•  In 2013, the Detroit Lions beat the New England Patriots 40-9, the St. Louis Rams led the Denver Broncos 20-10 at halftime and Seahawks star Russell Wilson threw two interceptions as his team struggled to move the ball, heading into halftime tied 3-3 with the Packers. Those were all the supposedly important third preseason games. See what I’m getting at there?
• Seattle is better than the Bears right now. They’re better than everybody right now. Who was the best team three weeks into preseason last year? Not Seattle, New England or Denver. The season is long, a lot will happen between now and January.

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Around the League Tweets has our Pro Day Monday. No Tweeting that day. Will instead display our ability to eliminate apostrophes & articles.

2 of 10. There must be a dearth of corners on market if Champ Bailey still has interest from teams. 2013 tape made 1 thing clear: he’s done.

[Side note: I love when people make statements like, “Bailey should retire now.” Champ Bailey is thirty-five years old. Thirty five! And the morning after he retires he’ll enter a period of irrelevancy he hasn’t experienced since he was about 10. He won’t be a football player. He won’t be a star. He won’t be receiving a massive pay check weekly. Bailey should retire whenever the hell he wants.]

3 of 10. Urlacher didn’t learn from Tiki. Fans ma love ya in team’s uniform but they love TEAM far more. Best not criticize em post-career.

[Side note: If Urlacher continues to complain about the organization, he’ll start hearing boos at Soldier Field. ESPECIALLY if the Bears win without him.]

4 of 10. Release of Desean Jackson far too convenient for the Eagles. Wanna bet they had say as to when the DJax gang piece would come out?

5 of 10. Dont know if they’ll gel but Giants quietly went about fixing their biggest issue: porous offensive line play. Big, veteran bodies.

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I have never lied. (Is that true?) I enjoy the release of the upcoming schedule far more than the NFL draft. I am someone who travels with extensive itineraries, does vast amount of research, knows the oldest bar in every town I’ll find. The NFL schedule is like a treasure map. The booty is football.

Here’s what should happen this year.

THURSDAY NIGHT OPENER

Denver Broncos at Seattle Seahawks

No brainer of no brainers. When you have an opportunity for a Super Bowl rematch, involving Peyton Manning, to kick off your season, you do it. I have also been an advocate for the NFL opening the season with non-conference games (with no tiebreaking implications) and this game fits the bill.

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There are no Bears but an argument can be made that the two most deserving teams are appearing in this year’s Super Bowl. As always, you can follow my commentary on the contest by checking out my Twitter feed on the right rail. You can also go to Twitter, join and follow me by CLICKING HERE.

Administrative Note: The longish piece I’ve been working on will debut next week, after the Super Bowl. It is about the NFL, gambling and their hypocritical approach to “fantasy sports”.

Before we bother with silly football analysis, here is the…

QUINTESSENTIAL NJ SPORTS COMMERCIAL

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As always I will be providing commentary throughout all four of the wild card games on Twitter. You can read my Tweets on the right rail of this page or by logging onto Twitter and following me there.

JUST CLICK HERE AND MAKE IT SO.

4-0 picking games last week but only 3-1 against the spread. (Seattle line went off anywhere from 8.5 to 9.5.)  Last week I was confident. This week I am not. Well at least half not. Let’s go!

3:00 PM ET – NEW ENGLAND AT DENVER

Line: Broncos -5

Analysis: Think both teams are going to have a ton of success running the ball. Think neither team is very good defensively. So what does the game boil down to? Same thing this game always boils down to: which of the all-time great quarterbacks makes more plays in the fourth quarter. I’m sticking with my gut. I believe this is Manning’s time.

Side note: I was disheartened by the performance of Manning’s receivers against the Chargers. Decker let a touchdown pass bounce off his chest and gave away the onside kick. Julius Thomas was a no-show for three and a half quarters. Wes Welker dropped one of the most perfect back shoulder tosses I’ve ever seen. (If Welker catches this ball it would be have been the signature play of the game.) Before last weekend I would have argued the Broncos have a significant advantage over the Patriots on the outside. Now? I’m not so sure.

Final Score: Denver 30, New England 28

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All season I have done a feature on Twitter called the Around the League Tweets (with various fake sponsors) and five times this season I mentioned how excited I’d be to bet against Andy Dalton in a playoff game. And what did I do? Not only did I not gamble against Dalton but I picked the Bengals to win! My quest for a perfect postseason died on Wild Card Weekend. I deserved the opening 3-1. On to the next round…

SATURDAY 4:35 PM ET – NEW ORLEANS AT SEATTLE

Line: Seahawks -8

Analysis: Thought Rob Ryan’s performance in Philadelphia was one of the most impressive defensive game plans we’ve seen in the NFL all season long but that won’t be enough to compensate for NOLA’s offensive struggles on the road. Seattle beat the Eagles in Philadelphia by relying on Mark Ingram and the ground game – an element the Seahawks will certainly take away with their front. That leaves Drew Brees to win the game through the air and he’s not the same player on the road.

Side note: Is it strange that I would give the Seahawks no shot if this game were in New Orleans? That doesn’t feel like the mark of a Super Bowl champion. I’ll worry about that next week.

Final Score: Seattle 24, New Orleans 13

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Seattle and San Francisco are going to the postseason. New Orleans is winning the NFC South. Somebody is winning the NFC East because someone has to win the NFC East, right? That’s four NFC postseason berths accounted for.

And I’ll give you the NFC North too, accepting the argument that a healthy Aaron Rodgers will be able to compensate for the rampant injuries they have suffered on the both sides of the ball.

The leaves one position, the six seed, for the postseason tournament. And unless you as a Bears fan are willing to concede that position to a Detroit Lions team that is a Calvin Johnson hamstring injury from losing out or a Carolina Panthers team that just climbed over .500 for the first time during the Obama administration or a team quarterbacked by Carson Palmer, it would difficult to argue the Chicago Bears season is over.

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