Thursday, November 01, 2007

Old Soldiers Never Die


The undefeated Colts (7-0) take on the undefeated Patriots (8-0) on Sunday in the NFL's latest GAME OF THE CENTURY. That showdown headlines the matchups for the weekend. My fellow contributor Bhart has been unable to fulfil his duties as NFL prognosticator for the last couple of weeks, so it's up to me to pick up the slack. Just like MacArthur, I have returned. I will go with a modified SM* this week, meaning that I'll overrule if I think that the pick is blatantly wrong (which probably just means I'll end up with a losing record). Anyway, here goes nothing.
Redskins (-3.5) at Jets

The Jets are terrible. They are throwing the untested QB to the wolves and the Redskins have to be pretty pissed off after getting embarrassed by the Patriots last week. The SM says the Jets will cover, I say different. I'm picking the Skins to win 28-10.

Green Bay at KC (-2)

The odds makers are apparently unimpressed by Green Bay's 7-1 start. Kansas City has been on a roll of late and I believe sit in first place in the AFC least also known as the west. The SM says take Green Bay and so that is exactly what I'm going to do. Green Bay 24-21.

Arizona at Tampa (-3.5)

Tampa has a pretty porous run defense, so the Edge should have a good week. Kurt Warner has some good weapons to use and he should have a couple of good games left in that arm of his. This one is a SM special. Tampa 17-14.

Carolina at Tennessee (-4)

Carolina's starting QB choices are the ancient Vinny Testaverde and the beaten to a pulp David Carr. The only reason that the spread is so low is that Vince Young seems to have forgotten how to complete a forward pass. Young is also nursing a leg injury, so I don't expect much running from him either. This could be a very low scoring affair. Use the SM here. Tennessee wins 10-7.

San Francisco at Atlanta (-3)

Jesus! is it just me or is the NFL just filled with teams that absolutely suck? Wow, you couldn't pay me to watch this game. At least when Atlanta had Michael Vick, it was enjoyable to watch him run around before throwing an interception. Joey Harrington has thrown 4 TDs, 4 picks and has rushed for less than 20 yards. San Francisco gets Alex Smith back this week and that should be enough to put them over the top. Use the SM in this game as well. 49ers 28-12.

Jacksonville at New Orleans (-3.5)

Jacksonville released their '06 starting QB in the off-season and lost their '07 starter last week. Now they will be led by someone named Quinn Gray (no, I've never heard of him either). The Saints are actually starting to hit their stride and Drew Brees had a phenomenal game last week against the 49ers. This one has the smell of a blowout. Disregard the SM on this one and take the Saints 31-7.

Denver at Detroit (-3)

Denver is not the same team outside of mile high stadium (or whatever hell they call their new home), and apparently they aren't the same inside of it either. Detroit has some weapons on offense and they are undefeated at home. I would say that the SM would be good for this one, but I'm thinking of the glory days of Denver. This team has one quality win this year (against Pittsburgh in Denver) and a couple of squeakers against two bad teams (Okaland in OT and a one point win against Buffalo). I'm tempted to pick against the SM here and that exactly what I'm going to do. Detroit 30-20. I know I'm gonna regret that one on Monday.


I can't believe that I still have six more games to pick. I think the NFL ought to give some serious thought to contraction. I mean do the Cardinals really deserve to be in the NFL? Or Detroit for that matter. New rule, if you haven't ever been to the Superbowl, you don't get to have an NFL team. I'll give a break to the expansion teams, but if your franchise existed when the Superbowl was created and you still haven't made it, you don't deserve to be in the NFL. I'll pass that recommendation along the commissioner. Alright back to the never ending picks (unlike the neverending story, which clearly made a promise to me (that they broke along with my heart) when I entered the theater that the movie would never end, this is not a legally binding promise).

Cincinnati at Buffalo (pick 'em)

Well the SM is useless here. This situation doesn't come up very often. We have a fairly anemic Buffalo offense against hard to figure out Bengals. The Bengals looked like the best team in football early last season, but have been mediocre every since. They gave up an astonishing 51 points to Cleveland earlier in the season, so we know that they have the ability to give up a lot of points. They also scored 45 points in that game, so we know that they can put points on the board. Their biggest accomplishment this season was holding New England under 40 points. Buffalo has won two fairly low scoring games in a row. The question is whether they can stop the Bengals offense. I'm leaning toward the Bengals in the is game (because I flipped a coin and it came up heads). I say this one goes the way of the tigers 24-13.

San Diego (-7) at Minnesota

San Diego seems to be rolling after an early season hiccup. Minnesota pretty much has one weapon, Adrian Peterson. He has had one incredible game and the Vikings rolled to 34 points. Outside of that they have been fairly pedestrian. The SM says take the home dog, and while I have no reason to think that the game will go that way, who am I to argue. San Diego 30-24.

Seattle at Cleveland (-1)

Look how far the mighty have fallen. Just two seasons ago the Seahawks were in the Superbowl, now they are underdogs to Cleveland. The Browns are no longer a pushover and have scored over 40 points in two games this year. I have no reason to believe that Seattle will be able to overcome the Dog Pound. Screw the SM take the Browns 24-13.

New England (-5.5) at Indianapolis

Indianapolis 34-31. I think there's been enough written about this game. Plus I really want to be done with this.

Houston at Oakland (-3)

Oakland's not very good. They've lost three games in a row in fact. Their offense is anemic, although Dante Culpepper is capable of putting up big numbers. Houston also sucks. This is another battle between terrible teams. The NFL seems to specialize in these. Go with the SM. Houston 3-0.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh (-9)

Baltimore gets Steve McNair back this week. That's enough for me to endorse the SM pick in this game. Pittsburgh wins a close one 24-21.

That's it for the week. As I've stated in the past, my expertise lies between the white lines of a baseball diamond, so I wouldn't go taking out a second mortgage to lay down bets based on my picks. I'll be back on Monday to give you the rundown of my shame.

*The SM (patent pending) picks the underdog to cover the spread in every game and has a winning percentage pushing 60% (Unsubstantiated claim. The Speigler Method has never been studied by an independent lab, Government Scientists, God, Man or Yale. Therefore I will not accept your card and letters complaining about said method).





Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home