Tennessee Titans vs Seattle Seahawks 03/01/2010 Prediction

Oh how the Hawks have fallen. Sheesh, I think Jim Mora should get an extension based on the damage he’s done. If he could turn these Hawks into the mush pile of confidence lacking maroons that they are playing like right now, well he can surely turn wine back into water, right? I mean, the guy has thrown multiple people under buses, has gotten very little out of a couple of the most talented guys in the league, and hasn’t changed the risk free offense that has been here for years. So, basically they aren’t consistent at all and they still don’t take any big chances – awesome. The best of no worlds.

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But that’s not what’s important here, a little speedster by the name of Chris Johnson is the man of the day, and I have to be honest, I’m more excited to watch this game than any one of the “important playoff implication games”. Call me a fantasy football junky if you want, but I’m here to tell you, my interest in this game has no fantasy implications. Nope, I just like to see history.

Chris Johnson has a chance to rush for 2000 yards on the season, and even more amazingly, pass up Marshall Faulk’s all time single season yards from scrimmage record. That’s pretty cool. See, every year some teams go to the playoffs and some teams don’t. Some teams step up this time of year and some teams just pee down their collective legs – but that stuff always happens. What Chris Johnson is going to do in Seattle, well that will be the first time anybody’s ever done that – and that’s why I’m excited to see it. Do work Chris!

Tennessee Titans (-4) @ Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks vs Green Bay Packers: Week 16 NFL Picks

Seattle Seahawks vs Green Bay Packers Week 16 NFL Picks: It’s amazing the way match-ups can make themselves special. Take this one, for example, the Hawks and Packers have a common link: they are the only two teams that have lost to Tampa Bay this season. Amazing.

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Listen, anything can happen, and it very well might, but Seattle on the road, going up against a pissed off Packers team that just lost by a point on the road with a last play touchdown – please. When you add on the fact that Green Bay has been lighting people up, winners in 5 of their last 6 games, and going up against probably the most pathetic playing bunch of no-effort, poorly coached, aggression-less clowns holding a 1-6 road record close to their heart – yeah, the Packers seem like a no-brainer.

And despite my insessent searching to tell me otherwise, I can’t find a good reason to go with the road dog here. I know just under 63% of the bet is on Green Bay, and that has to be a bit of a red-flag, but that can’t sway my bet. I know the Packers have only won a few games by more than 14 points, but Seattle seems to fit the bill of the lackluster opponents responsible for Green Bay’s biggest wins (teams like Detroit-twice, and Cleveland. Maybe talent-wise, Seattle is better that those teams, but effort-wise, I’d have to say everyone ranks higher than the Sea Chickens.

The Packers are 5-2 at home, and aside from one mishap against Tampa Bay, have stomped the lesser NFL teams so far this season. I like that trend to continue with a Packer win in Green Bay. They have more to play for, play harder, are more aggressive, and finally are a terrible match-up for Seattle’s soft offense.

Seattle Seahawks @ Green Bay Packers (-13.5)

Arses Five Favorites: Week 15 NFL Predictions

After my first losing week all season, a 1-4 performance in Week 13, I fought back with another winner, a 3-2 march in Week 14. It wasn’t 4-1 or 5-0, but it was a winner nonetheless. Week 15 has some nice favorites, and honestly, I had a tough time picking my Top 5. It’s cold up here in Alaska, but with all this darkness, I have plenty of time to do my research – and I expect it to continue it’s showy performance.

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New Orleans (-7) @ home vs. Dallas: Listen when I tell you, the Dallas Cowboys aren’t that good. But a good thing for the Saints is that everyone else thinks the Cowboys are. The Saints have beaten the pee out of top rated foes this year, embarrassing teams like Philly and New England, and well, beating everyone else as well. Let the 14-0 teams continue to roll!

N.Y. Jets (-6) @ home vs. Atlanta: The Jets are favored by 6 over the Falcons for a reason, and that’s because this is a terrible match-up for Atlanta. If people think that Michael Turner and Matt Ryan are all of a sudden going to come in and stop the run, they must be confused. The offense in Atlanta isn’t the problem.

