CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY

Four teams, two games, a trip to the Super Bowl and Sun Life Stadium is on the line. For two teams, their Sunday will be akin to the week the SAO just suffered through. For two teams, the chance at an elusive championship.

The problem for us today is that as a fan, the two teams we want to win are not the two teams you should be betting on if you want to make some scratch and score a SB seat.

First up...

J.E.T.S...JETS JETS JETS vs. Peyton Manning.

In almost every phase of the game these surprising Jets are the better team. The Jets have a better defense, a better running game (the Mannings have the second to worst running game in the league) and are an overall better rounded team. That being said, Peyton Manning is an unprecedented game changer. If there's one player in the remaining four teams who can carry his team all by himself to victory, it's PM.

The Colts are a TD favorite at home and if you want to bet, bet the Colts.

For us, because we are fans of Rex Ryan and because we like nothing better than a punishing running game and a hard hitting defense, we're going to call 52nd Street Irwin who helps set the line at Caesars and tell him to take 200 units from our account and put it in the Jets to win at +120 ( we win 120 for every 100 bet, no points taken). Just for fun. Because as we're eating our chicken wings and drinking our beer today in front of our new 60 inch flat screen, we want to be able to root for the team we have a few Ryans on.

Favre versus The Saints.

The Saints are 3.5 favourites at home over the Minnesota Favres. This is a great line. Jump on the Saints. They seem unstoppable. Put 2000 Brees on it and get yourself a Super Bowl Ticket. For us however, we want to see Favre in the big show one last time. We want to see him connect with Percy Harvin in the 4th Quarter down by 13, and then come back and hit Rice on a 4th and 20 for the winning TD. So we're eschewing the points on this one as well, calling 52nd Street Irwin and telling him to take another 200 units and put them on Favre at +120, just because when we're eating our Pizza and breadsticks tonight, with an Argentinian Cab, we want to be able to root for the team we have a few Harvins on.

For some reason we always gain a few pounds in January. Must be the weather.

PLAYOFF SUNDAY

UPDATE: 33-3 Vikes. I just can't even tell you the money I have made in the last decade betting against the cowpokes in the playoffs! It's like printing money!! Now as to game two, I stand by my pick but must tell you I find myself rooting for the Jets because I like their coach.

UPDATE: Favre to Rice for their second TD hookup today. In the second quarter it' Vikings 14-cowpokes 3. OK-everybody now: "Goodbye Phillips, Goodbye Romo, Goodbye Phillips, your coaching is Vanilla."

Two more big games round out this playoff weekend. 1-1 yesterday and as the alert commentators were quick to point out, a price is paid for betting against Peyton Manning.

The evening matchup is the J....E....T....S against the San Diego Chargers.

We've said before that the Jets are built for the playoffs, but the train ride ends here. The Jets backed into the playoffs by being lucky enough to play their last two games against two teams that had locked up playoff spots and didn't need to win and rested their starters. We give the Jets credit for taking it right back to the hapless Bengals last week, but remember...they're the Bungles....err....Bengals. Enough said.

While we don't like the Chargers Coach, this team has too much firepower to lose. There is only so far a rookie QB can take a playoff team, and while the Ravens Flacco took his team last year to the Championship game as a rookie, this Jets team is not the Ravens. True they are built in the image of the Ravens (by the Ravens former Defensive Coordinator) but they just fall a bit short this year in talent. The Chargers are favoured by 8 and we think they'll cover. Chargers -8 +2500.

(update: winner winner chicken dinner. Vikes 33-3).

Cowpokes at Minnesotta. One win last week and half the commentators on sports talk radio are calling the Cowpokes the best team in the playoffs. Are you kidding me? This is prime cowpoke swoon time. This is the time the cowpokes step up to the plate and take a mighty swing...and whiff. The Vikings bring the best runner in the game (Peterson) the NFC offensive rookie of the year (Percy Harvin) and some hack at QB named Favre. The cowpokes counter with one of the worst coaches in the league- Vanilla Phillips. We're not sure anyone is getting past the Saints next week, but we sure will love to watch the cowpokes implode again this January. It just gives us so much enjoyment.

Vikings -3 +1000.

DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF WEEKEND

4 Big games this weekend, and two on Saturday starting with..... some fun facts:

Cardinals at Saints. Fun fact: Kurt Warner has never...repeat NEVER lost in the Superdome. He's 8-0.

Fun Fact: The Saints limped into the Playoffs losing three in a row.

Fun Fact: No team ever losing three in a row to end the regular season has ever won a playoff game.

We keep under estimating these Cardinals, and this goes back to last year in the playoffs when the Cardinals were about two minutes away from being world champs.

We're gonna keep on doing that. The Saints are 7 point home favourites. These are not your Father's New Orleans Saints. These guys are the real deal, and New Orleans has been waiting for this for a long long time. The Packers lit up the Cardinals defense last week, and the Saints have a better offense than the Pack. It won't be pretty for Cardinal fans today. Saints -7 +1000.

Ravens at Colts. Fun fact: Peyton Manning is 0-3 coming off a bye week into the playoffs.

Fun fact: The Ravens have won six playoff road games since 2000, the most in the NFL.

The Ravens are built to win in January, with the best running game of all the teams left, and a punishing defense. For those of us who closely follow professional football, the Ravens/Steelers AFC Championship game last January was perhaps the most violent football game played in the last 30 years. These Ravens are tough, and they can hit, and while Peyton Manning may be the best who's ever played QB, we'd take Ed Reed and Ray Lewis over Peyton when building a team any time.

The Colt's record this year is deceiving- Since November here are some of the margins of victories in Colt games: 4 (over SF); 3(over Houston) 1 (over NE) ; 2 (over the Ravens on 11/22); 4 (over Jax).

The point is that despite being the number one seed in the AFC, the Colts were just squeaking by. No more. Ray Lewis and Ed Reed and Ray Rice put an end to the Colt's super bowl dreams. The Ravens win 21-17. Take the points and back up the Brinks truck: Ravens +7 2500.