Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs. You kidding me? Playoffs?

Well Jim Mora Sr., I will talk about the playoffs and I'll do my best to kid you.

With the NFL playoffs starting tomorrow, maybe people can finally get off Vince Young's nuts and talk about professional football and its genuine playoff system.

Washington plays at Tampa in the early game, while Jacksonville goes to chilly New England in the nightcap. Thankfully, neither game is on Fox. Whoopee!


Redskins at Bucs:

Tampa Bay beat Washington 36-35 in November before Clinton Portis and his alter egos became public (and before they started playing well). I have a hard time taking the Bucs seriously because Chris Simms, no, not Phil, is the Tampa QB. Putting it frankly and accurately, he's a pretty lousy quarterback. He's had some decent games, but so did Trent Dilfer...and neither is or will ever be a good player.

I like Carnell Williams because his nickname is Cadillac and his real name is, well, Carnell. Both names are savage and thuggish and a guy like him should be on a harder team than Tampa -- like the Raiders or something. The guy is awesome, but he won't be enough for Tampa.

Portis will have a big day on the ground and the way Santana Moss is playing, he may score six touchdowns even if Chris Simms was throwing to him. I like the Skins to make it six straight.

The Big Picture pick: Washington 21, Tampa Bay 17 (Clinton Portis egos 4).


Jaguars at Patriots:

Bad draw for Jacksonville, which at 12-4 is forced to go play on the road against the 10-6 Patriots. Jacksonville is the team I'm pulling for in this year's postseason because they are loaded with tight players like Byron Leftwich and my boy, Reggie Williams, straight outta Tacoma, Wash.

But the Jags have to go to Foxborough where about no visiting team wins in the playoffs. New England is better than the No. 4 seed indicates and they have this dude Brady or something who some say is kinda good. (I just thought he was a GQ model).

Jacksonville, which certainly would've been a trendy pick had they been able to go to, say, Cincinnati instead of Bean Town, will instead be a trendy pick to be sippin' on Keystone tallboys from the privacy of their own homes next weekend.

The Big Picture pick: New England 28, Jacksonville 13


In other news: Officials say that the NHL is, in fact, being played this season.