Wilber's Way Super Bowl predictions made

Yesterday I broke down my NFL regular season picks, picking division winners and Wild Card teams that will make up January's playoffs. So here we go with the seeds and the matchups with my Super Bowl XLVI picks that will be certainly scrutinized throughout the season.

NFC Playoff teams and seeds
1. Packers (12-4)
2. Eagles (11-5)
3. Falcons (10-6)
4. Rams (9-7)
5. Bears (10-6)
6. Saints (10-6)

Wild Card matchups
Saints at Falcons: I see these two splitting during the season and the home team will have the advantage. That's why I see the Falcons taking this very tight and close game.
Bears at Rams: Can Sam Bradford take it to the Bears defense? That will be the difference in this game. This game is all about Julius Peppers, which is why I see the Bears winning a spot in the Divisional round. As I'll talk about in my Bears season preview tomorrow, I expect this offensive line to come together in a few weeks and solidify. With that Jay Cutler will have a career year that carries this team.

Divisional Round
Falcons at Eagles: Michael Vick in big games means bad things for the Eagles. Add to that the chip on the Falcons' shoulder from the thumping handed down by the Packers last season and this team has its eye on the prize and gets it done on the road. The so-called dream team can't get it done when it matters most, just showing chalk doesn't rule in the NFL playoffs.
Bears at Packers: Lambeau Field is a place the Bears historically don't play well (Well at least since Rex Grossman left town). No Packers fan I know is giving the Bears a shot in this game, but they'll have a lead for most of the game before Aaron Rodgers steps in and cements himself with a great fourth quarter comeback to break my heart once again. Yeah, I hate the guy.

NFC Championship
Falcons at Packers: The Falcons will be looking for payback from the last season's playoffs, but coming into Lambeau evens things out. Repeating as champs is one of the most difficult things a team can do and I have a hard time seeing all the breaks go the way of Green Bay another season. That's not to say this one won't be close, but just like the last time the Packers hosted an NFC Title game, a bad break late will turn the tide and the Falcons will head to the Super Bowl.

AFC Playoff teams and seeds
1.Chargers (13-3)
2. Patriots (12-4)
3. Steelers (11-5)
4. Texans (10-6)
5. Ravens (10-6)
6. Jets (10-6)

Wild Card matchups
Jets at Steelers: This was last year's AFC Title game. A lot of things will change for these teams throughout the season. If the Jets can find a way to limit the mistakes from Mark Sanchez, they'll be in this game. And with a Jets defense that will limit Ben Roethlisberger, I see the Jets taking this one on the road.
Ravens at Texans: Houston not only makes the playoffs, but hosts a playoff game. And with the young guns on offense and a revamped defense, it's almost like a passing of the guard in Houston as the Texans take it to Ray Lewis and company.

Divisional Round
Texans at Patriots: As good as the Texans could look the week prior, they will be humbled by the machine in Foxboro. The Pats will be just too good this season on both sides of the ball. This one might be ugly.
Jets at Chargers: The best offense in the league with Philip Rivers at the helm will meet a defense with all the wrinkles it needs to shut it down. This one will be knock down and drag out with Gang Green finding a way and LT putting the dagger in his old team's season.

AFC Championship
Jets at Patriots: You thought that Bears/Packers NFC Championship game last season was big, wait until this one jumps off. The coaches are huge personalities and players on both sides will make this a great one and a true chess match. So will it be the old guard or the new guard? I think Rex Ryan finally backs up his talk and guides his team to the Super Bowl with a big play from the Jets defense on Tom Brady that sets it up for Mark Sanchez to deliver to Plaxico Burress.

OK, got all that? Here we go...
Super Bowl XLVI....... Falcons vs. Jets: The Falcons have the advantage at quarterback, wide receiver and running back, but going against the Jets defense, it turns the attention to the Jets offense. Can Sanchez do it on the big stage? The Falcons aren't as talked about on defense, but I still think they are solid, especially with their front seven. That could be the difference as I see the Jets leaning on a running game with Sanchez.
With things close, it will come down to which defense can make the big play that gives a short field to its offense, and that's where I think the Jets make their move and make life easy on LT and Sanchez.
Score: Jets 24, Falcons 20.

NOTE:
There ya go. What did you think? Be sure to comment below and tell me where I screwed up.
Remember, Thursday I'll have my full Bears preview and my Week 1 picks for the Pick 'em polls.

