The National Football League: I put my heart and soul into this!

If Aaron were writing this, that is what he would say to answer your "how come you don't get this post up until after work on Friday?!!?" question. Since I'm not Aaron, I'll get this week's NFL review up early - albeit with less insights and considerably less predictions. Aaron is currently in route from Orlando, which is why I'm stepping in to save the day. I'm not sure why he was there, nor do I think MP cares too much. Without further ado, this week's picture!


Image via PE.

Now that Royce and Aaron have calmed down, on to this week's matchups! I'm not sure what lines Aaron quotes, but I'll be posting the latest Bodog lines. Additionally, I'm leaving the classification (bold/not-so-bold) of my predictions up to you, our loyal FIWK-ers.

Houston @ Philadelphia (-8): Philly just came off a close loss to the under-respected Bears. Houston is coming off an overpowering win against the Titans. That said, i think this line is too high and am expecting a high-scoring game that comes down to a final score from Philly to win by 4-6 points.

New Orleans (-7) @ Cincinnati: The Saints have played 3 legit games in a row, and are now back amongst the favorites to win the Super Bowl. Cincinnati has lost 8 in a row, and is now in the running for the 1st pick of the 2011 NFL Draft. The Saints win big and easily cover the 7 points.
* Prediction: Terrell Owens goes for 100+ and a TD.

Chicago (-5) @ Detroit: Detroit, along with Buffalo, has been this season's "ATS-winning, SU-losing" workhorse for Vegas bookies - particularly at home. Chicago has been under-respected all season long - particularly on the road. Sounds like an awesome ATS matchup to me. I think Chicago proves that they belong, and cover against a very tough home-opponent.
* Prediction: Jay Cutler does not throw an interception.

San Francisco @ Green Bay (-10): Green Bay suffered a very tough loss at Atlanta last week. San Francisco is playing the early game on short-rest. Green Bay will win easily (sad, but true), and cover.
* Prediction: Aaron Rodgers has more rushing TDs than Troy Smith.

Jacksonville @ Tennessee (-3): Jacksonville has played very well lately (well, minus the 2nd half of last week's game). Since beating a Vick-less Eagles in week 7, Tennessee has lost 4 straight. I think Jacksonville also proves they're legit this week, and wins outright.
* Prediction: MJD out-fantasy-points CJ, but both end up with 20+ FPs.

Denver @ Kansas City (-9): Denver embarrassed KC 3 weeks ago. KC is out for revenge, and gets it. KC covers.
* Prediction: Todd Haley and Josh McDaniels shake hands after the game.

Cleveland @ Miami (-4.5): Jake Delhomme is starting this week - again. Miami has settled. on Chad Henne. Chad Henne > Jake Delhomme; Miami wins and covers.
* Prediction: Jake Delhomme throws at least one interception.

My goodness. This is taking a TON of time. Newfound respect Mr. Aaron - newfound respect.

Buffalo @ Minnesota (-6): Buffalo has to be hurting from last week's loss to the Steelers; they even blamed God. Minnesota is 1-0 under Leslie Frazier. I have a hunch the Bills will come out quickly and enact a bit of revenge for last week. I also have a hunch the Vikings will run wild against the Bills porous run-D. I think the late prevails, and the Vikings cover.

Washington @ NY Giants (-7): Washington is not very good at running the ball, nor stopping the run. The Giants are the exact opposite in both categories. Plus I trust Eli more than McNabb at this point in their careers. The Giants win by more than 2 scores.
* Prediction: Ahmad Bradshaw rushes for more yards than the Redskins combined.

Oakland @ San Diego (-13): This is the 2nd revenge-game from the AFC West. The Chargers are coming off a very impressive win in Indy. The Raiders are coming off a very unimpressive loss home against Miami. I think this game mimics the KC-Den tilt, and the Chargers cover easily.

Carolina @ Seattle (-6): Carolina should be 0-11.Seattle's a very uninspiring 5-6. Are the Seahawks better? Yes. Are they 6 points better? I think not: the Panthers win outright.

Atlanta (-3) @ Tampa Bay: Tampa is horrible against-the-spread at home - this even after being disrespected by the bookmakers most of the year. Atlanta has proven week-after-week that they're for real in 2011. That said, I think this is a bit of a let down game for the Falcons, and the Bucs win outright - barely.

St. Louis (-3.5) @ Arizona: Is the NFC West for real? I think we should hold full division/conference promotion/relegation between the NFL and CFL. It's time people paid for sucking. The Rams cover, and win.
* Prediction: this game has the lowest ratings for any NFL game this year.

