Week 17

Brooklyn Hillbilly(20-12-1)

The much anticipated NFC playoff breakdown via the GOP Presidential primary field:
First, the old soldiers Favre and McCain have surprised many with their resiliency despite some apparently fatal flaws (no running game/working with Ted Kennedy on immigration bill). These guys are old pros who know how to close an election and a game, and are both at their best when they run balanced game plans without trying to force the issue. Next up is the star powered offense of Dallas and the totally fake-reputation based campaign of Rudy Giuliani. Both must weather some serious issues in the next couple weeks, with Romo's thumb and Rudy's unpopularity in the early contest states potentially becoming mortal wounds to both organizations. Mitt Romney and Eli Manning have a lot in common, with both unable to decide if they are liberal/conservative or a good QB/bad QB. This flip-floppiness makes supporters of both queasy and gives critics tons of ammunition. Matt Hasselbeck and the Seahawks have done pretty much the same thing to people that Fred Thompson does: put them to sleep. There are some solid fundamentals, with a strong record of conservative voting, lots of name recognition, a solid running game and a QB known for not making a lot of mistakes. I'm going to pair up Mike Huckabee and Tampa Bay here because I think they are both dark horse southern teams(people, whatever) who have been running pretty much mistake-free aerial offensives(very offensive if you are a Mormon). Jeff Garcia and Ed Rollins(Hucks primary adviser) are both old hands under center and know how to call a winning game plan, even if they will be the ones single-handedly dragging their teams to later rounds of the playoffs and primaries. And at last, we have Ron Paul and Minnesota/Washington. This is a great pairing because we don't really know what to expect with these teams or this guy when the voting/playoffs finally start. All could flame out early, or they could make fools out of all the chattering classes of pundits(political and sporting). Conventional wisdom tells us that these QBs cant win in the playoffs, despite the strong running games both posses, and that Ron Paul is too honest(or crazy, take your pick) to win. But both teams have solid Ds and Paul has over $10m to spend. All three still have the ability to affect the picture. On to the game!

Dallas at WASHINGTON(-9)
So, I spent the last week-ish back in West Virginia, soaking in all the Redskins propaganda, and the thing I noticed is how amazed everyone is at Todd Collins. Washington has long been plagued with QBs who cant go 10 minutes without throwing an interception but now they have a guy who just gets shit done. This is a very new experience for Redskins fans, and they seem appropriately thankful. The Giants game aside, Collins has been nothing short of spectacular for the then struggling 'Skins. He pulled them out of a 4-game slide and has put them in the "win and you're in" position for the playoffs. If this wasn't week 17, it would be the game of the week, but alas, Dallas will do the smart thing and keep their stars out of the game. That being said, you still have a team fighting for a playoff spot, redemption for their Alzheimer's-addled head coach and for the memory of a fallen teammate. That should make for good TV. As for the game itself, the 'Skins seem to have found a rhythm and I don't see them deviating from it. Lots of running with dump-outs to Portis and Cooley with an occasional down field shot to Randle El and Moss. As for the Cowboys, I don't even know who their backup QB is. I know that it would take me 2 minutes, tops, to find this out, but I feel like it just doesn't matter. I think you see them run pretty much the same game plan as in previous weeks, maybe a bit more on the ground. We have seen many teams seasons end this year vs spoilers, but in the end, I gotta go with the team that has something to play for. Skins win and they are in. 24-14 (fuck it, they cover)