Girlies produce victories and Christmas cookies galore

Was it the white chocolate?  The chopped walnuts?  The brown sugar?  The peppermint extract?  Whatever the secret ingredient was, it helped create 10 wins for D.J., Nicki and Ali on a weekend when the NFL played second fiddle to a baking extravaganza.

D.J.'s devotion to the Chocolate Chip Cookies, Choco-Mint Snappers and Nutty Chocolate Chews didn't distract her from maintaining a first-place lead.  Her grass-loving Packers burned the host 49ers for a big San Francisco treat.  And her beloved Rams played like they were greased and floured, slipping by the Cardinals in the final minute.

Many of Nicki's predictions were oh so sweet, just like her Sugar Cookies, Peppermint Candy Cookies and White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies.  She knew the Dolphins would crumble the surging Raiders, and that the Broncos would crunch the offensive-minded Chiefs.

Ali was crushing pretzels for her Nutty Pretzel Bark while her Giants were crushing the Cowboys by 30 points.  She also enjoyed making Butterscotch Drops in the kitchen and watching the Chargers get dropped in Buffalo.  There were no last-second heroics from Doug Flutie at either location, and he certainly didn't go home with any Peanut Butter Presses.

For whatever reason, the fudge again didn't turn out this year, and neither did Blaine's pick of the lowly Bengals.  Both were much too soft in the end, crying out for a revamped recipe for success.  Cincinnati had the lead, but collapsed down the stretch against the Jaguars.  Before you group Blaine with the Nut Cookies, he did correctly predict the 3-10 Vikings would beat the 9-4 Saints in New Orleans.  A two-point conversion with five seconds left did the trick.  And his pregame investigation of Detroit's new stadium paid dividends because the windows at Ford Field were just enough for the dome-challenged Bucs (11-3).  The Lions (3-11) missed a 57-yard field goal that would have forced overtime.