Quick Hitters and Week 11 NFL Picks

Favorite Spread Underdog 4 Best My Pick Reason

GIANTS 6 ½ Falcons * Falcons If G-Men win at all, will be close
PATS 10 ½ Jets Jets If Jets don’t cover, I’ll cry
LIONS 3 Browns LIONS Browns show no good signs
JAGS 9 Bills Bills New coach, new effort?
Steelers 10 CHIEFS Steelers Steelers embarrassed by Bengals
Colts 1 RAVENS Colts I like beans, not Rice
PACK 6 ½ 49ers * 49ers 49ers like the Midwest
VIKES 10 ½ Sea VIKES Vikes like to cover
BOYZ 11 Skins * Skins Aw, c’mon man…11?
Saints 11 ½ TB TB Bucs have found themselves
Cards 9 RAMS Cards That’s about it for Rams
Bengals 9 ½ OAK OAK Bengals too high, win close
BRONCS 3 Chargers Chargers Bolts keep flashing
Eagles 3 BEARS * Eagles McNabb has a field day
TEXANS 5 Titans TEXANS Titans pass defense, convince me..

Things are really lookin’ good the last several weeks. Week 10 yielded a 9-5 record and cumulative now stands at a pretty healthy 54-40 (or fight). I don’t pick Thursday games and from the lineup I’ve seen, I won’t be missing much. Best bets though suffered once again, a result of the Cowboys and Saints miserable performances.

I must say I took it on the chin for the Saints pick big-time. My brother, the Rams expert, let me know what a horrible pick it was before the game so I’m humbled. He does have a knack now and then, and it’s never a secret.

I keep thinking I’m due for a bad week, so bet with your head……yada yada. I’m half-expecting SHRINKAGE, in my cumulative record that is..

The G-Men haven’t won in quite some time. I’ll be happy if they win by 1. 6 ½ seems kind of optimistic. I mean, really. Just exactly which Giants are going to come to the fore, with all that pressure at home. Even if they’re good, the defensive coordinator will screw it up.

The Niners have really done pretty well when they’ve played in the Midwest and after the Niners last week’s paltry offensive performance and the Pack’s great showing against the Cowboys, I’m expecting a return to form.

Meanwhile, I know the game’s in Big D but this is one of those classic NFC East matchups and the Skins have been looking way better than they had in the early season. They have a lot of making up to do and I think this might be the spot for it.

My Eagles pick is more of a slap at the horrid Bears and their equally horrid coach than it is some kind of affirmation for the Eagles. But somebody has to play some pass defense and the Bears have shown no inclination to do so.
Aside from football, I’m really happy for Michelle Wie finally breaking out and not becoming the Anna Kournikova of golf. And I’m glad she pulled out of her most recent tournament after shooting a 72. When you’re hurt, you’re hurt. Especially if you happen to be 19 years old.

The Mets haven’t made a move yet and spent less on the amateur draft than everybody else. That can’t be good.

Why can’t I get into the NBA this year? And it’s not just the Knicks and Nets being awful, it’s the whole damn thing. Lebron, Kobe, ad nauseum still and why can’t rookies get a break? In what other sport do rookies have no chance at all? Why was I ever watching this stuff? Well, maybe it was Jason Kidd.

The Yanks are supposed to be looking at getting Mark DeRosa. If so, it would be an excellent move. With age all over the place on that roster, it can’t hurt to have better backups. Ask the Mets.

Oh, and I still want Matt Holliday over Roy Halladay. I hope Omar was saving his money for him first. The pitching is shaky but the lineup is very very weak. What if Wright doesn’t break out of his power slump? What if Beltran’s now chronic knee problems continue?

Okay, that’s enough of the quick hitters. And speaking of quick hitters, there’s a fella named Figgins who’s one. What if Reyes can’t come back strong…or healthy…or fast?

Week 6 NFL Picks

No big story today, just the picks for the week. In Week 5, I went 3 of 4 on my best bets, having been victimized by the thoroughly chastened Jets against the Fish. I foolishly thought the Jets could stop the run. Just as silly, I thought the Jets could stop Drew Henne. Instead I got Land Shark Stadium frenzy and Jay Lo and inspired performances from anybody wearing friggin’ teal.

On overall picks against the spread, I was 6 and 8 for the second week in a row. My best bets were much better and I was THIS close to winning ten bucks.
<>Maybe I’m no good at this? Nah, you’ll see.

Carolina is just too good for the Bucs. Josh Johnson, the new starting qb, is learning about life in the NFL as is much of the Bucs team. Carolina is coming off a come-from-behind win and should be re-energized. Their horrible pass defense shows no signs of getting better. I suspect bad coaching all over the place in Tampa.

Philadelphia has Number 5 back (McNabb of course) and still another wideout named Maclin to add to a bevy of fine hands. Oakland is just playing out the string and who could blame them with the quarterback they have? Jamarcus Russell is the worst QB I've seen in many years. Once again, is there any coaching happening in Oakland?

Atlanta is coming off a big win against the Niners in a game that was supposed to be close. Who could have guessed the Niners would be all full of themselves, as personified by Dre Bly, their ridiculous corner. My guess is da Bears will be da Bears and kick some Falcon butt.

For a Charger team that looked awful against the Steelers, and that showed no defense at all, it's hard to imagine them beating a Bronco team by 6 or more, no matter how good their offense. Broncs playing tough and disciplined, like its quarterback.




Favorite Underdog Spread 4 Best My Pick Reason

MIN Bal 3 ½ Bal Favre and Vikings meet a real opponent
WAS KCy 6 ½ KCy Chiefs good enough to stay close if not win
CIN Hou 5 ½ Hou Cinci a little too comfortable
PIT Cle 13 ½ PIT Steelers will pour it on late, Polamalu return?
JAC StLo 13 StLo Rams will surprise, stop run
NO Nyg 3 NO Giants pass defense will be exposed
CAR TmpBy 3 * CAR Tampa can’t stop pass, new QB not the answer
GB Det 10 ½ GB Big spread but GB gets its OL back
PHI Oak 13 ½ * PHI Hard to imagine a spread too high
SEA Ari 2 ½ Ari Cards still AFC Super Bowl representative
NYJ Buf 9 NYJ Ryan stirred them up
NE Ten 9 NE Tennessee’s a mess, Pats aren’t
ATL Chi 4 ½ * Chi Atlanta won’t be facing Dre Bly this week
SD Den 6 * Den Div battle will be much closer