Eating cholesterol does not raise your cholesterol! People need to stop worrying about eating cholesterol! Eat all the eggs and shrimp you want!

What raises your cholesterol is saturated fats! These are fats that are SOLID at room temperature. Butter, margarine, cheese, fat on steak, bacon, chicken skin, pork, goose fat, cream, ice cream, and the fat in milk (even though it looks like liquid, it's actually solid fat particles floating around in liquid).

Eighty-five to ninety percent of your total cholesterol comes from your liver. Our liver makes over 85% of our cholesterol! Only a small percentage comes from food you eat. If you don't eat cholesterol, your liver makes more to make up for the difference. If you eat cholesterol, your liver will make less. So it doesn't matter how much you eat!

What tells your liver to make cholesterol?

SATURATED FAT!

Fats that are solid at room temperature. Avoid those and you will be ok! If you remember that, you will be fine.

We always tell our patients to first try diet and exercise to help improve their cholesterol numbers. So they go around and stop buying foods that say "cholesterol" on the label, or buy "cholesterol free" foods. Bad idea! You liver will just make up the difference.

What we should tell them to do is to avoid foods that have saturated fat in them. Solid at room temperature! Remember that!

Saturated fats are found in high amounts in:

Butter, Coconut, all those butter substitutes, Cheese, Pork, Beef, Chicken skin, Goose fat, veal, sausage, hot dogs, bacon, processed meats, cream, milk and other dairy products, ice cream, etc. You get the picture. SOLID FATS! When you look at that steak and see the marbelling and fat in between the muscle fibers, or the fat on ribs and lamb chops....  IT's SOLID FAT!!!!!

Avoid Solid Fat!

But, there are two liquid fats that contain a lot of saturated fat; coconut oil and palm oil. But my guess is no one really eats those. Especially, not here in the United States. Butter, cheese, cream, bacon, pork, and beef are our main problem.

What about trans fats?

These are liquid fats (like vegetable oil) that are heated in the presence of hydrogen to make them semi-solid. Like all those butter substitutes. These are awful!

Trans fats are even worse for cholesterol levels than saturated fat and cholesterol itself because they raise LDL ("bad") cholesterol AND lower HDL ("good") cholesterol.

First of all, what an amazing match up. It's been a long time since we have had both number one seeds make it to the super bowl (1993, I think). Peyton Manning, son of Archie (the Saints super hero), will take on Payton (Sean) and the Saints in Miami, where Peyton won his other super bowl in 2006 in the rain (the only one where it rained the entire game). 

A ton of story lines exist. Archie Manning was the world's greatest Saint for many years. But they never made the playoffs and never went to a super bowl. Finally, Payton (Sean) comes to town along with Drew Brees, and no one remembers the good old Archie days... it's all about Payton now, Sean, not Manning.

This is going to be an exciting super bowl as their ever was. Since 1997, nearly every super bowl has been more super than the one before. We remember Elway in 1997 beating Favre's Packers in a close one. Which until that point in time, was the best super bowl ever. Then in 1999, the Rams beat the Titans in a really close one. We all remember McNair's pass that was one yard short of a game winning touchdown. Then in 2001 the Patriots barely won by a field goal. And again in 2002. Then we had the McNabb last minute drive, but to no avail. Then 2005 the Jerome Bettis show in another squeaker against Seattle. Then 2006 when Manning beat the Bears. Who can forget Devin Hester's opening kickoff return? Then the 2007 between the 18-0 Patriots and Giants with the miracle catch? And then 2008 with another amazing catch and a drive by the Cardinals to nearly win it.

Wow!

So this should be another great game. Featuring two of the best offenses the NFL has ever seen. I have been saying all year, if you haven't had a chance to watch the Saints play, go back and watch them on NFL.com. Especially, focus on the game against the Patriots, and their two playoff games. In a single playoff run, the Saints may have sent two hall of fame quarterbacks into permanent retirement. Kurt Warner has certainly retired, and Favre has probably played his last game as well.

And we all have seen what Manning can do. He is a coach on the field, and knows exactly what is going on at all times. This is shaping to be a helluva match up!

The Offenses:

The Saints offense is a progression based offense. Very similar to a West Coast Offense. Use the underneath passes to set up the deep balls. Progress through your reads from deep to short (as opposed to short to deep in the West Coast Offense). Find the open guy. This offense is based off the theory that, we have a ton of tall, talented receivers, and QB that can get them the ball, can you cover our fourth and fifth options? Throughout the year, very few defenses had enough talent to cover that fourth or fifth receiver. Brees thrives on going through his progressions, and hitting the guy that is open. This progression based offense takes time to develop.

