Well, I nailed Atlanta on Thursday night and Dallas looks good tonight. 2-0 is not a bad way to start the week before getting to Sunday.
I am out of town visiting family so I'm just going to post the lines and my picks and not get in to much else.
Was/NYG 6.5 The Skins suck, but they will play the Giants tough. NY SU GB 13.5/KC The Jets beat KC by four possessions and there is no reason for the Packers to do less than that NO 7/Min I can't quite figure out why this spread is only a touchdown, but I'll take it... Sea/Chi 3.5 Clearly Chicago isn't at all good without Cutler and/or Forte, Seattle will at least keep it close if not pull this one out Car/Hou 6 I have faith in T.J. Yates Ten 7/Ind The Titans must be pissed about last week and the Colts are beyond lucky they covered last week Cin 7/Stl Sources say Kellen Clemens is starting for the Rams, and you know Cincy will play their hearts out considering the heartbreaking loss last week (SURVIVOR 11-3) Mia/Buf 1.5 I have no comment on this game... Det 1/Oak The Lions are the better team and the Packers really exposed Oakland's defense NE 7.5/Den I think that New England's defense is bad enough and Denver's defense is good enough to keep this game within a touchdown, but the Pats probably win NYJ/Phi 3 I can't believe the Jets are underdogs... I love them in this spot Cle/Ari 6.5 Cleveland is just a terrible team and Arizona is playing well, let's see how they respond as favorites Bal 3/SD Flying across the country is always tough and Ravens don't do it well. See Seattle game earlier this season Pit/SF 1 If Big Ben doesn't play, San Fran should take care of business
Week 1: 7-9 ATS 10-6 SU Week 2: 10-6 ATS 13-3 SU Week 3: 11-4-1 ATS 10-6 SU Week 4: 9-7 ATS 13-3 SU Week 5: 6-7 ATS 7-6 SU Week 6: 10-3 ATS 10-3 SU Week 7: 9-3-1 ATS 10-3 SU Week 8: 7-6 ATS 9-4 SU Week 9: 8-6 ATS 9-5 SU Week 10: 9-7 ATS 9-7 SU Week 11: 6-5-2 ATS 11-2 SU Week 12: 8-7-1 ATS 12-4 SU Week 13: 8-8 ATS 10-6 SU Week 14: 9-6-1 ATS 12-4 SU Total: 117-84-6 ATS 145-62 SU
I love Arizona and Cincy this week... I also like Green Bay and New Orleans, but you will have to make a judgement call on whether their offenses will be on full blast.
Are the New York Giants serious? Eli Manning throws three interception and the team fumbles three times, losing two of them.
They were playing the Seattle Seahawks. Let us review this. Don't even try to tell me the interception in the red zone wasn't Manning's fault. He led Victor Cruz way too much and Cruz was forced to reach out for the ball. There was still over a minute left and they were inside the 10; there was no reason to not run the ball.
Regardless, New York should have killed them because the Seahawks are terrible away from home; not to mention they had to travel to the east coast for an early game! This had all the makings for the Giants to kill them and of course, they suck. Seattle has gotten killed on the road and had five sacks in four games, but today they had three on Manning.
I should have been smarter and realized that 10 people, including myself, picked the Giants for survivor and I should have stayed away. I admit, I was probably a bit lazy and picked New York because they were the blatantly obvious choice, but the thing with me is that I'm smarter than that. Usually. Today I wasn't and it cost me big time. I hate the Giants now...
On to the Jaguars... This game went relatively how I expected. The Jags scored more than I thought, but when it came down to it, I was still in perfect position to win. Blane Gabbert fumbled while driving for a potential win (they were at midfield), and Cincy tried to run the ball out but turned it over on downs with like 10 seconds left. The Jags completed a pass and did the whole b.s. lateral thing to try to make something happened, and someone on the Bengals picked up the loose ball and ran it in for a TD. You should be able to guess why I'm upset that the total score went from 43 points to 50.
Lastly, I should have been smarter with the Houston game. They beat Pittsburgh last week which was huge for them and they are playing an Oakland team that is pissed about under-performing at home against New England and is emotional about the passing of Al Davis.
I am sitting on my couch watching NFL Redzone right now. If you don't know about it then you are probably not a football fan.
