NFL 2013 Week 8 Predictions

Saints -10.5 over Bills, 37-13

-Thad Lewis, no way. They are going to face a real team now, rested off a bye. Saints rout this.

Lions -2.5 over Cowboys, 31-26

-Megatron is transformed again. Cowboys are really dinged up, and this is coming back to the mean soon.

Pats -6.5 over Fins, 27-20

-I’m pretty sure with Tannehill dinged up and Gronk on a better page with Brady this will even out. Plus, you know, the Pats don’t lose two in a row.

Jags +17.5 over 49ers, 17-30

-Just too many points. 49ers should win easily. 

Raiders +3.5 over Steelers, 20-19
-This just feels like a game they give away. Also, the Raiders are 12th on defense. That's right, 12th.

Bengals -6.5 over Jets, 19-10

-Jets aren’t good. I really think the Bengals prove it here, even if it is a slug fest.

Ethnic Slurs +14 over Broncos, 24-34

-Just the points, unlikely they win with that swish cheese defense in the nation’s capital. RG3 probably has a big fantasy day.

Packers -9.5 over Vikings, 30-10

-Not enough points on this earth could take me to take THAT dysfunction right now.

-Strategic Eliminator Pick

Seahawks over Rams, 31-6

-Well, we will have most of our Monday night free to stand in line for Assassin’s Creed IV!

-Best Eliminator Pick

Record last week:

Straight Up: 5-5
By Spread: 4-6

Record this year: 
Straight Up: 49-30
By Spread: 42-37

Lifetime record:
Straight Up: 583-309
By Spread: 485-413

NFL 2012 Week 15 Predictions

Okay, not a good week by me. I got a lot of the basics right, but the lines were all off for some reason. I am hoping with many playoff pictures clearing up, I will be able to hit a better percentage this week.

By the way, I am staying away from NYJ-TEN this week, mainly because I have no idea how that is going to go. However, the best part of that game is that because it is the MNF game, we all will know how our fantasy matchups ended up because NO ONE SHOULD BE PLAYING ANYONE FROM THAT GAME IN A SERIOUS MATCH.  

Bengals -4.5 over Eagles, 28-22

-One team needs it. One team is not only out but got its “crap we can’t go into the offseason on a 12 game losing streak so let’s just win ONE of these games” game out of the way. I am going to totally ignore this logic with Arizona later.

Ravens +3.5 over Broncos, 23-24

-Broncos are hot right now but these Ravens are still tough. Ravens could do the Pats a favor and pull the Broncos out of the 2-seed conversation, but I think it is more likely only a cover.

Packers -3 over Bears, 27-20

-My team is just going the WRONG way. Marshall continues his streak and has a big game here though.

Colts +9.5 over Texans, 24-30

-If this were in Indy, I’d pick the upset. The timing is just right. But it is in Houston, so the cover is the deal here. 9.5 points GIVEN to a 9-4 team. Um, disrespect much? You know what? Screw it. Colts +9.5 over Texans, 24-23. I’m going for it.

Jags +7.5 over Fins, 14-20

-The Dolphins lay 7.5 to no team.

Vikings +2.5 over Rams, 21-20

-One team has one dynamic player. There’s your difference.

Giants +1.5 over Falcons, 31-13

-Remember the playoffs? The Giants do, but I am pretty sure all the Falcons have spent some time trying to repress that memory.

Saints -3.5 over Bucs, 30-26

-A lot of points, Bucs are now falling off so the Saints win.

Browns +2.5 over Ethnic Slurs, 22-20

-Assuming RG3 doesn’t play or plays rusty and slow. Browns are better than you think, and the Dog Pound should get up for this one. This is a nice young team learning how to win. Of course, you could say the same about Washington, but their rookie is injured.

Panthers +3.5 over Chargers, 21-20

-Cam is hot, and the Chargers still have Norv Turner.

Lions -6 over Cards, 31-3

-Cards are just bad. Brian Hoyer, fresh off the waiver wire, is clearly their best option at QB. Ugh.

Seahawks -5.5 over Bills, 24-13

-Bills weren’t good then lost a top three player on their team and their starting center. Seahawks D might be the most common “player” on championship teams this year.

Raiders -3 over Chiefs, 17-11

-Because at least the Raiders can score. Somewhat.

Cowboys +2 over Steelers, 20-19

-Because the Steelers still aren’t completely healthy and the Cowboys are inherently unpredictable.