Dallas @ Indianapolis (-5.5): Dallas is 2-1 under Jason Garrett - whoopee! The Colts are under pressure after 2 straight losses and are battling questions about Pey-Pey being old. If the Cowboys had any semblance of a rushing attack, I'd pick them to cover. They don't; Indy covers.

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore (-3): This is a toughie. Both teams epitomize tough D, and if it were the defenses playing each other, I'd expect 4 ejections by halftime. I think Flacco surprises everyone a bit and throws for 250 and 2 against a not-as-tough-as-you'd-expect Pittsburgh pass D. Ravens win 17-14.

NY Jets @ New England (-4): This looks like another toughie. I don't think it is. I don't think the Jest are as good as their record indicates. Look at that string of Ws - not too many toughies on that schedule so far. The Pats have also turned it on with a string of impressive wins over the past 3 weeks. The Pats cover relatively easily.


WHEW! Please don't make me do this again A-ron! It was fun, but tiring. Is it time to go home yet?

14 comments:

  1. PS This column took me about 2 hours to write, and definitely killed any chance of me getting real work done today. I now fully understand why Aaron posts these after work. :D

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  2. Really, you couldn't throw in a "prediction: Brett Favre throws at least 1 interception" for Aaron's sake? That's literally the first thing I checked.

    Big ups to you for doing the column this week. I will try it sometime soon and check just how difficult this thing is.

    Picks to come soon.

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  3. Great job Scott. I appreciate your newfound respect. The picture hit me right where you wanted it to hit me. I like, but don't necessarily agree with, all your predictions.

    Unofficially, I already correctly predicted the Eagles and tomorrow I'm taking the Saints, Bears, Packers, Jaguars, Broncos, Browns, Bills, Giants, Chargers, Cowboys, Cardinals, Panthers, Buccaneers, Steelers and Jets...all ATS. For the last six, it's more that I'm taking the points rather than I think they will win outright.

    I also liked how you asked if it was time to go home and the blog post is time stamped 2:44pm. What time did you actually finish?

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  4. Officially, I'm taking New Orleans -6.5, Green Bay -9.5, Cleveland +4.5, Buffalo +6, Tampa Bay +3, Pittsburgh +3, NYJ +3.5, NYG -7.

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  5. Haha. I started at 11, fully expecting to finish by 12. Nope - finished at 3 (with an hour long lunch break).

    I only officially took 3 games this week (I always take the same 3 picks that I submit for another ATS game):

    Rams -3.5: If the Niners can win easily in Glendale, so can the Rams.

    Giants -7: Uh - the Redskins suck (and have given up already).

    Packers -9: See my notes above. :(

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  6. I'm not one to boast too much, but my favorite link this week was "MP cares too much".

    I just though you'd all want to know that it still makes me chuckle.

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  7. I also loved it. Although it helps that it was the only 'funny' link. The rest were educational/informative, led by the Wikipedia article clearly explaining the benefit of relegation/promotion and how it encourages the worst teams to try harder late in the season instead of tanking for a better draft pick.

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  8. I heart relegation/promotion.

    Updated standings:

    Aaron: 48-33-3 (+15)
    Scott: 25-14-2 (+11)
    Royce: 23-18-1 (+5)
    MP: 0-0-0 (zero)

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  9. I like the zero link.

    I intentionally picked no games by the way. I didn't feel particularly strongly about any except Cleveland, but I eventually talked myself out of them also.

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  10. Scott, how did you do on your predictions?

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  11. No clue - will get back to you later this evening...or this afternoon...or in 30 minutes if I'm bored at work.

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  12. 30 minutes it is! I give myself 4.75 points for my predictions (out of 7 total; 1 point for each prediction).

    Correct (1 point)
    - No Cutler INT
    - Rodgers > Smith
    - Haley/McDaniels shake (they hugged, and I'm taking credit for that)
    - Bradshaw > Redskins

    Partially Correct
    - TO scored a TD, but only had 47 yards (0.5 points)
    - MJD > CJ was true, but neither got above 20 FP (0.25 points)

    Wrong (0 points)
    - STL/ARI Ratings (game apparently showed really well in STL)

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  13. I just realized that Google Blogger posts times in Eastern Time, which means Scott finished at 5:44pm Pacific Time. I apologize to Scott and further appreciate the work he did filling in for me.

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  14. Wait, no it doesn't...I was wrong. And my previous Comments stand.

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