An interesting week, overall I didn’t do too shabby (4-6 with my free picks – 5-3 with my elite picks) but I had a tough Sunday in my Free Picks category, and I know that hurt some of my trusty readers, but such is the way it goes sometimes. I hope you capitalized on my two Thanks Giving day wins – and sorry for the tough free picks this week. Here’s where it went bad…
Sunday’s Games
Denver Broncos (+2.5) @ Chicago Bears: loss
(Line: Tuesday, 3:00am EST: SBG Global)
I may have had the loss in this one, but I capped this game perfectly. The Broncos had given up two kick returns for touchdowns, and they were still up 14 with less than 7 minutes to go… And they end up losing by a field goal in overtime… Absurd. You take your losses when they come, but the games like this hurt a little more than those you just straight missed.
Tennessee Titans (-1) @ Cincinnati Bengals: loss
(Line: Tuesday, 3:00am EST: Belmont)
I missed this one. I expected a big day for the Titans after they crumbled like stale sourdough bread against Denver last week. Well, the crumbling continued, and the Bengals, of all teams, were there to feed the ducks. I lost this one bad.
Minnesota Vikings (+8) @ New York Giants: win
(Line: Thursday, 11:50pm EST: 5Dimes)
“I think the Vikings powerful rushing attack will finally give other teams the recipe to make the Giants defensive front full of defensive end speed rushers suffer. Call it hopeful thinking, but the Giants haven’t played well enough to be 8 point favorites over anybody.” Maybe this 42-17 loss will allow the rest of the football world to see who the Giants really are. They are a pass rushing defense with a mediocre passing game, and that’s about it.
Buffalo Bills @ Jacksonville Jaguars (-7.5): win
(Line: Tuesday, 3:00am EST: Bookmaker)
The Jaguars are one of the best teams in football, and I have a feeling they are going to make a push at the Colts in the AFC South. They may not have the playoff recipe for success, but they’ll continue to handle teams during the rest of the regular season, and I’ll be here capitalizing on it.
Oakland Raiders @ Kansas City Chiefs (-5): loss
(Line: Tuesday, 3:00am EST: Bookmaker)
The Raiders win! The Raiders win! And you can’t blame this game on the Chiefs injured rushing attack, because rookie Kolby Smith put in work. The Chiefs sucked defensively against the run, and that allowed Justin Fargas to drop elbows on the end zone, getting in there twice, and putting up big yardage.
Philadelphia Eagles @ New England Patriots (-22): loss
(Line: Tuesday, 3:00am EST: Bookmaker)
“I had to say it out loud in front of the mirror 3 times, but I will not bet against the Patriots. I’ve never wanted to go the other way more than I do right now, 22 points is absurd – I can never remember a spread being this high in my entire NFL capping career. But then again, this game throws up some interesting questions for me. I either think the Eagles will get absolutely destroyed, making the spread look realistic, or play the Patriots down to the last snap, losing or winning a final play-type thing.” (Like I said, I have never wanted to go against the Pats more, but there were too many questions for me. The Eagles ended up making the 2nd part of my prophecy true, but unfortunately I put my pick on the first half. I definitely warned you to stay off this game, and it was a tough one, for a second there I thought the Pats would actually lose a game. Tough
Monday Night Football Game
Miami Dolphins @ Pittsburgh Steelers (-16): loss
(Line: Tuesday, 3:00am EST: Bookmaker)
It’s tough to put my lines out early, and expect the weather just not to be an issue. If I were picking this game, or laying a bet later in the week, I would have surely bet the under and taken the Dolphins, because that field was a mess. I thought the Steelers could easily shut out the Fins, and that did happen. However, I didn’t expect the lowest scoring game of all time, and that is also what happened. Tough call, and damn the weather man!