Patriots -5 over 49ers, 30-20

-It would be hard to predict NE to beat two tough opponents in a row, but the games are at home, the Pats don’t lose there or in December, and they are clicking like crazy right now. Pats’ DVOA is somewhat ridiculous. Two quick points: 1. Brady took the three extra days after Thanksgiving to break down SF then since he knew he would need the extra time to study them. 2. The Pats, assuming Gronk is back and healthy for the playoffs, will have Lloyd Welker Gronk and Hernandez together for the 1^st time since Week 1. This could be the third highest scoring team EVER and have its best players healthy only once or twice all season long.

Record last week:

Straight Up: 8-6

By Spread: 4-10

Record this year:

Straight Up: 108-65

By Spread: 89-84

Lifetime record:
Straight Up: 497-262
By Spread: 409-357

NFL 2012 Week 14 Predictions

Falcons -3.5 over Panthers, 34-10

-Best eliminator pick

Ravens +2.5 over Ethnic Slurs, 21-20

Bears -2.5 over Vikings, 24-16

Bengals -2.5 over Cowboys, 31-27

Chiefs +6.5 over Browns, 17-19

Bucs -8.5 over Eagles, 20-10

-2^nd Best Eliminator Pick

Chargers +6.5 over Steelers, 13-19

Rams +3.5 over Bills, 19-14

Colts -4.5 over Titans, 27-10

Dolphins +10.5 over 49ers, 10-20

Cards +10.5 over Seahawks, 12-22

Saints +4.5 over Giants, 27-31

Packers -6.5 over Lions, 31-23

Pats -3.5 over Texans, 28-23

Record last week:

Straight Up: 7-8

By Spread: 7-8

Record this year:

Straight Up: 100-59

By Spread: 85-74

Lifetime record:
Straight Up: 489-256
By Spread: 405-347

NFL 2012 Week 13 Predictions

Ground out a nice 9-6 last week, time to focus on the stretch run. A lot of 4-6 point lines this week, some curious ones too.

Cardinals +4.5 over Jets, 21-10

-Jets are terrible. Cardinals are still a plus defense against the pass. 4.5 points?  Sure, sign me up. Let’s just ignore that the Cards don’t have an offensive line.

Panthers -3 over Chiefs, 27-14

-Ugh, Panthers aren’t good but this Chief team will be too busy asking for Cam’s autograph to win. Rivera>Crennel, um, I think?

Texans -6 over Titans, 31-10

-6 points? 6 points? I don’t understand. Titans fire their offensive coordinator and Jake Locker is still involved.

-Best eliminator pick

Colts +5.5 over Lions, 24-23

-Don’t bet against Chuck or Luck. New rules to live by. Lions have “on the edge of quitting” potential. At least the wide receivers will probably line up in the right places this week.

Jags +5.5 over Bills, 24-20

-I picked up Chad Henne in a long term keeper league today. I’m starting him in a major playoff matchup. I don’t even know what else to say about myself. In my defense, my other option was Phil Rivers.

Packers -9.5 over Vikings, 34-21

-Packers make some key adjustments for the offensive line and do just fine. Vikings are a nice team, but this is the part of the season where teams in it that need to win put the foot down.

Patriots -9 over Dolphins, 34-14

-Pats blowout the rookie quarterback. They’ve scored 10 points shy of 200 over the last 4 games. Have fun everyone.  

-Second best eliminator pick

Bears -3 over Seahawks, 21-13

-Those corners will be missed when Brandon Marshall goes off for 9-120-2. Bears roll over the Seahawks, who are untrustable right now.

Rams +8.5 over Niners, 20-21

-Tough divisional game between two plus defenses. 8.5 is just too much. Upset would not surprise me here.

Bucs +8.5 over Broncos, 27-24

-WAY too many points. Bucs are playing well here, and the Broncos will slip up at some point.

Bengals -1 over Chargers, 28-12

-Norv. All about Norv. Bengals are playing really well anyways.

Browns -1.5 over Raiders, 24-20

-Browns are simply a much better team. Tougher, stronger, and more talented. Cry Oakland, cry: Cleveland is better than you.

Ravens -3 over Steelers, 27-6

-With Batch in, any number of turnovers is possible.  And the Ravens will turn those turnovers into more points than Cleveland did.

Cowboys -9.5 over Eagles, 28-9

-No faith in the Cowboys but this Eagles team is DONE. Turn them over. Fire Reid now. Please.

Giants -9.5 over Ethnic Slurs, 31-20

-Washington is feisty, but these are the defending champs. Please, Giants roll. By the way, RGIII is great, but Luck is the rookie of the year. Records people, look at the records.

