Welcome to Glass Slipper! James Harden is on my basketball team, and I’m not happy about it; please enjoy the show.

- Jacob Rhee

**NOTICE: Glass Slipper will arrive on Sunday and Tuesday this week.

I unexpectedly extended my college football picks into the postseason, because I felt like handing out more prizes. Let’s do the same with the NFL. The rules haven’t changed; each time a prediction is wrong, it costs me $10 in rewards. I’ll make five picks for each of the four rounds of the playoffs. You’re getting 20 extra chances to inflate the Prize Pot. Keep on rooting against me!

Prediction 1: TreVeyon Henderson scores a touchdown.

All logic tells me to give up hope on a TreVeyon explosion. I categorically refuse. Henderson consistently drew my ire during his Columbus days, and he responded with an iconic four-game playoff heater that I’ll cherish until the end of time. He’s more than earned my unconditional belief.

As daunting as it may seem, the Patriots need to establish the run this evening. Enter throw-mode too soon, and social media will be flooded with Will Campbell and Jared Wilson memes tomorrow morning. Get your tandem of backs churning downhill early, and force this nasty Seattle defense to adapt.

It’s been over 16 years since a former Buckeye scored a touchdown in the Super Bowl. TreVeyon will end that drought, unless a different individual does it first…

Prediction 2: 115+ receiving yards for Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

It’s the 2023 NFL Draft. New England - in desperate need of a wideout - is on the clock. JSN sits in the green room. Bill Belichick shakes his head, and slides down three spots. The Patriots stroll to the plate again. This time, they decide that Christian Gonzalez is superior to Jaxon. That franchise watched No. 11 on film, decided he wasn’t good enough to select, and then doubled down on its assessment a few minutes later.

I don’t need to say much else here. Jaxon is now staring at Gonzalez, with a ring on the line. The Offensive Player of the Year is ready to get his revenge, and put the finishing touches on a legendary season.

Prediction 3: Drake Maye finishes with a passer rating below 90.0.

I find it rather difficult to believe that a kid born 16 months after me could possibly be free of butterflies with 125 million people watching. Dan Marino and Ben Roethlisberger are the only other quarterbacks to start a Super Bowl before their 24th birthday. Marino went out and submitted perhaps the worst performance of his entire campaign; the first-ballot Hall of Famer threw two picks, and did not find the end zone for the final 48 minutes of the contest. Roethlisberger was absolute garbage. Life-defining moments are about to take place for Mr. Maye. Is he ready?

While I trust New England’s young hero to be solid in the middle two quarters, I wonder what it’ll look like at the beginning and end. If he can find a way to take care of the ball when the internal jitters are most frenetic, I’ll be highly impressed.

Prediction 4: There is at least one punt return of 25+ yards.

Marcus Jones is the second-best return man I’ve ever witnessed. I’m serious. The only guy ahead of him gave the world an unforgettable moment in 2006. It would be so cool if the former Houston superstar followed suit tonight. I’d argue that Jones is one of the five most valuable dudes on his squad.

We can’t forget about Rashid Shaheed, who is historically productive on special teams in his own right. John Schneider forked over two middle-round picks to acquire a half-season of Shaheed, and that price no longer looks so hefty. He’s pushed this group up a level.

With no serious rooting interest, I’m pulling for pure chaos. Marcus and Rashid are ready to create some.

Prediction 5: Seattle wins Super Bowl LX by 7+ points.

When my beloved Bengals fell to the Rams in 2022, I did not walk out of there feeling hopeful about the ensuing decade. I was destroyed. Like, to a please-come-peel-me-off-of-the-couch degree. Aaron Donald pointed at that ring finger, and I genuinely couldn’t fathom gathering the strength to watch the sport of football again.

Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen played a leading role in the utter desolation I felt. It doesn’t matter how good your franchise’s core is; when three of the 20 best signal-callers in league history are occupying space in the conference, trips to the big stage are few and far between. To put it simply, this is New England’s chance.

I don’t possess the requisite courage to doubt Seattle, though. That front four is truly special, and the left side of the Patriots’ line has nowhere to hide. The Seahawks build a lead heading into the fourth, which tees up a Kenneth Walker clock-milking clinic down the stretch. After an 11-year wait, the Lombardi Trophy travels back to the Pacific Northwest.

• Conference Championship Weekend Results: 2-3

• Overall Season Picks Record: 41-64

• Current NFL Prize Pot: $640

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