For the 2nd week in a row, I was breaking out winners left and right – in both my free picks and my elite section. I finished 6-2-1 with my elite picks, and as you’ll soon see, I snagged 5 wins 2 loss and a tie in 7 games of free picks as well. Hope you profited off my winning ways! Here’s the review.
San Diego Chargers @ Jacksonville Jaguars (-3): win
(Line: Tuesday, 3:00am EST: Bookmaker)
It was a pretty easy cover. The Jaguars were up by a couple touchdowns, and Maurice Jones Drew was showing why 5’7″ guys can have power. He bulldozed his way in for a touchdown, and put Shawne Merriman on his can with a huge block that allowed David Garrard to throw his 2nd touchdown. The Jaguars showed that they were the better team, and they won the game by a touchdown. My first win was a big one.
Kansas City Chiefs (+15.5) @ Indianapolis Colts: win
(Line: Wednesday, 3:00pm EST: Bodog)
“The Colts will still win, but the Chiefs defense is pretty solid, and Ty Law has been kryptonite to Peyton Super-Man-ing for some time now. I hope Priest has a big game, but either way, I think this one should be a low scoring closer affair.” (Me) Priest actually got hurt, which puts his career in jeopardy, and kind of puts a little bad feeling on this victory for me. The Colts needed a last second field goal to get this win, and they were obviously struggling for much of the game. The Chiefs played solid defense, but it wasn’t enough, as they fell 13-10. I hope Priest turns out okay, he has always been one hell of a player.
Carolina Panthers @ Green Bay Packers (-9.5): win
(Line: Tuesday, 3:00am EST: Bookmaker)
This game ended up being closer than I thought, but I still pulled out the big win. I’m pretty sure the Pack won by 14 when all was said and done. Green Bay killed the Panthers, though, as the game definitely wasn’t that close. Brett Favre is really playing some amazing football, and with Ryan Grant running hard, the offensive balance is fun to watch.
Washington Redskins @ Dallas Cowboys (-10.5): loss
(Line: Tuesday, 3:00am EST: Bookmaker)
This was a real tough game for me to call, and a late Redskin touchdown put this game on their side against the spread. The Cowboys ended up winning, but they needed 4 touchdown passes from Tony Romo to Terrell Owens to make sure. Jason Campbell played well for the Skins, and they came up a Hail-Mary short of winning this game. My first loss of the day! Darn it.
Pittsburgh Steelers @ New York Jets (+10): win
(Line: Tuesday, 3:00am EST: Bodog)
“I think the Steelers are one of the best teams in football, but after big wins they seem to take a step backward. Maybe it’s their comfort level with their new coach, or the feeling that they are unbeatable after a nice home stand. Either way, they struggle on the road, and struggle after big wins. They play a “seemingly easy opponent” this week, which leads me to believe that they’ll come out slow. Kellen Clemens opens up a lot of things for the Jets, and in his second game starting, he’ll be ready to attack the Steelers’ secondary. Big things. Big upset? I’m not so sure, but I’ll take the home team with 10 points.” Well, I can’t say I didn’t warn you guys. Prior to the game, the above quoted section is exactly what I wrote down for why I was taking the Jets. The Steelers came out slow, and it ended up killing them in the end. Plus, they lost Holmes and Polamalu for their next game against Miami. Does that mean that they’ll struggle against the Dolphins?
Arizona Cardinals @ Cincinnati Bengals (-3): loss
(Line: Tuesday, 3:00am EST: Bookmaker)
I’m completely blaming Carson Palmer for this loss. Palmer threw 4 interceptions, against the Cardinals. Gross. They lost by a touchdown and a two point conversion, so take away any one of those picks, and the Bengals might have very well put this game into overtime. Two of the picks went back for touchdowns, which makes Palmer’s day even worse. He’s way better than he’s been playing. Bungles got me again!
Miami Dolphins @ Philadelphia Eagles (-10): push
(Line: Tuesday, 3:00am EST: Bookmaker)
There were some late lines that had the Eagles at -9.5, and I hope you picked that up. If you were like me and got -10, then you pushed. If you had a book that was -10.5 or greater, you got hosed by yet another Donovan McNabb injury. Will that guy ever stay completely healthy for an entire season? Either way, this one pushed for me.
Tennessee Titans @ Denver Broncos (-1.5): win
(Line: Tuesday, 3:00am EST: Bodog)
Vince Young actually had a huge day, but the Titans couldn’t contain the Broncos precision passing attack (Cutler was 16-21 with 200 yards and a couple of long scores) and they gave up too many big plays (all 4 Bronco touchdowns were of 40 yards or more). Poor tackling and bad angles played a huge roll in this loss for the Titans, and I’m happy to say I was on the Broncos side this time around. It did make me happy to see Splinter call a timeout before Bironis’s field goal right before the half, have him miss it, then re-kick it, and make it. Interesting. I knew that would happen, and if I’m not mistaken, I predicted it might just happen to him. Anyway, 5-2-1 – Another solid winning day in the big house.