They are showing the Bengals @ Ravens because the Cincy is inside the five with 16 seconds left, and an incomplete pass puts them at fourth down and two yards to go.
Palmer makes a terrible throw to a an open receiver and the Ravens take over on downs. They knee the ball, win game number 12 and leave a lot of question marks as they head into Wild Card Weekend.
The Jets played their backups for almost the entire game against Buffalo, with the only thing that could change would be moving up to the fifth seed if Pittsburgh lost and Baltimore won. That didn't happen so the Jets will stick with the sixth seed.
Talking about the Steelers, they destroyed the Brownies 41-9 in Cleveland. The win clinched them the two seed and a first-round bye.
The Falcons win over Carolina clinched them home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, even though they would have earned it anyway because of the Saints loss to Tampa Bay. The Bucs keep their playoff hopes alive with the win. It was just about the only interesting thing to happen during the early games. They now need the Giants and Packers to lose to earn the six seed. If either win, the Bucs are eliminated.
It should be an interested set of late games. I think the Pack will take care of business against the Bears and clinch a playoff spot, but I also think the G-Men will beat the Skins to atleast keep the Pack looking over their shoulder during the game.
The other important factor is the Colts/Titans game. If Indy wins, they move up to the three seed and play the Jets in the first round. If they lose and Jacksonville wins, the Jags win the division and four seed. If the Jags lose and the Colts lose, the Colts get the four seed and host the Ravens. WOW, that's a lot to take and I'm ready to watch it all go down.
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving, and it's full of food, family and football. The first game is actually already underway: Pats (-6.5) at Lions. The Lions currently lead 7.3 on a touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson (no surprise).
The Pats just punted back to Detroit. The Lions defense has looked very good since the first drive when they gave up the field goal. Surprisingly, there has been a ton of punts already in a game that I thought would be full of points. Don't get me wrong, it's still early, but I figured the over/under would get blown out of the water (51 points).
I picked New England in the book, mainly because they are the safe choice and everyone else did as well so I can't lose any ground. Obviously I'll be rooting hard for Detroit, and the Lions actually play very well at home. They are 2-2, with both losses by three points each to the Jets and Eagles.
The next game on is at 4:15, the Saints travel to Dallas to take on a recently tough Cowboys team. Dallas is 2-0 since Jason Garrett has taken over the head coaching job. The Saints have looked good as of late and should be able to beat Dallas handily. I like New Orleans to cover the 3.5 point spread.
The late game is between the Cincinnati Bengals and my New York Jets. The Jets host a Thanksgiving game for the first time that I can remember and come into the game tied for the best record in the NFL (8-2). The Jets are nine point favorites and look to make a statement by winning a game before the final 30 seconds. Cincy is terrible this year (2-8), and absolutely sucked in the second half last week against Buffalo getting outscored 42-3.
I have been thinking about the Bengals covering this one because the Jets have been playing close games recently, but after reading some articles I am beginning to believe this has massive blowout potential written all over it. The one thing I am worried about is that we play the Pats Monday night in New England next week. It's the biggest game of the year so this could be considered a 'look ahead' or 'breather' alert. However, hosting the Thanksgiving game tonight should negate that.
Jets will win by 20 plus.
Note: Lions ball, four minutes left in third, tied at 24.
Last week I was 2-1 in my "games to watch" predictions. This week, we have two great games and one interesting one.
Game 1
Ravens at Bengals - This game is very interesting because the Bengals played like crap in the first half last week and their defense got absolutely destroyed by the Pats. The Ravens also didn't look too good, but a pathetic Jets offense couldn't take advantage. The Ravens could to anything in the running game, so look for them to try and establish that early on. The Bengals should try and do what the Jets couldn't and attack a vulnerable Baltimore seconary. Look for the Cinci receiving core to have another good day if they can give Carson Palmer any protection. Baltimore's favored in this game, but I like Cinci to win straight up at home.
