Over the weekend, we launched the Genius Picks service. This is a major milestone for WinTheTrophy.  

We founded WinTheTrophy upon the theory that the best sports pickers in the world were among the every-day sports fans. What these sports enthusiasts needed was a platform like WinTheTrophy through which they could reveal their inner sports betting genius. For example, maybe you’re terrible at picking winners in the NFL overall, but perhaps you’re a demigod when it comes to over/under bets in the NFC East. Without WinTheTrophy, it’s tedious to track these statistics. We've given you a free and automated way to track your personal betting trends, results, strengths and weaknesses.

After analyzing hundreds of thousands of picks using our proprietary algorithms, you've proven that you can beat the oddsmakers on a consistent basis. And, IMHO, you've demonstrated that you're the best sports pickers in the world.

So with that, we offer the world the Genius Picks service, powered by you -- WinTheTrophy users. With this service, if you achieve (and maintain) genius status, you can earn redeemable currency. And (we hope) a lot of it. We're giving all geniuses a 40% share of the Genius Picks sales proceeds. Payments will be distributed via credits that can be redeemed at the store. We realize that you don't necessarily want to redeem credits for a custom avatar, so we'll be adding highly-valued items to the store shortly. Things you'll really want.

Over the next several months, we plan to aggressively market the Genius Picks service. We need people to buy the Genius Picks so that you can benefit. However, we can only do so much. We need you to brag about your genius status and promote the service. This is your site -- your platform through which to show the world that you're the best sports picker money can buy.

Want the new iPad 2? Got lots of friends? If you do, then simply refer the most friends by 11:59 PM EST on April 17, 2011 -- and it's yours! Referring friends to WinTheTrophy is easy. In your profile, you’re assigned a dedicated 3-digit referral code. Give this code to your friends and ask them to enter it upon signing up. To make sharing easier, hover over your Jersey with the referral code in your profile. Copy the link and then share it with your friends! Few contest rules and notes:

• To get full credit for a referral, your friend must signup using your referral code and then activate his or her WinTheTrophy account.
• Prior referrals do not count towards your total referral count. For example, if you currently have 5 referrals, and you refer 75 new friends by April 17, your total contest referral count will be 75, not 80.
• Referring yourself under alias email accounts automatically disqualifies you!
• To be eligible to win, you must have a minimum of 10 referrals.
• The WinTheTrophy user with the most activated referrals at the end of the contest periods wins the iPad 2.
• We will ship the iPad 2 (free-of-charge) to the winner within 4 weeks after the contest period ends. (If you win, we'll contact you for your preferred shipping address.)
• The type of iPad 2 is the 16GB, Wi-Fi (retail price is $499).
• We reserve the right to modify this contest and its rules at our discretion. (We don't expect that we'll need to...it's just that our "lawyers" told us to say this!)

We will announce who the current contest referral leaders are every week. Stay tuned. Good luck!

Took all of one week for up to be down and down to be up in the New Meadowlands, where the self-proclaimed future Super Bowl champions are suddenly sucking wind and have what has the look and feel of a must-win game against the Patriots this week.

The bloom is already off the rose in Jets World, where the franchise quarterback is spitting cotton, the starting nose tackle is injured and done for the season, the running game looks overwhelmed, the coach has lost his bombast and the NFL is investigating after reports of harassment of a female reporter. So how does that futures bet on the Jets to win the Super Bowl look right about now?

All you have to know about the State of the Jets could be seen in Rex Ryan’s post-game press conference after Monday night’s loss to Baltimore. The T-Rex was subdued almost to the point of humility, the braggadocio depressed by the knowledge that Game 2 is upcoming against the suddenly-powerful-looking Patriots, then it’s on the road for Games 3 and 4. It can’t get much worse for the Jets, who for months have bragged that they plan to both get to and win the Super Bowl and now are in the embarrassing situation of being a home underdog to a Patriots team that the entire NFL had figured would be taking a step backward this season. Bad news bombards the Jets from every corner, be it the season-ending knee injury to starting nose tackle Kris Jenkins, the Monday night implosion of quarterback Mark Sanchez or the NFL’s impending investigation of the team’s locker room harassment of a female reporter.

New York converted only one of 11 third-down plays in the opening night loss to Baltimore, and while Sanchez bears some of the responsibility, it was really a total team effort. The Jets counted on Shonn Greene to be the go-to running back, but he was in and out of the lineup as he fumbled the ball and dropped passes.

