pick up the slack.

All week I've been listening to people say how this is the perfect matchup for the Jets and the worst possible matchup for the Chargers. Basically, everyone is preparing for an upset or at the very least, an extremely close game. Well you know what? It isn't happening. San Diego has been too good down the stretch and this is the year they are going to finally break through and take the AFC.

My Pick: San Diego (-8) over NY Jets



Saturday's Games:

Arizona (+7) over New Orleans

Baltimore (+7) over Indianapolis