Sunday, October 31, 2010

Week 8 NFL Picks

Straight up winner in bold

Denver Broncos (+2)
over @San Fransisco 49ers (in London)

Miami Dolphins (+1.5) over @Cincinnati Bengals

@Kansas City Chiefs (-7.5) over Buffalo Bills

@St. Louis Rams (-3) over Carolina Panthers

Green Bay Packers (+6) over @New York Jets

Washington Redskins (+2.5)
over @Detroit Lions

@Dallas Cowboys (-6.5) over Jacksonville Jaguars

Tennessee Titans (+3.5) over @San Diego Chargers

@New England Patriots (-4) over Minnesota Vikings

Seattle Seahawks (+2.5) over Oakland Raiders

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+3) over @Arizona Cardinals

Pittsburgh Steelers (PK) over @New Orleans Saints

@Indianapolis Colts (-5.5) over Houston Texans

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Week 7 NFL Picks: Panicked Express Edition

FALCONS -3 over Bengals

BEARS -3 over Redskins

EAGLES +3 over Titans

Jaguars +9 over CHIEFS

STEELERS -3 over Dolphins

SAINTS -13 over Browns

BUCCANEERS -3 over Rams

PANTHERS +3 over 49ers

RAVENS -13 over Bills

Arizona +7 over SEAHAWKS

BRONCOS -8.5 over Raiders

PATRIOTS +2.5 over Chargers *Upset Special*

PACKERS -2.5 over Vikings

GIANTS +3 over Cowboys

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Week 6 NFL Picks

Turns out things fall through the cracks during a 60 hour work week. Better late than never.

Last Week:
7-7 Straight Up
6-8 Against the Spread
Year to date:
45-31 Straight Up
37-39 Against the Spread
4-1 Upset Specials

Cleveland Browns @ Pittsburgh Steelers (-13.5)

New Orleans Saints (-4.5)
@ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

San Diego Chargers (-8.5)
@ St. Louis Rams

Miami Dolphins (+3)
@ Green Bay Packers

Atlanta Falcons (+3) @ Philadelphia Eagles

Baltimore Ravens (+3)
@ New England Patriots

Kansas City Chiefs @ Houston Texans (-4.5)

Detroit Lions @ New York Giants (-10)

Seattle Seahawks @ Chicago Bears (-6.5)

Oakland Raiders @ San Fransisco 49ers (-7)

Denver Broncos (+3)
@ New York Jets
*Upset Special*

Dallas Cowboys @ Minnesota Vikings (-1.5)

Indianapolis Colts (-3) @ Washington Redskins

Tennessee Titans (-3) @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Minnesota Vikings (+4) @ New York Jets

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Week 5 NFL Picks

Last Week:
9-5 Straight Up
3-11 Against the Spread
Year to date:
38-24 Straight Up
31-31 Against the Spread
3-1 Upset Specials

Green Bay Packers (-2.5)
@ Washington Redskins
Coming off what can only be described as a "bad win" last week, the Packers now must go forward without middle linebacker Nick Barnett and offensive lineman Mark Tauscher for the rest of the season. Barnett's injury will hurt, but it remains to be seen if Tauscher will be missed. The Redskins looked decent in an upset over injury-riddled Philladelphia last week.

Jacksonville Jaguars (-1)
@ Buffalo Bills
A possible trap game on the road here for the Jaguars, who are coming off a huge upset of Indianapolis last week, especially with this game being one of the Bills only opportunities to avoid going 0-16. I just don't see the Bills being able to contain MJD this week, however.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+6.5)
@ Cincinnati Bengals
I'm not making this my upset special, because I'm not as sure about this one. The Bucs have looked almost decent this year though, and the Bengals aren't really that good.

Atlanta Falcons (-3) @ Cleveland Browns
Not sure why this line is so low. The Falcons are looking like the new favorite in the NFC South, while the Browns are bringing back interception-machine Jake Delhomme. Three seems like a better fit for the over/under on Atlanta picks this week.

St. Louis Rams (-3)
@ Detroit Lions
Both of these teams look like they're ready, not necessarily to be contenders, but to compete on a weekly basis. At the very least, they've both moved up out of the bottom of the NFL hierarchy. I'll take Sam Bradford, who has clearly already learned how to win in the NFL, and the points on the road.

Kansas City Chiefs @ Indianapolis Colts (-7)
Who are these Chiefs? And for that matter, who are these Colts? We knew one of these teams would be undefeated coming into this game, but it wasn't supposed to be Kansas City. A win could cement the Chiefs status as a contender, and close the window on the Colts as currently constructed. Manning gets the benefit of the doubt for one last week.

Chicago Bears @ Carolina Panthers (-1)
This line moved 3.5 points after it broke that Bears' quarterback Jay Cutler would miss this game. Count me among the many not trusting Todd Collings and the Bears offensive line on the road. The Panthers showed signs of life in a two point loss to New Orleans last week.

Denver Broncos @ Baltimore Ravens (-7)
Kyle Orton has been on fire this year, against a couple of legitimate defenses, at that. He gets probably his most brutal test of the season here, so if he gets out with a win, we might need to add him to the list of elites. Ray Rice is healthy, but has been ineffective by his own standards thus far this year.


