With just three playoff games left, I could have wrapped up the best record in the entire playoffs last week, with Andy going 1-3 after a 3-1 start Wildcard Weekend, and Tony P. going 3-1 after a 1-3 Wildcard Weekend. Had I gotten all four games right, I would have been a perfect 8-0 after two weeks, and sealed the deal. Unfortunately for me, in all my chatter about not wanting to see the Eagles back in the NFC Championship game, I forgot to actually make a pick … and I don’t even know for sure who I was going to pick, based on my own write up.  I probably was going to go Eagles again, hoping to go wrong — but either way, even though I’m perfect on games I actually pick this postseason, I have left the door slightly open for Tony P. or Andy to catch me (if they go 3-0 and I go 0-3).

Tony T.:

LA Rams at New Orleans Saints – The way the Saints have played, this game has Rams written all over it — but you can’t discount that the Saints are at home, and that at two very important spots (quarterback and head coach), they’ve got Super Bowl experience the Rams lack. And while the Rams looked solid in knocking off the Cowboys, they didn’t necessarily look like world beaters either. This should be a good game, so I think once again I’ll pick the team that I would rather NOT see win, so either way I get to feel okay about things.  New Orleans 27, Los Angeles 24.

New England Patriots at Kansas City Chiefs – I’m starting to think that only the Patriots could manage to turn being the underdogs into as unappealing of a story as the Patriots being the favorites. I’m tired of hearing Tom Brady say that everyone says they can’t win, and even more tired of the sports talking heads talk about the fact that no one has said they CAN’T win, just that they aren’t favored to. Normally loads of fans will root for the underdog, but in this case, I think most of the country would just as soon see the Chiefs destroy the Patriots. That being said, the Chiefs have one significant hurdle to leap in this game–Andy Reid. I’m holding out hope that he’s truly changed as a coach, and will actually utilize the team correctly in the big game for once–but not holding my breath. New England 24, Kansas City 22.

Andy:

Rams at Saints — Okay, so Tony’s write-up would seem to indicate that he cares if he has the best record of the postseason. I’m not going to worry about that. When we add the postseason to the regular season standings, my picks clearly stand the test of time this season.

For that reason, I’m not going to attempt to go 3-0 to his 0-3. Because he’s got this game correct. Jared Goff has been very solid the last two seasons and Sean McVay has been good enough as head coach that Joe Buck has been able to get laughs with comments about McVay’s barber getting interviewed for head coaching jobs. That said, Drew Brees is still the teacher to Goff’s status as a student in this match-up. And while I am hugely impressed with McVay, Sean Payton is an equal-or-even-more-astute leader at this stage of the game. The factor I see meaning something here is that I think Brees’ time is winding down. He looked great early in the season, but has shown some age the last few weeks. Savvy and perhaps a touch of desperation to get that second ring will, I think, play a role in giving this one to the home team. Saints 31, Rams 20.

Patriots at Chiefs — This is another veteran vs youngster QB match-up, but I see this one going differently. New England is fantastic and they may have to move out of the AFC East to ever be threatened again during the regular season. But Gronk and Brady have also started showing their age. And Patrick Mahomes … damn. He’s single-handedly bringing legitimacy to the NFL progression of what had been a college-only “Air Raid” style offense.

I think this will be a ridiculously high-scoring shootout. It better be, for Kansas City’s sake. The Chiefs won’t completely shut down the Patriots. But I think the firepower in Kansas City will be too great for New England. Chiefs 37, Patriots 33.

Tony P.:

Saints over Rams

Chiefs over Patriots