My Prediction: Bengals (+2.5) 27 Ravens 24
Game 2
Pats at Jets - This game is much more important to the Jets than the week one game against Baltimore. They face New England at home in an early season division game. The Pats came out last week and lit up the Bengals supposedly solid secondary. The Jets cornerbacks (minus Revis) got completely owned last week by an above average Ravens receiving core. Cromartie and rookie Kyle Wilson will have to step up against a Pats passing offense that boasts Randy Moss (to be stranded on Revis Island), Wes Welker, Julian Edelman (Welker Jr.), and the best tightend trio in the NFL (Crumpler, Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski). It will be interesting to see how the Jets' secondary plays in this game. Also, look for Mark Sanchez to try and open up the field a bit more against another suspect secondary.
My Prediction: Pats (-3) 23 Jets 16
^What I think will happen, what could happen?: Jets (+3) 17 Pats 16
Game 3
Giants at Colts - Oddly enough, the Colts have already been defeated in the 2010 season, while the Giants look to go 2-0. This is a battle of the Manning brothers and you better believe that Peyton is in F.U. mode. It doesn't matter that this game is against
his little brother, the Colts will bring it beyond anything we've seen from them recently. Coming off an embarrassing loss to the Texans, the Colts need to step up and show everyone who's boss. The Giants simply got unlucky, and they're not that good. They will probably try to run the ball given what Arian Foster did against Indy last week. It probably won't work since they focused on that this week in practice; hopefully that means Nicks gets a lot of touches for my fantasy team. Regardless, Peyton easily takes this matchup and the Colts get back in the win column.
My Prediction: Colts (-5) 38 Giants 23
Enjoy another wonderful Sunday in the NFL, and be sure to root for my fantasy!
Folks, that time of the year has finally arrived, NFL football is back!
Listed below are my three games to watch during the day. I'll also update how my fantasy teams are doing later on today.
Game 1
Bengals at Pats - This game is very intriguing to me and not just because I'm a Jets fan. This will be a big game for New England to prove that they haven't gone anywhere and are still the team to beat in the ACFE. The Bengals had a very good year last season with a powerful running game and a good defense. Carson Palmer is always dangerous and look for him to test his new toy (T.O.), but don't expect Cinci to stray too far from their running game. As for the Pats, a lot of people are writing them off and saying their defense isn't at all good. If the Pats can shut down the Bengals offense, it won't be a good sign for the rest of the AFC.
My Prediction: Bengals (+5) 24 Cheatriots 20
Game 2
Colts at Texans - This game five years ago would be a blowout. However, in recent seasons Houston has been slowly but surely improving. Last season was their first over the .500 mark, and I couldn't be happier for them. Peyton Manning looks to improve his record against the Texans to 16-1, and Houston looks to shock the football world by beating Manning. This could be the most important game in Texans history. They will be without Brian Cushing, due to suspension, and look for Manning to go after rookie CB Kareem Jackson. Schaub should have a good game, and look for surprisingly good numbers from Texan RB Arian Foster.
My Prediction: Texans (+2) 30 Colts 28
^Going for the upset pick here, more likely to happen is - Colts (-2) 30 Texans 24 Game 3
Packers at Eagles - A member of the Rodgers clan goes to work today. Aaron Rodgers should have a good day against what seems to be a weak Philly secondary. Look for Rodgers to eclipse the 300-yard mark with ease, and in doing so, Ryan Grant should have a good game. I'm very interested to see what Kolb can do in his first start. The Packers secondary got lit up to end their post-season run last year. Kolb will likely try to do the same considering his coach is Andy "I never run the ball" Reid. I don't see any reason why the Packers don't take this one handily.
My Prediction: Packers (-3) 34 Eagles 23
Should be a great first week since we have some intriguing matchups. Check back later for an update, fantasy update and SNF preview.
Last night the NFL pre-season begun as the Cowboys faced the Bengals in the "Hall of Fame Game".
The Cowboys were victorious, by a score of 16-7, in the meaningless game. However, there were some injuries during the game. The Cowboys backup tight-end, who had a big game (John Phillips - 4 rec. 60 yards), might have torn a ligament in his knee. Cowboys tackle, Alex Barron, also left the game with a sprained right ankle.
The Bengals do-it-all running-back Brian Leonard sprained his left foot in the game. Bengals Chris Crocker and Cordera Eason also sprained a right ankle and foot, respectively.
No starter for either team did anything impressive during the game. Some might find this a cause for concern, but Dallas and Cincinnati both have above average defenses and the first-team only played for a couple series.