Good luck for everyone starting their fantasy playoffs/trying to get in on the last week. 

Record last week:

Straight Up: 9-6

By Spread: 9-6

Record this year:

Straight Up: 93-51

By Spread: 78-66

Lifetime record:
Straight Up: 482-248
By Spread: 398-339

NFL 2012 Week 12 Predictions

Another good week, we are getting that record up. Short week, so these are out quickly. Enjoy everyone, Happy Thanksgiving.

Lions +3.5 over Texans, 21-20

-Lions are not good, but Texans are traveling on a holiday Thursday to Detroit after playing a killer overtime game in Houston on Sunday afternoon. Houston is better in a vacuum, but the vacuum isn’t pressurized on the Houston side for this one. Don’t know if they can overcome that.

Cowboys -3.5 over Ethnic Slurs, 24-20

-Washington is doing 3 days rest on the road, and the Cowboys have more a realistic shot at the playoffs and that starts to weigh on people’s minds. Dallas lights it up deep as the Washington secondary shows its stripes.

Pats -6 over Jets, 31-13

-The Gronk thing hurts for sure, but the return of Hernandez will help a lot and the Pats are rolling in every area. Typically the last few years the Pats play the Jets once tight and blow them out the other time. So, here is the blowout on national TV. Big game by Lloyd is somewhere in here, waiting to happen.

Colts -3 over Bills, 23-17

-Home game respect? I still don’t really get this line. Forget the NE game, the Colts are much better than the Bills. This is the matchup of the teams I projected to go 6^th and 7^th in the AFC: still wish I had flopped the prediction there.

Browns +3.5 over Steelers, 17-16

-Upset special. As much as an upset this can be with Charlie Batch and Plaxico Burress involved.

Bengals -7.5 over Raiders, 28-20

-AJ Green. AJ Green. AJ Green.

-2^nd Best Eliminator Pick

Bears -4.5 over Vikings, 24-17

-Assuming Cutler plays, or I withdraw the guess. Either way, the Bears I think come up with a lot of spirit after whatever funkiness happened last week.

Not going to dignify Titans and Jags with a guess. This game should be televised in the home markets, on Redzone, or even for the parents of the quarterbacks. Ugh.

Falcons -1 over Bucs, 30-27

-Falcons win a shootout. They aren’t elite, but they are still good and find ways to win.

Seahawks -2.5 over Dolphins, 20-6

-Seattle will contain and crush the Dolphins. Tannehill has regressed, which is sad because I liked him.

Broncos -9.5 over Chiefs, 28-9

-Chiefs are just bad. No QB and no Bowe now, with Broncos rolling.

-Best Eliminator Pick  

Ravens -1.5 over Chargers, 21-19

-Ravens are just catching the Chargers while their soul has been stomped on. Ravens probably aren’t better but this is how it is going to go down. Waiting for that Ray Rice huge game, it is coming.

Saints +2.5 over 49ers, 31-23

-Alex Smith concussed is bad or Colin Kapernick in a more extended look gets exposed. Don’t look now, the Saints are playing MUCH better defense. Saints will light them up and I don’t trust the 49ers to keep up.

Cardinals +2.5 over Rams, 17-16

-Not getting off my Cards now. Ryan Lindley! Gonna be a thing! I even played this game out in Madden and won, and whatever I do with the Cardinals in Madden happens. I have friends that can attest to this.

Packers +3 over Giants, 30-28

-Packers are better right now than the Giants, even if the Giants are rested. I feel like the over is a good bet here.

Panthers +2.5 over Eagles, 20-19

-Just because the Eagles are terrible. The Panthers are less terrible. I mean, kind of.

Record last week:

Straight Up: 9-3

By Spread: 8-4

Record this year:

Straight Up: 84-45

By Spread: 69-60

Lifetime record:
Straight Up: 473-242
By Spread: 389-333

NFL 2012 Week 10 Predictions

Finally, an awesome week. Let’s keep it rolling:

Colts -3.5 over Jags, 21-13

-I just don’t trust the Jags’ ability to score. And I believe in Luck. Who covers Wayne?

Falcons -1.5 over Saints, 34-27

-Shootout, but the Falcons are good enough on defense to hold on to this. Matt Ryan can make a major MVP stance with a huge day.

Pats -10.5 over Bills, 37-17

-Patriots are awesome at home, after byes, and in the second half of the year. And almost every single time against the Bills. Check and mate.

-2^nd Best Eliminator Pick

Broncos -3.5 over Panthers, 24-16

-Apparently the Broncos are decent. I don’t like it, but I’ll lay 3.5. Cam versus Peyton? Guess that is enough.

