Degrassi Season 9 Power Rankings, Vol. 3

Whooo boy. I've been on a tear lately. Of course, with Degrassi airing FOUR new episodes a week, catching up just got a whole lot harder.

One comment before I get to the list: I cannot stand that the episodes air in different orders in the US and Canada. Are Canadians and Americans so different that they have to be told the story in a different way? I will never understand this.

(Last week's ranking in parentheses)

9 (7). Peter Stone

It's a second straight week in decline for Peter, mainly because he's done next to nothing. I'll give him props for helping out Sav and taking his possibly-maybe-not really-but kinda-arranged future wife to the formal. Not that she deserved him.

Anyways, as much as I love Season Nine so far, the dirty little secret is that I'm having a hard time filling out the power rankings. Basically the decision for the final spot came down to this: an old classic (Spinner), some new Niners that I'm not yet sold on (KC, Clare, Connor, Jenna), or some middle of the road upperclassmen (Danny, Chantay), or Peter. Spinner hasn't really done anything, although he was on fire during "Holiday Road" and may have had the best line of the season so far. ("Rebound eating? It's no way to end up in the wonderful world of meat. No, no, no, no. No deal.") I know that we're supposed to buy KC as the new Sean (checkered past, no parental support, impressionable, a hot temper, and now, a taste for alcohol) but I'm just not loving it. Clare is some kind of hybrid Emma/Liberty to Alli's Manny, but hasn't done much other than whine. Connor is Toby 2.0, which means we don't see nearly enough of him (really). Jenna intrigues me, but she's not list worthy yet. As for Danny and Chantay... let's just say it was a rocky start for the two of them as a "power couple."

This leaves us with Peter. Though he's done nothing lately, he still carried this season at the start, which was huge. Take away any of those characters that I just mentioned, and the show doesn't miss much (with the exception of Spinner, who is largely sentimental at this point). Peter doing meth (and assuming it was coke) was still a better storyline than anyone from this litter has turned in this year.

8 (3). Riley Stavros

Ah, the most problematic character on the list. On the one hand, Riley delivered us what is the likely best story of the year. On the other hand, he's got virtually no value when he's not the leading character. I can't think of a single other "major" character in Degrassi history who has been as all or nothing as Riley. Please allow me to quote from Volume Two of the DS9PR: "Riley's not a character who can float effortlessly into the background of other episodes. He's either the central character, or he's likely no in the episode at all.... I'm worried that the show won't find enough ways to use him." It'd be hard to keep him off of this list because of "Beat It," but I can't really keep him in the top tier without some versatility.

7 (6). Dave Turner

KC had a season's head start, but Dave is my pick for the leading male Niner. He's funnier, a better actor, and seems to fit seamlessly with other characters. For the record, I'm a huge backer of Bhandurner; let's hope they get together. Dave pushed Alli in a good way. She needs someone like Dave, because unchecked, Alli can be insufferable at times. All of this was summed up in this perfect exchange:

Dave: See, this is why I don't like you.

Alli: How can you not like me?!

6 (5). Holly Jeanette Sinclair

I've liked Holly J more than I expected to this year. She's also kind of like the anti-Riley; it seems that she MUST appear in every episode. Somehow, Holly J is the glue that connects the older characters. Heck, she even factored into Marco's storyline. As I mentioned last week, Holly J is the show's lead female. Even though I like others more, it would be hard to knock her off the list given what she's brought to the show this year. And once again, she's not done. I'm still pulling for a Spinner-Jane-Declan-Holly J love rhombus to break out at some point, but even without one, the Holly J-Declan relationship should provide enough fodder on its own.*

*By the way, I'm not totally off-put by the way the show has cooled its jets with the Holly J-Declan relationship. I think it's been smart to let the two of them hang around in the background of most episodes, rather than push them to the front and rush the drama. One thing that has been particularly noticeable this season with all of the new characters is that it has been hard to find natural ways to work everyone in. If Holly J's purpose is to facilitate connections for characters, I think that's a smart play.

