NFL Playoff Picks: Predictions, Analysis and ATS Picks for Every Wild Card Game

NFL Picks Record for the 2011 Regular Season

Straight Up:  176-80 (69 percent correct)

Against the Spread:  148-108 (58 percent correct)

Over/Under:  130-126 (51 percent correct)

For the fourth straight season, I beat the experts!

1) Closest CBSSports.com Expert—Clark Judge at 170 wins

2) Closest Inside the NFL Expert—Cris Collinsworth at 169 wins (you have to log in to see the record but the website is beattheinsiders.com)

3) Closest ESPN.com Human Experts—Mark Schlereth and Seth Wickersham at 167 wins each

4) I beat the computers!—Accuscore at 174 wins and Pick ‘Em at 172 wins.

I can hear you now: “But what have you done for me lately?”

Fair question. Read on for every NFL pick for Wild Card Weekend.

Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans

4:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday

Straight Up: Cincinnati

Against the Spread: Cincinnati +3

Over/Under: Over 38.5 But this one is way too close to depend on.

Talk about a tale of two teams!

We didn’t expect much from the “rebuilding” Bengals in 2011. QB and last good WR jettisoned, chronically under-performing defense, unpredictable offensive line. If you say that you saw the Andy Dalton/A.J. Green era beginning this way—you’re either lying or shouldn’t be wasting your time with football. You should head straight for Wall Street.

Meanwhile the Texans had a “Playoffs or Bust” mentality. If this team couldn’t get over the hump, sweeping changes in personnel were to be expected.

They had two great strokes of luck immediately: Wade Phillips was available and agreed to become the defensive coordinator and Peyton Manning didn’t play this season.

Unfortunately, that was the last good luck Houston has had as injuries have made their team look like one of those folded-up paper cutout things you make when you’re a kid: Full of holes.

Can a team best described as “upstarts” triumph over a beat-up divisional champion? On the road?

Weather: Cloudy with highs in the 60s and 70s. The Bengals might be a bit hot out there on the field. Look to see if Houston forces Cincy to wear dark jerseys. Otherwise, no advantage.

Injuries:

Texans—There are 12 players on the injury report I saw. Seven of them are on IR. CB Sherrick McManis has an ankle injury that has sidelined him for a month. He is questionable, along with Guard Michael Brisiel. Brisiel had surgery three weeks ago on a broken fibula. Officially questionable, but—come on!

QB T.J. Yates (I just saw that the T.J. stands for Taylor Jonathan by the way) has a sore shoulder. All-World WR Andre Johnson’s hamstring is healed enough that he is probable and the word is he will be used sparingly to see how he does.

Bengals—They have five players out for sure. The most notable continues to be CB Leon Hall. This starter has been gone since Thanksgiving, but it’s still a hole in the secondary.

Of more immediate concern to the Cincy fans is Andy Dalton’s flu. The rookie QB was hospitalized for a day this week. The company line is that it was a 24-hour thing and Dalton can’t wait to get out there on Saturday. OK, we’ll see. I’m not sure that the relative heat will be helpful in this situation.

Personally, I think this has a lot to do with the famous “rookie wall.” First-year players have had very little time off since last December’s bowl games. They went immediately into the all-star games and the NFL Combine. Despite the summer lockout, most of these guys found some way to work with their future teammates and get a grip on the professional game.

Even someone as tough as Ben Roethlisberger has admitted that postseason play after a rookie year was very rough on a tired body. Even in your early 20s that’s not much recuperative time.

Houston offense versus Cincinnati defense

The key statistic here is that the Bengals gave up almost 200 yards to Baltimore RB Ray Rice in Week 17. They will now be facing Arian Foster and Ben Tate, arguably the best running tandem in the NFL (ranked second).

Over the past three weekends, the Bengals allowed opposing RBs six yards per carry and 125 yards per game. This could be the Cincy Achilles’ Heel, because otherwise the Houston offense isn’t that impressive.

Houston has lost the last several games and is hardly heading into the playoffs on anything even approaching a roll.

Having a third-string rookie QB under center is part of the problem. The Cincinnati secondary has held opponents to under 200 passing yards in the past three games. Uh-oh.

I think T.J. Yates has done a good job, all things considered. Since being thrust into the starting lineup Yates has a 61.2 completion percentage, 949 passing yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. But now he has a sore shoulder.

