When preparing for the 2009 NFL season to begin BetRepublic.com made predictions on divisional winners, Wild Card teams, NFL team totals and potential Super Bowl matchups. Essentially, we laid our cards on the table and suggested which plays of the lot were our best bets.

These futures are shuffled aside as the season works itself out but we don’t lose track of our forecasts and win or lose, we always spread the results out on the table for all to see when the dust finally settles.

We don’t need to wait through a bye week or even a Wild Card game to grade our pick for Super Bowl champ because unfortunately, the Pittsburgh Steelers run at a repeat was not to be. It seems that this year, other than provide us with a Week 17 tease following their win at Miami, our hopes with the Steel and Black were more like just black.

Ironically, it was in the Black Hole where our ship truly sank. First, when the Raiders beat Pittsburgh in Week 13 and then for a second time when Tom Cable or Al Davis, or whoever pretends they have a clue in Oakland sent JaMarcus Russell out to start the second-half last Sunday against Baltimore.

Our AFC playoff picture included the Indianapolis Colts, San Diego Chargers and a Wild Card spot with the Baltimore Ravens. We also correctly predicted that New England (-380) would capture the AFC East division crown but did not think the price at online sportsbooks was very appealing. We also must confess that we saw the New York Jets coming in dead last in the East, but didn’t place any wagers down on that one either.

When making picks in the NFC we went .500 on the playoff picture and nailed our best bet with the New Orleans Saints as top team. New Orleans had a new defensive coordinator in place, was able to avoid the injuries that plagued the team in 2008 and depending what happens this week in Dallas, we could be set for a perfect ending in the Conference Final.

Our pick to meet the Saints was Green Bay though we saw them earning their way into the post-season as a division winner, not a Wild Card. For things to work out we need Philadelphia (who we had winning the NFC East) to beat the Cowboys, and Green Bay to do what they’ve done to Arizona three times since 2006 – knock ‘em around.

That way, New Orleans would host the Eagles while the Packers would go another round with the Minnesota. And really, that’s what everyone in football land wants to see isn’t it?

Biggest flop for us in the NFC was picking the New York Giants to win the East. Bookmakers loved taking our bets on that team to win the division; one of them even asked if we were aware that Steve Spagnuolo had left for St. Louis.

With our ‘Season Win Totals’ we were forced to sweat it out til the bitter end before knowing whether it was a win, lose or draw kind of year. When the dust finally settled on Sunday evening, the operation was a resounding success.

Our AFC picks were Miami "Under" 7.5, Baltimore "Over" 8.5, Jacksonville "Under" 8 and Denver "Under" 7. When the Broncos went 6-0 SU to start we kind of wrote that pick off but we did not expect to need three perfect endings for the rest of our picks to come in. Fortunately, Week 17 was very kind to us and we cashed winning tickets on all three picks.

We only made three picks from the NFC, sweeping the board with a perfect 3-0 mark to bring our final count in the futures betting department to 6-1. Not bad for picks made in August! BetRepublic.com gave out play on Carolina "Under" 8.5, San Francisco "Over" 7.5 and Seattle "Under" 8 (+115). That one was a gift.

The handicapping team at BetRepublic.com is looking forward to setting up the playoff picture and will be offering best bets and analysis on all the games. For news and picks from Sonny, Jarvis or Greg check out the Daily Line live every Monday to Friday at 3 pm ET or watch the NFL Blitz in the video section at BetRepublic.com.