Lions -1.5 over Vikings, 23-20

-Stafford is clicking, Vikings are going the wrong way, and the underrated portion of this Lions team is the tough defense, even against the running of AP. This should be a good one though.

Bengals +3.5 over Giants, 20-23

-I continue to think the Bengals are decent, but the Giants are too solid to mess this up. Who covers AJ Green though? This is the kind of game that the Giants might mess up, so the points are best.

Raiders +10.5 over Ravens, 27-28

-Ravens simply can’t lose a game like this, but that is WAY too many points. Carson might have another 400-4-4-4 game. Points if you can figure out those categories.

Dolphins -5.5 over Titans, 20-12

-Dolphins are slightly better than decent. Titans are almost decent. Titans run it decently. Dolphins rock at defending that. 20-12 sounds right.

Seahawks -5.5 over Jets, 20-12

-Actually, see above. Pretty much the same thing kind of situation.

Cowboys -1.5 over Eagles, 24-13

-Cowboys have pretty decent pass defense, and Vick remains on the self destruct path. Dangerous game to put any faith into.

Rams +11.5 over Niners, 14-23

-Rams will just keep it too close to lay 11 points. Not quite willing to give it an upset special, but not that far off.

Steelers -11.5 over Chiefs, 27-10

-Shaking my head. This could be ugly.

-Best Eliminator Pick

Record last week:

Straight Up: 10-1

By Spread: 8-3

Record this year:

Straight Up: 68-38

By Spread: 55-50

Lifetime record:
Straight Up: 457-235
By Spread: 375-323

NFL 2012 Week 9 Predictions

Top 5

1. Atlanta

2. Chicago

3. Houston  

4. San Francisco

5. Green Bay

Bottom 5

28. Philadelphia

29. Cleveland

30. Oakland

31. Kansas City  

32. Jacksonville

Packers -9.5 over Cards, 31-17

-Packers will just score too much. Man Cardinals, get a quarterback.

Ravens -3.5 over Browns, 20-13

-Ravens, despite injuries, are still just much better. Browns will play them tough though.

Texans -9.5 over Bills, 35-13

-Bills either win or lose big each week. So the probable result here is a Texans blowout, considering the disparity in talent levels between these two teams.

-Best Eliminator Pick

Bears -3.5 over Titans, 34-10

-Hey, there is my “going to be a close game until one team throws a pair of pick sixes” game! I was waiting to see where it would show up.

-2^nd best eliminator game.

Bengals +4.5 over Broncos, 27-28

-Broncos win a late one, but 4.5 feels like a little too much. Dalton does just fine in this matchup of quarterbacks on totally different ends of the age spectrum.

Lions -4.5 over Jags, 27-16

-Lions are going to try something crazy and get a lead in this one and try to keep it. Gonna be a thing. Don’t always have to come from behind Lions, you know that right?

Colts +1.5 over Dolphins, 24-16

-Continue to love teams with quarterbacks versus teams without one. Luck to Wayne is big in this one as the Dolphins are good against the run and decidedly not against the pass. If Tannehill plays, it is more like a 3 point game.

Vikings +4.5 over Seahawks, 19-21

-Too many field goals + Seahawks home advantage leads to a Seattle win. But for a defensive game with the two most dynamic offensive players being on the Vikings, you can’t lay 4.5.

Giants -3.5 over Steelers, 27-10

-Nothing against the Steelers, simply a pick for the spirit of NY. The whole “flying in a few hours before the game from Pittsburgh” thing isn’t really good either. Eli has a big day.

Falcons -3.5 over Cowboys, 31-24

-It isn’t that the Cowboys cannot score enough points to hang with the Falcons. They totally can. It just seems like most of the time the Cowboys would get to 30+ points it would require a volume that presents the opportunity for Romo to throw 7 picks. I’ll take the nice, safe, consistent Falcons. A loss here essentially ends the Cowboys being a serious playoff team, as I said last week would happen. Sorry Dallas.

Saints -3 over Eagles, 31-25

-The Sproles injury troubles me, but I really think the Eagles are balancing on the edge of disaster. Vick could light this up. However, he has equal chance of being horrible right off the bat and then this could be over. You’ve been warned, either go with the Saints or just stay away. The over, on the other hand, is a nice time right now.

Record last week:

Straight Up: 8-3

By Spread: 6-5

Record this year:

Straight Up: 58-37

By Spread: 47-47

Lifetime record:
Straight Up: 447-234
By Spread: 367-320

MIKE