The Colts offenses is an adjustment based offense. Peyton comes to the line of scrimmage and from a single formation can run 5-7 different plays. He waits for the defense to reveal itself. He can wait till the play clock gets down to 6 seconds. If you move or reveal yourself, he quickly changes the play and snaps the ball with plenty of time. If it is a pass play, the first three seconds after the snap are all Peyton needs to figure out the defense and get rid of the ball to the open guy. He has so many weapons and options, it's crazy what he can do. Most teams will cover Wayne, but he has Clark, Collie, Garcon, Brown available as well. Can your safety cover the 4th receiver? Or did he cheat up and play the run? Manning can adjust on the fly.

When you watch the game Sunday, watch and contrast these two offenses. Manning will get rid of the ball within 3 seconds of the snap. Brees will hang on and go through his progressions and let plays develop. Watch this and see how they each play.

The Defenses: (my favorite part)

The Saints have an aggressive, attacking defense, just ask Warner and Favre. Their base formation is "2 Man Under". They play two zone safeties overtop and man cover the WRs underneath. Their front 7 is very aggressive and can get to the QB. They are energized and playing with aggression under Greg Williams scheme. They will try to come after Manning, but Manning's line can hold them back long enough for Manning to release the ball (which is quick). The cover two on the top needs to come up and cover the TEs and will be too far back for all the complicated short routes that Manning can employ. If they sit back to protect against the long ball, Manning will dink and dunk them to death. They have given up more 10-play plus drives to opposing teams than anyone else in the NFL. The weakness in this defense is their linebackers. They are the weak link. Unless the front 4 can get to Manning, it will be a long day for them. If they start blitzing, they may get to Manning on a few plays, but e will quickl figure out the protections, like he did against the Jets. In order for them to win the battle against Manning they will have to bring a lot of pressure with their front 4 alone, let the LBs sit back and react, while trying to cover the TEs and underneath routes, and use all the DBs to man cover the WRs and protect the back. It's a tall order. One safety should play close to the line and cover the TEs or RB out of the backfield. They should play only one high (one safety deep) and get out of the two high o most downs. They can show two high, but get out when 4 seconds are left on the play clock. They need to disguise their coverage for as long as possible.

The Colts defense is also a Cover 2 base, but they play zone underneath. They also let the middle linebacker drop into deep third coverage in your basic Tampa 2 coverage. They are a read and react defense. They don't like exotic blitzing. They want to beat you with Freeny and Mathis and just the front 4. They usually can, against most teams. Larry Coyer, the defensive coordinator, has been able to get more out of these guys. They are a very fast defense! That's also why they can afford to read and react. This matches up very well against the Saints fast offense and weapons. The best way for the Saints to neutralize this defense is to run right at them with the bigger backs, Bell and Thomas, and try and wear out the defense. If they try to get fancy with screens and tosses to Bush to the outside (or run stretch runs) they will be losing yardage, not gaining. The Colts defense is a tough match up for the Saints. Drew Brees likes to go through progressions and take his time, and that gives the front 4 time to get to him. Freeny and Mathis (or whoever replaces Freeny) will have more time and can get to Brees. The DBs can cover the WRs long enough and have enough speed and manpower to keep Brees in check more times than not. The Saints only way to beat this defense is to run right at them straight on. Brees can dink and dunk too, but the Colts want that. They have speed and discipline and will give you the 3 yard gain.

Watch these defenses! You'll see the aggressive Saints defense and then contrast that to the read and react Colts defense. Should be an awesome match up to watch and see how each defense is going to attack the other offense. An awesome day for people who enjoy defense! This is the part I can't wait to see!

Outcome?

Ultimately, I think Manning will pull it off. I don't think it's going to be a high scoring 40-40 game. Maybe one team will get to 30. I expect the score to be 28-24 or 31-24. I think Manning's quick read and release will paralyze the Saints defense and render them ineffective (at least the front 7). It's gonna be up to the back 4 to try and contain this offense, and they can't. They don't have the speed or intelligence. They may make a few plays here and there, but Manning will come out on top.

The Saints offense plays right into the Colts defense's strengths. They like plays to develop and take long. Brees likes to go through progressions (unless they change this), and that doesn't bode well against a fast, read and react defense. The Saints defense is easy to dissect for Manning. If they blitz, let them come and pass it to the vacated location. If they don't blitz, get rid of the ball quickly to the most open WR. If they play 2 high and sit back, run at them. If they come up, hit them deeper. Should be exciting to watch. What if the Saints defense does get to Manning a few times? He will figure it out and adjust, like he did against the Jets.