5 (4). Fiona Coyne

I haven't lost the faith. Something big has to be coming.

4 (8). Anya MacPherson

I never really thought that I would feel much one way or the other for the Sav-Anya relationship. Boy, was I wrong. I feel for them both. In truth, the "Broken Promises" storyline should have been intolerable - it was a formulaic 'couple has misunderstanding, leads to unnecessary breakup' storyline. In reality, it worked. It felt real (at least, as real as anything ever feels on Degrassi) and I ached for both of them. Why? Because at their core, Sav and Anya are both good, decent people who deserve good things. Yes, there was a fair amount of deceit (on both ends), but it came from a good place, as both want to make the other happy but have their own baggage. In the past, it was hard to be moved by any breakup because at least one of the characters would have deserved it (Craig) or at least one of the characters would have been so miserable that it was hard to picture a relationship with that person being a good thing (Ashley). With Anya and Sav, neither of these was the case. They need to get back together.

3 (9). Alli Bhandari

Why does Alli rank four places ahead of Dave? Two reasons. First, in addition to the whole Bhandurner, we finally got to see the fiercely loyal Alli. If you were a ninth grade KC or Jenna,* you would absolutely have Alli come after you in defense of her best friend. I'm not always a huge advocate of attacking people for decisions like the KC-Clare-Jenna thing (which likely just compounds the problem anyways), but it wouldn't have been believable for Alli to sit on the sidelines here. Manny would have done it for Emma, after all. So although Alli won't get points for tact ("Go tip a cow or something"), I do give her points for her loyalty to Clare.

*Recycled Storyline Alert: Male character gets in trouble with his current girlfriend for flirting with another bikini-clad girl... at a car wash! Where have we seen this before?

The second reason I love Alli is because of her relationship with Sav. Of all of the relationships Degrassi has explored, it's never really done too much with brothers and sisters. Ashley/Toby was a missed opportunity. Ditto for Spinner/Kendra. Danny/Liberty gave us a little bit more, but not much, as did Paige/Dylan. Clare/Darcy? Please. Heather and Holly J cannot appear together, for obvious reasons. Has there been anyone else?

Season Nine has given us one fairly high profile brother-sister duo (Declan/Fiona, more on this in a minute), as well as the terrific Bhandari pair. Alli and Sav rarely appear together at school - which make sense - but their home interactions this year have been priceless.

2 (2). Declan Coyne

The Declan-Fiona relationship ("When you're not happy, I'm not happy") could be one of the best things to ever hit Degrassi... or it could be one of the creepiest. Something is just not right with this duo. It could be sweet, or it could turn horribly, inappropriately wrong. Either way, there's a ton of potential with this pairing. I could see Fiona and Holly J throwing down over Declan. I could see Declan playing the protective older brother (which he already has begun to, in a way). I could also see the two of them harboring some deep, dark secrets, which may be the biggest wild card that Season Nine has yet to play.

The RDTotP!

Is there a rhyme or reason to the way Degrassi employs pop-culture references? Why does the show reference a real celebrity/show in one breath ("She's no Lea Michelle") and then in another come up with a hilariously awful fake alternative ("Did you catch 'So You Believe You Can Boogie' last night?")? I don't get this.

1 (1). Sav Bhandari

Without a doubt. The funniest character of the season finally turned in the type of performance that I never thought he could (or should, for that matter) handle. The downside is that he's now split with Anya, which opens him up for more dramatic stories in the form of an inevitable relationship with someone else (Holly J?). I've already mentioned that I actually did think the Sav/Anya break-up was well done. I should also add that I felt the whole pregnancy scare was handled well, too.* Again, it felt real and from what we saw, Anya and Sav actually had a (somewhat) reasonable conversation about it. And though Sav may have been a touch blunt in encouraging Anya to take the morning after pill, I do believe that he had her best interests at heart.

