To answer Lucas's question, the NFL playoff picks are as official as the NFL playoff games in that it doesn't matter who picks the most games correct during the season. The winner is the one who picks the Super Bowl correctly (unless I catch up to Lucas or Brian before then).

IND at BAL: The talking heads are all predicting a Ravens victory, the Ravens spent all week talking trash, and Brian Billick brought his smugness to the set of PTI this week, all of which seem to point to a Colts upset. But if you saw Peyton Manning throw 3 picks and struggle to beat a very poor Chiefs team that didn't even belong in the playoffs, you just kind of know the outcome. BAL

PHI at NO: I'm just not quite sold on the Saints. You have a franchise with absolutely zero history of playoff success against a team that not too long ago got to the NFC championship game 4 years in a row. I know they're at home and I know they've had a bye, but they haven't played a meaningful game in a month. Upset Special. PHI

SEA at CHI: Speaking of teams that don't belong in the playoffs, it's the underachieving Seahawks. I wonder how Deion Branch feels being the 3rd or 4th receiver catching passes from Seneca Wallace half the season instead of the star in New England? Meanwhile the Bears will get the usual mediocre performance from Rex Grossman that would be enough to lose against any other team. CHI

NE at SD: Ah yes, it's the unstoppable force against the occasionally less-movable object. The Pats can usually shut down the one-dimensional teams and force them to play to their weaknesses, but I'm not sure they can come up with a gameplan to stop LaDainian Tomlinson. They have a bad recent history against San Diego (not as bad as their history against Denver, but bad enough to scare me), and even a heavy dose of Martyball (run after run after run) may be enough to win. SD