Mark, wake up! Race isn't over heading into biggest Picks week ever

With his defending Super Bowl champion Giants getting overpowered by Nicki's Panthers on Sunday night, Mark turned the game off and hit the pillow, accepting his fate. He would be five games behind his 16-year-old niece heading into the final week of the 2008 Sunday Football Picks, and pretty much powerless to stop her from winning her first Picks crown.

"I even told Diana, I'm going to be five games back and have little chance at the title," Mark said Monday. "The Giants were losing and weren't stopping Carolina at all, so I went to bed."

Enter the almighty Picks Gods, or perhaps Santa Claus himself during this Christmas week. Mark woke up to a wonderful gift — an improbable Giants victory and a mere three-game deficit heading into the Picks finale. New York scored a late touchdown and tacked on a two-point conversion to tie the game, then watched Carolina miss a game-winning field goal as time expired. The Giants took advantage and won 34-28 in overtime.

"I was listening to the radio in the morning and heard the Giants won," Mark said. "I couldn't believe it."

Nicki leads both Mark and Ali by a trio of games heading into the largest week in Sunday Football Picks history, putting the title up for grabs. All 16 NFL games will be played on Sunday, providing more opportunities for Nicki to be overtaken in the standings. There has never been a 16-game week in 29 years of Picks. Often the final Sunday has featured just 12 or 13 games, limiting the chance of a comeback.

"This expanded week couldn't have come at a better time for me because I'm six games back with four people in front of me," Blaine said. "But I'll have a mathematical chance at the title, and that's all I need. Go Lions!"

Blaine's hapless Lions were crushed again on Sunday and remain winless. They would become the first team to go 0-16 if they lose at Green Bay. The Lions are more proof that the best thing coming out of Michigan are those well-written radio and television commercials narrated by Tim Allen. Even crime-riddled Detroit sounds like the perfect getaway in the award-winning ads.