Week 14 of the NFL has already started, and that means I'm already 0-1 with my picks. I incorrectly picked the Browns to upset the Steelers on Thursday night, with the belief that Cleveland would capitalize on he Steelers missing their top two receivers and their top two safeties. As it turned out, they didn't need their receivers because Willie Parker rushed for a career high in yards. To go along with that, they didn't need their safeties either, because Cleveland's receivers couldn't even hang on to the football in situations in which they were open. Sheesh. Now, before I get to this Sunday's picks, let's take a look at the current playoff standings...(Note, the following list should represent the playoff seeds as they stand heading into Week 14, and the number in parenthesis tells what position that team was in last week)...



AFC
1. Indianapolis Colts (1)
2. San Diego Chargers (3)
3. Baltimore Ravens (2)
4. New England Patriots (4)
5. Cincinnati Bengals (-)
6. New York Jets (-)
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7. Jacksonville Jaguars
8. Kansas City Chiefs
9. Denver Broncos

In the AFC, both wildcards changed as the Bengals and the Jets replaced the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos. It's funny how the AFC West went from having three playoff teams one week, to only one the next week. In a way, that division is only beating up on each other with how the games have turned out when facing each other. The Jets can only blame themselves in a way if they fail to make the playoffs now, because they have the supposed "easiest schedule" remaining in the league, showing that sometimes it pays to lose a lot of games the previous season. Teams will have a tough time catching the Bengals with the way their offense is playing, and now teams can't even get past their defense. The Colts better watch themselves at the top though, because they are a loss away from not only dropping to the second seed, but possibly to the third seed.

NFC
1. Chicago Bears* (1)
2. New Orleans Saints (2)
3. Seattle Seahawks (3)
4. Dallas Cowboys (4)
5. New York Giants (5)
6. Philadelphia Eagles (-)
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7. Atlanta Falcons
8. Carolina Panthers
9. Minnesota Vikings
10. San Francisco 49ers
11. St. Louis Rams

Despite so many teams hovering around the bottom of the wildcard section, the NFC surprisingly did not see any major changes this week. The Panthers lost their spot, but have a shot to regain it against the Giants this week. Jeff Garcia and the Eagles may have a legitimate chance at the wildcard again, especially when you look at the lack of spark on the teams below them. The Falcons could be dangerous if they get things going on the right track, and then you always have the possibility of the someone like the Rams jumping up there. And, if the Vikings are able to make the postseason, I'll be in complete shock, simply because they don't deserve it.

Now, to this week's predictions. As I stated above, I'm already 0-1 after the Steelers beat the Browns. There will still be four games of the week in my column, as I'm not counting Thursday's game as one of them...

TOUGH AT ARROWHEAD

Baltimore Ravens vs. Kansas City Chiefs. Coming off of a poor defensive effort against the Cleveland Browns last week, the Chiefs will be looking to regain their wildcard spot against one of the toughest teams in the AFC. Baltimore is coming off of a loss of their own, but still remain only a game back of the No. 1 seed in the conference. Steve McNair was only able to muster seven cheap points against the Cincinnati Bengals defense last week, which was surely a disappointment. There's no question that the Bengals defensive scheme has improved, but they aren't that much of a threat to the point that Baltimore shouldn't have been able to put some points on the board early. The Ravens suffered a huge loss in that game after B.J. Sams broke his leg. Sams always set the offense up with some good field position and did a good job in coverage on special teams to make things tougher on opposing teams.

The Chiefs offense isn't the reason they lost last week against Cleveland, but in a way, you could make a case that it factored into the situation a little bit. The Chiefs finally opened things up with Green throwing four touchdowns against Cleveland, but many feel that if the team had run the clock down more with Larry Johnson like they've shown they're capable of, Cleveland's offense wouldn't have had a chance at coming back to win. Regardless of that fact though, the majority of the blame deserves to go to the Chiefs defense. They were beat with numerous plays underneath taken for big plays. With linebacker Derrick Johnson returning to the field, the Chiefs hope to erase some of those missed tackles they experienced last week. Green has yet to lost a game in December during his career in Arrowhead, and the ground game will once again be the focus to lead the Chiefs to a tight victory. Chiefs 21, Ravens 20

QUARTERBACK SENSATIONS

New Orleans Saints vs. Dallas Cowboys. Drew Brees and Tony Romo. When the season started, I'm sure many people would have doubted the fact that these two men were quite possibly the best quarterbacks in the NFC. Brees has been incredible in the resurgence of the Saints, while Romo has cleaned up the Cowboys offense after Drew Bledsoe was benched weeks ago. This is a huge game for both of these teams, because each of them are in position to finish the season in first place in their division. There is also a good chance that both teams will finish the season with the same record, meaning that whichever team wins this game will be seeded higher than the other team. That could be the difference between being the second seed and third seed, or even the first seed or second seed.

