It's been a long time, I shouldn't of left you

Wow, it's been a while. Sorry about that.

So much stuff has happened in the past month, I feel obligated to discuss it. But where to start? Here are just some of the things that have taken place since I last posted here on the blog, in no chronological or importance order.

Bears beat Favre on Monday Night Football, Cubs trade Bradley to Seattle, Bulls try to fire coach but can't, Gators lose SEC Title, Bears keep Lovie but fire Turner, Colt McCoy almost cost Texas chances of playing for National Championship, Colts don't go for 16-0, Saints lose three straight, Gilbert Arenas packs heat, Ingram wins Heisman, Tiger story gets crazier, Dawson voted into Baseball HOF, Bulls begin to get healthy and play better, Urban Meyer retires, Urban Meyer reconsiders, Urban Meyer returns, NU plays thrilling Outback Bowl but comes up short, I got a full-time job with Sports Illustrated, Chris Johnson tops 2K yards, I graduated college, Chris Henry RIP, the decade ended, 'Bama tops Texas for National Title.

OK, so all but one of those items is true...you're on your own to determine which one. The point is, I missed a lot. But I can make it up to you. How? With some awesome NFL playoff picks.

Jets at Bengals
Saw most of this game last Sunday and, um, wait, what happened? Cincinnati had nothing to play for, the Jets had everything to gain and the game was a snoozer. Don't expect a repeat. If both Indy and Cinci hadn't shut it down early to save themselves for the playoffs, the Jets would be on vacation right now. Instead they take a rookie QB into the Queen City to face a rested Bengals team who is not only playing for their pride and city, but also a fallen teammate. The Thomas Jones vs. Cedric Benson running back matchup intrigues me, but that's basically a draw. What's not even is the rest of the offenses. Even though the New York D is playing great right now, I like the Bengals, and I like 'em big. Bengals 27-7

Eagles at Cowboys
First off a promotional plug - follow this game with me during a live chat on NFL Blog Blitz on Sat. night at 7 central. What will you find if you tune in? One hell of a game. Each of the past four seasons, a team that played on Wild Card weekend has made it to the Super Bowl. My pick this year is whoever wins this game. The Eagles have an explosive offense, a solid secondary and extensive big game experience. Dallas has the ability to pound away with a solid run game as well as throwing to Miles Austin and Jason Witten. All year I've been picking against the Cowboys in big games, but I think they finally deserve a shot. Cowboys 31-28

Ravens at Patriots
Tough game to figure out, especially because this is the only game of the weekend that didn't take place last weekend. Baltimore is solid, but I can't say Joe Flacco is trustworthy on the road. Tom Brady is obviously trustworthy, but without much support on the Patriots offense. I like the Ravens for one reason: Ray Rice. The former Rutgers star can run through and past the average New England defense, at least enough to give Flacco room to throw. It almost seem sacrilegious to pick against Brady, Belichick and the Pats, especially in N.E., but that's exactly what I'm doing. Ravens 24-18

Packers at Cardinals
My most confident prediction of the weekend is this: Green Bay-Arizona will be the highest scoring game of the weekend. Just look at all the talent on that side of the ball for both teams. That being said, I'm not very confident on who to pick. Green Bay has been playing great lately (kills me to say that), including a blowout a week ago in Arizona. The Cardinals haven't been right since defeating the Vikings in early December. But I basically said the same thing a year ago, and then Arizona was within one or two plays from winning the Super Bowl. Can history repeat itself? I'm saying no. Packers 35-30

Regular season record: 167-89