Baseball and Football thoughts...

Can anyone in the NL knock off Philly? That is the question as the NL playoffs are fast-approaching and the playoff teams are all but sEt (This late Cardinals push is nothing but a too little-too late 4 game win streak). They look dang good at 94-48 and beating up on the Braves and Brewers this week, but Atlanta fans have seen teams like this 2011 Phillies team not come through in the post-season.

The 1998 Braves had Maddux, Glavine, Millwood, Neagle, and Smoltz along with big-boppers in Chipper, Galarraga, Lopez, Klesko, and Andruw before losing in 6 in the NLCS. The 2003 team was 92-54 on their way to 101 wins and lost in the NLDS.

The Giants last year showed us that if you can get to the Philly bullpen and limit big innings, they are beatable. The Braves recipe should be to get to the 6th-7th innings while holding the Philly offense to less than 4 runs and try and win the bullpen battle.

And for the record, if JJ and Hanson are unavailable for the playoffs, I would break up the sinker-ballers and go with a rotation of Hudson, Beachy, and Lowe.

NFL Predictions

Season starts today, so lets get the NFL predictions going:

NFC South

Falcons
Saints
Bucs
Panthers

NFC North

Packers
Lions
Bears
Vikings

NFC West

Cardinals
Rams
49ers
Seahawks

NFC East

Cowboys
Eagles
Redskins
Giants

AFC East

Pats
Jets
Bills
Dolphins

AFC North

Ravens
Steelers
Browns
Bengals

AFC South

Texans
Colts
Jags
Titans

AFC West

Chargers
Chiefs
Broncos
Raiders

Playoffs

NFC

Eagles over Cardinals, Saints over Cowboys
Packers over Saints
Falcons over Eagles
Packers over Falcons

AFC

Ravens over Jets
Steelers over Texans
Chargers over Ravens
Steelers over Pats
Chargers over Steelers

Super Bowl

Chargers over Packers

As for the college game...

Two weeks of games in, and I will go ahead and put in my poll for the week. The ND-Michigan finish was unreal last night, glad I tuned in...

1. Alabama
2. Wisconsin
3. Oklahoma
4. LSU
5. Florida State
6. Arkansas
7. Stanford
8. Boise State
9. Oregon
10. Texas A&M
11. Oklahoma State
12. Virginia Tech
13. Arizona State
14. South Carolina
15. Florida
16. South Florida
17. Michigan
18. Nebraska
19. UCF
20. Auburn
21. Michigan State
22. Texas
23. Ohio State
24. Tennessee
25. Houston