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Now that was ugly.No, not the performance of the Bengals in the second half at Indianapolis in our Upset Special.And not the controversy over the officiating in Dallas victory against Detroit.The way Pro Picks faltered out of the post-season gate, going 0-4 against the spread: THAT was ugly.So its time to rectify. Here we go — but with no upset special this week. Still trying to shake off the effects of the previous one.No. 8 Indianapolis (plus 7) at No. 5 Denver, SundayThe focus, deservedly, will be on Peyton Manning and the quarterback who replaced him in Indianapolis, Andrew Luck. How juicy would a shootout between those two be?This one very well might be decided by the defences, however, which means advantage Denver, despite what Indy did against playoff flop Cincinnati.Denver was undefeated at home this season, including an opening 31-24 victory over the Colts. The Broncos have displayed more balance on defence than Indy, which can be run on. With the way Denver has redesigned its offence recently, that could be a decided edge.As can being off last week. Boy, did Denver need the bye.Luckily, weve played well enough in the season to get a bye week, which helped us, because if we played last week, (linebacker) Brandon Marshall probably doesnt play and (safety) T.J. (Ward) is probably a little rusty, tackle Terrance Knighton said. Those three days off allowed people to refocus and its almost like a new season now.Which will begin with another win.BEST BET: BRONCOS, 33-20No. 10 (tie) Baltimore (plus 7) at No. 2 New England, SaturdayIf theres one team that doesnt fear a journey to Foxborough, its the Ravens. Theyve won there twice in the post-season, including the 2012 AFC title game that preceded their victory over San Francisco in the Super Bowl. The year before, they lost by three points when Billy Cundiff missed a chip-shot field goal to force overtime.New England always is formidable at home, winning all seven of the games that meant anything this season. Having gone a decade since their last Super Bowl crown, the Patriots, most notably Tom Brady, are on a mission.Yes, Baltimore was impressive in winning at Pittsburgh last Saturday night, and Joe Flacco has become just as clutch at quarterback as anyone. But the Ravens secondary remains questionable despite shutting down the Steelers.PATRIOTS, 28-24No. 13 Carolina (plus 10 1/2) at No. 1 Seattle, SaturdayGive credit to the Panthers for winning four straight to take the NFC South, then handling Arizona in the wild-card round. Then consider that the victories were over New Orleans, Tampa, Cleveland and Atlanta — all losing clubs — and the injury-weakened Cardinals.Seattle appears to be peaking, especially on defence, where it has that nasty and stingy edge again. It doesnt usually blow out opponents and probably wont do so against Carolina. But the Seahawks are on a mission, too, trying to become the first repeat Super Bowl champs since the Patriots of 2003-04.SEAHAWKS: 23-13No. 4 Dallas (plus 6) at No. 3 Green Bay, SundayHard to believe the Cowboys have not been back to Lambeau Field in the post-season since the 1967 Ice Bowl. Equally hard to believe this is a matchup (for the first time) of an 8-0 road team against an 8-0 host.Having already won in Seattle, the Cowboys know all about handling the toughest environment in pro football. Except Green Bay in January, with all the weather considerations — not to mention Aaron Rodgers chucking the ball, Eddie Lacy carrying it, and an improving defence led by Clay Matthews — is another animal. A grizzly, perhaps.PACKERS, 27-24___2014 RECORD: Against spread: This week (0-4); Season (128-120-5). Straight up: This week (2-2); Season (171-87-1)Best Bet: 7-11 against spread, 11-7 straight up.Upset special: 9-9 against spread, 7-11 straight up.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Nike Roshe 2 Mens . In a matter of days, he went from unwanted to wanted, from fired to hired, from discarded by the Philadelphia Eagles with reputation tarnished to rock star treatment and a new fat contract from the Washington Redskins. Nike Roshe Two Flyknit Blue . Colorado came up big against Chicago last spring, and repeated that performance Tuesday night. Varlamov stopped 36 shots and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche in a 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks. http://www.clearanceshoesoutletstore.co ... r-usa.html. After losing a shutout bid in the dying seconds of Sundays win over the Colorado Avalanche, Luongo would not be denied against the punchless Oilers and is now just one back of Patrick Roy for 14th on the all-time list. Onitsuka Tiger Online Store .This one was bigger than most.Ben Roethlisberger and LeVeon Bell came up big in a game that Pittsburgh had to win Sunday, leading the Steelers to a 42-21 drubbing of the Cincinnati Bengals that left the AFC North race wide open. Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66 Slip On .Airport spokeswoman Heather Lissner said that all departing flights were back on schedule. However, arriving flights were still trying to catch up.Super Bowl Sunday got off to an inconvenient start for hundreds of passengers trying to get to Phoenix for the game.Samoa versus Tonga breathing life into the international scene, Hull demolishing Saints and Sam Burgess feature in Set of Six. Test RugbyA mixed bag of international rugby was served up over the weekend as Australia and New Zealand clashed in Newcastle while Samoa and Tonga met at Sydneys Pirtek Stadium. Unfortunately, Australia versus New Zealand did not quite live up to expectations as the Aussies ran out 16-0 winners over their depleted opponents. It was the Kangaroos first win over the Kiwis in two years, but they still came under criticism for their performance. Former Origin coach Phil Gould slammed the performance, saying the squad needs a complete overhaul in order to compete at the 2017 World Cup. Darius Boyd powers over for an Australia try Restoring our faith in the international game was Samoas 18-6 win over Tonga in a cracking contest. It was great to see Hull duo Frank Pritchard and Sika Manu travel to Australia to skipper Samoa and Tonga respectively. In a bruising encounter, both sides showed their passion and commitment to play for their country and rugby league was the real winner on the day.Unique insight Sky Sports gained unique access to a rugby league half-time team talk as John Kear delivered his message to his Batley Bulldogs Batley Bulldogs coach John Kear gave Sky Sports unprecedented access during their Challenge Cup tie with Catalans Dragons.The Batley boss wore a microphone during the sixth round match at the Foxs Biscuits Stadium where the Championship part-timers produced a battling performance but had no answer to the Catalans power in a 40-4 defeat.Kears half-time team-talk was particularly insightful - click on the video above to see how he handles their expectations...Class from Hull Hull FC coach Lee Radford says there is more to come from his side There were no giant slayers over the weekend with the biggest shock being Hull knocking over St Helens.Hull were at their attacking best as they ran in eight tries during their 47-18 win over Saints, and coach Lee Radford says the performance is just the beginning.Because of the importance of the fixture it was our best performance of the season but there is still more to come for us and we had three big players missing, said Radford. We had some exceptional performances but it was a great team display and we never looked in any trouble. The enthusiasm and energy we ccarried the football with was really pleasing.ddddddddddddThings can happen for this team because there are some outstanding individuals within this group.Next up for Hull is a return to Super League action when they travel to the DW Stadium to face Wigan on Friday, live on Sky Sports 3.Return of Tomkins? Will Tomkins be back for Wigan on Friday? Talking of Wigan, Sam Tomkins is set to make his long awaited return to Super League. Tomkins re-joined his hometown club but has yet to play this season, having sustained a knee ligament injury while playing for New Zealand Warriors last year.Wigans 54-4 win over Dewsbury in the Challenge Cup would have boosted their confidence ahead of Fridays clash. The Warriors, currently fourth on the Super league table, were beaten 40-10 by Warrington in their last Super League outing but the defeat did not worry coach Shaun Wane too much.Speaking after the defeat to Warrington, Wane said: Lets be real about it, weve got some good players not playing at the moment.The players that are taking to the field have played a lot of games and Im proud of their effort. As a club were in a good place, you look at who is in that dressing room at the end that arent playing and well be okay.Rhinos call to armsLeeds chief executive Gary Hetherington issued a rallying cry after the Rhinos 36-22 defeat to Huddersfield. Hetheringtons letter to the fans claimed that the future is bright and urged the fans not to panic.Unless you are a very long-standing fan, this experience is something new to us all as we find ourselves in a tough position and one that is in complete contrast to this time last year, Hetherington wrote.As I am sure you know, this is what can happen in professional team sport and most clubs in this situation would be in crisis with low morale, a blame culture and a frenzy to make wholesale changes throughout the organisation. But thats not the case here!I find myself surrounded not by pessimists but by an incredibly energised and positive group of players, coaches and staff who are all working incredibly hard to achieve new and different goals. Our first and most immediate goal is to climb the Super League table and then make the top eight by round 23.I genuinely believe we can all look to some exciting times ahead, he added. We have a vision for the club and a set of values which underpin all we do.Burgess forced to apologise Sam Burgess in action for the South Sydney Rabbitohs Sam Burgess came under fire for filming his wife singing whilst driving. The Rabbitohs star drew plenty of criticism on social media after posting a clip of his wife Phoebe belting out a rendition of Cold Chisels classic song Khe Sanh while he was behind the wheel.Its unacceptable. I made a mistake and obviously Ill pay the fine and get the points, said Burgess.Its a mistake and something Ill learn from, and hopefully people can learn from. But Ill move on from it now and look forward to the game this weekend. The good news is that Burgess said he will be fit for the Rabbitohs clash with Parramatta on Friday, despite injuring his ankle in their defeat to the Wests Tigers last time out. 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