Fifth Down, Week Seventeen

Well, the regular season's over, and my life has slowed down a bit, so finally--finally--I'll tally up the entire season's worth of predictions and see how I did. But first, this weekend. As always, my original predictions are in italics.

Falcons 31, Rams 13 - Win. Atlanta's playing for a first-round bye, and St. Louis is playing for their coach's job. Motivation for both is almost equal. Talent, of course, is not. Actual score: Falcons 31, Rams 27.

Patriots 34, Bills 16 - Win. The past five weeks, New England has looked like it did during the regular season last year, and--with a playoff spot on the line--I expect no different this week. Though I had no idea the winds would swirl on the field at 50 m.p.h. Actual score: Patriots 13, Bills 0.

Chiefs 28, Bengals 17 - Loss. KC might blow another close one, but I really admire their quarterback, so here's hoping...AND that shutout Cincinnatti took from Cleveland was one taken from an offensively-anemic team with a fourth-round QB starting. From what I saw of the game, Cincinnatti's D and their running game looked, uh, good! Actual score: Bengals 16, Chiefs 6.

Bears 17, Texans 10 - Loss. I give this one to Chicago based on motivation, because with Houston--especially after last week's whodathunkit loss to Oakland--it all depends on...man, I don't know. Looks like Houston's for real, as is Oakland (see below). Actual score: Texans 31, Bears 24.

Vikings 20, Giants 18- Win. New York will rest Brandon Jacobs and--after the first quarter--most of their starters. I came this close to nailing this one on the head. Actual score: Vikings 20, Giants 19.

Panthers 35, Saints 28 - Win. The Panthers are still trying to secure that first-round bye and not drop from second seed to fifth seed, but Brees is only 402 yards away from Marino's passing yards record, so this one should be good. It was good...if you don't mind watching offensive (meaning the defenses were offensive) scoring fests. Actual score: Panthers 33, Saints 31.

Steelers 21, Browns 0 - Win. The Steelers will probably rest prominent starters after the first half (or first quarter), but even then.... They didn't rest Ben Roethlisberger soon enough (concussion), but it didn't really matter. Savage is gone, and Crennell soon will be. Actual score: Steelers 31, Browns 0.

Buccaneers 24 , Raiders 10 - Loss. Is JaMarcus Russell finally starting to bloom? Maybe so, but I believe the Bucs--hoping for a playoff berth--will stunt his growth this week. Russell's finally playing near his potential, and the Raiders have hope for next year. Actual score: Raiders 31, Buccaneers 24.

Titans 19 , Colts 17 - Loss. They'll both rest starters early, so this will essentially be like a pre-season game, and Tennessee's deeper on D than Indianapolis is, therefore.... I was completely wrong about depth, but not wrong about Tennessee resting their starting QB early, which is what led to this loss: Vince Young was terrible. Actual score: Colts 23, Titans 0.

Lions 17, Packers 16 = Loss. I think Green Bay will win, but I'm not betting any money on any of my picks, so here's hoping that Detroit will avoid the biggest one-season donut in the history of the NFL. Sad. Truly sad. Marinelli's gone. He's gotta go. Not the worse team ever, though. Again, did anyone ever watch the '80 Saints? Actual score: Packers 31, Lions 21.

Ravens 20, Jaguars 10 - Win. Baltimore's fighting for a playoff spot, and Jacksonville's had some internal goings-on this week. Wow, Flacco looked great! Actual score: Ravens 27, Jaguars 7.

Cardinals 27, Seahawks 20 - Win. Yeah, Seattle's been playing great lately, and this is Mike Holmgren's last game, but I just don't believe Kurt Warner and the Birds will lay yet another stinker the week before they host their first playoff game in over forty years. Actual score: Cardinals 34, Seahawks 21.

Redskins 17, 49ers 13 - Loss. If last week's Washington team--and specifically their defense--shows up, this one's theirs. If not, then with the way Samurai Mike has his team primed, it could turn the other way. Actual score: 49ers: 27, Redskins 24.

Dolphins 19, Jets 18 - Win. I'm pulling for Pennington. I guess Farve had to have one more season in which he choked at the end and cost his team dearly. Actual score: Dolphins 24, Jets 17.

Cowboys 27, Eagles 24 - Loss. DeMarcus Ware may not set the single-season sack record in this one (for surely he'll be at least double-teamed), but with enough O-line devoted to him, the Eagles...nah. They won't have a prayer if they pass all day. Their only hope is to run right at Ware, and we all know how much Andy Reid likes to run. I was so completely wrong on this one. Romo was terrible. Awful. Stank. Stunk. I loved it. Actual score: Eagles 44, Cowboys 6.

Chargers 30, Broncos 23 - Win. Rivers has been playing the best ball of his career these past five weeks, and his best ball is as good as anyone else's this season. Actual score: Chargers 52, Broncos 21.

Record this week: 9-7
Record this year: 160-94
Percentage: 58.8%
Average record per week: 9.4 - 5.5 (yeah, I know...I forgot to call two games this year)
Summary: I might have made the playoffs, depending on which division I was in.
Fantasy Football summary: I finished fifth in the league. No trophy. I'll have to hand it over to Scott Hines in September. Bummer.