Clock is ticking toward Bears-Packers at Soldier Field

The weekend is here and the Bears and Packers in the NFC Championship game is just around the corner now. I did not think the week could go by fast enough, but it is finally here. I have a couple of great things set for today. Also, be sure to take a look at our mailbag in Thursday's blog with some fans' picks on what is going to happen in the game.



Sports Countdown Clock Generator
Now to some breaking down of what is on tap for Sunday's game. I've reached out to a good Packers friend, Josh Golberg, who will give five keys for the Packers and I'll come back with five keys for the Bears.

1. Momentum. Nobody wants to play the hot team heading into the playoffs and no team is hotter than Green Bay. The Packers have won four straight going back to two must-win games to close out the season. They seem to be peaking at the right time. (You could argue that New Orleans/Seattle were hot teams heading in…but they played each other)
2. The running game. If you would have told me midseason that 25 carries for 66 yards by your main running back against the #1 seed in the NFC on the road would be enough to carry a dominant passing attack and earn an upset…I would have asked for whatever you were smoking. But the resurgence of the ground game with Brandon Jackson, and more recently James Starks, has kept defenses honest and allowed Aaron Rodgers to pick opponents apart. It doesn’t matter if the Bears held offenses to an average of 90 yards rushing during the regular season. They at least now have to account for somebody running the ball effectively.
3. Aaron Rodgers. There isn’t a QB that has played better in the postseason…and not just because the Patriots, Saints and Colts are all out. Rodgers is coming off of what many people are saying is the best postseason performance in history: 31 of 36 passes, 366 yards, 3 TDs, passer rating of 136.8. Ran for a 4th TD. In fact he has 10 TD passes in his first three career postseason games, an NFL record. Against Chicago this year, he’s a combined 53 for 73 with 2 TDs, 2 INTs and a combined passer rating of 91.1. Definitely mortal-like numbers. He’ll have to break that mold Sunday.
4. Dom Capers. Show me a defensive coordinator who has done more with less. Seriously. Ten players on IR. 10. That’s almost enough to form an entire defense. Starters/backups/3rd stringers. No coordinator has had to tweak things more to the constantly changing strengths and weaknesses…yet they still wound up with the 5th ranked defense when the regular season was concluded. I wouldn’t want anyone else gameplanning for an opponent.
5. The receiving corps. Possession receiver? Check (Driver). Downfield threat? Check (Jennings). Emerging threat? Check (Jones). Token white guy who seems to be forgotten about only to come up big? Check (Nelson). No defensive secondary can cover those four plus account for a tailback or a tight end. Top to bottom, Green Bay has the best receivers in the league. Their #1 or #2 might not be as good as some teams, but combine them all and they’re the best. Throw in Rodgers and you’ve got an explosive passing attack. They’ll dink-and-dunk you down the field and just when you make a mistake, they’ll make you pay for it.
Prediction: Packers 31, Bears 17


Now to the Bears keys to success Sunday.
1. Good Jay. It's tops on the list and it is the most important because how Jay Cutler goes, so goes the offense. He played in his first playoff game last week and showed he was not above the moment and had one of his best games of the season. Some of what he is able to do Sunday is not tied directly to him, as he needs the front five to make sure he is not getting the tar beat out of him. Is there any doubt to think Jay will not continue to play smart? No. He has been on point for the last two months and has limited his poor decisions. For his sake, the sack is the lesser of two evils when compared to an interception.
2. Make James Starks a nonfactor. Starks rushed for 66 yards against the Falcons, but 123 against the Eagles where he was an even bigger factor. It will not take much for him to be a factor and do all the Packers need in just planting an idea of the run, but to silence him has to be a key objective for the Bears. Making the Packers turn away from the running game on 2nd and 1 and 3rd and 1 will set the tone for the defense and make them one dimensional. That will open things up for the defensive line to pin their ears back.
3. Get pressure with the front four. Speaking of the defensive line, those front four of mainly Julius Peppers, Tommie Harris, Anthony Adams and Israel Idonoje need to establish pressure on Aaron Rodgers, but with a slight purpose. Consider this an extension of limiting the run game in containing Rodgers and not letting him use his feet to create. Keeping the pocket from moving will set things up for the line and help the secondary.
4. Create turnovers. There is no secret the Bears defense is one of the best in the league at creating opportunities for themselves. Against the Packers it seems they always find a way to force a key fumble when the Green Bay is knocking on the door and getting a key interception, even on Rodgers. If Chris Harris plays like he has been announced he will with his injury, look for the secondary to have to come up big with a great GB secondary. It's all bend but don't break and they can give up yards, if they create opportunities by hawking the ball.
5. Special teams domination. I would expect little argument from Packers backers that the Bears have an elite special teams unit compared to the Packers. In the regular season finale Devin Hester was kept rather silent, but I don't expect that to happen again. He needs to help flip field position and help the offense work a short field to scores. Even if he forces the Packers to kick the ball short or out of bounds, it would work to the Bears advantage most of the time. I do not expect Tim Mastahay to have the game he had in Week 17 where he was pretty much perfect.