The Saints defense has been up and down this season at times, while the Cowboys defense has been critical in their past few wins. There's no doubt that Romo has helped Dallas make it to this point, but they've been able to hold Peyton Manning to a rather poor day, and were able to do enough to keep their team in the game last week against the Giants despite Romo's struggling. It seems like one thing is for sure for tonight's Sunday nighter: it'll be a shootout. Brees has yet to really "struggle" to the point where no points are put on the board, and Reggie Bush had his first "electrifying" game against the 49ers a week ago. Romo to Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn is pretty good too though, and they'll have the slight edge at home in what should be a great game. Cowboys 34, Saints 31.

ALWAYS FALLING SHORT

Indianapolis Colts vs. Jacksonville Jaguars. Every time the Jaguars play the Colts, the result seems to be the same: close to a victory, but not quite. You simply don't see the Colts run away with any games when they face Jacksonville, or against any teams in their division. However, for the first time in years last week, a team in the AFC South finally took down Manning and the Colts, that being the Tennessee Titans in Tennessee. The Jaguars are hoping the same thing can happen for them at home, where they are a much better team than on the road. Winning the division is basically out of the question for the Jaguars, but they are still in strong position for a possible wildcard spot. David Garrard's mobility has been the extra ingredient that Jacksonville's receivers have needed to perform a little bit better, including a career day for Matt Jones last week.

Ironically, I'm a little more confident with Indianapolis than I was several weeks ago. Now that they've lost two games, the team may finally be able to experience what it means to have a sense or urgency. Jacksonville has a pretty good defense, but in the past, they've still had a difficult time simply shutting down Indianapolis on offense. Manning will be able to put points on the board, and he'll throw the football a lot more often than they run the ball. Marvin Harrison is only a few catches and touchdowns away from more records, but look for Brandon Stokley to get back into the offense today with some plays in the slot. I'm taking a typical score for when these two teams face off. Colts 28, Jaguars 21.

WITH THIS TYPE OF PICTURE, IT MAY NOT MATTER

New York Giants vs. Carolina Panthers. Both teams are tied for a wildcard spot right now, but if the season ended today, the Giants would be the team making the playoffs at 6-6. With how murky the NFC wildcard situation is, I actually would not be surprised if the loser of this game could still make the playoffs. The Giants and the Panthers are the best of the bunch of teams that are all nearly tied with each other. The Giants and Panthers have suffered similar fates over the past several weeks: losing when they shouldn't have lost. The Giants losses may be due to the absence of Michael Strahan, while the Panthers haven't been able to pull out games with quarterback Jake Delhomme in the fourth quarter.

This year, the controversy in the NFC East hasn't been between Terrell Owens and the Cowboys or Owens and McNabb. Instead, it's involved the Giants players against Tom Coughlin. You can simply see it on the field - they are not a good fit. And, in turn, it seems as if the players aren't responding in terms of gameplay as they are capable of. The Panthers will probably be without Delhomme today due to injury, meaning Chris Weinke would get the start. I don't think this is the start of some quarterback controversy or anything, nor do I believe Weinke will light it up. However, if Weinke can manage the game like Damon Huard did with Kansas City earlier this season, the Panthers defense will get back on track and pull out a home win. Panthers 23, Giants 16.

REST OF THE WEEK

Atlanta Falcons vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite their string or horrible losses, the Atlanta Falcons could find themselves holding a wildcard spot following this week. Michael Vick needs to realize that the Falcons offense all starts with the production of Alge Crumpler. If Crumpler has a big day, everyone else on Atlanta's offense will produce. The defensive issues for Atlanta early in football games has been suspect, and the Buccaneers will look to run the ball with Cadillac Williams all day long. Bruce Gradkowski's play at the quarterback position has worn down in recent weeks, once again questioning the position for next season. This won't be a very exciting offensive game, but both defenses will come to play. Falcons 17, Buccaneers 9.

Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions. Although the Vikings quarterback situation is up in the air, I think Brad Johnson will get the start. The Vikings are a funny team, because they seem to show up big time on some occasions, and not at all on other occasions. Either way, their defense is very tough to run against, and the offensive spark that Jon Kitna was able to produce has not led them to very many victories. Chester Taylor probably won't be able to play for the Vikings, meaning Johnson will try to look for Marcus Robinson in the end zone to keep them alive in the playoff race. Vikings 24, Lions 14.

New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins. It's funny that how after the Dolphins won several games in a row, the buzz with their team ran out last week after their loss to the Jaguars. Tom Brady and the Patriots barely escaped with a win over the Lions, and will be without rookie running back Laurence Maroney this week. The Dolphins will have a good chance at competing with the Patriots, but with Ronnie Brown out again, they won't have enough offensive firepower to get the job done. Patriots 23, Dolphins 13.

Oakland Raiders vs. Cincinnati Bengals. Too often this season, I've thought to myself "this is the day where Randy Moss will have his big day, just like his old self". I'm done taking a chance with that, and that's why I'm taking the Bengals to absolutely crush the Raiders at home today. The Raiders defense will give up half the points, while their offensive issues will give up the other half. Most people realize that Oakland has a decent defense, but Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh were able to have big days against arguably one of the best defenses in the league in the Baltimore Ravens. Bengals 30, Raiders 10.