Final score?

Colts 28-24.

February is Women's Heart Disease Awareness Month! In honor of women's heart health, I will dedicate a majority of my posts in February to Women's Cardiovascular Health Issues.

I plan on covering several topics: (possibly more)

1. General Cardiovascular Health
2. Tobacco Cessation
3. Why it's harder for women to lose weight, and how to break through
4. What really raises your cholesterol? (it's not the cholesterol you eat)
5. The Alo Diet (hey, if Atkins can have one, so can I)
6. How to look young for a long time

For starters, did you know:

Cardiovascular disease kills approximately 450,000 women each year, about one every minute.

While 1 in 40 American women die of breast cancer, about 1 in 3 die from cardiovascular disease.

More women die of cardiovascular disease than the next five causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer.

Ninety percent of women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease.

Only 1 in 5 women believe that heart disease is her greatest health threat.

Heart disease is largely preventable.

In fact, 80 percent of cardiac events in women may be prevented if women make the right choices for their hearts, involving diet, exercise and abstinence from smoking.

Cigarette smoking contributes adversely to the top 5 killers of women.

Lear more at http://www.goredforwomen.org/

Try to wear something BRIGHT RED throughout February to raise awareness of the number one killer of women!

If the ladies can do it....

Then men can too....

EDFGYTWN874B

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A while back we were discharging a patient from the hospital and gave her prescriptions for all of her medications. One of her prescriptions was for Crestor (the most powerful cholesterol lowering medication). The nurse calls me and says that the patient would like to ask me a few questions before she leaves.

"Doctor, I'm allergic to Crestor. Can I take something else."

"Maam, how do you know you are allergic?"

"I break out in hives and get itchy when I take it."

"Well, you've been on Crestor for the past two weeks while here in the hospital."

"Oh really?"

"Yes."

"Well, maybe that's why I haven't been able to sleep. Can I have a different medication?"

"Like what?"

"Vicodin?"

I look at her puzzled and ask, "How will that fix your cholesterol?"

"I don't know. Isn't that for cholesterol?"

"No, it's a pain reliever."

"Well, if I'm not in pain, won't my cholesterol get better?"

"No, maam. I'll give you a prescription for something else."

Any other funny patient stories, post them below!

I don't know that we've ever had a championship weekend where there have been as many amazing story lines as we have this year. No matter who wins these games, the story lines will only grow and increase in legend as we approach the super bowl. Probably the best post season in a long time!

The NFL is all about stories. This is what makes football the greatest sport ever. Football is about scheming, planning, practicing, strategy, gaining ground, losing ground, gaining yards, wearing out the defense, everyone working together to make each play work, coaches, coordinators, and the players executing. It's the greatest sport the world has ever seen. It's not like soccer where you have absolutely nothing going on for 90 minutes (other than utter chaos), then finally someone wins on a penalty kick with 1 minute to go, because a referee didn't like a certain team. Football is the King of Sports!

Stories grow into legends as the years go by. Stories are a crucial and huge part of the football experience.

Older fans never forget the third super bowl when the underdog Jets upset the Colts. It was the first AFL-NFL championship game to be called "Super Bowl". Newer fans will never forget the 2007 championship year, when the Giants came out of their mid-season slump to win three road playoff games, and upset the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl with one of the most amazing plays and catches of super bowl history.

Football is about stories. Here are this year's amazing stories:

You have the 40 year old quarterback trying to get to the super bowl. Elway was 39.

You have Manning, who may end up being the best QB ever, playing against a rookie.

You have three future hall of fame quarterbacks playing all at once, and a rookie whose story will unfold over time.

You have the Colts, who let the Jets into the playoffs, now having to play them again. Mistake? Or good planning?

You have Favre, who has thrown away more playoff games than any other QB, trying to redeem himself.

You have Manning who has only played in one super bowl trying to add to his super bowl deficient legacy.

You have Sanchez trying to be the first rookie quarterback ever to take his team to the super bowl.

You have Darrell Revis, the best DB in the NFL, going up against Reggie Wayne, one of the best WRs in the NFL.

You have the Colts amazing offense, going up against the NFL's No 1 defense.

You have Brees and the Katrina ravished New Orleans crowd playing for a chance to go to their first super bowl ever.