Prediction: Bears 23, Packers 20 off a Robbie Gould field goal in the final minute.

On to that other playoff game going on that will determine who the winner of this game will play in the Super Bowl, I know haven't done a lot with it this week. For good reason. This is huge.
That said, I'm still leaning toward the Steelers. They have a better defense all around than the Jets and are not banged up or inexperienced like the Patriots and Colts defenses were. This will be a great game, but I'm still taking the Steelers, 21-17.

As most of you who know me know, I'm a huge fan of Twitter. I have been following the chatter all week on both sides of the aisle and figured I'd make it easy for some of you to do that this weekend. Here's a list of a select number of media members with what they have to say. Should be fun to follow this during the game Sunday. Check out the list on my Twitter page.


Now on to the Nussie Hunter portion of the broadcast. With a big game and a big blog, you have to bring out the big guns for the event. That leads us to the one and only Megan Fox, who is in a new ad campaign in for Armani. She looks as good as ever. You can see more pics, here.

Championship Sunday is just around the corner!

First off, I'd like to say my apologies for all of the photos turning into "Bandwidth Exceeded" graphics the last couple of days. I got an E-mail yesterday that said I had exceeded my 10 GB bandwidth at Photobucket. I think that means the site is doing pretty good and I had to upgrade my photo hosting to allow for an unlimited bandwidth.

Now that we got that out of the way, lets' get into making my Super Bowl picks. Now that both of my preseason picks (the Chargers and the Bears. Yes I know. Thought we had a shot to get one right), it's back to the drawing board. I like both matchups Sunday and should be two great games.
Let's start with the 2 p.m. game that has the Jets going to Indy to play the Colts. A lot is being made of the history of these franchises, but to be honest, that means nothing to the guys on the field. It's great history, but will have no effect on what happens Sunday.
Was looking over this week's Sports Illustrated, I am a subscriber, and they break things down. Looking at how the Colts did what they had to do to the Ravens, I'm saying we get more of that this week. Peyton is too smart and will find the holes in this defense to get the Colts out front. On the other side of the ball, the Colts D has been playing great and if they can get to Mark Sanchez and knock him out of his game, they'll make it easy. This will be about stopping the run for them and if they can keep Thomas Jones quiet for the day. The Colts are pretty one-dimensional relying on the pass almost exclusively and that should allow the Jets to put Reggie Wayne out on Revis Island for the day and let them keep a the extra safety deep to keep an eye on Dallas Clark.
I must say though, I really like the Colts to earn this win. Remember, the only reason the Jets are here is because the Chargers lost that game. They beat themselves. The Jets just lucked out. Yes I just said that.
On the NFC side, its the Vikings and Saints. I think everyone is expecting this game to be a shootout. I'd say if it becomes that, the Saints will be right at home. Putting pressure on Brett Favre to have to score points usually leads to turnovers. The fact that the Vikings have lost their last three home games plays a part in this, too. I don't really like anyone going into the Superdome and getting a win. Now if the game were in the Humpty Dump, I'd probably be saying the Vikes have the upper hand, but we're in Nawleans and for that it's time for the Saints to March on. Drew Brees is just cool in the big games and if he can get production out of Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush like he got last week, the Saints will give that vaunted Minnesota D fits.
For the Vikings, finding a way to get Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor off and running is going to be a key for them. Take pressure off Favre until he has to make the play. He seems to play within himself more in those situations. Not to mention the Saints defense isn't that good and getting them to bring that extra guy into the box will allow "Brent" to play the 1-on-1 matchups that could lead to big plays.
Like I said, I like this being a close game. I'm not so sure it will be as high scoring as people think, but I like the Saints.

Here we go, the official picks...
AFC Title Game: Colts over Jets, 20-17. Jets D will make some plays to keep it close, but not enough of them.
NFC Title Game: Saints over Vikings, 24-20. Another close one with the Saints making the big plays let and Favre making at least one of his patented "dumb" plays that costs the Purple Dumpster Divers the ballgame.