*Of course we would get a morning after pill episode; how did I not see this coming? We've touched on condoms, abortion, adoption, teenage parenting... In hindsight, using the morning after pill was an obvious choice.

Even though he pulled off the serious episode, I still contend that Sav needs to be deployed primarily as comic relief. I don't think that I need to beat anyone over the head with this point: Sav is versatile enough to pop up in plenty of scenes, which I find to be a good thing because he's consistently funny. That's why he's Number One. Let's close with two of my favorite recent Sav-isms.

Mr. Bhandari: I keep saying, Sav, 'cool' doesn't pay the bills.

Sav: And I keep saying, Dad, I don't have any bills.

...

Anya: It can make me barf for days.

Sav: You know what barfs for months? A baby.

My Response....

So many things are true about this post... First, the rehashed storylines. I mean, just wait until next episode when Connor dresses up as Napoleon to lead the basketball team... Its oddly familiar, I must say. The rankings I overall agree with. Beat It is one of my favorite episodes ever, so I'd probably have Riley one, along with how it has Larping (I believe) with Anya, my favorite girl character. All in all, I am a huge advocate for season 9, one of my favorites ever... You are in for a treat.. I think you only have 8 or so left.

Degrassi Season 9 Power Rankings, Vol. 2

I'm through ten episodes of the new season of Degrassi, so it's time for another batch of the DS9PR. Two things I want to get out of the way before we get started:

• For a show that takes place in Canada, there's an alarming lack of snow, wouldn't you say? This bothers me.
• As far as I can remember, there's only been one episode EVER dealing with Christmas, and it came way back in season three. Doesn't this show seem just tailor made for cheesy holiday specials? Where are they? This also bothers me.

With that out of the way, on to the rankings. This batch of the DS9PR covers everything up through episode 10, "Love Games (Part Two)." (Previous rank in parentheses.)

9 (3). Alli Bhandari

Alli falls all the way to ninth here because she's done absolutely nothing in this most recent set of five episodes. This, of course, is how Degrassi operates. After sexting and an STI scare, we were due for an Alli lull.* I don't think the show can afford to keep her on the sidelines for too long, however, because they need someone to carry the "niners" to relevance, and she's still their best bet.

*Not that it was a particularly difficult prediction to make, but here's what I wrote last time: "[T]hey've been hitting us fast and furious with Alli episodes lately, so I can't help but feel like we're about to get an Alli break soon."

8 (not ranked). Anya MacPherson

Anya earned her way onto the list by LARPing. Seriously, that's it. This is how the show needs to use its peripheral characters; if they're going to be involved in a storyline, it has to be ridiculous, not dramatic. Peripheral characters can't be the ones to get an STI, pregnant, gay-bashed, or shot. Characters like these have to LARP, which is why Anya is perfect for Sav.

7 (4). Peter Stone

As is the case with Alli, after delivering Peter-centric plots fast and furious in the first batch of episodes, we were due for something of a layoff. Still, Peter stuck around just enough to not fall any further. Here's what I wrote last time about Peter:

"He's basically carrying this show until the newbies like Riley, Fiona, and Dave Turner... are ready to take over, at which point Peter will probably stick around in some Spinner-esque elder statesman capacity."

I'm not saying we're done with episodes that center around Peter (we're not; he's still got one major relationship left in him), but these five episodes saw Peter take another step towards his role as the new "Spinner-esque elder statesman" I was referring to (let's call it a Spinner Statesman). When Riley delivered the biggest (and best) story of the season so far, Peter was along side him the entire way. There's no way that a Season Five Peter would be the first character someone would come out to, and there's absolutely no way he'd be supportive of him. If this were Season Five, Peter would have throw Riley into a dumpster; now, he's just a good friend offering encouragement. Peter is the Degrassi life cycle on full display.

