If the playoffs are half as suspenseful as the Week 17 finale, it’s going to be an exciting 11 games.

Can you believe the Packers winning their “win and in” game over da’ Bears in Chicago with the goofy fumble run in for a TD late in the 4^th quarter on an apparent Packer QB Aaron Rodgers incomplete pass that was ruled (and correctly so) a fumble?

How about the Chargers coming from behind vs. the entire 2^nd string of Kansas City to win a weird one in OT over the Chiefs, who could have should have won in regulation with a missed 41-yard FG?  And the penalty that the refs missed (and later apologized for – this seemed to be an almost weekly event this season) that would have given the Chiefs another try?

Or – how about those Eagles on the road in Big D beating the Cowboys in their “win and in” game in a 24-22 thriller on Sunday night?  Fill-in Cowboy QB Kyle Orton launching a late pick in the 4^th quarter, just as injured Tony Romo would have done had he not had back surgery earlier in the week.

All the ‘Fins had to do was beat a mediocre Jets team at home (or those tough 6-10 Bills the previous weekend) and they would be watching game film in preparation for this weekend.  No such luck – the only film they will be watching is Anchorman 2.

So – now we look ahead to the playoffs and the start of the next quarter century of the Hewes Super Bowl Trophy competition.  With opening week byes in place for Denver and New England in the AFC (behind veteran QB’s Peyton and Brady) and for Seattle and Carolina in the NFC (behind not-so veteran QB’s Wilson and Newton), we have some intriguing games in this weekend’s Wild Card lineup.  The Commish will issue his official analysis on each game this weekend, so stay tuned.

RULES REMINDER
A gentle rules reminder is in order for all participants.  You must submit your game scores for all 4 weekend games prior to kickoff of the 1^st game on Saturday (kickoff scheduled for 4:30pm EST).  In the spirit of fairness to all participants, there will be no exceptions.

SUBMITTING YOUR PICKS
Scores are to be submitted using our website https://hewessbt.com.  From there you simply click on the “Submit Picks” tab on the top right and key in your game scores (please include the name of the team and the score for each team for each game – this is a weird reminder, but history is a great teacher) for each of the 4 games.  These are time-stamped to ensure all picks are made on time.  Also – please do not submit any “partial” scores, such as Green Bay 27, San Francisco.  Believe it or not, this happened several years ago.

I think we have all 7 participants healthy for this year’s competition, as Ben the Butler is coming off IR from last year in hopes of capturing his 1^st trophy.

Let’s start the next 25 years with a bang!!

~~ The Commish