Keeping it on the Vikings, did you hear this awful Prince fight song he was inspired to write after going to the game last week? Eesh! Stick to Purple Rain!



This next item is something from last night's Conan. Tonight is his last Tonight Show and if he brings guys like Pee Wee, then it's going to be good. If you know me, you know I love PW and he was awesome on this. Check it!



Alright boys and girls, time for today's Nussie Hunter. Was checking something on Asylum today, who counted down the most exposed women of the last decade. Remarkably one of them hasn't graced our pages. Yep, Jessica Alba. She is part of the Jessica trifecta and somehow the Nussie Hunter has gone over 100 posts without her. Well, not anymore. Guess I'm helping in the over exposure, but hell. She looked good in that cat suit in Fantastic 4! ... And here.

Lovie's job is safe.... for now, after worse showing since 2003

There is very little, if anything to write about the Bears' 45-10 loss to the Bengals yesterday. I did not kill myself as some may have thought after such a resound thud was delivered to the temple of the Bears facial. Might have something to do with a certain someone that was there to help pull me through it, but I made it through in tact.
I was not happy though when I headed out for my daily reading and even on the pages of the Chicago sports writers I follow on Twitter noted that fans were calling for Lovie Smith's head and a new coach in place. Really? Damn people. Yeah, that was the worst I've seen the team play since 2003 (And yes I've watched every game during that time!), but there is time to get things fixed and get this team where it needs to go. It's not going to be easy, but it can be done.
Now it was as much the execution of the guys on the field as it was the gameplan itself that was to blame for the downright awful showing that led to the most points allowed by a Bears opponent since 1999, but I'm willing to let the second winningest coach since 2005 have some time to figure that out.
But to the game, It got ugly from the get-go and never really let up. It was a loss Brad Biggs called the "Worst loss I've covered" in his nine years as a Chicago Bears beat reporter. It was all lost up front for the Bears Sunday. Yeah, I'm a smart enough football fan to know most games are decided by the work done by the big uglies that battle in the trenches.
The Bears haven't been able to run the ball all season. My take on that is a team that runs the ball well can protect its quarterback in pass protection. The Bears can do neither right now. Matt Forte can't find space to run the ball to save himself (He's literally getting pummeled on every play) and Jay Cutler is getting sacked once every 18 times he drops back to pass. That's a staggering number considering he was only brought down once every 54 times he dropped back in Denver. Yeah, he's going to make stupid throws when he's running for his life back there.
The defensive line didn't do much better as Tommie Harris was shut down all of last week for what was then said to be an injury, when it was, in fact, Lovie Smith's decision to have him rest all week.
I guess he's going to be practicing all week, which is a change for the better, considering he had been getting Wednesdays off prior to talking a week off. Can't make any conclusions about this just yet. If that turns out to be the right move and Tommie is healthy enough and goes the rest of the season, making an impact, it will be the best move Lovie made all year.
Next up is the Cleveland Browns and the Bears have already picked up the pieces and are looking forward. As my main man money, R.J. said tonight, "If they lose to Cleveland, Lovie will be done!" I can't disagree with those statements.

In other NFL news, I did pick 11 of 14 games correctly yesterday (YEAH BUDDY!), but that's beside the point. Heard about this and thought it was funny. The Jets were beating the Raiders so bad Sunday Rex Ryan and sat Mark Sanchez and the USC alum decided he was hungry on the sideline and got himself a hot dog. Haha.





In happier New York City news, the Yankees are going back to the World Series. I think I may be the only full-time Brewers fan that was actually rooting for this. Maybe it's the fact that my BFF is a New Yorker and I can't help but root for him. Maybe it's partially because I enjoy seeing CC (Translated as YES YES!) Sabathia celebrate with the champagne after a big win. Hell, I was there when he got to do it in Milwaukee Sept. 28, 2008 at Miller Park (Still the greatest moment of my life!) and he was like a little kid celebrating his first shot at a World Series last night.
Now he gets the ball for Game 1 and will likely face Cliff Lee Wednesday at Yankees Stadium. Should be a great series.
Coming up Tuesday: I make my World Series picks!

OK boys and girls, we've reached the Nussie Hunter portion of the show. I've been getting a lot of my material lately from the new edition of Maxim (be sure to turn to Page 10 to see my boys Covino and Rich!). One of the cover girls, Grace Park, is an amazing Asian woman, I cannot be anything more than smitten with. Whoa! They get these hot of women to be on SyFy?!?! Maybe I need to get cable again! Ha. Take a look at her Maxim spread, then look at this sample.