I don't know about you, but at the end of the NFL Playoffs I always seem to find myself looking back to Championship Weekend and thinking "That was the most enjoyable day of the entire season." The playoff system just has a way of leading to two very interesting matchups between four very good teams, the NCAA should take notice.
This is the final day of football for two weeks(!), so enjoy them as much as you can. Although my playoff picks have so far proven to be worthless, or maybe negative worth, here we go again.
Packers at Bears: I've been rooting for the Packers since Week 15, because that is roughly when their playoff started. They needed to win each of their last 3 games to make the playoffs and did exactly that. They are a team, very much like the Chargers, that can beat you in a number of ways. The difference is that they have a few guys on their team, and specifically their defense, that seem to make big plays every game to swing things in their favor. Tramon WIlliams is the new Nnamdi Asomugha.
The Bears defense is just as good, if not better. The problem is that in these championship games it often comes down to which team has the better QB, and Jay Cutler isn't even in Aaron Rodgers rear-view mirror because he's so far back.
John's Pick: Packers
Jets at Steelers: You know this game is going to come down to a late FG probably heading in the direction of the open side of Heinz Field where nobody can make the ball go straight. Neither team has a particularly good kicker.
This is an interesting matchup because it's the "Experienced, but flawed" team versus the "Not experienced (and that might be a good thing), but flawed" team. I could definitely see the Jets pulling off another upset, but my gut reaction to this game is that Mark Sanchez is going to play terrible against Dick LeBeau's defense.
John's Pick: Steeelers
Enjoy the games, everybody. Use the comments below as your open thread. I'll be back tomorrow to wrap things up and get started with Kevin Acee Day.
ENJOY WITH ABSOLUT RESPONSIBILITY®