So this week the NFL Network has another great slogan, watch Thursday and Saturday nights for two games with huge playoff implications.  I guess they are right, there is a team in each game headed to the playoffs, but really?  We have two first place teams and they are playing two last place teams.  I guess it is hard to push that.  Why don’t they just go with the obvious, it’s the only game on Thursday night.  What else are you going to watch, the Poinsettia Bowl?  

I'm digging the new slogan. I would be a little more harsh, though. "Dude, My Name is Earl isn't on, The Office is an old one, there's no watchable NBA game, and the Poinsettia Bowl is on. Nice flower, sure, good bowl game? Fuck no. Just watch the NFL games."

Actually I am.  I am kicking off the bowl season at Qualcomm stadium.  We will tailgate a bit like you and I did when you moved out here, only there will be other people in the parking lot.  Our tailgate strategy will be the same though, drink some beers while they are cheap out of the back of my car.

Probably the most underrated moment of my time spent in San Diego. That and when you accidentally got "lost" in the gay part of the city when I was black out drunk. Or was that me driving? Who knows? We probably went to Roberto's that night too.

St Louis (+7.5) over Pittsburgh:  Pitt hasn’t been so hot lately.  They played the first half of the season very well, and looked like a contender.  They were beating up on the bottom feeders, which made a spread like this look good.  Lately they aren’t looking so formidable.  I think they could easily cover this, 2 months ago this would have been an easy payday for Steelers fans, but I am not so sure tonight.  St Louis has something to play for merely because it’s a Thursday night game at home.  Pitt has everything to play for to keep a hold of the division.  This may be kind of interesting after all.  Then again, Pitt could just demolish them like they did Baltimore a few weeks ago.

Pittsburgh (-7.5) over ST. LOUIS: I agree with your reasons, but for them I am going the other way. The Steelers are gripping for dear life for the fourth spot in the playoffs and I'm pretty sure they're not really excited about playing the Browns again. St. Louis still has Frerotte at quarterback; I just can't think anything good about a team with a 87 year old quarterback not named Brett Favre.

Dallas (-10.5) over CAROLINA:  Remember when Dallas and New England were covering every single week, and the odds makers didn’t know what to do?  Well now it is the bettors who aren’t sure what to do with either team.  This matchup is miserable.  Part of me wants to take Dallas because they are coming off of a loss and poor performance, and may want to prove something.  Then again, they have let down a bit on the road in games like this.  Nope, Carolina got lucky last week.  They are not good.  The Cowboys come out with something to prove here, and beat the crap out of an inferior team.

CAROLINA (+10.5) over Dallas: I had to find a reason to take the Panthers and I did by finding out the rain is going to be miserable and it is going to be windy in Charlotte this Sunday. I know it was a quality division foe, but the Cowboys looked awful against Philly last week. I'm going to say the Cowboys win by a TD.

Damn, nice job of making me doubt both of my picks.  I bet I go 0-2 on the NFL Network games again, thanks for that.  I picked Navy tonight too, they are dogs and Utah is hot, but I picked them for 2 reasons, one because it will basically be a home game for them in San Diego, and 2, I want to root for them instead of stupid Utah.