If this were my job on the line in my first Houston playoff game (yes, I mean you Coach Gary Kubiak), I would start Jake Delhomme.

When Yates was hurt last week, Delhomme completed 18-of-28 for 211 yards and one TD. What more do you want?

Plus, Jake has been to the big dance and probably knows how to keep a young and inexperienced group calm and focused. But, I just checked my voice mail and Mr. Kubiak has not called asking for my opinion. Go figure.

I expect Yates to start and get pulled by halftime.

Regardless of signal-caller choice, don’t lose track of Texans FB James Casey (No. 86). The kid not only blocks for the two aforementioned stellar RBs, he has caught 18 passes for over 260 yards. Honest. Too bad the “secret” part of this secret weapon is probably over.

The Texans held the ball with their running game for almost 35 minutes last week. They should employ a similar strategy as they try to keep the rock away from Andy Dalton’s throwing arm.

Cincinnati offense versus Houston defense

Matt Hasselbeck is a better-than-advertised QB and Houston has lost a lot of defenders this season. But the Texans loss last week came from one source: They let Hasselbeck beat them.

Tennessee RB Chris Johnson ended his lackluster 2011 season in unsurprisingly underwhelming style in Week 17. Houston’s game plan was to shut Johnson down and force Hasselbeck to beat them throwing the ball to WRs no one outside of Nashville has heard of (although Jared Cook is climbing the charts).

And Hasselbeck did it. No. 8 threw zero interceptions. He did, however, throw two TD passes and covered 297 yards through the air.

The Titans only won by one point against this No. 2 Houston defense. But they won.

However, Andy Dalton is not Matt Hasselbeck. He’s a tired rookie recovering from the flu. Not that I don’t think he can have a good, possibly great, game. I’m just saying.

On the year, Dalton completed 58.1 percent of his passes for 20 touchdowns and almost 4,000 yards. He threw 13 interceptions.

Let’s not forget that the red-headed passer is throwing to outstanding rookie WR A.J. Green.

Dalton’s critics prior to the NFL draft pointed out his inaccuracy on the deep ball. Green has proven to be a powerful antidote.

It’s not so much that Dalton’s deep balls have improved; it’s that Green can apparently adjust and catch almost anything. I hope Andy got him a nice Christmas present.

It’s also hard to double-cover A.J. Green because if he isn’t available, Dalton can throw to gymnast WR Jerome Simpson and excellent young TE Jermaine Gresham.

To top it all off, Andy has that best of all QB friends: A good running game.

Starter Cedric Benson is an excellent player when he isn’t fighting people in bars. (You can’t tell me that the Bengals can’t arrange some anger-management work here.) He has 273 carries for over 1,000 yards, six TDs and averaged almost four yards per carry.

And if Benson has a bad day, Dalton can hand off (or dump off) to backup Bernard Scott, who brings a bit less power but a bit more dash to the field.

All of this sounds as if I think Cincy is going to steamroll into the divisional round.

Not so fast. Despite losing one of the best defenders in the NFL (Mario Williams) early in the season, the Houston defense has been simply stellar.

Rookies Brooks Reed and J.J. Watt couldn’t possibly have been bigger home-run draft picks. Watt plays with a constant intensity that is truly admirable and Reed (45 tackles and six sacks) is so good that there are even rumblings that he could permanently replace Mario Williams if Williams leaves in free agency. I certainly wouldn’t go that far, but he’s good.

I think that the only relatively weak point is the secondary, which has given up almost 220 yards per game over the last three weeks. Of course, that is assuming that the pass rush doesn’t flatten Dalton before he can release the ball.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Texans have surrendered almost 24 points every week in the last month. Cincy’s offense has been in a bit of a slump, only scoring 19.7 yards per game over the same period.

Bottom Line: Cincinnati made the playoffs as the third team in the rough AFC North. This means that, after having played Pittsburgh and Baltimore twice each, they won enough games to get a wild card berth. I think that is extraordinary.

Houston won this division because Manning got hurt and Tennessee’s Chris Johnson forgot how to run the football.

Over the past three weekends, Cincinnati has only given up an average of 17.7 points. That’s almost six whole points less than the Houston D.

The Houston offense has significant injury problems. Unless the Texans run early, often and all day long I’m taking the Bengals in an upset.

Game Trivia: (from nfl.com) "Dalton is expected to play at Houston's Reliant Stadium, where he has never lost. The second-round draft pick grew up in the Houston suburbs and played two games at the stadium in high school and another for TCU." 

