It’s that time of week. Time to man up and make your pick for Satuday’s game. Get it right, and you will be a very nice boy. Santa will reward you for helping him win big at the Mandalay Bay sports book. He’ll get you everything you want. ALL OF IT. The giant flat screen TV. The membership to the scotch of the day club. The Bunny Ranch gift certificate. The spray cheese dispenser installed in your bathroom. He’ll even have your big brother killed, just because you asked. Get it wrong, and you land on the naughty list. Another year of turnips and castor oil in your stockings for you. Here we go:
Peter King: Saints 30, Cowboys 26. “Tony Romo, the choker who goes catatonic once the calendar turns to January, is a 68-percent passer with 950 yards, seven touchdown and no picks in his last three games. Unfortunately, he'll need to be even better -- and play tackle -- for Dallas to win in the 'Dome.” It would help if he could play kicker as well. Can we wrap up Nick Folk and toss him in a river somewhere?
86% Of SI Users: Saints.
Bill Simmons: Not in yet.
Eight of Ten ESPN Experts: Saints. Seth Wickersham and Adam Schefter, Jerry Jones has a holiday fruit basket waiting for you.
Michael Silver: Saints.
90% Of Yahoo! Users: Saints.
Pete Prisco (CBS): Saints.
Andy (Cowboys fan I know): Saints 37, Cowboys 0 (“Oh, I’m sick of fighting it. We’re doomed. DOOMED. WHY?! WHY DOES IT ALWAYS HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS? I’M GOOD! I HAVEN;’T STOLEN ANYTHING IN OVER A YEAR!”)
Index Card I Threw Up In The Air With The Name Of Each Team On Either Side, Seeing Which Team Would Land Face Up: Saints. (Index Card record: 7-5)
The Wife: Saints.
Me: As you can see, everyone above picked the Saints to win. Normally, this would call for a Contrarian Alert. But the Cowboys faced similar circumstances against a red hot San Diego team last week, and going against the grain would have been a losing proposition. And that was home game! Can the Cowboys rise up and beat a Saints team that is twice as good at home? Probably not. But what the hey. It’s not like you’ll remember who I picked. COWBOYS 31, SAINTS 30.
Yours in the comments.
