A crazy last week in the NFL had me going 7-9. That finishes me just a game under .500 for the regular season. With a playoff push dancing in the streets, I’ll do my damnedest to hop over to the winning side of Humpty’s wall.

Gimmie-Games

Jaguars over the Chiefs (loss)
Bears over the Packers (loss)
Saints over the Panthers (loss)
Rams over the Vikings (win)
Seahawks over the Buccaneers (win)

Saturday:

New York Giants @ Washington Redskins (+3): (loss)

The Giants did their best to lose this game, despite Tiki Barber’s amazing performance in his last home game in the NFL. The Redskins fought back, and had a chance, but as it turned out Tiki was just too much. For the first time in quite a while, I started my week with a pre-Sunday loss.

Sunday:

Atlanta Falcons (+9.5) at Philadelphia Eagles: (win)

The Falcons couldn’t pull out a win against the AJ Feeley led Eagles, but they did walk away with a win against the spread. And if you follow, that means I got a big win as well.

Buffalo Bills (+10.5) at Baltimore Ravens: (loss)

The Bills played the Ravens tough, but fell a point and a half short of covering the spread in Baltimore. The Ravens defense played well in the last game of the year, and won themselves a first round bye.

Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints (+3): (loss)

The Saints played like a team that didn’t have much to play for, and finally, Carolina came out looking like a team that everyone expected them to be all season. What can we expect from Carolina next season?

Cleveland Browns at Houston Texans (-4.5): (win)

The Texans got a big defensive touchdown early in the 4th quarter, and that was just what they needed to cover at home against the Brownies.

Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys (-12.5) (loss)

Not only did the Cowgirls fail to cover against the lowly Lions, they pulled out of a home game against the 2nd worst team in the NFL with a big L, and a first round playoff match-up with the Seahawks in Seattle.

Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears (-3): (loss)

The Packers dominated a Bears team that walks into the playoffs limping at quarterback, and it’s not because of injuries. Rex Grossman played for about a half, and Brian Greise the same, and both had a couple turnovers. As for the Pack, well, them might have seen the last of QB stability, as Brett Favre may have played his last game. All this, and a loss for Lucky Lester.

Jacksonville (+3) at Kansas City: (loss)

David Garrard threw a bad interception and then got pulled, while Byron Leftwich watched from the sidelines. A Jaguar loss has me wondering what happened to all that “Byron won’t start in Jacksonville next year” talk went. The Chiefs won by 5, and I lost another close one.

Miami Dolphins at Indianapolis Colts (-9): (loss)

The Colts walked away with a win, but they can’t be comfortable with how they’ve played in the second half of the season, as Miami almost pulled one out via Chris Lemon and a Dolphins rushing attack that struggled all season long. Indy’s 5 point win wasn’t god enough to make me a winner.

New England Patriots (+3) at Tennessee Titans: (win)

When Vincent Young sprinted to a 28 yard touchdown near the end of the 3rd quarter, I thought I was going to be done in by the Magic Man once again, but as it turned out, Vince Young couldn’t corral this W, making me a big winner.

Oakland Raiders (+13) at N.Y. Jets: (loss)

The Raiders didn’t cover against New York, as the Jets came out and smacked Oakland in the teeth. Do the Raiders have any more teeth? Apparently not, as even their normally stout defense fell short of expectations in this one, sending the Jets right into the playoffs.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals (-6): (loss)

The Bengals needed a win to be playoff eligible, but couldn’t even do that as the Steelers stomped into Cincinnati and ended any hopes of a Bengal victory. I was sure Cinci would come out strong in this one, apparently sure doesn’t mean jack in Week 17.

Seattle Seahawks (+3.5) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: (win)

I was really surprised the Hawks were underdogs in this one. An easy win (though a couple secondary injuries might kill the Hawks in the playoffs) was just what the Hawks needed, as they’ll host the Cowboys next Saturday.

St. Louis Rams (-2.5) at Minnesota Vikings: (win)

The Rams easily walked over the Vikings in Minnesota. Steven Jackson showed why he was recognized as a pro-bowler and Marc Bulger did what he needed to do to get the Rams to .500 on the season.

Arizona Cardinals (+15) at San Diego Chargers: (win)

The Cardinals couldn’t pull out a win, Dennis Green couldn’t pull out his job, and the LT couldn’t pull out another touchdown. But I did pull out a much needed win as the Cards covered in San Diego behind Kurt freaking Warner.

San Francisco 49ers (+11) at Denver Broncos: (win)

The 49ers brought the game into overtime and took down the Broncos in Denver to kick Mike Shanahan and his beloved Broncos right out of the playoff picture, and Larry Johnson sent Frank Gore a new car. The last one was a guess, but the win to get me to 7-9 was just what the Lester ordered.