Week 17 ATS Recap: Stalemate

I'm not sure if Dre and I have ever gone into the playoff portion of our picks dead even. Dre carried a one game lead going into the final week, and we differed this week on an astounding 11 picks. So of course, in a season as wacky as this one, that I would win 6 of them and literally make Dre's point system meaningless.

From here on out, the precentages are meaningless, and our picks will earn us points based on the playoff round, from 2 per game this upcoming weekend, to 5 points for the Super Bowl. Game on.

Week 17 is traditionally our Waterloo. It's been so bad in years past, we've competed against a dime in our picks. This year, we stuck it to Week 17. Take that!

• Falcons 31, Panthers 10 - Dre winner, Jason loser - Atlanta secured the #1 seed in the NFC in fairly simple fashion, and the score was much closer than the actual matchup. I expected Carolina to be a little bit more feisty, or at least Atlanta to have a little bit of a hangover coming off a MNF loss to the Saints. Neither happened.
• Steelers 41, Browns 9 - Dre winner, Jason loser - With a chance to play spoiler and knock Pitt to a #5 seed, the Browns managed to only spoil one thing: their coaches job.
• Lions 20, Vikings 13 - Both winners - Brett Favre (hopefully) watched his career end from the sideline, and watched the Lions propel themselves into a third place finish. This means that Favre came back to watch a 2010 Vikings team finish in LAST PLACE. The Lions, at 6-10, are my pick to be the Houston Texans Memoral Preseason Chic Pick to make the playoffs next season.
• Raiders 31, Chiefs 10 - Jason winner, Dre loser - Yeah, Dre picked a great time to jump on the KC bandwagon. He managed to crash it just after I escaped from it. Maybe it's Oakland that will be the Houston Texans Memorial Preseason Chic Pick to make the playoffs next season. That Raiders squad is on to something with their punishing rushing attack.
• Patriots 38, Dolphins 7 - Jason winner, Dre loser - The Pats are just that much better than the rest of the AFC. If a team goes into Foxboro and bests New England in the playoffs, it will most likely come as a result of the Pats playing awful versus anything the visitor does to try to stop them. Playing for nothing, the Pats annihilated Miami. This is a scary team, especially if there is weather factoring into their home playoff games.
• Ravens 13, Bengals 7 - Jason winner, Dre loser - As the Steelers kept pouring it on Cleveland, you could almost see the Ravens letting up on the gas as the game rolled into the second half. Cincy turned the ball over five times, and yet the Ravens still managed to not cover the number. Carson Palmer even had two open receivers in the end zone on the last play of the game, but managed to do his best Carson Palmer impersonation and airmailed the ball over everyones heads.
• Buccaneers 23, Saints 13 - Jason winner, Dre loser - OK, I know I'm President of the Josh Freeman fan club, but I'm throwing my hat into the Raheem Morris for NFL Coach of the Year arena now. I saw an interesting stat that the Bucs are the first team to start 10 rookies and finish with a winning record. And even though Tampa techincally finished 8th in the conference standings, with a 10-6 mark, this is team that truly has righted the ship, and will do damage in 2011. I make fun of the Houston Memoral Preseason Chic Pick status, by where all the "experts" will say this is FINALLY the year that the Texans make the playoffs, I think we're seeing the real thing in Tampa. Sad that this team finished behind the Seattle Seahawks and New York Choking Giants for playoff consideration.
• Jets 38, Bills 7 - Dre winner, Jason loser - Made the pick Saturday night, found out Sunday morning that Ryan Fitzpatrick was inactive and that Brian Brohm would start. Didn't think to get a hold of Dre to change my pick. Shit.
• Packers 10, Bears 3- Jason winner, Dre loser - I knew the Pack would punch their ticket to the postseason, and I knew the Bears wouldn't make it easy. This was a dreadful game to watch, I didn't enjoy it like I typically would a defensive struggle like this was. Maybe it was the apprehension both teams showed on offense, but it was most likely that I had to listen to the Joe Buck/Troy Aikman announcing duo. WORST. IN. SPORTS.
• Colts 23, Titans 20 - Jason winner, Dre loser - Tennessee always plays the Colts tough, no matter how good either team is. Rinse and repeat.
• Giants 17, Redskins 14 - Both winners - Yeahhhhhh, backdoor cover baby!
• Texans 34, Jaguars 17 - Both winners - The Jags choked their way out of the postseason with three straight losses after being known as the First Place Jacksonville Jaguars. Houston didn't do enough in my opinion to keep their Chic Pick for 2011 postseason play status, so this one is up in the air now.
• Cowboys 14, Eagles 13 - Dre winner, Jason loser - Fuck you, StephenMcGee!
• Niners 38, Cardinals 14 - Both losers - I said it when I picked the game: who cares.
• Chargers 33, Broncos 28 - Both winners - San Diego, the Packers of the AFC, failed to do what Green Bay did: make the postseason. The Packers go in a a VERY dangerous 6-seed, something San Diego would have done as well. They took out some of those frustrations on Denver, but showed late why they aren't going to the playoffs by allowing a beaten Bronco team to get back into the game, seemimgly for no reason. Maybe next year, San Diego.
• Seahawks 16, Rams 6 - Dre winner, Jason loser - FUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jason 10-6

Dre 9-7

Both of us over .500 in Week 17. Both for the week and the season. We'll take it!