6 (NR). Dave Turner

If I knew any Degrassi writers, here's what I'd be begging them: Please, never, EVER, give this kid a "serious" story arc; I know you may think that he'll need it eventually, but he won't. Please, trust me on this.

As long as Dave ("Formerly known as 'Nobody' and 'It's Sterile!'") keeps saying things like, "It's you, me, a dark theater, and five gallons of sweet buttered corn," he doesn't need to do anything else.

5 (7). Holly Jeanette Sinclair

I was going to have her higher on this list, but then I remembered the Paige theory. This brief period of Holly Jeanette's likability is just the calm before the storm. And yes, if you were wondering, I do intend on using her full middle name as often as possible now that we finally know it.

Impending Paige meltdown aside, Holly J does bring a lot to the table here in Season Nine. She's an alpha-dog, the show's leading lady, President of the Student Council, and probably the most feared character in school. Not to mention, the Declan roller coaster is far from over. There's just too much baggage here for this relationship to progress smoothly* and if it is smooth sailing from here on, quite frankly, that means Degrassi isn't doing its job right.

*One thing that surprised me a bit was the way this season has handled the whole Declan-Jane-Spinner-Holly J thing. It struck me as odd to see Holly J, Declan, and Jane function (albeit briefly) as a seamless unit of friends in the halls of Degrassi. Are we supposed to believe that Declan's attraction to Jane (or hers to him) is gone? And what about Holly J's unrequited affection for Spinner? People just don't move on that quickly. Plus, Jane is NOT getting off that easy for cheating on Spinner. Only Holly J knows about this, so... stay tuned. I understand that the show probably doesn't want to cash in on this inevitable blow-up too soon - it could, after all, be the last gasp for Spinner as a relevant character. Still, it's coming.

Like it or not, Holly J is THE female lead right now and she's only going to continue to blow up. When all is said and done, Season Nine may end up being the season of Holly Jeanette Sinclair.

4 (5). Fiona Coyne

Last time, I wrote that Fiona essentially earned her spot based solely on potential. Not much has changed, but she's continued to give us enough glimmers of that potential that I'm comfortable leaving her in the middle of the rankings. Here are my two favorite flashes of that potential since last time:

Fiona Flash #1: "We don't talk anymore, k?" As much as I liked Fiona during the "Beat It" episodes - she was sweet, caring, and perceptive - what I really loved was that her role in that arc ended with not with Fiona caving to Riley's every demand but rather with her standing up to him, thus affirming her strength.

Fiona Flash #2: When Declan started pining after Holly J, Fiona reminded him of his painful romantic past: "You were a wreck for six months; I can't listen to any more Coldplay." If that's not the best non-Sav line of the season, it's certainly up there.

3 (6). Riley Stavros

Riley finally had the gay-bashing, (semi) coming out star turn that we knew was in him all along. Riley's desperation was played perfectly, culminating in this little exchange:

Fiona: You can't cure homosexuality.

Riley: Yes you can! There's a website and office!

I'm not going to rehash the whole episode here, I just want to say that the "Beat It" two parter was the best of the season, in large part due to Riley.

Now, I have two reservations about Riley. First, what do they do with him now? We knew this episode was coming, now what? Honestly, I have know clue. Second, Riley's not a character who can float effortlessly into the background of other episodes. He's either the central character, or he's likely not in the episode at all. He's only really connected to one other character at Degrassi now (Peter), so his options are fairly limited. He's a great character, but I'm worried that the show won't find enough ways to use him.

2 (1). Declan Coyne

The good news is that Declan is continuing to fulfill that pot-stirring role the show has carved out for him right from the get-go. The bad news is that his sometimes despicable behavior is starting to weigh him down ever so slightly. I'm finally to the point in my Degrassi fandom where I'm comfortable rooting for bad people. If you only wanted to root for pure, morally upright characters, Degrassi would not be your show. That said, Declan is a little too much for me to handle at times. In the same breath he can be both funny but also a little bit insufferable: "Keep in mind, I have access to a helicopter."