You have Jared Allen, Kevin and Pat Williams, and Ray Edwards trying to face Brees and the NFL's no 1 offense. Can they rattle him?

You have Reggie Bush, who finally started emerging, trying to justify his draft status and salary.

You have Percy Harvin, rookie of the year, trying to overcome migraines and play both RB and WR for the Vikes.

You have Percy Harvin, overcoming marijuana issues. (maybe it alleviated his migraines, someone get him a better doctor)

You have Adrian Peterson not running for over 100 yards in the last 8 games trying to redeem himself.

You have the Jets No 1 rush attack going against the speedy (but poor in run defense) Colts defense.

You have rookie Shonn Greene taking over the running duties in the playoffs for Jones.

You have the revitalized, improved Greg Williams led Saints defense trying to show that they can play well.

You have Favre who is 4-0 lifetime against Greg Williams led defenses, playing against a Greg Williams led defense.

You have Favre going back to play in his home state, but the fans aren't cheering for him.

So what will happen? Should be an amazing weekend! Will be awesome to watch all these games and see who will make it! The Colts Jets game is first! Enjoy this awesome weekend!

I am not sure why anyone is still reading my predictions, I haven't been particularly accurate. In fact, if you would have simply chosen the opposite of what I said, you'd be 80% accurate. But here are my thoughts anyways.

Jets at Colts: AFC Championship Game
This is a matchup of the No 1 versus No 5 seed. I am a big AFC guy and will be rooting for the winner of this game to go on and win the Super Bowl (I wish it was the Broncos). The Colts decided in week 15 to stop playing and lose to the Jets. The Jets won, and thereby snuck into the playoffs. Now the Colts get to play them at home for a chance to go to the Super Bowl. Superior design? Or bad luck? We'd all like to think that the Colts had it planned to work out this way, but it may backfire. The Jets have the best defense in the league as well as the best rushing game. You can't argue with that. I really hope they win and punish the Colts for playing dead and not playing hard throughout the entire season. When they decided to stop playing, that really irritated me and got under my skin. It was very disappointing to see this. I hope the Jets come in, rush well, play good defense, and hang in long enough to pull off a win. Sorta like they did last week in San Diego. (I still can't believe that)

Unfortunately, I think Manning will pull off the win. They have too many weapons. If Revis shuts down Wayne, you still have Clark, Garcon, Collie, and others that can get open. It's a tough task, but the Jets can bring enough pressure to keep the Colts hurried and off balance. We saw that Manning can get rattled. The Ravens did it to him during the season, and the Broncos did to him the week prior to them resting and almost pulled out a win. The Jets sport the best defense and can pressure Manning. Who knows who will win. I want the Jets to beat the Colts, but I think the Colts will win in a fairly tough match up. Something like 21-17 or so. Maybe 24-21. But we aren't going to have either team go well over 30 points.

Vikes at Saints: NFC Championship Game
This is a tough game to figure out. The only game this week that is No 1 versus No 2. The Vikings have a ferocious front line and really get after quarterbacks. I think that will be the difference. The Saint's defense looks better than before, but it's a paper tiger when you really look at their statistics. They haven't played a particularly tough schedule and got ahead so quickly that the defense could blitz and get turnovers after the big lead. The Vikings should run against the Saints, and run often. The Saints defense is horrible against the run when the score is tied or 0-0. The Saint's offensive line is not going to be able to contain the Vikes pass rush. I think Brees will be running for his life all day. Of course, they could sprinkle in some screen plays to slow the rush down, but ultimately the Vikes pass rush will win the day. If Brees and the Saint's offense use faster drops and quick passes they can take advantage of the holes in the secondary and eliminate the pass rush. That is their only hope of winning. The Super Dome is a tough place to play, but teams like Dallas have shown us the way: get after the QB, and the Vikes excel in that department. Running against the Vikes defense, and the Williams brothers, is a futile experiment. Although not as stout as in years past, they will stop your run.

The Favre factor? Favre is more famous for throwing away big games than winning them. He needs to stay within himself and not try and force anything. Which he has done well this year. If he can limit his stupidity and just play within his team and within the game plan, he will do fine. I think the Vikes could run away with this one 24-10 or so.

"I'm overweight because obesity runs in my family. We're all fat."

Patients sometimes come in saying that they are overweight because it runs in their family and they can't help it. That is not actually true. There is no gene that makes you become overweight. Don't blame your genes.

What does run in families, is bad habits. Families that grow up together and eat together, end up "inheriting" bad eating habits from mom and dad. That is what explains why families sometimes all look alike.

