Brad's Picks was just 7-9 last week, right when the Colts beat Jacksonville on TNF 31-24; when the Ravens beat Dallas on Saturday night 33-24; when Seattle beat the Jets 13-3; when the Niners beat St. Louis 17-16; when New England beat the Cardinals 47-7; when the Bengals beat Cleveland 14-0; and when Chicago beat the Packers on MNF in OT 20-17.

   Brad's Picks was not right when the New York Giants beat the Panthers 34-28 in OT; when Washington beat the Eagles 10-3; when Oakland beat the Texans 27-16; when the Steelers lost at Tennessee 31-14; when the Dolphins won at Arrowhead 38-31; when the Saints creamed Detroit 47-7 (what was I thinking?); when the Chargers beat Tampa Bay 41-24; when the Bills won at Mile High 30-23; and when the Falcons beat Minnesota 24-17.

   Brad's Picks is 148-91-1 on the season.

   Home teams were 7-9 last week, and are 134-105-1 on the season. That's 55.8% for the homers on the season. In 2007, the homers won 54.7% of the time.

   There were three coast to coast games last week, and the visitors were 1-2, as the Jets lost in Seattle; the Cards lost at New England; and the Chargers won at Tampa Bay. The Chargers win was only the second time a west coast team has won on the east coast. On the season, visiting teams are 13-24.

   George was 7-9 last week, and is 112-125-1 on the season.

   AFC 3, NFC 1 last week. On the year, it's AFC 31, NFC 26.

   Teams coming off a MNF game were 0-2 as both Cleveland and Philadelphia lost. On the season, teams coming off a MNF game are 19-12.

   the 11:00 MST games:

St. Louis (2-13) at Atlanta (10-5) - Atlanta and Carolina (11-4) have clinched playoff spots. If Atlanta wins and Carolina loses (at New Orleans) Atlanta gets the NFC South title (and a first round bye) and Carolina gets the wild card spot. I'm pretty sure the Falcons will take care of business against the lowly Rams, so I'm picking the Falcons at home (they're 7-1 at home this year). George also likes the Falcons.

New England (10-5) at Buffalo (7-8) - Division game. In 2002, the final game of the year arrived with the Jets, Dolphins, and Patriots all still in the running for the AFC East title. And here we are again. Miami gets the title if they beat the Jets in the late game. Patriots get it if they beat the Bills and the Jets beat the Dolphins. Jets get it if the Bills beat the Patriots and if they beat the Dolphins. Got all that? Bills played a good game at Mile High last week, with Trent Edwards coming off the injured list after a month or so, and doing well. They're going to try like crazy to beat the Patriots, but the wise man will pick New England here. George likes the Patriots also.

Kansas City (2-13) at Cincinnati (3-11-1) - The Who Cares Bowl. Two teams jockeying for the second or third draft pick next year. Neither can do any worse than 4th, so Who Cares? Take the Bengals at home. Actually both teams have been playing OK lately, but this game will still resemble the Pro Bowl in intensity. George likes the Bengals.

Detroit (0-15) at Green Bay (5-10) - Division game. Last year the Dolphins went winless into Week 15, and pulled out a win in OT against the Ravens. But last year you had the feeling that Dolphins' players cared about their record. Not so this year with the Lions. And I don't think division foe Packers will hand a win to them to, you know, just be nice. George agrees, and takes the Packers.

Chicago (9-6) at Houston (7-8) - Tough call. Texans have been on an upswing lately (despite the loss in Oakland last week) but Chicago can make the playoffs if they win here and if Minnesota loses to the Giants. Look for a good tough game. Texans would really like their first non-losing season. I'm gonna take the Texans at home. George likes the Bears, and he might be right.

Tennessee (13-2) at Indwpi (11-4) - Division game. Tough call here. Both teams are locked into their playoff slots (1 for the T's, 5 for the Colts). Tony Dungy especially likes to rest his starters as much as possible, but Jeff Fisher might want to play his some, since they have a bye next week. So I guess I'll take the Titans here. They are the better team, after all. George likes the Titans also.

New York Giants (12-3) at Minnesota (9-6) - Giants have home field throughout, a bit of a far cry from last year when they made the playoffs as the number 5 seed. I don't think Tom Coughlin is into resting players a lot, but RB Brandon Jacobs has a sore knee and I don't look for him to play much. Giants sputtered a bit after losing Plaxico Burress for the year (he who shot himself) but they seemed to regain their MOJO by beating the Panthers last week (with home field at stake), although it took OT to do it. Vikings can win the NFCNorth with a win (or if the Bears lose in Houston, and the two games will be concurrent in time.) So, expect more effort from the Vikings, although I think Coughlin will be trying to keep his players playing hard, with a bye week looming. George likes the Vikings also, but we could both be wrong.

