Archive for November 4th, 2009
NFL Picks 2009: Week 8 Results
I’ve been really lazy with columns the last two weeks. Much of it boils down to “my writing nights have been filled up with drinking at bars during World Series games.” My life should get back to normal this weekend.
W/W – Ravens -4 over Broncos, 30-7, Ravens cover: In all fairness, Kyle Orton going 23/37 for 152 yards with no interceptions is an honest to God improvement over Bears-era Orton. I expected an old-school, 4 INT Orton game. Disappointed.
W/W – Bears -13.5 over Browns, 30-6, Bears cover: Off this game, the Browns fired their newly hired GM… because it makes perfect sense to fire a general manager after eight games with a team he had little to no impact in building. And that’s why the Browns are a terrible franchise, and have been since Ernie Accorsi left the 1.0 version.
W/W – Texans -2.5 over Texans, 31-10, Texans cover: Steve Slaton watch: -1.26 points this week. Fantasy Albatross maybe?
L/L – Eagles -2 over Giants, 40-17, Giants outright: OK… taking the Giants temperature against the Eagles or the Cowboys can frequently be a bad thing. This was one of those times. The Giants’ injured list on defense might be a little bit too much to overcome down the stretch. One linebacker, both starting corners, and a starting safety has made their secondary a joke, and the loss of Jay Alford and Kenny Phillips has really hurt the pass rush. The Giants offense, on the other hand, isn’t one to hang 40 points on a good defense. The schedule doesn’t get any easier down the stretch. With only two gimmes left, unless they come up with a defensive game plan to deal with the fact their best players are gone… well… take the over.
W/L – Colts -11 over Niners, 18-14, Colts cover: One of the unlikely covers in Vegas Strikes Back week. The Colts have a few of these every season. They’re hard to predict.
W/W – Dolphins +4 over Jets, 30-25, Dolphins outright: Hey, imagine that… when the Dolphins went back to what worked instead of their inexplicable fourth quarter against the Saints last week, they won a game. Crazy talk.
W/W – Rams +3.5 over Lions, 17-10, Rams outright: The Marc Bulger fantasy start didn’t go as well as expected… actually 176 yards passing could probably qualify as awful. It wasn’t negative points though, so I’ll take it.
W/W – Cowboys -9.5 over Seahawks, 38-17, Cowboys cover: No big thing here. Until the Seahawks get their line straightened out, Hasselbeck might be able to report his teammates to the cops for reckless endangerment. I watch enough Law and Order to know they can use that to put people in jail for 12-20 for dropping a Blackberry.
L/L – Vikings +3 over Packers, 38-26, Packers cover: The Vikings are going to have a very impressive record in the regular season. They are going to get beat in the playoffs. Their defense is not good enough to get them through the Super Bowl. But it’s going to be a fun ride and the playoff game that sees the Saints hang 75 points on them is going to be epic.
W/W – Chargers -6.5 over Raiders, 24-16, Chargers cover: And God bless typos.
L/L – Titans -3 over Jaguars, 30-13, Jags outright: I picked against the Titans, but I’m hoping that Vince Young is going to save my fantasy season in my “Folks From Albany” league. This is the league where I’ve been relegated to a trifecta of Chad Henne, Josh Johnson, and Matthew Stafford and I merely pick match-ups to fill two quarterback slots. Vince Young could theoretically save my season. Go Vince!
L/L – Panthers +9 over Cardinals, 34-21, Cardinals cover: Honestly, I thought the Panthers won this game until I just checked scores. Kurt Warner with 5 interceptions and 1 lost fumble. Delhomme won by completing 7 passes. I guess Fox changed his game plan to “not passing”.
W/L – Saints -9 over Falcons, 35-27, Saints cover: Garbage cover. As mentioned, the Falcons defense is going to be their downfall. The Saints, on the other hand, have adopted the 2005 Colts defensive strategy. “Outscore everyone.” Do we recall how that ended for Peyton Manning in every year except one?
1) Colts -11 over Niners – L
2) Saints -11 over Falcons – L
3) Cardinals -9 over Panthers – L
Standings
Straight Up: 9-4 (75-41)
Against The Spread: 7-6 — four straight weeks with seven wins. Jesus. (56-60)
Spreadery: 0-3, 0 pts (11-12, 19)… this is also not going well.
– Joe (30)
– Aaron (25)
– Tom (19)