Day 168: A stressful Sunday of football... and the Patriots weren't even playing.

Normally a Sunday afternoon, lounging on the couch, watching football games that don't include your team is pretty relaxing. Normally I wouldn't care who won and lost... except when I have money on the line. Money makes every game an important one, even if I do have to root for teams I hate. Do you know how painful it was to be pulling for Tony Romo this afternoon? I almost made myself vomit.

Every early game except one was decided by at most one score. And the crop of late games are starting off on the same foot. There was just one blowout when Aaron Rogers led the Packers over RGIII's Redskins. Lead changes were plentiful and teams I thought were going to suck this year are showing serious signs of life. A couple of those teams are in the AFC East and will most certainly give the Patriots a run for their money.

Both the Buffalo Bills and the Chicago Bears won their games in the closing seconds. I picked Chicago... I did not pick Buffalo. And then Houston came back from eight points down to tie up their game with Tennessee in the final seconds and went on to win in overtime. The Miami Dolphins held out for a win over the Colts—Andrew Luck was unable to orchestrate a game winning drive in the final minutes. Thanks a lot, Luck... I lost that one.

And now we're on to the Manning Bowl... Denver Broncos vs. New York Giants... Peyton vs. Eli. At the half, it's a close 10-9. I've got to root hard for Peyton *gag* and Wuss Wes Welker, but that's not as bad as rooting for the Giants. If you're the Manning parents, who the hell do you cheer for?

So I spent the afternoon staring at the football pool standings and the constant shuffling of players as the real-time scoring updates kept happening. The number of lead changes today was staggering. After the crop of early games, I found myself rather close to the bottom of the pack—not somewhere I enjoy residing. I've got no chance to win this week. *sobs*