LaDainian Tomlinson is a star only in the mind of LaDainian Tomlinson. Now the Jets welcome the Patriots to Jersey. The Pats figured to have a good offense and a shaky defense this season, but if Week 1 was any indication, they will have a Great Offense and a pretty good defense. Bill Belichick has re-created his defense around young guys who fly to the ball, which is the formula that helped Indianapolis win a Super Bowl a few years ago. The Jets will get a healthy taste of that this Sunday.

There there’s the Randy Moss-Darrelle Revis game within a game. Revis pretty much nailed Moss to the wall in two games last season, although there is conflicting opinion on how much safety help the Jets gave Revis. This time around New England’s offense has more options – two young stud tight ends (Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski) who can work the middle of the field and a star wideout in the making (Brandon Tate). Wes Welker, who didn’t play in the Jets’ win over the Patriots early last season but did when NE crushed the Jets the second time they played, will be there, too. And that certain Hall of Fame quarterback is now two full years removed from ACL and ready to rock and roll like it.

It all adds up to trouble for a Jets team that may have to soon start eating its words.

There are currently several bugs and issues that we are working on the site, as part of our ongoing beta development:

• When you perform actions such as ordering item or deleting a comment, you're being forced to log-out.  We are currently working this one.
• Some of the profile pages are taking a long time to load.  We are in the process of optimizing the load time.
• Some users have had issues with the chips balance.  We've identified the issue and hope to have it resolved soon.
• Users are being award win streak trophies for making bets on the same game. The way this should work is that only unique bets count. We'll get this one addressed for sure.

We encourage you to, please, inform of us of any other issues. Appreciate your patience and ongoing support.  We are working hard to make this best experience possible.

With only two games left in the regular season, there are some tight conference races with teams battling for either number one seeds for their tournament or to improve their position to be able to host the opening round or two. The Big 12 conference is no different, as the two teams (both nationally ranked) Texas A&M Aggies and the Kansas Jayhawks (who will probably move up to number two tomorrow) need to come away from Phog Allen Fieldhouse (Wednesday night) with a victory. Kansas (12-2 in the Big 12; 27-2 overall) who defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 82-70 their last time out (Saturday, February 26) caught a break when conference leader Texas Longhorns (12-2 in the Big 12; 24-5 overall) couldn’t hold onto a 22-point lead and fell to Colorado 91-89. Texas holds the tie-breaker (by virtue of winning the only match-up with Kansas this year 74-63) in case of a co-champion situation meaning the Longhorns would be the number one seed in the conference tournament.

Texas plays host to Kansas State on Monday and then travels to Baylor Saturday. In the meantime, Kansas must take care of their business at hand starting with Texas A&M (9-5 in the Big 12;22-6 overall) before worrying about their final game which won’t be a walk in the park as they have to travel to (also nationally ranked in the last poll) Missouri (22-7, 8-6 in the Big 12).

Kansas will probably move up one spot in the polls due to #1 Duke losing to Virginia Tech (64-60, Saturday) comes in Wednesday’s match-up on a three game winning streak and is 9-1 in their last 10 games. Kansas, who averages 83.8 points a game which leads the Big 12 Conference and is the fourth most nationally, is 16-1 at home and 2-1 vs. the AP Top 25. Kansas’ only setbacks this year is at Kansas State (84-68) and against Texas. Kansas State was the preseason conference favorite and though they had their issues early, they are coming on having won four straight while Texas who was ranked fifth in the nation before falling to Colorado is a very good team. Defensively, Kansas is decent allowing slightly less than 65 points a game (64.9) which ranks the Jayhawks fifth in the Big 12.

Kansas who is led by the Morris twins (Marcus Morris 17.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 60.9% FG, 35.9% 3-pointers; Markief Morris 13.6 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 60.2 FG, 41.3% 3-pointers) is the top shooting team in the nation (52.3%). Kansas also grabs an average of 38.4 rebounds (11.4 offensively) a game (30th most nationally) and dishes out 18.4 dimes (ranked first nationally). In addition, Kansas launches 19.1 three-pointers a game connecting on 7.5 (39.3%), shoots 67.5% (15.8-23.55) from the free throw stripe, commits 14 turnovers and block four shots.

