Written by Chris Hutchison

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Now that the Regular Season has come to an end (mercifully, for some teams in, say, Northeast Ohio), it is worthwhile to look back at one's Preseason picks for the Playoffs and see which teams did as expected and which surprised.

Before the season started, these were my foolish picks:

NFC Division Champs - Eagles, Saints, Seahawks, Packers

NFC Wild Cards - Lions, 49ers

AFC Division Champs - Ravens, Texans, Patriots, Chiefs

AFC Wild Cards - Titans, Steelers

Super Bowl:  Texans vs. Packers

SB Winner: Texans

6 of 12, not a good percentage.  The Eagles... hard to see that implosion coming.  But the Lions and Chiefs and Titans were clearly just poorly researched choices.  Honestly, KC?  C'mon, Chris!  You picked a Romeo Crennel-coached team to go to the Playoffs?  Which color pills were you poppin'?  Geez!

Houston-Green Bay still could happen, but it seems unlikely.  The Texans had a bad late season collapse (reminiscent of the 1986 Jets) and I can't see that team even getting out of the Divisional round, especially with the lack of elite QB.  Packers... they're dangerous if they're hot, no doubt, but the NFC is loaded this year.

The big misses were the 2 top seeds, Denver and Atlanta.  The Falcons I feel is excusable, since I have a lot of trouble trusting that team even now despite their record.  The Horsies... I guess I just underestimated the impact of Peyton Manning.  I'd gladly give him and Adrian Peterson Co-MVP's - they were so crucial to their respective teams.

As far as last week's picks are concerned, we have a new weekly best with BT's 12-4.  DJC and I managed 10-6 records as well - not too shabby.  The season standings are:

Me: 130.5-117.5, BT: 129.5-118.5, DJC: 125.5-122.5

One could say that I was the Regular Season champ (which I gladly will), but we're going to carry this thing through the end of the Playoffs too.  With only 11 games left to go, it's anybody's ballgame.

My predictions for now have DEN-NE in the AFC Championship Game (big limb I went out on there) and SF-SEA in the other (SF and GB would play each other next week if form holds true).  Then give me a NE-SF Super Bowl.  And a 4th ring for Tom Brady.

All odds are from VegasInsider.com:

CIN at HOU -4.5

Me - My Line: HOU by 4.5.  I'm kind of torn on which of these pretenders to vote off the island, and the HERO (Hutchison Economically Realistic Ordering) system came up with the same line, so I sadly must do my own dirty work.  The Bengals are 0-Franchise in road Playoff games, and they lost in Houston last year in this same round.  But as beatable as the Bengals are, they're more solid than the Texans are right now.  I can see Houston pulling it out, but it'll be a close game, closer than the spread. Pick: Bengals

DJC - Pick: Bengals

BT - I think Cincy can cover, but the Texans are a powder keg ready to explode.  Pick: Texans

MIN at GB -7.5

Me - My Line: GB by 6.  This one is difficult for me since the System is telling me to take Minny and the points but my gut is telling me "dome team outside just played last week old fashioned butt-whoopin' by the Pack".  I think Green Bay adjusts to Peterson and Ponder chokes due to the situation and location.  Minnesota played their best game last week, and they still barely won.  Gotta go against the Math.  Pick: Packers

DJC - Pick: Vikings

BT - Logically, I should look at who I want to win and pick the opposite team.  Because whomever I root for always loses.  I would love to take Minnesota and the points, but I won’t.  And yes I have an Adrian Peterson fetish.  Pick: Packers

IND at BAL -7

Me - My Line: BAL by 5.  Indy isn't really all that good of a team despite their record.  Their D is questionable and I'm not sure they have a running game at all.  But Andrew Luck appears to be one of "those" QB's that overcomes surrounding talent issues (probably why he went #1 overall), and is probably already better than his Baltimore counterpart, Joe Flacco, who is probably on his way to being a head case, especially if they lose this one.  Sure, there will be a lot of emotion for Ray Lewis' farewell run, but I don't think the Ravens fans (or the Ravens themselves) have a ton of confidence right now and will start to get real nervous if things don't go as planned.  On the other hand, the Colts probably have no expectations and are young enough to not know any better.  Pick: Colts

DJC - Pick: Ravens

BT - I really don’t care who wins this game.  Makes the decision harder, doesn’t it?  I’ll take the Colts and the points.  Pick: Colts

SEA at WAS +3

Me - My Line: SEA by 1.  Another tough one.  I think that Seattle is clearly the superior team, and that Defense could put a hurtin' on RG3.  Really, all they need to do is shut down Alfred Morris and they will put all kinds of undue pressure on the Washington QB to make plays that he doesn't normally have to make.  However, a 3 point home dog?  Seems like a lot for a team that has won 7 in a row.  If it hadn't been for the Rams handling the Seahawks Offense last week reminding me that there were large chunks of the season where they REALLY struggled on that side of the ball, I'd override HERO again on this one, but I think in this instance I'll go with the System.  Pick: Redskins

DJC - Pick: Redskins

BT - Again, no strong feelings here.  Game Seattle Slew.  Pick: Seahawks