Conference Championship Picks: End of One Era, Beginning of Another?

I once again got three games I was most confident about out of the four total last weekend, bringing me to a six out of eight mark on the entire playoffs. Last weekend was also somewhat sad for me because it more or less marked the end to any updates to my beginning-of-the-year picks, as I had all four of these remaining teams eliminated before this current round.

What we're left with provides for some fairly compelling storylines. On one side is the umpteenth chapter of the Brady-Manning era, and probably the game I'm least excited for—partly because of the "been there, done that" feel to having either one of these quarterbacks get to the Super Bowl and partly because I'm still bitter that I thought both teams were going to falter before getting to the big game. Now one will move on. There's much discussion about this possibly being Peyton's last game, but forgive me for not buying it. Hell, I might as well make Patriots-whoever Manning is playing for my AFC Championship pick next year.

On the other side of the bracket are two teams from cities (or states, I guess) that have yet to taste championship glory. Cam Newton and Carson Palmer have both had stellar seasons, and there's very good reason to believe that both of these teams have the potential to be making regular appearances in this game over the coming seasons. Of course, the last time I remember saying that was when we had a Thunder-Heat NBA Finals—the only such meeting we've had since. So maybe I should cool my jets a bit.

The bottom line is that we've gone from playoffs that began with fairly obvious outcomes to now having any one of the four remaining Super Bowl possibilities seem quite realistic.

Divisional Playoff Picks: Now That We Got Rid of Those Losers ...

I got three of the four game right last weekend, thinking that at least one of the home teams was going to have to win. Just one. Right?

Wrong.

Not only did the Packers seemingly return to ass-kicking form, but it was tremendously amusing to see the fired up fans in Houston taken out of the game on the opening kickoff. There were but few real highlights or great games last weekend, but we now seem to be at a point where we're much more likely to get high quality football from here on out.

In one conference, we could be looking at yet another chapter in the Brady-Manning rivalry next weekend. In the other conference, the top two seeds that have been debated as being the best all year long are also shaping up for a showdown. And then, of course, there is the very realistic possibility that any of the four others could pull off upsets lead to continued Cinderella runs.

Considering how awful my picks were at the beginning of the year, I'm a bit shocked to see that we could end up with three of the four teams I had in the conference championship round still alive. Surely, I'll have to pick all three of those teams in an effort to look good. Right?

Wrong.

Wild Card Picks: So Many Teams "Nobody Wants to Play"

Well, looks like we already know I won't be right about the predicted Super Bowl winner this year. Hell, I wasn't right about much at all.

But hey, the Colts that so many people picked to get to the Super Bowl didn't make the playoffs either.

I only had one of the eight division winners right this year (must be a record low) and a mere eight of the 32 teams in the correct final standing spot with and absolutely no divisions perfectly predicted but two divisions in which I got none of the four teams right. Additionally, I only had half of this year's playoff teams right, with my seeding of the Patriots being second the only correct call.

So all in all, a pretty awful year thus far. Putting on my fan's hat perspective for a second, I was somewhat able to relax and enjoy games more this year by declining to participate in any fantasy football leagues. Not once did I regret that decision. While I did download the DraftKings and FanDuel apps, I've never made my initial deposit to play either—and the recent scandal didn't do much to make me reconsider either.

The John Oliver segment on fantasy sports was, of course, brilliant:



I say "somewhat able to relax" because there's never any real moment of pure relaxation in our home now that the child is 19 months old and walking, climbing, and just generally causing trouble every hour of the day she isn't asleep. I don't know how much time I'll actually be able to dedicate to the playoffs, but here's to hoping for the best.