Detroit Lions at New Orleans Saints

8 p.m. Eastern on Saturday

Straight Up: New Orleans

Against the Spread: New Orleans -10.5

Over/Under: Over 58.5 (New Orleans has scored 42 points or more for a month and Detroit has averaged 35.7 per game)

This is the game for people who like offense. A lot of offense.

The Saints are a veteran, well-oiled, dazzling machine.

The Lions are a ferocious defense and a very young offense with the potential to score from literally any yard line.

Weather: Irrelevant

Injuries:

Saints—RB Mark Ingram is done for the year. WR Lance Moore will not play this week.

Detroit—They will probably get starting safety Louis Delmas back from a long-lasting knee injury. That is excellent news for Motor City fans. For Drew Brees and Pierre Thomas, not so much.

Ditto the return of Lions DT Corey Williams.

New Orleans offense versus Detroit defense

I like Aaron Rodgers as much as the next fan. In fact, I love to watch him play. I admire his public persona and his confidence on the field is unparalleled.

But why isn’t Drew Brees unquestionably the MVP? At the very least it should be a tie.

Drew Brees has spent a lifetime proving to people that he is one of those much-discussed “elite” quarterbacks. At only 6’0”, everyone said he was too small and he got run out of San Diego by virtue of Phillip Rivers’ paycheck and a shoulder injury. Miami would not take a risk on him and look at them now.

Brees and head coach Sean Payton are a football marriage made in the gridiron Valhalla. The numbers are too ridiculous to quote at length.

In summary, during the 2011 regular season Brees completed 71.2 percent of his pass attempts for 5.476 yards and 46 touchdowns. He threw 14 interceptions.

These numbers have resulted in so many NFL records that I have lost count. And I’m not including his encroachment on the Johnny Unitas' “consecutive games with a touchdown pass” mark. Got it? He’s good.

Brees also has about 100 offensive teammates who can catch a football.

One of his favorites, Lance Moore, will miss this game. I wouldn’t be too worried as that only leaves Robert Meachem (probably—he has a knee problem), Devery Henderson, Marques Colston, star TE Jimmy Graham and (my personal favorite) Darren Sproles.

Starting running back Mark Ingram will not be playing in this postseason and everyone seems all worried about that. I don’t understand.

In the Saints’ Super Bowl season they had Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush. Now they have Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory and Darren Sproles. I really don’t see the problem.

That said, the Lions D is very good against the run. If the three N'awleans rushers can come up with enough positive yardage to keep the secondary from always playing deep, Brees and the receivers should take care of the rest.

If you see the Saints passing on first and second down, there might be a problem.

Sproles is also every bit the return threat that Bush was and PK John Kasey makes Carolina look more idiotic by the week for letting him go. I don’t care how old he is, he made 28 FGs (82.4 percent success rate) and seven of them were over 40 yards. Hello?

Detroit offense versus New Orleans defense

The Saints held rookie QB sensation Cam Newton to 158 passing yards. Yeah, but he’s a running quarterback, you say. Yeah, but he passed for over 4,000 yards and averaged 7.84 yards per attempt, so I think the stat is worth looking at.

Meanwhile, Lions QB Matthew Stafford is the most exciting young passer since Peyton Manning. He’s smart, he’s tough, and he keeps his head.

And he can throw the ball 50 yards with literally a flick of his wrist. It’s practically freakish.

But, and it is a huge but, he will be facing Saints LB Jonathan Vilma on Saturday night. Vilma is only an inch behind Ray Lewis when it comes to winning mental contests with opposing QBs. Watch him during this game.

He’ll bring the D up to the line, read the offensive formation and immediately change his guys around. If the quarterback audibles, he audibles.

Two weeks ago he and Atlanta’s Matt Ryan were basically at “check” and “mate” for three quarters. And then Vilma had Matty Ice all figured out and he shut down the Falcons offense.

Vilma has a significant knee problem, but he is probable. If he can’t play, Detroit’s chances of an upset go way up and I will seriously considering switching to the Lions for the spread.

The Lions have five legitimate passing targets:

1)    All Pro Calvin Johnson, who can catch anything with two or three defenders hanging off of him. Look it up; there is photographic evidence. Johnson has an Achilles injury but is expected to play.