One thing that is genetic is where you put on your fat. If your mom carries most of her extra weight in her thighs, you will too. If your dad mainly carries around a beer belly, you will too. That part is genetic; where you store fat. That's why you see sisters that look similar and have similar body composition and brothers that all look alike when they are overweight.

Yes, their are hormones and genetic factors that affect appetite and certain parts of metabolism. BUT.... there is no gene or genetic predisposition holding you back and forcing you to be overweight.

The only situation where you are genetically going to be overweight no matter what, is if you have "short stature syndrome." Very few people have this rare disease. These people rarely grow over 4 feet tall and have to be overweight. They are the ones that can't help but be obese.

With nearly 60% of our country being overweight and about 35% being obese, we have to combat these notions and myths so that we can get better and lose weight. 

We have to!

Back in May of 2008, the American Heart Association changed the CPR and resuscitation protocols. You no longer have to do mouth-to-mouth CPR and if it is an in-hospital arrest, you don't have to intubate right away.

They have done research and have found that doing proper chest compressions, in and of itself, provides plenty of air exchange. The air exchange is not the problem, the problem is circulation. They need blood to circulate the oxygen, so you have to do compressions. 

They also found that if you keep telling people to do mouth to mouth, they are less likely to help out. They just walk away quickly. That doesn't help anyone.

If you find someone down and without a pulse, start chest compressions. It's that simple! Nothing saves lives or prolongs lives more than chest compressions. Deep, fast chest compressions. 100 per minute. When a chest is compressed and allowed to recoil, that draws plenty of air and oxygen into the lungs. Further, stopping chest compressions to breathe into their mouths, is an interruption of blood flow to the brain. The brain does not tolerate those kinds of interruptions very well. You need circulation!

In normal humans, (who are alive and walking around) tissues and organs extract only 25% of total oxygen from blood. When someone isn't breathing, tissues and organs can extract more oxygen. Doing chest compressions, provides more than enough air and oxygen for tissues and organs to work with.

Being someone that lives in the hospital, I see it all the time. Whenever there is a cardiac arrest, everyone jumps up and down and gets excited about "airway". Everyone wants to be a hero and be the one to intubate. In reality, you can wait. Intubation is the last step. If they don't have a pulse, start compressions. You can always just "bag" the patient with the mask until later when you figure out what is going on. And that is what the American Heart Association recommends. Wait on airway!

Airways are not benign. Lots of bad things can happen when you are trying to get an airway. Just bag them until things are more stable. 

Unfortunately, old habits are hard to break. Physicians and other health professionals are always taught the "ABCs" of cardiac arrest:

Airway
Breathing
Circulation

I am not sure why airway and breathing are before circulation. Circulation should come first! They should just throw out A and B. Or put them waaaaaaaaaaay last! It should be C...... AB or C....... BA. But I guess it's easier to remember if you just teach everyone "ABC". Doctors are supposed to be smart and not need to rely on such sophomoric mnemonics to help them practice good care.

Next time you run to a code blue, you can sound smart by stating that, "We can wait on airway, that was taken out of the guidelines two years ago."

Wait till the patient has been stabilized, or you know what is really going. You can hold off on airway until you get to the ICU or a more controlled environment and wait until you know that nothing else will suffice and you have to have an airway. If you are in the mall, just do chest compressions until the paramedics arrive. You will have saved a life!

So how did I do last week?

Not good.  I only got the Cowboys game correct and I thought, it'd be close, but it wasn't. Once you are in the playoffs, anything can happen. All you need is a chance, and lots of teams got their chances. 

I was wrong on the Jets. They destroyed, and I mean, destroyed the Bengals. I was wrong on Baltimore, they demolished, really demolished the Patriots. 21-0 in the first quarter? Wow! The Patriots defense was exposed. It has been weak and leaky all year. They got into the playoffs, because their division was weak. And of course, Indy and the Bengals threw games to let the Jets in. The Patriots have been exposed. They stumbled into three Super Bowls (one of them by the goofy tuck rule), barely won those super bowls. They won by running the ball and smashing people. They don't do that anymore. When they started passing and finessing people, they lost the big one. They got beat down by the Ravens. Ravished! The Ravens didn't allow the Pats to do anything. Brady played scared and weak, and couldn't get a single pass out without it wobbling. Baltimore blew them up, the way the Pats used to try and do it. Surprisingly, the Ravens didn't commit any penalties or mental mistakes like they usually do. And not so surprisingly, Ed Reed pitched back an interception return.