New York Giants @ Houston Texans (-3)
I'm making this call under the expectation that Andre Johnson plays and is at least somewhat effective. Even without him, however, I think the Texans win this game. Arian Foster has taken a huge load off of Matt Schaub and the passing game this year.

New Orleans Saints (-7)
@ Arizona Cardinals
The Saints have not look like Super Bowl champions yet this year, despite their 3-1 record. However, the quarterback controversy in Arizona is between terrible and really terrible, so I don't think it matters this week.

Tennessee Titans (+6.5) @ Dallas Cowboys
*Upset Special* The Cowboys have done everything in their power to shrug off their lofty pre-season expectations. The Titans, on the other hand, have looked like contenders all year.

San Diego Chargers (-6.5) @ Oakland Raiders
The Chargers looked like their old selves again last week in blasting Arizona. There's no reason to believe they don't win by double digits here...expect that twice this season, we've said that and they lost. The Raiders will be without oft-injured running back Darren McFadden this week.

Philadelphia Eagles @ San Fransisco 49ers (-3)
Two things to note: The Eagles have lost about 24 guys to injury this season, and this is the 49ers last chance to turn their season around. I don't trust Alex Smith, but Kevin Kolb hasn't looked good this year, either.

Minnesota Vikings (+4) @ New York Jets
Turns out we do get to see the Randy Moss-Darelle Revis match-up we were cheated out of two weeks ago. The Vikings and Favre should fired up after a big acquisition, but it remains to be seen if the old man still has the ability to throw it deep and accurately enough to find Moss.We

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Week 4 Picks

Tough line-up this week: the very, very smart men in Las Vegas are starting to catch up to who's who in the NFL this year, and there's a bunch of lines I'm not in love with either way. The straight up winner is in bold, the spread winner has the line listed next to it.

Last Week:
10-6 Straight Up
10-6 Against the Spread
Year to date:
29-19 Straight Up
28-20 Against the Spread
2-1 Upset Specials

Baltimore Ravens (+1.5) @ Pittsburgh Steelers
*Upset Special* I say this is the week that sending out a fourth-string quarterback finally catches up with the red-hot Steelers. I also say this is the week the Ravens remember they're supposed to be a Super Bowl contender, and stop ruining my fantasy season.

Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans (-6.5)
You know who's not going to put up with Kyle Orton throwing for 400 yards? Since starting the season 0-6 and switching to Vince Young at quarterback last year, the Titans are 10-3, and a stifling pass defense is a big part of that.

Cincinnati Bengals (-3)
@ Cleveland Browns
Seneca Wallace put up over 400 passing yards against me in Madden last night. If I was in charge of the Bengals, and this was a video game instead of a real one, the Browns would totally have a shot.

Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers (-14.5)
After a frustrating, penalty-ridden loss last week, do you even want to think about how angry the ancient demon viking lord is? Especially to a team that bears the sign of Ursa Minor, a constellation he personally created with his bare hands and force of will. I would not want trade places with Shawn Hill this week.

Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints (-13.5)
The Saints are probably not good enough to win the Super Bowl again this year. That being said, the Panthers aredefinitely bad enough to make the Saints look like contenders to repeat.

San Fransisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons (-7)
The talking heads had everyone convinced the 49ers would sleepwalk to the NFC West championship, and were borderline Super Bowl contenders. Then the season started, and everyone remembered that their quarterback is Alex Smith. Firing your offensive coordinator three weeks in does not bode well for your season.

Seattle Seahawks (-1)
@ St. Louis Rams
The Seahawks have been a surprise early on, knocking off two preseason division favorites in San Fransisco and San Diego. Future fantasy stud Sam Bradford looks for career victory #2.

New York Jets (-5.5) @ Buffalo Bills
Contrary to reports out of the Jets locker room, Darelle Revis is not missing this game due to injury, but rather because he isn't needed: nobody is better at neutralizing Buffalo receivers than Buffalo's own quarterbacks.


Indianapolis Colts (-7) @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Maurice Jones-Drew fantasy owners have this one circled as the game he finally lives up to some of his potential this year. Unfortunately, the Jags will probably be too far behind too early to commit to the ground game.

Houston Texans (-3)
@ Oakland Raiders
Houston was exposed a bit last week in the battle for Texas, but the Raiders don't have anywhere near the same kind of firepower that the Cowboys have. Houston gets back on track here.

Arizona Cardinals (+8) @ San Diego Chargers
Who are these Chargers? Could they really start the year 1-3? It says here that they can't, but it also says here that this is an early must-win game for the Bolts.

Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles (-5.5)
Perhaps instead of worrying so much about whether or not he'll get booed in his return to Philly, Donovan McNabb should be more worried about whether or not he'll get a win. Michael Vick doesn't just look like he's back to his old self, he looks better than ever.

Chicago Bears (+4) @ New York Giants
I do not even want to think about the possibility of a 4-0 start for the Bears.

New England Patriots (-1) @ Miami Dolphins
Miami finds itself on prime-time against a superior AFC East opponent for the second straight week. Expect similar results.