What a great weekend as the 4 remaining teams will battle it out next weekend for a trip to Big D in early February!  Here is a summary of the Divisional Round results for the HSBT participants:

Pittsburgh 31, Baltimore 24

As predicted yesterday, this was a nail-biter (right down to the cuticles).  Penalties dominated the first half as the Ravens built up a seemingly insurmountable 21-7 lead going into the locker room.  Big Ben and the Steal-ers came back out and shut down the Baltimore Birds, who played more like chickadees in the second half, and with the benefit of a “throw it as far as you can and see what happens” play late in the Q4, knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs – once again.  As predicted, the final score in this game was 24-24 until Mendenhall crossed the line with 1:33 left.

Top point-getter 2011 Winner amassed 117 points in this one, as all participants (a little surprising from Pete the Terp, an avid Ravens fan) picked Pittsburgh.

Green Bay 48, Atlanta Chickadees 14

Too bad none of the HSBT participants picked the Packers to win it all, because they are on a ROLL!!  Total domination of the #1 seed in the NFC, after spotting the Falcons a 7-point lead early.  Aaron Rodgers (does he wear an ‘S’ on his undershirt?) led the way once again and was sparkling in decimating the 13-3 NFC South chumps, un-prohibitive 1.5 point favorites before kickoff.

Buffalo Bill led the way in this one with 161 points, his highest single-game point total in a Divisional Round game.  Well done.  On the other side of the ledger, Comeback Kid, Greg the Great (overall goose-egg #15) and Pete the Terp picked Atlanta…

Da Bears 35, See ya Hawks 24

Well, Jay Cutler was either going to send the Bears to the NFC Championship game or back home.  In his first ever playoff game he led Chicago to an imposing win over the 8-9 Cinderella Seahawks, who forgot to bring their running game to the Windy City this Sunday.  This one was over by halftime, as the team from the Pacific Coast resembled Coho during spawning being gobbled up by hungry Bears.  Butkus and Halas would have loved this one played in the snow on real grass…

Comeback Kid led the charge in this one with 169 points, 3 more than he had amassed during the previous 6 games combined.  No goose-eggs to report.  Whew…

NY Jets 28, New England Patsies 21

Rex Ryan got the monkey off his back and the Jet D shut down the New England offense for a huge upset, marking the first time in NFL history that a team beat the Colts and Patriots on successive weekends.  Patriot QB Brady suffered his first pickoff (that turned the momentum) in 11 weeks and that set the tone for a long afternoon of catch-up ball for New England.  Were the Patriots over-rated?  They seemed to be overconfident and that the time clock would stay suspended during Q4 as they lolly-gagged their way down the field trying to make up a 10-point deficit with under 5 minutes remaining…

Buffalo Bill again led the way in this one with 62 points and has a commanding 35-point lead over 2011 Winner as we head into the final 3 games.  His 314 points over the weekend are second all-time to Pete the Terp’s 383 point effort last year.

Potential Super Bowl Bonus points are down the drain for those who picked the Patriots – Buffalo Bill, Comeback Kid and Pete the Terp.  Everyone else still has a shot at the 100 points (but only 1 in 4 historically get it).

So, with 3 games remaining we have a veritable and unprecented log jam for the top spot:

• Buffalo Bill – 376 points
• 2001 Winner – 341
• Comeback Kid – 335
• Henrico FiveOh – 328

Followed by the “the” group:

• Ben the Butler – 201 points
• Pete the Terp – 196
• Greg the Great – 124

It’s never been this close with so many bunched at the top – 48 points separates the top spot from fourth and each game next weekend is worth 50 points for picking the winner.

The other participants also have a viable chance to win, too.  They will just have to be a little smarter with their upcoming picks.

Continuing expert analysis will be forthcoming this weekend to help you maximize your picks and your points as you prepare for the NFC and AFC Championship games.  They should be great and I’m sure we’ll see some very interesting picks.  Greg the Great and Ben the Butler are huge Bear fans and who can root against those Steelers at home?

~~ THE Commish