Well, hopefully none of the key players on my Jets go down in the pre-season...and I can only hope for the opposite for your team.
The first week of the pre-season begins August 12. You can find the complete schedule here.
I just want to apologize to the Dallas Cowboys and their fans for the lack of faith I had in them. I do want to say I was thoroughly convinced that they can win in the playoffs now with that blow out win over division rival Philly. Not only did the Cowboys win, but they did so over a division foe for the third time this season. Beating a team three times in one season is extremely difficult to thing to accomplish.
AFC Wild-Card:
New York Jets (+2.5) 24 Cincinnati Bengals 14
My prediction: Jets 26 Bengals 17
I would say that I was fairly accurate in my prediction with this game. I said that Mark Sanchez was the difference and I was right. He completed 12 of 15 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown. More importantly, he did not turn the ball over, and he wasn't even close. Sanchez played smart football and handed the ball off like a pro. Thomas Jones had limited action due to injury, but they Jets didn't miss a beat because rookie Shonn Greene ran for 135 yards including a 39-yard touchdown. I also said the defense would have to control Benson, which they absolutely did not. I have to give Benson credit because he is the only one that showed up. He had a phenomenal game breaking the Bengals franchise post-season record for rushing yards in a single game. Carson Palmer was the lesser of the USC quarterbacks as he only completed 18 of 36 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown to ex-Jet Laverneous Coles and an interception to Darrelle Revis.
Simply, the Jets outplayed the Bengals (again) in every aspect of the game. Look for an interesting matchup next week against either the Colts or Chargers.
NFC Wild-Card
Philadelphia Eagles (+4) 14 Dallas Cowboys 34
My prediction: Eagles 30 Cowboys 23
Basically, I expected the Eagles to show up. Plain and simple, they didn't. The Cowboys dominated the entire game on both sides of the ball. Tony Romo looked as good as he's ever looked and even Roy Williams contributed. The Cowboys won their first playoff game since 1996 and have been on fire of recent. They really proved that tonight with their domination over a division rival for the second time in as many weeks. I was correct with a 40-plus yard touchdown but it was to Jeremy Maclin and not DeSean Jackson. Jackson did catch a meaningless three yard touchdown. On a note for next week's games, I love the Cowboys to upset the reeling Vikings. Minnesota has been inconsistent of recent, especially the play of Brett Favre, who thankfully didn't win MVP this year.
My sincerest apologies. It has been quite a while since I've posted, but by now you must be up to date with the NFL playoff situation.
Today the Jets travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals. Later the Eagles take a trip to Dallas to battle their division rival. Both games are rematches of week 17. The Jets beat the Bengals and the Cowboys beat the Eagles. Both games were shut outs.
Many people figure Wild-Card Weekend to be a different story in both games. The "experts" seem to think that Cincinnati laid down for New York and that the Jets showed every trick in their book and that the Bengals will be ready. It is also tough to think that the Cowboys can beat the Eagles three times in one season. However, if you remember back to last season, the Steelers reached the Super Bowl by beating the Ravens for a third time in the AFC Championship.
Personally, I believe that if the Jets can stop Cedric Benson they should be able to keep the Bengals in check. However, Mark Sanchez proves to be the wild card pick every week. If he doesn't turn the ball over the Jets are 5-2 when Sanchez doesn't turn the ball over, both of those losses were to Miami and by a combined total of eight points. So if Sanchez can protect the ball and the defense can stop the run, I believe the Jets have a realistic chance to win.
Jets (+2.5) 26 Bengals 17
The Eagles go to Dallas with the hopes of developing some sort of momentum. They've lost the last two to the Cowboys and face them for a third time tonight. I think the Eagles will come out strong because they were shut out last week in Dallas. It is also unbelievably difficult to beat a division rival three times in one season. I like the Eagles to not only cover the spread in this game by also win the game out right. The defense will be ready and their offense will finds way to strike deep. Look for a 40-plus yard touchdown from DeSean Jackson.
Eagles (+4) 30 Cowboys 24
Look back tomorrow because I will have a blurb on the Sunday games.
As I promised, my weekly NFL preview will highlight the great games, the sure things, and my own fantasy watch list.