The Morris twins can do everything well and have been the rock behind the Rock-Sock-Jayhawk slogan. Marcus Morris is 6’9” and is a little more athletic and more of a pure scorer than the inch taller Markief Morris (6’10”). Both Morris twins can either post-up or shoot from the perimeter though Marcus (23-64) likes to shoot the long bombs a little more Markief (19-46). While Marcus Morris is slightly more gifted offensively, Markief Morris (team high 34 blocks) leads the Big 12 conference with 11 double-doubles and is a little bigger body than Marcus. Both Morris twins make a living getting to the charity stripe as Marcus Morris is 108 for162 (66.6% )while Markief Morris is 79 for 118 (66.9%).

Reserve freshman guard Josh Selby is the only other Kansas player to score in double figures (10.4 PPG, 3.0 APG) though senior guard Tyrel Reed (who has attempted the most treys this year with 143 connecting on 39.2%; 9.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 42.9% FG ) and sophomore forward Thomas Robinson (8.5 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 62.8% FG) have been solid. Kansas has the talent to go nine or ten deep but with the variety of issues Kansas has dealt with this year Bill Self (Kansas coach) hasn’t been able to use his rotation like he probably would like to.

Now with the suspension of point guard and leading distributor Tyshawn Taylor (team rules violation; Taylor has missed the two previous games), Self may not have a full squad available until the conference tournament. Taylor (a junior is averaging 8.8 points a game and 4.7 assists) is extremely quick and talented but has infuriated Self with his inconsistent play.

Texas A&M enters the game Wednesday (currently ranked #21 in the AP top 25 though they might fall a couple of places when the new poll comes out) needs a victory to secure the third seed in the Big 12 Conference tournament and possibly position itself for a six or seven seed in the NCAA tournament. Texas A&M is coming off a 58-51 due to their woeful shooting performance hitting just 19 of their 54 shots (the Aggies who have connected on 44.5% of their shots this season which is 128th best in the nation). Texas A&M has a cushion of one game over Kansas State and Missouri for third place a first round bye in the Big 12 tournament. The Aggies closes the regular season out the Saturday against Texas Tech.

Texas A&M, who is 3-2 vs. the AP Top 25 and 5-3 in road games faces a tough task against the more athletic and taller Jayhawks, has had trouble scoring this season averaging 69.4 points a game (166th nationally; 5th in the Big 12). Texas A&M attempts 15.51 three-pointers a game knocking down 5.24 a game (33.8% which is well below average) however, the Aggies do get to line a decent amount (16.3-23.4) and knocks down 70% of those shots. Texas A&M is a solid defensive team surrendering only 60.5 points a game which is the second fewest in the Big 12 Conference. Also, Texas A&M does a decent job rebounding hauling in 36.8 a game (83rd nationally) but has gone to the offensive glass hard collecting 12.4 rebounds a game. Texas A&M also turns the ball over only 12.2 times a game. Due to their lack of outside shooting, Texas A&M relies on their frontcourt to provide most of their scoring punch. 6’7” sophomore forward Khris Middleton (14.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 3.0 APG, 45.6% FG and 35.6% 3-3pters) and 6’8” junior forward David Loubeau (11.2 PPG 4.9 RPG and 49.6% FG) are the Aggies only double figure scorers. Though senior guard BJ Holmes (9.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 3.1 APG, 42% FG) and 6’7 forward Nathan Walkup (9.7 PPG 5.8 RPG, 50.5% FG and 34.7 3-pointers) have the ability to produce.

Recap of the Last Game

Kansas 82 Oklahoma 70

The Kansas Jayhawks got a huge game from the Morris twins who combined for 42 points and 19 rebounds (Marcus Morris 23 points and 9 rebounds; Markief Morris chipped in with 19 points and 10 rebounds to win their third straight game 82-70 over the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman (Oklahoma) Saturday. Kansas who shot 56.8% (25-44) from the field, which marks the 21st time this season Kansas has connected on over 50% of their shots, defeated Oklahoma for the seventh straight time in the series. Kansas knocked down 6 of their 14 shots from beyond the arc, went to the line an astounding 35 times (making 26) and collected 11 offensive caroms. Kansas did turn the ball over 13 times while forcing just six Oklahoma miscues. Oklahoma connected on just two less field than the Jayhawks (23-50; 46%) and the same number of shots from long distance six (6-19). The main difference in the game was the disparity in free throws. The Sooners who connected on a slightly better percentage (78% to 74) from the line had 12 fewer attempts producing eight less points than Kansas (18-23).