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Redskins. The job that the Redskins have been able to do with Jason Campbell at quarterback and Ladell Betts at running back has been very admirable. Even more admirable though is the effort that Jeff Garcia has given during his past two starts, including an incredible win over the Carolina Panthers a week ago. The Eagles have some confidence restored and are suddenly in good position to make the postseason without Donovan McNabb. Against the Redskins defense though, Philadelphia will have to rely a little more on the play of running back Brian Westbrook to pull out a victory. Eagles 13, Redskins 10.

Tennessee Titans vs. Houston Texans. With how the NFL has been this year, it'd probably only be fitting for Vince Young to beat the Eagles, Giants, and Colts all in a row, only to lose to the Texans. I'm not basing anything on that possibility though, because the leadership skills displayed by Young have been outstanding in his first season. The offense just responds to him very well, and not many people are talking about the progress that the defense has made over the season. The Texans will have to watch another one of the players they could have drafted, as David Carr is due for another typical low-key game without much support in the running game. Titans 24, Texans 20.

Green Bay Packers vs. San Francisco 49ers. I feel like I'm making a mistake with this game. The 49ers have been a tough team to beat at home this season, including a win over the Seattle Seahawks a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, after things were looking bright in Green Bay several weeks ago, things have taken a turn in the opposite direction in recent weeks. Brett Favre is still a good quarterback in the NFL, and Ahman Green is a good matchup against the 49ers run defense. The Packers often make too many mistakes that cost them early, but they'll take the 49ers by surprise with a "responsive" effort to Favre's challenge to play better. Packers 26, 49ers 20.

Seattle Seahawks vs. Arizona Cardinals. Matt Leinart has been red-hot over his past two games, and Edgerrin James is coming off of his first 100-yard game since he was with the Indianapolis Colts. The Seahawks are 2-0 since Matt Hasselbeck returned, and even though he didn't have his best day against Denver last Sunday, the Cardinals defense is no where near as good. Shaun Alexander will receiver a heavy dose of carries on the ground today, and although it seems like a stretch, this could very well be one of those "Alexander-like" days that we saw last season with four touchdowns in one game. Seahawks 35, Cardinals 21.

Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets. The Jets may have an "easy" schedule to finish off the season, but the Bills are anything but a walkover. J.P. Losman has managed the team's offense well, the secondary is making opposing quarterbacks pay when they make a mistake, and Willis McGahee is running strong. McGahee typically has some of his best games against the Jets run defense. Chad Pennington should be one of the front-runners for comeback players of the year, because almost no one expected this team to be even half as good as they are. They rely more on well-coached players than physically talented players, similar to a Bill Belichick coached team. Mangini can sense the playoffs are near, and won't allow his guys to fall asleep despite the media attention they're receiving. Jets 21, Bills 14.

Denver Broncos vs. San Diego Chargers. The Broncos are on a downward spiral, and on the verge of being all but eliminated from the playoffs. After already losing their past several division games against the Chiefs and Chargers, and considering the way they're playing on offense lately, they are enormous underdogs this Sunday. LaDainian Tomlinson cannot be denied by any team in the league it seems, and he has a shot at breaking the touchdown record for a running back by Week 14. The Chargers are emerging as the best team in the AFC, but they may need to win out to have a chance at overtaking the Colts. Phillip Rivers will make Denver fans jealous with his quarterback play as Cutler should struggle again, especially if they continue to utilize him in poor situations. Chargers 27, Broncos 10.

Chicago Bears vs. St. Louis Rams. The Bears are suddenly in a little bit of a pickle. Despite beating the Vikings last week, Grossman had another atrocious day at quarterback. In his last seven games, he has thrown 14 interceptions. The Bears defense has been able to bail him out constantly, but they'll be without two of their star defensive players today. The Rams will have a legitimate chance at pulling the upset, but they have issues of their own. Marc Bulger called out players without naming names after last week's game, something you don't see from him usually. If Grossman struggles this week in the first half, rumor has it that he will be pulled for the rest of the season in favor or Brian Griese. I expect Grossman to correct some of his issues and return to how he played earlier this season. Bears 28, Rams 24.

Last week, I picked the Chargers to beat the Bills for my survivor pick. This week, I'm taking the Seattle Seahawks to topple the Arizona Cardinals.

Predictions Record to Date: 120-73(Hopefully I never reach 100 losses.)
This Week: 0-1(Lost the Thursday game.)
Last Week: 9-7(Below average of course.)
Survivor Streak: Won 1 (Phi over Hou, Bal over Oak, Was over Hou, Cle over Oak, NO over TB, Dal over Hou, Jac over Hou, Pit over Oak, Chi over Mia, Den over Oak, KC over Oak, Car over Was, SD over Buf.)

Wouldn't it be something if teams like the Rams and Steelers were either tied or a game away from a playoff spot after this week? Gotta love the National Football League...any given Sunday...

-Chris Pokorny