My games to watch this week are Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh andPhiladelphia vs. San Diego. I predict them to be the most competitive and exciting for all 60 minutes.
The Cincinnati Bengals vs. The Pittsburgh Steelers-This is my game of the week. AFC North matchups, excluding the Browns of course, always turn out to be a battle. These games are always won in the trenches. Both teams come into this at 6-2.
The Bengals are undefeated in the division and are showing no signs of slowing down. Carson Palmer has finally stepped up to his true potential following that devastating knee injury. Cedric Benson has proven he is not just a talentless thug. He can actually run the football and really well. He has run for 837 yards and 6 touchdowns. Even more impressive is the teams he has ran well against. He rushed for 237 yards in two victories over the Ravens and 189 against the Bears. Not only have the Bengals been winning games, but they are doing so without having to score 50 points a game. Their defense has been shocking to the point where they are only allowing 16.9 points per game on average.
The Steelers started off nothing like you would expect from the Super Bowl champions. Troy Polamalu went down with a knee injury week 1 and missed the next four games. In the first three games, the Steelers barely snuck by the Titans, lost to the Bears and then again to the Bengals. Since then, they have won 5 straight, and are back to their normal Pittsburgh style of football. Their ground game is not what it used to be, but is looking better every week. Rashard Mendenhall has proven he has what it takes to be the feature back. He ran for 165 yards against a stout San Diego D-line and 155 last week against Mike Nolan’s revamped Denver defense. Big Ben has been Big Ben, and Hines Ward is still Hines Ward.
This game is crucial for both teams. If the Bengals were to win, they would not only be leading the division but they will have swept the SteelCity for the first time since ’98. If the Steelers win they then take over the division and have a serious momentum with a 6-game winning streak. I am going to go with the last decade on this one. Pittsburgh scores another two defensive touchdowns and wins 28-21.
The Philadelphia Eagles vs. The San Diego Chargers-Best of the afternoon games. Both teams are extremely similar and show up when they feel like it.
The Eagles offense has been arguably one of the most inconsistent in the NFL. I just don’t understand how one week they didn’t get in the endzone against Oakland yet they can put up 40 points against the Giants. DeSean Jackson may very well be the key to this team. How about this stat from NFL.com: when DeSean scores, the eagles are 4-1 averaging 32.2 points per game, but when he doesn’t they are only 1-2 averaging 19.3. The Philly defense has been better than expected but not great. They currently stand 10th against the run and 11th against the pass. Another key to this game for Philadelphia could be how many touches Brian Westbrook gets. This will be his first week back from the concussion.
The Chargers are similarly inconsistent all around. The real game plan for them is 3 step drops for Philip Rivers and a quick release. The Eagles like to send chaotic blitz packages and constantly pack 8 into the box. If River’s can manage to get the ball out to Sproles quickly and efficiently, they should be able to control the pace of this game. Vincent Jackson won’t be much of a factor paired up against Samuel, so look for quick screens and short passes all game. The Chargers are ranked 5th in the league and are getting healthy. Don’t expect them to give up much in any form.
I expect this to be the most exciting games of the week. Both of the teams are more than capable on scoring on the big plays. All 6 of DeSean Jackson’s TDs have came from atleast 50 yards out so I expect nothing less. Everyone knows what Darren Sproles can do in the open field so this will come as no surprise. My thoughts are that the Eagles don’t have an answer for Sproles and he runs for 1 TD and receives 2 more. San Diego wins a close one over Philly 34-31.
Sure Things against the spread:
Denver (-3.5) @ Washington
Kansas City (+2) @ Oakland
New York (A) (-7) vs.Jacksonville
Fantasy Predictions:
Start 'Em
Drew Brees against the lack of defense in St. Louis. I wouldn’t be shocked if he throws for 450 yards and 5 touchdowns. Expect huge production.
Ray Rice against Cleveland on Monday Night. In front of a national crowd, he will catch and run for possible season high numbers against the abysmal Browns.
Sit 'Em
Jason Campbell. Expect 2-3 interceptions and under 200 yards passing.
Mike Sims-Walker. David Garrard will have no time to throw against the Jets D and no time means minuscule catches. He better hope for some YAC if he wants any production at all. Good Luck.