2)    Nate Burleson, who seems to have come into his own as a man and a leader. And his is benefiting greatly from all of those defenders hanging off of Johnson.

3)    TE Brandon Pettigrew has a “fantasy own” stat of 94.3(+0.6) according to espn.com—whatever that means. I prefer real men, sorry. And this man averages 9.4 yards per catch.

4)     If he’s occupied there is always TE Tony Scheffler, who also has six TDs and averages 13.3 yards per catch.

5)     Rookie WR Titus Young is making a claim as a rising star. It’s hard to get a football thrown your way with the above players in the mix, but young Mr. Young has managed to catch 48 balls and also has six touchdowns.

This offense scored 41 points against the Packers—and lost. That could happen again if they don’t do a better job of controlling the clock. And that means running the football.

Enter Kevin Smith. You have to root for this guy. He’s always been considered talented, but too small, injury prone, etc. He was out of football at the beginning of 2011.

When injuries depleted the Detroit running backs, Smith got the call. And he’s done very well.

He always credits his success with continuing to work hard on his own so that he was completely ready to play when he arrived in Detroit. Now that is discipline.

He only got nine carried against the Pack. The coaches will have to give him more touches or the result will be exactly the same. And he will have to succeed in running the football against a Saints defense that has given up only about 100 yards per game over the past few weeks.

Smith is nursing an ankle injury, but is listed as probable. If he isn’t on the field and having a good day, the Lions will lose.

Bottom Line: The Saints are 8-0 at home this year. They have averaged 551 yards of offense over the past three weeks. The Lions offense is almost as good.

The Lions have a very good run D (surrendering only 93.7 yards in the last three games). But they are giving up almost 10 more actual points per contest than the Saints defense.

Detroit’s only hope is their pass rush. Rookie Nick Fairley came into the league with lots of questions surrounding his issues with sleep apnea. Then he was injured. Ever since his return, he has ramped up the Lions pass rush. Watch for it. Brees can’t break passing records if he is on his backside.

Salient Stat from "Sid Pun," via thedaily.com: "The Saints finished the year a perfect 8-0 both straight-up and against the spread over the final two months of the season."

Atlanta Falcons at New York Giants

1 p.m. Eastern Sunday

Giants LB Mathias Kiwanuka (isn’t that a great name?) was quoted by The Star Ledger's Jorge Castillo as believing that New York could be a Super Bowl team. You’d have thought the man was Rex Ryan by the reactions.

Of course they are a possible Super Bowl team. They made it to the final tournament, didn't they?

They, in fact, won the Super Bowl as a wild card team. So it’s not crazy to think that they can do it from a divisional championship. Even if that division is the 2011 NFC East.

But that means that Atlanta is a possible Super Bowl team too. See how that works?

Straight Up: New York

Against the Spread: New York -3

Over/Under: Over 47.5

When we are talking Giants, we are talking weather. The dome-bred Falcons catch a real temperature break Sunday since it is going to be sunny and in the 40s. But when we are talking Meadowlands, we are also talking swirling winds. That is something with which Matt Ryan doesn’t usually have to deal and should play a big part in the outcome of this game.

Injuries:

Atlanta—CB Brent Grimes returned a couple of weeks ago from a knee injury. That is terrific if you are from Georgia and not so great if you are Eli Manning or a New York WR.

New York—Conversely, impact CB Corey Webster is questionable with a hamstring problem. See Matt Ryan smiling?

And TE Jake Ballard is doubtful.

New York offense versus Atlanta defense

For the first time in Eli Manning’s career, the city of New York appreciates him. And, you know what? I don’t think it matters any more to him than it did when Giants fans were saying he had no leadership skills.

Apparently E. Manning really is the anti-Peyton when it comes to expressing intensity. It’s sort of, “How about we go win this game?”

And then he proceeds to set a NFL record for fourth-quarter touchdown passes. Behind a patchwork O-line, with a struggling running game and a bunch of either green or inconsistent receivers.

Well, that running game is coming around. Ahmad Bradshaw is healthy enough to play, but not practice, Brandon Jacobs still runs like a tank and newcomer D.J. Ware is coming along at just the right time for change-up duties. Plus, rookie FB Henry Hynoski has positively impacted rushing yards as the season has progressed.

Center David Baas is finally healthy, much to Eli’s relief I’m sure. And the rest of the line seems to have settled in for the home stretch.