Seattle (-6) @ home vs. Buccaneers: The Bucs are that bad. I hate taking the Hawks as a big favorite, but this game looks like a blowout. If Seattle loses here, I will refer to them as the Seagulls forever.

Vikings (-8.5) @ Carolina:The Vikings will run into, or I guess past the Carolina Panthers – I expect Minnesota to approach 40 rushing attempts this week in something like a 28-10 win over the Panthers, and it won’t feel that close. I don’t know what Carolina can do against the Vikings, but I also don’t know how the Panthers D will slow Minnesota.

N.Y. Giants (-1) @ Washington: How is this? I’m not convinced the Redskins are good just because they haven’t played terrible lately. They aren’t one of the worst teams in the NFL, maybe even better than their record insists, but the Giants are the much better team. In Washington doesn’t scare me.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Seattle Seahawks: Week 15 Picks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Seattle Seahawks Week 15 Picks: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might have a worse record than the Seattle Seahawks, but it’s hard to say which team has managed a more terrible and disappointing season. While Tampa has managed just a single win, a flukey offensive performance against the Green Bay Packers what seems like ages ago, the Seahawks have consistently looked terrible against any team worth half a penny. In their healthiest game of the season since about Week 1, the Hawks got full throttled by the Houston Texans last week, giving up 7,322 yards in the first five minutes of the game. It looked like Houston was running a two-minute drill against 8th graders. But, despite all that mumbo jumbo, I’m going with the Hawks at home by 7. I don’t know why I’m doing it, but I’ll try to explain the best I can.

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Seattle is 4-2 at home, and obviously they are so weak mentally that they think playing at home actually gives them an advantage. They are one of the worst teams in the league on road, second to only a couple teams, one of them being the Tampa Bay Bucs. The Buccos have yet to win a road game this season.

67% of the public bet is on Seattle, and I’ve always questioned taking a team that is 3 games under .500 yet favored by a touchdown – but I think Seattle can run early and often on the Bucs, and if Jim Mora can promptly remove his head from the suit of aces, and give the ball to his most explosive offensive player (Justin Forsett) then I think they’ll wing the game easily. Nothing like putting your chips on Jim Mora’s logic…

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Seattle Seahawks (-7)

Papas Picks: NFL Week 14 Underdog Predictions

Alright, I’ve gone 4-1 twice in the last 3 weeks – but the week I didn’t run into 4-1 was a tough one to stomach. I guess that’s the way with underdogs, when the ball doesn’t bounce your way, you look like a dope. I looked pretty solid last week as two of my unpopular dogs won outright, the Dolphins and Raiders. I was pretty stunned the Steelers fell at home to the Raiders, but I was pretty happy looking at 15.5 points against a team that hadn’t won big all year. It’s too bad I never write this article quick enough for Thursday games, because I would have loved getting another underdog win over the Steelers… This week, I have a couple more Dogs that look like pedigree models with all there glorious points – here are this week’s picks.

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Washigton Redskins @ Oakland Raiders (+1): The Redskins find ways to lose, really, they are very good at it. The Raiders have turned it around a bit, and now that they can complete a simple pass to a wide open receiver, they aren’t nearly as bad as before. I like them to win their 3rd in 4 games – crazy.

San Diego Chargers (+3) @ Dallas Cowboys: The Chargers are better than the Cowboys, and Dallas always hits a wall and loses important games late. If they lose here, they have are guaranteed to be 2nd place in the NFC East – that means it’s a big game – that means trouble for Big D.

Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears (+3.5): The Bears are 4-2 at home this year – so that’s what I have going for me here. They’ve played much worse than they are, and the Packers have been on a streak of really impressive games – I think those things are bound to turn around in one cold afternoon in Chicago.

Detroit Lions (+14) @ Baltimore Ravens: Oh the Ravens and their impotent offense, I mean un-potent, well, what ever it is, it’s not producing many hits lately. With Daunte starting (for a guy with really small hands, I still think he’s pretty good, but I might be living in his fantasy dominating past) I think the Lions have a good chance to put up a few touchdowns through the air, the kid has always thrown the deep ball well. That will be enough to cover.