Kansas, without Taylor (as mentioned above), got a scare when Johnson (five points in 16 minutes)left the game with about 12½ minutes left to play with a neck injury. However, according to Kansas Coach Bill Self, Johnson’s x-rays revealed no damage and he could’ve returned to game if needed. Kansas who outrebounded Oklahoma 33 to 14, led 45-33 at halftime. Besides the Morris twins, Reed (11 points) was the only other Jayhawk to reach double-figures in scoring.

Baylor 58 Texas A&M 51

Texas A&M traveled to Waco on Saturday night and came away disappointed falling to the Baylor Bears 58-51. Texas A&M as usual played solid defense but like so many times this year the Aggies had trouble scoring. Texas A&M shot just 35% from the floor which was their third lowest shooting performance of the year. Texas A&M also only knocked down 5 of their 22 (22.7%) shots from beyond the three-point arc and committed 13 turnovers while only dishing out 6 assists.

The Aggies defense held Baylor to 19 of 48 shooting (39.6%) and 4-15 (26.7%) from beyond arc while forcing 14 turnovers. However, Texas A&M committed 21 fouls putting the Baylor at the line 24 times (9 more free-throws then the Aggies attempted which resulted in an 8 point difference; Baylor was 16-24 from the charity stripe while A&M was 8-15).

Baylor who was up 32-28 at halftime, got hot early in the second half and built a 41-32 lead with 10:29 left. The Aggies then went on 7-0 run but Baylor had answer hitting two three-pointers and four foul shots to regain control of the contest 53-43. Middleton put up a double-double (12 points and 10 boards) for the Aggies but was on 4 for 12 from the floor (33%) and connected on just two of his seven three point shots (28.5%). Forward David Loubeau also hit double figures with 14 points on 6-8 shooting.

Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon disappointed with the Aggies offense credited Baylor’s defense, “Their zone was fantastic. It was like they had six guys out there. They were everywhere. And our zone attack wasn’t very good.”

Final Analysis

Kansas is rolling after their misstep against Kansas State and according to Reed are on a mission, “Every year, we go in wanting to win the Big 12 and win the Big 12 Tournament and then have the best opportunity for a number one seed. We’ve got two more games and I guess the balls in our court and we’ve got to take care of business.” In addition, Kansas seldom loses at Phog Allen Fieldhouse, winning 94.8% of their games there under Self (128-7).

Though Kansas is not as good defensively as Texas A&M, the Jayhawks just have too much firepower as either Morris twin (Marcus is the more likely one), Selby, Reed, Taylor (if his suspension is lifted), senior Mario Little or Reed and senior Brady Morningstar (if they get hot) can carry the offensive load. In conference play, Kansas (averaging 81.64) has only been held under 80 points three times. Defensively, Kansas (72.07) has allowed their Big 12 brethren to put up 65 or more points 12 times.

Texas A&M (averaging 64.92 points a game in conference) doesn’t have the shooting ability or firepower to get into a transition game with Kansas, though Holmes who has knocked down 41% of his three-pointers (41-100) and has gotten to the line 104 times (hitting 80 of them) could cause the Jayhawks problems. Otherwise, the Aggies (given up 63.35 points a game in conference play) will have to slow the game down by working the ball inside to Middleton, Loubeau and Walkup and play typical Texas A&M defense.

The Aggies do have a wildcard (Holmes could be considered one but I’m sure the Jayhawks are aware of him) and that is freshman forward Kourtney Robinson (12.9 MPG, 5.9 PPG, 3.7 RPG and 60% FG). Robinson who is athletic and provides depth for the Aggies frontline could be a difficult match-up for the Jayhawks frontline if the Aggies can get the Morris twins into foul trouble.

This weekend the WinTheTrophy development team is gathering for three full days of product development.  There are a number of misc. features and bugs that we'll be working on, but most importantly we'll be focusing on:

• Genius Picks -- The site is finally at the point where we have enough users placing bets that we can start offering quality Genius Picks for sale.  If you're one of the site's geniuses, this means that you can get paid actual cash for your picks.  As part of the Genius Picks development, we'll be changing how the Genius Ladder works so that users can't rest on their laurels forever.  In other words, if you don't place so many bets over a certain period of time while maintaining your superior BetIQ, you lose your status.
• Free Cash Payouts -- While it may seem to be good to be true, we plan on allowing you to cash-out your positive accumulated net chips for real green.
• Facebook Integration -- This is something that the site is sorely missing.  We'll take some time to develop our Facebook integration strategy and to design how that integration will work.  Facebook integration will make it easier for your friends to sign-up.

