Pickin' Pigskin with Bob and Steve and Kristin: Week 15

Doing half now, and the standings half later, when I'm at home and have access to my spreadsheet.

Indianapolis over JACKSONVILLE (2.5)

Bob: Indy -2.5

You won't find a happier person in the world Friday if I turn out to be wrong about this (provided Jacksonville doesn't just cover but wins outright). However, I don't see anything standing between the Colts and 16-0. The differences don't end in the bailout calls the Colts frequently seem to get in close games. Teams just seem to play differently against the Colts. When teams play the Patriots (or the Steelers), they seem to give it their all. They play with hubris and the belief that they can win, and if they do it will be one of the greatest games they play that season. When teams play the Colts, on the other hand, teams seem to be cowering and trying their best not to lose. Nobody comes out against the Colts with an aggressive game plan. They don't try to blitz Manning too much (which may be the right call, since he can murder you without a sufficient number of DBs). They don't really play them the way Belichick used to back when the Patriots actually used to beat them, which was to control the ball and frustrate Manning. Instead, teams try to match Peyton with a similar air show, but it never works out because the Colts pass rush is better than most other teams. Until a team can come into a game against the Colts comfortable that they will win with their game plan, or die trying, I don't know that anything can stop this team (except the apocalyptic meeting between them and the Saints in the Super Bowl).

Speaking of Peyton Manning, there was a funny-ish skit on The Simpsons this week featuring the Manning brothers (including Cooper). Bart had a dream extolling the virtues of having a brother, and it included the Mannings playing football and making fun of Cooper for not winning Super Bowls (kind of bizarre, since Cooper's football career wasn't ended by mediocrity but congenital neurologic malformation spinal stenosis, which Kristin describes as "bad"). The episode was very typical of many of the recent episodes, though. Funnier than some of the early- to mid-2000s episodes, but not nearly as funny as the first eight to 10 seasons. I think what has helped the last few seasons is a greater awareness of how things have changed since 1989--episodes have featured iPods, text messaging, and the most recent one had homages to South Park and the Plow King. The Simpsons no longer exists in a vacuum, but has started growing up with the viewers. I don't think there will ever be episodes as good as "Das Bus" (the Lord of the Flies episode) or "Mr. Plow," but they are at least worth watching again.

Steve : Colts -2.5

I suppose I should also talk about The Simpsons, because the game line is not compelling to me. I agree with you that the peak of the series is in the first 10 seasons, and especially the seasons when Conan O'Brien was either head writer or on the writing staff. That's when you had great stuff like "Marge vs. the Monorail" and one of the better Treehouse of Horror episodes. Matt Groening also wasn't screwing around with stuff like Futurama on the side. I agree with you that the show has been more respectable lately; I think the quality has definitely improved since the movie, which made like $500 million but nobody ever mentions ever.

Oh yeah, the football game. With how streaky the Jaguars are, I'm surprised this line is so line. Then again: 1) They have home field advantage and 2) The Colts might not play Manning the entire game and 3) The Colts haven't been blowing teams out anyway and 4) The Jags normally play the Colts pretty tough and still have a chance to make the playoffs. With those four things in mind, it is tempting for me to take the Jaguars, but I still think the Colts back-ups are enough to beat an inconsistent Jaguars team.

Kristin's pick: Hey, Sorry I didn't send you anything after seeing Bob wrote his. I guess I will take Indy as well (don't worry, I'm at work so if the games already a blow out in either direction I have no idea).