Even though I don't always love Declan, I love what he's bringing to the show this year. The show feels fresh again, which isn't to be taken for granted, given how often stories get recycled. Stale characters have some life to them, and we have some vintage Degrassi melodrama on our hands. Thank you, Declan.

The RDTotP!

This week's Random Degrassi Tidbit of the Post: Degrassi goes green! Has anyone done the math to figure out what the carbon savings are for recycling story lines? As I just mentioned above, this year has felt fresh and new, despite rehashing old themes. I don't totally mind this. Some of it even feels like a hat tip to longtime viewers.

"Beat It," which featured gay-bashing, was set in part at the Degrassi carnival and prominently featured a dunking booth. The last time we saw the carnival (and the dunking booth)? During Spinner's ill-advised alliance with gay-bashing Linus. If the Riley-Fiona fake relationship felt familiar, it's because we've been there before, a la Marco and Ellie.

We knew the day was coming when Degrassi would have run out of things to do with the characters. When you've had shootings, pregnancies, abortion, STIs, rape, pedophiles, and Napoleon running a floor hockey team, you're pretty much out of avenues to go down. This is fine. In ten seasons, you're allowed to revisit some of these sites with a new cast. I like the nods to years past, even the oddly creepy ones.

Declan taping a rose to Holly J's locker was the strangest throwback of them all. Is this a hint not to trust Declan? Is Holly J going to end up in a coma? Did the show forget who shot Jimmy? Coincidence? I hope not.

1 (2). Sav Bhandari

The Bhandari Bonanza continues! If you didn't think that Sav listening to his own band's music while looking at pictures of his girlfriend LARPing was one of the funniest moments of this season, then we watch Degrassi for very different reasons.

Few characters have the versatility to drop in on almost every episode, drop the line of the week, and then get out of the way and let the sappy goodness take over. Sav has this role perfected. As is the case with Dave Turner,* my deepest Sav fear is that the writers will give him a turn as a "serious" character. Again: Don't do it, we don't need it.

*The fact that it seems Dave is being groomed for the role of designated punch line makes me worried for Sav's future. The funnier Dave is, the less need there is for Sav to be funny... which would free him up to get stabbed or to get testicular cancer. This would be awful.

Sav has quietly worked his way from a liability to the most consistently funny character in Degrassi's present rotation. It may not seem like much, but the light goof ball moments from characters like Sav are what have always made this show work. It would be too hard to stomach "real" moment after "real" moment without something to keep it, um, less real. The odd thing is, there haven't been a whole lot of characters who have consistently filled this role. Originally we had Spinner and JT. Occasionally Liberty gave us some humor. Now we have Sav. In between? No one, has done it, at least not this well. The fact that so few have been consistently funny in Degrassi history underscores just how important Sav is. Really.

DS9 - "You have health insurance, right?"

So although it's been many months since I've watched my beloved Degrassi, I jumped back in tonight. I'm now technically through ten episodes of the new season, so I feel somewhat obligated to post a new batch of the DS9PR. I won't do that now, and to be honest, the next set of rankings will be dramatically skewed because of the layoff. Oh well. Not like anyone reads them anyways.

Anyways, I do want to get down a few thoughts in case it's another nine months before I catch another episode (tonight's viewing, by the way, were episodes nine and ten: the two-part "Love Games").

• In my initial DS9PR, I wrote that "Holly J is the new Paige." Although it still may hold true, the real test will be whether or not she returns to form after a two episode run as a fairly likable character. Is Holly Jeanette going to be Season Nine's leading lady? We'll see.
• How great would it have been if when Dave was reading through the stats Connor had compiled, the writers had thrown in some advanced Hollinger-esque stats? "This is awesome, points, rebounds, blocks, effective field goal percentage, player efficiency rating!"
• I don't want to rush to judgment too quickly... but Season Nine feels great so far. The first half of this two parter was hilarious, although I always question whether Degrassi is actually intentionally funny. Not that there's anything wrong if it's not; historically speaking, I think that Liberty has been one of the must underrated characters, solely because of her (possibly intentional) unintentional comedic value, if that makes sense.
• Remember when Holly J nearly got together with - heck, when she threw herself at - Toby?