I'm excited for the weekend to arrive so we can start grinding on three of our most-exciting features. Thanks for reading...now go place some bets!

Pro football oddsmakers and handicappers both will say that in the playoffs it’s never a good idea to shoot at shadows.

“Everything, and I mean everything, is situational,” says Peter Korner owner of The Sport Club, one of the top oddsmakers in Las Vegas. “That’s not to say we ignore past results, but what’s happening right now is usually more important than what happened weeks ago.”

Bettors should keep that in mind as they play this weekend’s divisional games -- Jets/Patriots, Ravens/Steelers, Packers/Falcons and Seahawks/Bears.

The Seattle-Chicago matchup provides a good example. The Seahawks defeated the Bears, 23-20, in Chicago way back in Week 6. Bettors have latched on to that result, looked at the 10 points the Seahawks are getting, and have flocked to Seattle by a margin of 57-43 early this week. But that ignores other factors -- Seattle’s historic lousy play away from home, the fact that the Seahawks had only one win this year against a winning team (to 9-7 San Diego, which was playing horribly early in the year), and the rest that Chicago got last week as the No. 2 seed in the NFC. To say nothing  about the energy that Seattle had to expend to beat New Orleans, or the fact that the Seahawks needed the best run (and game) of Marshawn Lynch’s career to win.

In Pittsburgh, a similar dynamic is at work. The Ravens went into western Pennsylvania and gritted out a 3-point victory early in the season before Pittsburgh won later in the year, in Baltimore and also by 3. Even steven, right? Not quite. Baltimore defeated Pittsburgh while Ben Roethlisberger, perhaps the second-best [Brady] big-game QB in the league, was still serving a suspension. Charlie Batch had only 126 yards passing in that one, and in the next matchup Roethlisberger had more than double that.

Bettors, especially parlay players, would be wise to avoid wasting ammunition by shooting at shadows. With that said, the bet here is to go with the two rested favorites on both ends -- the Bears and lay the 10, and the Steelers -3.5.

I know that probably shocks many of you but I don’t really care. After nearly two decades of playing fantasy football from everything from spreadsheets to sophisticated online web sites I am hear to tell you I am finished and you should be too. What is the reason you ask? Well, good question. The answer is simple: boredom. I am bored with the draft. The draft as many of you can attest is nothing more than sophisticated guessing game. Sure, go ahead and tell me that picking players is a complex strategy of evaluating the players’ point output with a potential injury overlay that yields a numeric value that indicates a draft or no-draft decision. Whatever. How many times do you finish a draft, sit back and laugh like Dr. Evil because you are so certain this year you will dominate only to discover that after two quarters your franchise quarterback or running back is a heap of broke ass being shuttled off on one of those ambulance golf carts? Great. That was a huge waste of time (and often money) and we all know there is little to no way to recover from it. Try as you may to pick up a sleeper or trade for someone decent it ain’t gonna’ happen. Enjoy the entire season watching what could have been with your broke-ass team.

Are we having fun yet? In the best-case scenario, you draft a great team, no one gets hurts, and you dominate your league. Fun? I guess. Even in this case I find that after Sunday and maybe a few tweaks here and there or a player pick-up to fill a BYE spot I am bored. Nothing to do. I guess I can pretend like I am analyzing historical data, field conditions, win ratios, player match-ups, but I don’t, and that is more than I am willing to dedicate to a one day intravenous feed of information that leads me to react like a Pavlovian dog every time CBS plays its fantasy jingle. No catches? No touchdowns? So disappointing and I sit back and think about how lame this is. Even when something great happens I am not all that thrilled. Of course, every decade or so you get that player who scores 50 points from out of nowhere but 9 times out of 10 that player is, yep, on your bench. So fun.

Where do I spend my time now? With the big boys. I decided to pull up my pants and get off the porch and run with the big dogs. Each and every day I put my money and my reputation on the line in action that is virtually non-stop. I pick winners and losers and factor in spreads, over/unders, moneylines, parlays and so forth. Why is this better? Where do I start?