Victor Cruz’ ability to hang onto the football thankfully has proven contagious and both Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks have gotten better in the past few weeks.

Manning probably won’t have emerging TE Jake Ballard, but I’ll bet he tosses a couple to backup Travis Beckum.

Manning-the-Younger ended up going 24-of-33, 348 yards and three TDs against the Cowboys.

All of that is lovely for Big Blue fans. But Atlanta is scoring 34 points in recent games and only giving up 27.7 points on D.

Even with the above improved receptions, the Giants have only averaged 23.3 points per game in the past three weeks. They will have to score more than that on a clear day with Matt Ryan putting up points for Atlanta.

Atlanta’s secondary is tough and well-coached. In the past month they allowed opponents 216.3 passing yards per game.

They had more legal hard hits on Saints WRs two weeks ago than I have seen from any secondary all year.

And the LBs and line have only given up 105 yards per game on the ground in the last three games.

That would be more impressive if the combined yardage of 321.3 hadn’t resulted in 27.7 points for the opposition.

Yes, part of that is the Drew Brees factor, but the entire Falcons D had better hunker down in the red zone or they will be spending the Super Bowl in Georgia.

Atlanta offense versus New York defense

This is the potentially explosive matchup. Despite continuing injuries for Giants DEs Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck, the D has rallied and remembered their historical reputation for dominance.

Cowboys RB Felix Jones managed only 30 yards last Sunday and Tony Romo was forced to try and win the game virtually single-handedly. Which, to be fair, he almost did.

Atlanta’s Matt Ryan may not be a top-three QB yet, but he certainly knows his job and executes it very well. He finished the regular season with 29 TDs, 12 INTs, over 4,000 yards passing and a QB rating of 92.2.

And he led his team to the playoffs. Again.

Falcons TE Tony Gonzalez is the Rip Van Winkle of tight ends. Sort of. He’s actually more the football Dorian Gray, but that gives the wrong impression entirely. I’m sure you know what I'm trying to say here.

In his 15th professional season, Gonzalez recorded a youthful 80 receptions at 10.9 yards-per-catch.

Veteran WR Roddy White continues his passing-connection romance with Ryan and rookie Julio Jones is just as talented as advertised. Unfortunately, he seems to get hurt a lot.

Unlike many dome teams with excellent passing attacks, Atlanta fares rather well on grass. Thanks entirely to running backs Michael Turner and Jason Snelling.

Over just the past three games, the Falcons combined rushing yardage was more than 127 yards per game. Ah, but the Giants only gave up an average of 92 yards in the same time period.

Something’s gotta give.

With the Dirty Birds inconsistent defensive performances, controlling time of possession will matter.

Head coach Mike Smith knows this and usually starts out with a balanced attack including lots of touches for Michael “The Burner” Turner. But sometimes Atlanta gets impatient and assumes that their talented signal-caller can come from behind every week.

That would be a fatal mistake on Sunday. New York’s defense has allowed less than 220 yards aerially over the last three games. The Falcons cannot assume that they can fly over the competition this weekend.

Feel good story: Victor Cruz grew up on the rougher side of Paterson, New Jersey. He’s one of those all-too-common stories of youth wavering between drugs, guns and sports. We know what Victor chose. Check out The Daily’s article.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos

4:30 p.m. Eastern Sunday

Very few football insiders, analysts or fans think that the Broncos have a chance of knocking off the formidable Steelers.

Wild card weekend counts as “any given Sunday” so, of course, it is possible. The probability has increased due to injuries among the more veteran Pittsburgh players.

Straight Up: Pittsburgh

Against the Spread: Denver +9 (solely because I always go for home underdogs on spreads)

Over/Under: Under 33.5

Weather: 20s at most with snow in the morning. The game is at 230PM local time, so I would keep an eye on the weather. The worse it is, the more it favors the Broncos running game.

Injuries:

Pittsburgh—Everyone is talking about Ben Roethlisberger’s ankle. In case you haven’t read, seen or heard anything about football this week—yes, he aggravated it. Yes, he’s going to play.

Pittsburgh fans should be much more concerned about excellent center Maurkice Pouncey’s ankle. That ankle kept Pouncey out of the Super Bowl and is the reason that I changed my pick last February to Green Bay.

Even worse, backup center Doug Legursky has a very sore left shoulder. So, yeah, it’s a big deal. Especially now that Big Ben can’t move around so well. Fortunately, both O-linemen are probable, but not full strength.

