Divisional Matchups for Sunday

From the overwhelming number of responses to yesterdays posting (that would be zero as of 9:17 AM MST), I feel confident that nobody risked their life savings on the Patriots game yesterday. For that I am glad. There is another explanation of your silence, of course, and that is you saved just enough money for a plane ticket and a high powered rifle and are on your way to Arizona to take care of bi-ness. I only can hope for the prior explanation.
For those of you who are Patriot fans out there, it has been a nice run for your team, and I don't believe that you are done yet. Injuries caught up to you this year, and it is a whole hell of a lot harder playing without a week off on the road than it is to host a second round game with a week off (as you have done all three years that you won the damn thing). I wouldn't count these guys out next year, but hats off to Denver for being the recipient of five turnovers and completing two one-yard drives. Well done boys, well done. Good luck next week.
Now onto the important things, today's picks. I know that there are literally thousands of you who comprise the silent masses who are living and/or dying for these picks, so to that end, I will make today's posting as brief as I know how.

Steelers at Colts -9 1/2
Here we go again with a huge number at 9 1/2 points. This is the playoffs and these teams are going to be chippy to say the least. The Steelers have been playing the best football in the AFC down the stretch and have been basically playing playoff football since December 1st after they lost three games in a row to Baltimore, Indianapolis and Cincinnati. Pittsburgh is a balanced power running team, and they have a strong leader in Ben Roethlisberger. They realize what they are up against going into Indianapolis because they dealt with the noise and rowdy crowd on that Monday night game two months ago. What favors Pittsburgh is that they are healthy this time around (strange for this time of the season), whereas last time around, Big Ben was coming off of a bad knee injury and was far from 100%. They were also embarassed the last time these two teams met and will want to exact some form of payback on the Colts.
The Colts, on the other hand have been coasting to this game for the last five weeks. They clinched the #1 seed througout the playoffs after week 14 when they were 13-0. They laid an egg the following week when San Diego was playing for their playoff lives and beat them in the dome. The next week, with most of their starters playing two series and then resting, they lost to Seattle as the Seahawks clinched the #1 NFC seed. Their second and third stringers were able to still put away the pathetic Cardinals in a close finishing game two weeks ago and they sat at home watching the first round of the playoffs last week.
So there is a good chance that the Colts come out a little rusty at the start of this game. The Colts game is predicated on timing and precision, which they have not had to work on in game conditions for five weeks. The things working in the Colts favor are pretty impressive.

1. They are rested, fresh and healthy. You can't really overstate the importance of this fact
2. They are far and away the most talented team in the NFL
3. They have something to prove (Manning needs to win the big game)
4. They have a coach they love who just lost his son and are going to do everything they can to win for him
5. They have a huge home field advantage--noise is insane in the RCA dome
6. They can beat you in any kind of game--shootout, pound it out, defensive struggle
7. Manning is the best player in the NFL, period

The only chance that Pittsburgh has in this game is to take it to Indy early and get a 10 point or more lead in the first quarter. They then have to slow the game down and keep Indy's offense off the field and keep Manning from getting into a rhythm. If they let Indy work their way into this game and don't take advantage of some potential early rust, they are going to get blown out. Indy has all of the weapons in the world and you can't take all of them away. They have also had two weeks to prepare for this game (really five) and will have an outstanding game plan ready to go. Pittsburgh must play a perfect game to win--cause three or more turnovers and not turn the ball over themselves. Unfortunately for the Steelers fans out there, I am yet to see a perfect game. I believe that Indy will shake off whatever rust they may have after the first collision on the first offensive play. It will be a physical game, but Indy will blow this thing open by the third quarter and Pittsburgh is not able to play from behind against this caliber of opponent. Indianapolis 34 - Pittsburgh 13

Panthers at Bears -3

If you have any money left after yesterday evening's gift wrapped win for the Broncos, here is your opportunity to get your cash back. The world is in love with the Chicago Bears Defense. Absolutely enamored with what they have accomplished this year. The monsters of the Midway are back, this team is better than the 85 Bears D, blah, blah, blah. The 85 Bears D gave up a total of less than 10 points for the entire playoffs on their way to thrashing the Patriots in Superbown XX. This Bears defense finished second in the league this year (to Your Tampa Bay Buccaneers by the way), so the comparisons don't even make sense. The theory that a warm weather team (Charlotte is hardly warm weather this time of year) can't win in the cold doesn't apply today as temperatures for gametime will be in the 50s.

The Bears are starting a QB who has a total of 8 games of NFL experience--8 games! This guy is going against one of the most opportunistic defenses in the league, and I expect the Carolina D to score more than the Bears Offense. Jake Delhomme, DeShaun Foster and Steve Smith have travelled down this path before and are probably the best overall team in the NFC (talent wise). They have been a Jekyll and Hyde act this season and rarely do what you would expect (losing in Tampa, losing to the Cowboys, losing their opener to New Orleans), but this is the playoffs and this team can suffocate you. Ask the Giants if the Panthers were ready to come and play last week at the Meadowlands. Expect more of the same today. You can't win if you can't score and I believe that the overrated and overmatched Bears D will get a lesson in smash-mouth football today. Carolina 16 - Chicago 3