The best game of all ended up being Green Bay at Arizona. Wow! Every team that "rested" lost, except for Arizona. Arizona seems to be the only team in the NFL that can turn it on and off whenever they want to. Pretty weird, they did that last year too. After they won their division with 9 wins (and no one else could come close), they shut it down and were getting blown out. Then the playoffs started and they went on the road and beat everyone. Looks like they are doing that again this year. That was the best playoff game I have ever seen. No one wanted to play defense, no one wanted to win. Finally, Arizona facemasked and roughing the passered Aaron Rodgers, and got the ball out for a TD in overtime. Why not call the facemask and roughing the passer? They have been calling it all year on lesser contact? Unless your name is Brady, Manning, or Favre... they aren't going to call that.

Playoffs Round Two

All the games this week are indoor games in domes, except for the Chargers game.

Jets at Chargers: Probably will be the best game of the week. How good is Darrell Revis? The statistics don't lie, he has shut down a lot of great WRs. But the media does overhype him. He is a fantastic CB. Plays his position well, shuts people down, and is extremely athletic. The only issue is that the WR for SD are all tall and he is not. We will see what will happen. He is excellent at baiting QB to throw to the WR backside shoulder, and then jumping it. I am sure Rivers will notice that. The Jets aren't going to be able to cover Gates. They are awful at covering TEs. And Rivers can get it to Gates and those tall WRs. The Jets only hope of winning is Thomas Jones and Shonne Green. Don't stop handing off to those two. The Chargers nose tackle position has been a revolving door all year after Jamal Williams went down. Guys off the street are playing for them. Ultimately, Sanchez is not going to be able to keep up with Rivers. I think the Chargers win in a closer than expected game.

Ravens at Colts: The Colts should not have rested the past few weeks. They are going to be flat. And we saw what Baltimore can do if you come out flat or weak. It's a tough game to call, but I have a feeling that Baltimore will win this one. Yes, Manning is an amazing QB, but they have never gone to the super bowl when they had a first round bye. The Colts are finesse and timing team, it's hard to regain your timing and speed. Baltimore's running game has been firing on all cylinders and Ray Rice can punish defenses. If he gets going early and Manning doesn't get on the field much, it may be over before you know it. But part of me says, it is Manning (probably the best QB of all time) and Flacco is only a second year player. I still will go with the team that hasn't rested.... Baltimore in a close one.

Cardinals at Saints: This may be the next "best playoff game ever" if no one decides to play defense. Both defense seem to have issues. Both teams can pass like crazy! The Super Dome is a difficult place to play in and the Saints have a tremendous home field advantage. Does it get any better? Warner (a sure hall of famer) against Brees (who may be a hall of famer)? It could be an offensive explosion like we have never seen before. Although, 96 points is hard to beat. Brees will pick on McFadden. He is the weak link the Arizona secondary. He was brought over by Wisenhunt from Pittsburgh to help install his defense, but he is a huge liability. Both teams have a running game that is just good enough to get tough yards when you need them. Saints run defense is porous when the score is tied. It's gonna be a tough call. I may have to go with the proven veteran, who has gone on the road before, has nearly every playoff and super bowl record in Kurt Warner. I think Arizona will do just enough to win. It may be a fluke play at the end that is the difference. Should be a fun game to watch.

Cowboys at Vikings: This one is going to be fun to watch as well. The Vikings haven't been playing particularly well the past few weeks and I think the Cowboys can take it to them. The Vikes play mainly out of a Tampa Cover 2 defense, Jason Witten will have a field day in the middle of the field. Austin has emerged as an excellent pass catcher as well as YACer. Can Favre do it? The last few times in the playoffs he has been the reason his team lost. Will he lose it for the Vikes? He doesn't have history on his side. Playing poorly the past few weeks is not a way to end your season. The Cowboys are going to use Felix Jones and Tashard Choice (I hate Marion Barber, he runs like a maniac and needs to learn how to really run) to bring the safeties and LBers in tighter and then unleash Witten and Austin. Just keep it simple. The Cowboys defense has been playing very well. I don't know if they will completely shutdown Adrian Peterson, but they will keep him under 100 yards. The Vikings defense hasn't been the same as they have been the past few years. Could end up being terribly close if turnovers are a factor, but I think the Cowboys will win it.

There you are folks! My playoff picks. Hopefully, I do better this week. Enjoy the games! February is coming sooner than you realize, and you are going to miss the luxory of being able to watch football all the time.