XLIV

Did you know that the Celtics-Magic are on ABC today? Go Magic.

Anyways, I'm growing tired of this growing consensus that regardless of who wins today's bigger game, it'll certainly be a high scoring affair. If anyone is in Vegas today, bet the under.

The Colts scored an average of 26 points per game this year. Today won't be much different in that regard. The Saints, however, won't hit their mark (32 ppg) against a defense that allowed fewer than 20 points per game.

Would I love to see an epic 42-38 shootout? Of course. I just don't see that happening. The pick, in a disappointingly dull game...

Indianapolis Colts 27, New Orleans Saints 17

Superbowl

I think the Colts will win, I hope the Colts will win, so needless to say I predict the Colts.

Colts 30- Saints 13

Who's going to the Super Bowl?

I'm hoping Indianapolis is going to be one of those teams. It seems obvious to me that the Colts should have their way with the Jets; then again, I thought the same thing about the Chargers. That said, I'm sticking to my guns on this one. The Colts are, in my opinion, the best team in the league. The Jets, far from it.

Indianapolis 23, New York 10

As for the second game today, I have no idea, and I don't particularly feel like researching any numbers to try to figure out what will happen. That strategy has failed me all year, anyways. In an exchange of texts a few weeks ago with Don, I made the claim that "the Saints will be fine." Guess I'll stick with that.

New Orleans 34, Minnesota 28

To the SuperBowl

Four teams left, and lets get this under way. 2-2 last weekend which puts me at a respectful 5-3 for the playoffs and I'll take that. Which really needs to be noticed is how boring the games have been this postseason and I don't see that changing.

Colts vs Jets: I've known this pick sense day 1, and I am sticking to it. The Colts let the Jets get in here, now its time for them to amend that decision. Colts dominate.
Colts 27 Jets 9

Saints vs Vikings: For awhile I was all anti-Saints, and don't get me wrong, I hate them. With that said, the world is looking at these Vikings as a great team, and yet on the road in the NFC Championship is the perfect time for them to choke. Saints win, and easily after a turnover filled Vikings game.
Saints 31 Vikings 13

Divisional Round game

Thiell is being awfully hard on himself, as he has struggled throughout the year, but this has been a year that I have won about 66% which is a distinct improvement from last year (and I did have that sweet perfect week). With a 3-1 week first round (dang Pats) I am hoping to go 4-0 this week, although I am much more worried about tomorrows games then today.

Arizona vs New Orleans: I assume anyone who knows me, knows this pick before it happens. First and foremost; is there a single active QB you want in the playoffs then Kurt Warner? I am hard pressed to believe there is. Drew Brees, however, has never been a great postseason QB, and their Running backs are depleted due to injury. But none of that matters when it comes to this game. What does matters, is that Arizona keeps winning in the playoffs, and I see nothing to change this.
Arizona 31- New Orleans 20

Indianapolis vs Baltimore: Alot of people are turning on Indy for this game, because the team "turned back on history". However, they clearly made the best decision for the team, and if you doubt that, just look at Wes Welker. With that said, Baltimore is a team that has historically struggled against Indy, they have a hobbled sophomore QB who makes alot of mistakes, and a running back in Rice who is undersized, and got shot down in their previous meeting. Oh, and did I mention their secondary is greatly depleted sense the first meeting, and you need a good secondary to beat Indy
Indianapolis 34- Baltimore 17