1. This action incorporates every single strategy point from fantasy and makes you take it to the next level. By betting on teams you now have to look at every facet of a match-up. Quarterbacks, RBs, WRs, Def, field, weather, and a multitude of other factors that lead to a decision. Now, it really gets interesting. Will the team I believe will win end up winning by a certain number or more? Hmmm. That changes things when my opponent gets 4 or 5 points. Maybe I’ll take the other team because I think they might win outright or at least keep it very close. Fantasy Football is checkers. A free and legal sport betting is three-dimensional chess.
2. Action. Lots of action. If I pick a football team to win I am no longer just watching one or two offensive players to make a run or a catch. I am watching the whole team and each and every snap could help me. Of course, if you take the under in an over/under you quickly learn a whole new betting position: all misses, fumbles, and missed opportunities are a good thing. Nothing like watching a game hoping that both teams miss field goals and bonk it off the rim.
3. Reload every day. Fantasy football is once a week and free and legal sports betting is every day. During the fall you have hundreds of games from college, pro football, basketball, hockey, and baseball.
4. You compete against the whole world. Beating seven other guys in your league is great but step-up and see how good you are in the big pond.

I could go on all day. Fantasy football is a cute little appetizer and free and legal sports betting is a porterhouse steak dinner. Not only is it bigger and more fulfilling, it is just plain better. Put down your cracker with Brie and join the free and legal sports betting world and become a sports genius heralded throughout the globe.

The signs were there for us to see, but amid the talk about the travesty of a 7-9 Seattle team making the playoffs, we were blind to the fact that the New Orleans Saints went into the playoffs with some serious flaws.

For one, the Saints were simply not the offensive team that they were a year ago when they began their march toward a Super Bowl title. For whatever reason -- injuries in the running game that led to a less-effective passing game -- the Saints scored almost 8 fewer points per game this season. And as a wild-card team, NO faced the prospect of having to do it on the road, not in front of "WhoDat Nation" in Louisiana.

It all added up to a surprising, if not stunning, loss to the Seahawks last weekend. The Saints were 10.5-point favorites heading in, and while it didn’t quite have the impact of the Giants’ Super Bowl victory over the Patriots a few years back, it still had fans coast-to-coast shaking their heads in disbelief. The Seahawks were supposed to be a one-and-done team, but refused to comply. And Seattle’s victory is now the reason that no one in the off-season will be clamoring for a change in seeding for teams that finish the regular season .500 or below.

In Philadelphia, calls to sign Michael Vick to a long-term deal have lost some volume after Vick’s 20-for-36 losing effort against the Packers. Doubts about Vick will no doubt resurface after throwing an end zone interception on the Eagles’ final offensive play of the season, and for a while anyway the team will spend part of the off-season the way it spent the early part of this one -- with a quarterback controversy.

Late-season injuries to Vick served as a reminder of why it is so difficult in the NFL to win with a running quarterback. Can a team really afford to turn its season over long-term to a player who gets hit as often as Vick has and will? And if Vick is not the answer, will the Eagles once again start the season with Kevin Kolb?

After beating the wounded Colts, can the Jets press their bet and win this coming Sunday against a Patriots team has a better quarterback, is better coach, is rested and almost never loses at home?

The answer probably lies somewhere in the netherworld between what-are-you-smoking? and maybe. The Jets will be pinning their hopes on the combination of good defense and bravado, although the D wasn’t much in evidence last month when the team met in the regular season, and the 45-3 beatdown forced the Jets to dial down the trash talk a bit.

The Jets can take comfort in the fact that they have played New England to a 2-2 draw in games this season and last, but location matters -- NY’s two wins came at the Meadowlands, while in games in New England, the Patriots have shown little mercy. Last year New England picked off Mark Sanchez four times in a 31-14 thumping.

New York’s chances also could be intertwined with the weather. Sanchez is a warm-weather California kid, while the Patriots are nearly invincible when the temperatures plummet and the snow is falling in Foxboro. But even if Sanchez doesn’t freak out, the Jets defense will still have to deal with a Patriots offense that rarely turns over the ball and a future Hall of Fame quarterback who has 36 TDs passes and only four interceptions this season.

IN PITTSBURGH, the Ravens and Steelers play what is in essence the tie-breaker after battling through two field goal games this season. Baltimore’s easy victory over Kansas City helped blunt one of Pittsburgh’s biggest advantages -- sitting last week courtesy of winning the No. 2 seed in the AFC.

Neither team was able to gain much separation in the two games played this season, but Baltimore has shown over the years -- and in Pittsburgh earlier this year -- that they know how to win on the road in the playoffs. But Pittsburgh will not make the mistakes that Kansas City did, and the Steeler defense gave up fewer points than any team in the league this season.