Predictions

It has become predictable how the "experts" will pick games. Take the ESPN NFL Prime Time Crew for example. I bet I can predict how they will pick the Patriots / Colts game just based on past experience.

Chris Berman - he'll pick the Patriots because he's friends with Bill Belichick.

Mike Ditka - he'll pick the Colts because for some reason he really dislikes Bill Belichick.

Tom Jackson - ever since he made the comment about the Patriot players hating Bill Belichick back in the 2001 season - he has been desperately trying to curry favor with Belichick. He'll pick the Pats.

Michael Irvin - he picks the teams with the best receivers and that's the Colts.

Ron Jaworski - he's the only one of the group who bases his picks on game film and crunching the stats. My guess is that he picks the Pats because they are the better overall team.

And speaking of predictions - I'm bothered by people who pick the Colts with the reasoning that "this is Peyton Manning's year." Manning is not Martin Scorses who will win the Academy Award this year because he was overlooked years previously. This is football - not Hollywood. How did the reasoning "this is Dan Marino's year" work in the past. If the Colts win - it will be because they played better football not because it was "someone's year".