Also not ideal will be the absence of shifty running back Mewelde Moore. This matters because starting running back Rashard Mendenhall is out for the rest of this year.

So, all of the pressure for generating a ground game will rest on the shoulders of second-stringer Isaac Redman. Personally, I think he’ll be just fine. He racked up 92 yards last week in Cleveland. (Pittsburgh did sign a runner named Albert Young off of the practice squad.)

Troy Polamalu will be terrorizing Tim Tebow without the aid of fellow safety Ryan Clark. Clark has a medical condition which prevents him from traveling to Mile High, but he will be with the team should they advance. If I were Tim Tebow I would be very happy about that. His absence, not the condition.

Linebackers James Harrison and Brett Keisel have dings but should play.

Broncos—They are considerably healthier except for the absence of their safety, Brian Dawkins, who will undoubtedly be retiring any minute after a stellar career.

Pittsburgh offense versus Denver defense

Despite my cavalier comments above about Roethlisberger’s ankle, it will affect the offensive game plan. If they choose to put Ben in the shotgun so he doesn’t have to drop back I hope that they’ve been practicing that way, because he has not been nearly as accurate in the ‘gun.

This is not your “father’s Steelers.” These guys are pass-happy, deep-threat scorers.

Roethlisberger can throw to speedster Mike Wallace, quick-footed Antonio Brown (also a threat in the return game) and uber-reliable Hines Ward. And just when you have all those guys covered, he’ll toss it to Emmanuel Sanders or TE Heath Miller. Gee, it’s practically the Saints! OK, not really.

Pittsburgh hasn’t gone completely off the deep end: They have averaged 138 yards on the ground for the last three games. And they are only scoring 14.3 yards per game.

That figure needs to go up to assure victory at Mile High. If the game is within reach in the fourth quarter, I wouldn’t rule Tebow out even after three consecutive losses.

The Denver defense started out looking like they were going to be a force. And for a while there, they were.

Even with a club covering one of his hands, rookie Von Miller lived up to his hype with 64 tackles (three for a loss), 10.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. But the secondary is getting old (sorry, guys).

However, one of the biggest reasons I have no worries about Redman is that the Broncos D has allowed opponents to scamper up and down the field to the tune of almost 136 yards per game. Excuse me?

All three levels of Denver  D haven’t been able to keep opponents under 29.3 points per average in the last three contests. That’s bad.

Denver offense versus Pittsburgh defense

I’ve heard a lot about injured defenders on the Pittsburgh side of the ball. Well, they may be hurting, but they have given up less than 10 points on average this month. That will usually win you the ball game.

I wish I had new info for you here, but we all know this game will be decided on Tim Tebow’s throwing accuracy. Heaven knows, distance isn’t the issue, toughness isn’t the issue and running for scores isn’t the issue.

But he must get the ball into the hands of several pretty decent WRs. Eddie Royal, Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker aren’t household names (although Decker is getting there). But they need to work a bit harder in catching passes that aren’t perfectly thrown. TE Daniel Fells has also proven capable of hanging onto a football in a pinch.

Broncos rusher Willis McGahee will continue to be the unsung offensive hero in Denver. He is a big part of that 200 rushing yards per game during the last three games. And he can catch, too. Backup Lance Ball is always worthy of some good plays and I hope offensive Mike McCoy is planning to use him often.

If Pittsburgh can completely shut down McGahee and Ball, I don’t think the passing game will have a prayer.

Tebow may not get a chance to even try passing if the offensive line shuffle doesn’t happen seamlessly. Right Guard Chris Kuper broke his leg last week and it’s not a good time to be trying out new guys up front. Did I mention that his backup, Russ Hochstein in on the injury list as questionable with a mystery injury? Oh dear.

Bottom Line: It is possible for Pittsburgh to lay an egg. They came out of the gate flat in Week 1 and were trounced by Baltimore. But I don’t expect it.

I just hope that the true home-field advantage at Mile High stadium will help Denver to keep it close for the sake of pride.

Check out my article for more in-depth info on why home field is so important.

Best utterly useless stat of the month (from "LaRoche," also via The Daily): “The Broncos were 7-1 under Tim Tebow heading into their final three weeks of the season. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms called their final three games on CBS and the Broncos lost every one of those games…Guess who is calling the game on Sunday? “