Seattle Seahawks (+7) @ Houston Texans: I know the Hawks suck on the road, but this team is finally getting healthy, and there’s nothing like a team finally getting healthy when all the other teams are finally starting to lose some players. Houston has struggled lately, definitely misses having one of their most dynamic players in the backfield, and is just 2-4 on the road this season. Oh yeah, and there’s rumbling that their coach might get the axe – that’s never good. One more thing, they’ve lost 4 straight.

Seattle Seahawks vs Houston Texans Point Spread Pick

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Seattle Seahawks vs Houston Texans Point Spread Pick: I see something I like here, sure, but I have this eerie feeling I’m going to regret this one. Maybe it’s the Hawks on the road that scares me, or even the Hawks in general, yes, you might say I have pick-em dreams that end with me getting a million dollars if I can just pick a Hawks game correctly – that’s where I wake up in cold sweats.

No, but on a serious note, I don’t have the best record when it comes to Seattle. I’m not sure what it is, it’s just the way it has been. It doesn’t mean I never get them right, it just means that predicting them is tough for me. I know the Hawks are 1-5 away from Seattle, 4-2 at home – they don’t play a physical brand of football, and that hurts on the road. However, I’m thinking their upswing in health will finally help them and keep them winning football games. If you’ve noticed, they’ve won two straight (against the NFC West, sure, but you have to count them). One more win would be three in a row, and get them one game under .500 for the season. They are close.

The Texans have had a tough time of it lately. They’ve had their normal mid-season tumble, losing 4 straight, all against their own conference. Two of those games were home losses, and they’ve lost 3 straight against the spread as well. Houston isn’t a great home team, just 2-4 this season, and I like the Hawks odds of playing close. Seattle can think pass first, run second, when defending the Texans, and I think that certainty will help them. I’ll go with the Hawks.

Seattle Seahawks (+6.5) @ Houston Texans

San Francisco 49ers vs Seattle Seahawks Week 13 NFL Pick

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San Francisco 49ers vs Seattle Seahawks Week 13 NFL Pick: Show me a team Seattle has played well against and I’ll show you a crappy team. Sure, the Hawks took advantage of the Jaguars in a weird situation, but the Jaguars have shown multiple times this year, they can play as terrible as any team in the league, and they’re proud of it. Other than Jacksonville, the Hawks other three wins have come against the likes of St. Louis (twice) and Detroit. Oooo, nice one. It’s not that Seattle’s not talented enough, they are pretty loaded when it comes to ability – they just play too damn soft, and that has to be coaching. There it is, I said it. If I wasn’t absolutely befuddled by the direct incompetence of Jim Mora and his staff prior to this week, the fact that Julius Jones is being called the starter and the guy that’s going to carry the load really clears things up for me. I like JJ, he runs hard, and despite having no vision, generally gets consistent positive yardage – but hello, Justin Forsett is the best offensive performer on this team right now. Who does this Mora guy think he is?

The 49ers outrushed the Seahawks by 190 yards last time these two teams played. Neither of these teams take many chances, but don’t think for a second that Seattle is going to be allowed to run the ball 70% of the time and win like they did last week against the Rams – oh no – it’s tough to run on the 49ers. Even if Forsett was going to get the bulk of the carries, I would be surprised if he eclipsed the 100 yard mark.

The 49ers need to get back to physical running against Seattle, something that they’ve proven they like to do against the Hawks. Frank Gore owns Seattle’s defense, if he touches it 20 times, the 49ers win by double digits.

San Francisco 49ers (+1) @ Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks vs St. Louis Rams Pick & Preview

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Seattle Seahawks @ St. Louis Rams (+3) Pick & Preview: I think both these teams have been brutal, and I’ve been recorded saying (once or twice or twenty times) that St. Louis is one of the worst teams in football. But some how, some way, I’ve found enough that I like about them to go Rams as a small underdog at home. I’d say, “don’t ask me why” but that’s kind of my thing, I tell you why I do stuff – part of the deal. So here goes…

The Hawks are 0-5 on the road this year, and they generally stink away from the noisy home stadium in Seattle, even in solid seasons. They are even worse when they have to start playing football in the early game, 10:00 AM Pacific Time. That’s what they’ll be doing here.