Carolina (11-4) at New Orleans (8-7) - Division game. Panthers have the NFC South title if they win (and the first round bye that goes with it), or if they lose and the Falcons lose at home to the Rams, which is not likely. It is statistically likely that the Panthers lose this game - so far this year, the NFC South home team has always successfully defended against a division visitor. Saints are out of the playoffs, but will want to show a division rival what's what. But the Panthers were looking at the number one seed a week ago, then lost in OT to the Giants, and I figure they'll play very hard to get the division title and the bye. Should be a great game - I'm taking the Panthers. George likes the Panthers also.

Cleveland (4-11) at Pittsburgh (11-4) - Division game. Steelers are locked into the number two slot in the playoffs, which means they have a bye next week. Ben R has taken a hell of a beating this year, so I don't expect he'll play much, if at all. But this is still a division game, and I think the rest of the Steelers will want to show the Browns that they have a ways to go to play with the big boys. George likes the Browns.

Oakland (4-11) at Tampa Bay (9-6) - Easiest call of the week. Raiders aren't good (despite beating the Texans in Oakland last week) and they're on the east coast, and the Bucs make the playoffs with a win and a Dallas loss. George likes the Raiders.

    the 2:15 MST games:

Jacksonville (5-10) at Baltimore (10-5) - Another easy call. Baltimore gets the second wild card spot if they win, and they're a better team than the Jags. George likes Baltimore.

Miami (10-5) at New York Jets (9-6) - Division game. Miami wins the AFC East if they win this game, regardless of what happened earlier in Buffalo. This is also the homecoming for Chad Pennington, who got dumped for Bret Favre last August. Weather looks to be decent - some sun, some scattered showers, high in the fifties, low in the thirties. As to the quarterback switcheroo, it sure looks like the Dolphins got the better of the deal. Pennington's stats throughout the season have been better than Favre's, and lately Favre has looked like a very old man - 9 sacks, 6 INT's, and 1 TD in the last four games. Take the Dolphins. George likes the Jets, and he could be right - Favre might just get up for this one.

Dallas (9-6) at Philadelphia (8-6-1) - Division game. Eagles get a playoff spot if they win, and if Tampa and Minnesota both lose, or Tampa and Chicago both lose. But Tampa won't lose to the Raiders (you know that). Dallas gets a wild card if they win. And don't think for a minute that Jerry Jones wouldn't like to inaugurate his brand new stadium next year with a Super Bowl winner. By game time, the Eagles will know that Tampa won, and Minnesota or Chicago won, so they'll be playing just to whup up on Jerry's Boys. Taking the Eagles here, and besides it's always possible that they'll have a wild card spot to play for. George likes Jerry's 'Boys.

Seattle (3-12) at Arizona (8-7) - Division game. Cardinals have a division title for the first time in forever, but haven't been playing so hot, so they need to tune it up, and who better to do it against than the Seahawks, who used to own the division? Take the Cardinals at home. George likes the Seahawks, and he could be right - the Hawks would like to show the Cards that they're really the top dog.

Washington (8-7) at San Francisco (6-9) - The second coast to coast game this week. Reds have been faltering, Niners have been getting better. And they get Frank Gore back. George likes the Niners also.

   the SNF game:

Denver (8-7) at San Diego (7-8) - Division game. Whoever wins this game goes to the playoffs, loser goes home. Chargers and their fans are still whining about the call by Ed Hochuli in Week Two (Jay Cutler dropped back to pass, the ball fell from his hand, Hochuli blew the whistle, called it an incomplete pass. Replay showed Cutler's hand was not going forward, so it was a fumble, recovered by the Chargers, but it was not officially reviewable because the whistle had blown.) The drop by Cutler still cost the Broncos a down (third) and seven yards. This was late in the game, Chargers up by 7. So, on fourth down, Cutler found Eddie Royal for six. Down by a point, the Broncos went for two, and again Cutler found Royal for two points (only the third time in NFL history that a team went for two (when a PAT would have sent it to OT) and made it to win the game). So, in spite of the gift of a down and yards (not because of anything the Chargers did to cause it), and the fact that the Chargers couldn't prevent a TD pass and a two point pass, they are still whining. They call it "the Hochuli". Broncos had a three game advantage three weeks ago, but blew it, so it comes to this, which is one reason the game was moved to SNF. So, on to basics. Who's gonna win this game? Who knows. Pretty sure it will be a good game, with lots of scoring (the first ended 39-38) and neither team has much D, but both have a lot of O. Broncos put two more RB's on IR last week, so are down to Tatum Bell and Cory Boyd, a rookie off the practice squad. So, it's up to Jay Cutler and his receivers. Brandon Marshall torched Antonio Cromartie in Week Two for 166 yards on 18 catches, and Eddie Royal and Tony Scheffler are waiting in the wings. So who's gonna win this game? Well, I know who, but I ain't saying. Don't want to hear any more whining from the Chargers' fans. George also likes the Broncos .