Dallas vs Minnesota: Toughest game of the week to pick for me, by far. I have been riding Dallas for awhile now, and they haven't done anything to turn my back on them. However, everyone and their brother is picking Dallas, forgetting that this is the same Minny team that trounced the Giants and has, by far, the best Runningback left in this postseason (once again, I am not even convinced Rice is probowl caliber). Favre has been known to make big postseason mistake... but guess what... SO IS TONY ROMO. What I see is opportunity for big mistake, and a slight Minnesota win, but who really knows with this crazy game.
Minnesota 20- Dallas 19


New York Jets vs San Diego Chargers: Every part of me wants to pick the Jets. They have the best running game left, and the they have the one player who can shut down Vincent Jackson in Reves, and there is no chance the Chargers can run on the Jets. See, I am trying to convince myself the Jets can win... But when it is Rivers vs Sanchez, I just can't pull the trigger this round.
San Diego Chargers 29- New York Jets 16

Divisional Picks

No time for football this weekend. Colts over Ravens, Chargers over Jets, Vikings over Cowboys, and Cardinals over Saints.

I wanted to go with all four favorites, but thought that would be a bit of a cop out.

Wild Card Playoff Picks, Sunday

Don owned me all regular season, so why should the playoffs be any different? Here's hoping that I haven't completely lost my limited football forecasting skills.

I've noticed that I tend to pick with my heart a bit too often. I wanted to see the Bengals win yesterday, and I desperately wanted the Cowboys to lose. Parlaying those desires into picks did not work well for me yesterday. (I still stand by my assertion that the Cowboys aren't going anywhere, I'll qualify that now and say that they definitely are not winning the NFC.)

Today, I really would love to see the Patriots lose. I feel the same way about the Patriots as I do the Cowboys. In the AFC, unless you are the Colts or Chargers, you're just wasting everyone else's time. As for the NFC game, the news that this could be Kurt Warner's final season will likely have me rooting for the Cardinals.

So, today, I'm picking against my heart.

New England Patriots 24, Baltimore Ravens 14

Green Bay Packers 20, Arizona Cardinals 17

Wild Card Playoff Picks, Saturday

First of all, let me congratulate Don on a great year of picks. He handed it to me all year long. By the end of today, he should have this thing mathematically clinched, even though it's really been over for weeks now. Nice work, Don.

Now, for today's picks.

Cincinnati Bengals 16, New York Jets 10

I've been riding the Bengals all year, and there's no reason to stop now. Benson is rested, Ochocinco will be back, and the coaches won't be holding anything back, unlike last week. The goal for the Jets, clearly, is to make Mark Sanchez throw the ball as little as possible. Here's a fun bit of trivia: The last time Sanchez attempted 20 or more passes and the Jets won? Week 3 against the Titans. When the strategy for your starting quarterback is for him to throw as little as possible (and I don't care just how good your running game is, even the Titans let Vince Young throw the ball this year) it's not a good sign.

Philadelphia Eagles 31, Dallas Cowboys 21

Look, I know that there's a lot of hype for the Cowboys right about now, but neither of these teams is going far this postseason. Do we really trust Andy Reid or Wade Phillips? The Giants were awful this year, and even that mess managed to drop the Cowboys twice this year. The Eagles, meanwhile, cannot run the football and dropped an egg last week with a first round bye on the line. The X-Factor here, of course, is that Flozell Adams is always liable to take a cheap shot and injure the opposing team's best pass rusher. Assuming that doesn't happen (again), the Cowboys will be losing this one, I hope.

My Playoff Picks

Here we go:

Jets over Cincy: When I doubt, I am going to trust the best player on the field, and in my mind its far and away Darelle Reves.

Dallas over Philly: Maybe the toughest game of the weekend. I hate picking a team to win three times, but I think this is the year Dallas puts the past behind them, and finally wins a playoff game.

New England over Baltimore: Everyone is running from NE because of the fact they lost Welker. Its time to stand up and show that Welker is just another player that is part of the system and not a superstar.

Arizona over Greenbay: I love Greenbay as a contender. But I've picked Arizona four straight playoff games, and they won three of them... so I am at least going to start this playoffs that way