Pats
+5 over Broncos, 28-24
-This is purely a function of the points. I originally saw
this at 6.5, but obviously people bet that down as quickly as possible. One
thing I know for sure…ignore the game they played 8 weeks ago. Gronk, Chris
Harris, Von Miller, and quite a few others players aren’t playing now. John
Fox, Champ, Blount, and so many others ARE now playing as key cogs and weren’t
then.
I was stunned when looking at FootballOutsiders this week
though. They have the Pats as a 46% chance to win this game, which is a crazy
high number. I thought it was going to be a 60-40 split at best. But the Week
19 DVOA doesn’t lie. NE actually ranks above DEN right now in DVOA, 31.5 to
27.2. A huge advantage is special teams, but they are competent in all three
areas.
Look at how the offenses line up. As much as the Pats are
beat up on offense, they are playing a strings and spit defense in Denver, who
just lost their best corner. The all time scoring leading Denver offense (which
barely put up 24 last week) is playing a team with its 3 really good corners
back playing together. NE can hold this together, fully execute San Diego’s
plan of holding the ball and pushing it down Denver’s throat. Brady over
Manning, one more time please. You know, until they get trampled in the Super
Bowl by….
Seahawks
-3 over Niners, 17-9
-This will probably be a painful, insanely unwatchable game.
I think Colin Kaep self destructs. Both GB and CAR had opportunities to make
him do so, but couldn’t. This Seattle defense will not allow easy passing. What
gets me really ticked is that the SF passing game is really good when throwing
to Boldin, Crabtree, or Davis. But that’s it. Literally no one else can do
anything. They caught all of the SF touchdowns this year, and Crabtree only had
1! Seattle just won’t allow that kind of focus on a few guys, will take 2 away
(probably Sherman-Crabtree, Earl Thomas-Davis, and three guys on Boldin then),
and make the Niners sputter here. And I have a feeling Russell Wilson finds the
magic here again.
SF is a really healthy advanced stat team, with the best
remaining special teams (8.9) and a strong defense (-5.2). But
FootballOutsiders makes my case for me: Seattle’s defense is a whopping -29.1.
That blows Arizona’s -18.9 out of the water for second place, and they are a
far distance from third. I had Seattle winning the whole thing in August, and I
am staying on that train. I have to think the NFC is winning regardless though.
Record last
week:
Straight Up: 3-1
By Spread: 2-1
Record this year:
Straight Up: 123-71
By Spread: 99-96
Lifetime record:
Straight Up: 662-354
By Spread: 536-469
Record this year:
Straight Up: 123-71
By Spread: 99-96
Lifetime record:
Straight Up: 662-354
By Spread: 536-469
No comments:
Post a Comment