11 Picks for NFL Playoffs Week 1, Colts at Chargers
Published Friday, January 2, 2009 at 09:00:00 PM

It's the first week of the playoffs and we're still rolling through with our football picks.

The game we're picking this week is the Indianapolis Colts at San Diego Chargers. The Colts are on the road even though they went 12-4 and the Colts went 8-8... it's the antiquated NFL playoff system where a division winner gets a home game and a wild card team gets a road game, even when their records are this disparate.

Still, the line is Chargers -1... but, as always, we're all picking the game straight up.

  1. Accuscore favors the Colts here.
    Accuscore. (7-10 on the season) Based on all of Accuscore's computer simulations, it sees the Colts winning, 53 percent to 47 percent. For once, there isn't one percent missing! Maybe Accuscore is finally bringing its A-game for the playoffs.

  2. Former NFL star Eric Allen. (7-10) Allen likes the Colts. Actually, every single one of ESPN's experts likes the Colts this week.

  3. Random number generator. (4-13) The random number generator at Random.org finished in last place in the regular season among my 11 methods. I flipped one random coin on their site with the system heads is home, tails is away. It came up heads. That means it's going with the Chargers.

  4. Homeless guy outside my office. (6-11) I grabbed him quickly before I headed out for New Year's. He likes the Chargers because he wanted to show some love to California. California is super cool to the homeless after all.


  5. X.
    Battle of the mascots. (11-6) I was tempted to say that a horse could outrun a bolt of lightning, but that would only work if the bolt of lightning was chasing him and not just coming down directly on him. So I'm going to say the lightning bolt comes down and annihilates the horse. Chargers win.

  6. Adam, the early '90s fan. (11-6) Adam is appalled that two terrible teams like the Colts and Chargers made the playoffs. But he is a little excited that Indianapolis had two first round draft picks and got future superstars Steve Emtman and Quentin Coryatt, so he sees those two working with Jeff George and pulling out a Colts victory.

  7. Fatter offensive line. (9-8) The Colts run a little small, adding up to just 1,511 pounds total. The Chargers don't run gigantic, but they do add up to 1,558 pounds... which is enough for the win here.

  8. A model who may or may not know football. (11-6) Karmen is going with the Chargers because, she says, "I'm a Cali girl." That's as good a reason as any.

  9. Just picking the home team. (7-10) This one goes to the Chargers. Let's see if 8-8 with home field really is better than 12-4 on the road.

  10. "Sports Illustrated" legend Peter King. (11-6) Peter King likes the Colts beating the Chargers here, 29 to 23. He really went into a downward spiral these past few weeks... for most of the year he led this list and now he's dropped into just a tie for first place.

  11. My pick. (8-9) I've rallied back with a few against-the-grain picks in the past few weeks. Not sure exactly what the grain is here, but I like the Colts to win this. San Diego is hot but Indianapolis is really, really good. A And that's enough for me.
This list was published on Friday, January 2, 2009 at 09:00:00 PM under the category NFL Picks.
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