Now, prior to a couple weeks ago in Detroit, the Hawks have played very well against the lower-case teams in the league, the rams, and  – well, that’s really the only bad team they whooped – ad that was in Week 1. They whooped the Jaguars, who played terrible that day in Seattle – but the Jags have been decent. They beat the Lions three week ago, 32-20, but Detroit was up early, and on top for most of that game. A late INT-TD gave them an undeserved cover. But they’ve learned how to try and play not to lose. One of the worst ways to win games in any sport.

The Hawks lack aggression, are predictable, and I think the Rams will sneak in and smack them in the mouth a little bit. St. Louis is bad, I hate them, their QB is a laughing matter unto himself, but what I’m seeing has St. Louis covering.

Seattle Seahawks vs Minnesota Vikings Free Football Pick

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Seattle Seahawks @ Minnesota Vikings (-10.5) Free Football Pick: I know everyone and their mother is going to be on Minnesota, and I know the line has actually gone down from where it opened despite that fact. That’s usually not a good sign. But how can one justify betting money on the Seahawks right now? I know the value is there for them, they aren’t the Lions, Rams, Raiders, Browns or Bucs and they are getting double digit points – that, in and of itself, has value. But when risk is greater than value it’s either a no bet or a pick for the home favorites. Since no-bets aren’t a part of my daily grind, I’m going to go ahead and go for the latter.

Forget history, because this is Brett Favre’s Vikings team, and this is his first year running this show. Forget that this is Seattle’s biggest underdog spread all year long, because this is the best team the Hawks have played all year long. Also, Seattle has been a big dog (9 points or more) three times this season. What’s their record in those 3 games? 0-3 straight up and against the spread. They were beaten by 11 in Arizona last week despite going up 14-0 in the first quarter. They were beaten by 21 in Dallas. And the Colts slapped them around by 17 in Indy as a 10 point favorite.

Could the Vikings have a let down? Sure. It’s possible. And the Vikings have shown some open alleys in that secondary. But should Seattle be able to give Matt Hasselbeck the time he needs with that offensive line against that defensive front? Should the most physical running back in the NFL have trouble against a defense that really struggles to tackle physical runners? Should Brett Favre give the Hawks a pity win like he gave Michael Strahan a pity sack back in the day? That answer is NO! To all those questions.

Seattle Seahawks vs Arizona Cardinals Free NFL Pick

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Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals (-8.5) Free NFL Pick: Arizona beat Seattle 27-3 last time out, and that game was in Seattle where the Hawks have proven to be one of the best home teams in the NFL. The Cardinals powerful defensive line handled a injury ridden Seahawks offensive line, shut down the Hawks rushing attack, and put pressure on Matt Hasselbeck all game long. I don’t have any reason to believe that this weekend’s tilt between the Seahawks and Cardinals will be any different. I just think that, flat out, the Cardinals are a terrible match-up for the Seahawks, even a Hawks team that doesn’t play soft and have a depleted roster because of injuries. A healthy Hawks team would have trouble with the Cardinals.

Unless of course Kurt and company just has one of those games, something they’ve proven they can do every once in a while. I mean, Kurt and company got smacked around by the Panthers a couple weeks ago – where does that kind of garbage come from? The Hawks can’t put that kind of pressure on Kurt. Warner can pick apart a secondary that tries not to make too many mistakes instead of being aggressive.

The Hawks will try to run the ball, but the Cardinals front 7 are dominant against the run. Arizona’s secondary can get beat deep, no doubt, they give up their fair share of big plays and passing yards, but the Hawks don’t take many chances down field despite having a trio of WRs like T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Nate Burleson, and Deion Branch – not to mention a great young TE in John Carlson. The Hawks come out trying not to lose. Arizona is going to beat them up right out of the gates.