Handicapping by Liz

What can I say, we are now only 2 games away from the Super Bowl and unfortunately the end of another football season.

I am bringing back Moose the Greek this week to redeem himself for his picks last week. I have the greatest confidence that the Greek will come back strong this week. His picks will be before mine.

More PICKS from MOOSE the Greek

After my picks last week I had two choices. The first was to do a hand stand on the Menands bridge railing. The second was to try to pick the games this week. Well back in 1975 I did do a hand stand on the Menands bridge railing and it was pretty easy. So I decided to pick this week’s games, which is much harder. So here are my picks for the Championship games.

The early game Sunday has the Jets at the Colts. I think this is an easy pick. The Jets have been lucky so far. It runs out this week. Payton Manning will dance and pass. Wayne, Garcon, and Collie will sprint and catch. Freeney and Brock will tackle and sack. That will be the story. It won’t be pretty for Ryan’s gang green nation. Sanchez will feel the wrath of a very good Indy defense. So my pick for this game is….. The INDIANAPOLIS COLTS minus the 7½ to end the Jets over achieving season. Final score will be in the neighborhood of Colts 31 Jets 13

Onto the nightcap, and a tough game to pick. As much as I dislike Brett Favre and the Vikings they have played well. But that being said, I think from the start of the season it has been coming down to New Orleans vs. the Colts. I think Drew Brees and company will do what needs to be done. If the offensive line can keep Brees safe from the Vikings great pass rush, and I think they will, Drew will have his way with the Viking secondary. The Saints have too many weapons to handle and that will be the difference. Of course Favre will also throw two crucial interceptions and that will tie a bow around it for the Saints. So in game number two I like the NEW ORLEAN SAINTS minus the 3½ to send Favre and company home to Mama. The final will be around
Saints 38 Vikes 17

That’s it from the Greek this week. Thank You Liz for giving me a chance at redemption. If my picks go bad this week look for me on the Menands bridge.

This is MOOSE the Greek wishing you good football, good eats, cold beer, and a profitable weekend………..

Thanks Moose for your picks and now here are mine.

This weekend poses a lot of problems for me, as only once since 2003 has the point spread come into play in this round, either the underdog wins outright or the favorite wins and covers. You should also know that in the last 8 years in the conference finals the games have gone over the total in 12 of the 16 games.
Also I can’t remember the last time or even if it happened at all, the weather wasn’t an issue in the conference finals as both games will be played in domes.

In the AFC Championship game, the Indianapolis Colts are giving the New York Jets 7½ points, with the over/under number at 39. JETS, JETS, JETS that’s all we’ve heard this week and I for one think enough is enough, ya know the Colts are in this game too and believe it or not they do have the better team. The Colts have Peyton Manning, the Jets Mark Sanchez, to me this is where the game will decided. The Colts played a similar team last week in the Ravens. The Ravens had a strong running game, strong defense, but a weak passing game, sound a lot like the Jets?? The Colts shutdown the Ravens running game and forced Flacco to beat them, it didn’t happen last week and I believe it won’t happen this week as Sanchez is even more green than Flacco. I know the Jets are in this game mostly because the Colts let them win the game that they were leading at halftime in and now they face this same team, and the Jets think they can beat the Colts again. I’m not particularly fond of giving the Jets 7½ points but like I said the line very rarely comes into play so I am taking the Indianapolis Colts laying the points. And to my surprise the last 8 times these 2 teams have met they topped 39 points 7 times, and they scored 38 in the other game, so I am going with the over 39 as the stronger play in this game. I’m looking at a 28-14 game.

In the NFC Championship game, the New Orleans Saints are giving the Minnesota Vikings 3½ points with the over/under number at 52½. This is the way the season should have come down, the top 2 teams in the conference playing for a right to go to the Super Bowl. I must admit this is a very hard game for me to pick as I would not have a problem with either team winning this game. I am not a disbeliever in Brett Favre as my counterpart Moose is so I am going to go against my friend and pick the Vikings to upset the Saints in New Orleans and I do have a few reasons. Minnesota has won and covered the past 4 meetings between these 2 teams and 3 of those games were played in New Orleans, also 3 of those games went over the 52½ total. Favre is definitely the more experienced QB and the Vikings pass rush is the best in the league, so if they can get to Brees and disrupt his rhythm, the Vikings could win this game, but I do see this game staying within the 3½ points. I also like the over 52½ once again as the stronger play. Take the Minnesota Vikings and the over.
I’m looking at a Minnesota 31-28 game.

Once again I want to thank Moose the Greek for his giving us his picks. I hope we’ve given our readers good stats and opinions on these games, and everyone wins some money this weekend.

As always bet with your head not over it : )