Normally I'm a big fan of Bill Simmons and his Boston-centric columns gushingly praising every move by a Boston team (example: in his book Now I Can Die in Peace he has an entire column about what a wonderful addition Carl Everett was to the Red Sox and how Everett is such a professional hitter. Yes, that Carl Everett.), but this week he succumbs to one of my media pet peeves. In his weekly NFL Picks column, Simmons derisively makes his description of the Texans-Saints game "ReggieBushMarioWilliams" over and over again to signify the overhyping of the Bush/Williams matchup. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I haven't read a single thing about this game all week, never mind about Bush or Williams. Now maybe during the game the announcers will talk about it too much, but I hardly think that is overhyping, and it's nowhere near the level of hyping of such Super Bowl nonstories as "Jerome Bettis playing in his hometown" or "Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith used to work together". Save your complaints at least until the overhyping begins, otherwise you're just contributing to the problem.

TB at ATL: It's a tribute to how poor the NFC is that you can't automatically dismiss this as an easy win for the first-place Bucs. I think they'll win, but it'll be closer than it should be. TB

AZ at CIN: The Cardinals showed a little something in beating the Lions last weekend, but let's not forget that it was the Lions. If he makes it through this game, this would be Kurt Warner's 3rd consecutive start, I believe, for the first time since about 2001. CIN

NYG at DET: And with one loss last week the Giants have reverted back to "flawed NFC team with crazy coach". Luckily this week they're facing "flawed NFC team with crazy coordinator who passes on every down". NYG

CAR at GB: The weather in Green Bay is going to be bad, Vinny can feel it in his bones. I hope he remembers his sweater. GB

KC at IND: The Colts are banged up, but they're not that banged up. IND

OAK at MIN: Adrian Peterson got hurt? You're kidding me, I never would have guessed. Since I can't pick a 0-0 tie in this one, I'm going to go with the Raiders to give the 49ers/Patriots the inside track at next year's #2 draft pick. OAK

MIA at PHI: The Dolphins have supposedly been paying celebrities to be in the stands during games, why not pay them to play quarterback? You can't tell me you wouldn't want to see Keanu Reeves reenacting The Replacements. For that matter, I think the rest of the cast of The Replacements would probably give Miami a better shot than their current cast of down-and-out misfits. PHI

SD at JAX: The Chargers won last week despite playing as poorly as physically possible. I know everyone is going with the Jags as a result, but I think San Diego pulls one out this week in order to make sure it is as difficult as possible to pick their games. SD

CLE at BAL: I'll go contrarian here as well, make it my Upset Special. BAL

NO at HOU: Supposedly Andre Johnson is finally coming back, but sadly I don't think the Texans can recapture what they had during those 2 glorious weeks to start the season. Ahh, memories... NO

PIT at NYJ: The Steelers are inconsistent, but the Jets are consistently horrible. PIT

WAS at DAL: I hate to say it, Lucas, but I think the Cowboys will beat the Packers in the playoffs unless the game is in Green Bay. And if they keep playing teams like the Redskins I don't think that'll happen. DAL

STL at SF: The 49ers can't possibly play worse than they did last week, can they? STL

CHI at SEA: In the clash of the overrateds, Shaun Alexander will rule as the most overrated of all. SEA

NE at BUF: This one will be tough, with the bad weather predicted, but I don't see the Bills keeping up with the Pats even if they can hold them to 17 or 20 points. NE

TEN at DEN: The Broncos have been surprisingly weak at home this year, and are perfectly suited to lose to an all-run no-pass team like the Titans. TEN