'It Was a Bad Audible On Our Part'

Well, nobody ever accused Peyton Manning of being the sharpest knife in the drawer.

In front of Jay Cutler was the clear-blue but chilly-watered swimming pool at the Ihilani resort.

The gang of Pro Bowl football players had been gathered around the tables, swapping stories, when suddenly the Broncos' quarterback had 300-pound Nick Mangold pushing from one side, 310-pound Kris Dielman holding the other and his cellphone swindled into the hands of a coy Peyton Manning.

Cutler's radar had gone up, but he never had a chance.

Splash!

"We gave him a Pro Bowl baptism," said Dielman, the star offensive guard of the rival San Diego Chargers.

Great fun. Big laughs. There was just one problem. Cutler is a Type 1 diabetic, and in his pocket was his blood-sugar monitor.

"That was a prank where I thought we were smart enough to get the cellphone out of his pocket," Dielman said. "But then, 'Oops.' "

The monitor was fried by the chlorinated water. Fortunately, Hawaii has drug stores, and after a few calls here and there, Cutler was well-equipped by lunchtime Wednesday.

"It was a bad audible on our part," Manning said. "I think we were thinking right, trying to get the cellphone. Then we realize, the guy gets insulin shots. We missed that."

Idiots.

NFL Wild-Card Games

A curious set of games this weekend as the visiting team is favored in three games and the fourth one is a pick'em.

First, here's a look back at what we predicted for the divisional order of finish and playoff teams entering the season.

We managed to get two right in the NFC, the Giants and Vikings. Considering the Giants are the only repeat NFC playoff team, we'll take it. In the AFC, we got half the teams correct with the Chargers, Steelers and Colts, although we had the Colts winning the AFC South.

I had the Giants winning the Super Bowl and will stick with that, although I doubt they'll be playing the Chargers, but you never know.

For the season we went 132-117-8, capped of with a 10-5-1 mark in Week 17.

Since both Saturday games are on NBC, The Olbermann Rule is in effect from approximately 4 to midnight eastern time.

SATURDAY
Falcons -2 CARDINALS: No team in the playoffs looked worse in December than the Cardinals, but since they're at home we figure they don't get smoked. Still, they can't run and are vulnerable against the run, a lethal combo. You might think Atlanta should be worried with a rookie QB on the road, but Matt Ryan isn't a typical rookie and has been running a pro offense for five years already. Falcons have had little national exposure this year, so a lot of folks will get a good look at Ryan and Michael Turner. Falcons 34-27

Colts E Chargers: The fourth meeting the past two seasons between these two, so there aren't any secrets, an margin was greater than four points, San Diego's 28-24 win in the divisional round last season. The Colts looked miserable early this year but have run off nine straight wins and Peyton Manning today won the NFL MVP. Still, Chargers are rolling, LT looks healthy and Philip Rivers is playing with a chip on his shoulder. Don't be surprised to see overtime here. Colts 31-28

SUNDAY
Ravens -3.5 DOLPHINS: Miami has been a nice rags-to-riches story but it ends here. A few reasons: Baltimore was a league best 12-3-1 against the spread, they beat the Fish 27-13 already in Miami this year and Miami plays with little margin for error while just 8-8 ATS. They've coughed up the ball the fewest times in the league, but Baltimore lives for the turnover and makes you pay for it. Ravens can pound it out and will do just enough to advance. Ravens 17-13

Eagles -3 VIKINGS: Minnesota staggered to the finish line in a bad division while Eagles are rolling. Always like the hot team in this situation. Travaris Jackson is barely serviceable at QB and after destroying Tony Romo last week Philly must be salivating for a crack at him. The only way I see the Vikings winning is if Adrian Peterson goes for about 200 yards. Good luck with that with the Eagles playing nine guys in the box daring Jackson to beat them. Seems even Minnesota fans are dubious, as they can't even sell out this game. One more tidbit: Vikings a miserable 6-10 against the spread. Eagles 24-10

Super Bowl XLI

The big game is about 50 hours away and it's time for my prediction. All you need to know about the game and other ancillary details can be found here. I tend to tune out the hype and just wait on the game. Even come Sunday, I can't take the endless pregame bonanza, so I settle in a bit before kickoff.

Colts -7 over Bears: Indianapolis is peaking at the right time after being dismissed late in the year due to their enormous struggles against the run, allowing 173 YPG during the regular season. Well, that's down to 73 YPG during the playoffs against good rushing teams. So I've boiled it down to their ability to contain the Chicago ground game and force Rex Grossman to beat them, which I just don't see happening.

Sure, Grossman may be able to make a couple of plays early, and the Bears should probably be the beneficiaries of decent field position due to Indy's poor kick coverage and the electrifying Devin Hester. Still, after seeing Peyton Manning dissect New England for 32 second-half points in the AFC Championship, I think the Colts will be able to move the ball with relative ease. So how does Grossman keep up? He doesn't. The Bears hang around for awhile, probably around 13-10 at halftime. Then Manning will methodically lead the Colts to a few scores in the second half and chew up a lot of the clock. My darkhorse hunch as MVP is Colts TE Dallas Clark. Though if Manning has three or more TD passes, he'll be the choice. Colts pull away and win 33-20.

UPDATE: Hondo adds a unique perspective.