I'm usually not a morning person, but things got off to a fast start with my straight up picks last week .In the early games, I won seven out of eight. Which means I hit eight out of the first 10 games counting the Thursday and Saturday games.
Things didn't quite go as well in the afternoon however and I ended up finishing with a respectable, but not spectacular, 10-6 weekly record picking straight up.
It was also a bit rougher against the spread. For the week, I had a 7-8-1 record against the bookies.
It actually could have been better. I thought about switching my picks for the Dallas and Carolina games, because I had a feeling they might be close.
Unfortunately, I backed out and it cost me, since both of them not only covered, but won as underdogs. I guess that just goes to show you that betting isn't for the faint of heart.
As long as we are talking about those upsets last week , what significance will they have on this week's games? In the grand scheme of things, probably not much.
For the Saints, if anything, it is a good thing they lost. With the exception of the Patriots game they have been coasting since week seven. This will probably serve s a badly needed wake up call going into the playoffs.
As is typical for the Cowboys, they came up big in a game few people expected them to win. The other thing they typically do is lose a big game they are supposed to easily win right after that kind of win.
That and the fact there is a huge chance for them to be looking ahead to the Eagles game next week is why I am picking them to lose to the Redskins this week.
It's admittedly hard to put a lot of faith in Washington after the way they laid down against the Giants last week, but this pick is based more on the Cowboys than the Redskins.
In regards to the Vikings, all you can really say is what a difference a few weeks makes. At this time four weeks ago, it was a foregone conclusion that the Vikings had the No. two seed sewn up and were a legitimate threat to grab the home field advantage away from the Saints.
Many people were even arguing that the Vikings were the best team in the NFC, if not the entire NFL.
Since then, Minnesota has lost two out of three games and word has leaked out about internal strife between Brett Favre, who has begun looking very ordinary, and Coach Brad Childress. At this point, they are even in danger of losing the No. two seed to the Eagles.
Things may get very interesting for the Vikings even though I'm pretty hard pressed to envision them losing to Chicago and the turnover machine they mortgaged their future to get from Denver (Jay Cutler).
My other big upset pick this week is the Titans over the Chargers. By all rights the Chargers should win this game, but I just have one of those feelings about the Titans.
In fact, there are going to have to be a lot of stars aligning just right over the next two weeks, but I think somehow, someway Tennessee is going to make it into the playoffs. Call it a Christmas miracle, but I believe in them.
For the year, my record now stands at 138-83 straight up and 113-107-3 against the spread.
My Picks for the 2009 Week Sixteen NFL Games
| Fri, Dec 25 | 4:30 PM (PST) | 5:30 PM (MST) | 6:30 PM (CST) | 7:30 PM (EST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Favorite | Underdog | Point Spread | Straight Up | Against the Spread |
@Tennessee | San Diego | 3.0 | Tennessee | Tennessee |
Sun, Dec 27 | 10:00AM (PST) | 11:00 AM (MST) | 12:00 PM (CST) | 1:00 PM (EST) |
@Atlanta | Buffalo | 9.0 | Buffalo | Buffalo |
@Cincinnati | Kansas City | 13.5 | Cincinnati | Cincinnati |
@Cleveland | Oakland | 3.5 | Cleveland | Oakland |
@Green Bay | Seattle | 14.0 | Green Bay | Green Bay |
@Miami | Houston | 3.0 | Houston | Houston |
@New England | Jacksonville | 8.0 | New England | New England |
@New Orleans | Tampa Bay | 14.0 | New Orleans | New Orleans |
@New York Giants | Carolina | 7.0 | New York Giants | New York Giants |
@Pittsburgh | Baltimore | 2.5 | Pittsburgh | Baltimore |
Sun, Dec 27 | 1:00 PM (PST) | 2:00 PM (MST) | 3:00 PM (CST) | 4:00 PM (EST) |
@Arizona | St. Louis | 14.0 | Arizona | Arizona |
@San Francisco | Detroit | 12.5 | San Francisco | Detroit |
@Indianapolis | New York Jets | 5.5 | Indianapolis | New York Jets |
@Philadelphia | Denver | 7.0 | Philadelphia | Philadelphia |
Sun, Dec 27 | 5:20 PM (PST) | 6:20 PM (MST) | 7:20 PM (CST) | 8:20 PM (EST) |
Dallas | @Washington | 6.5 | Washington | Washington |
Mon, Dec 28 | 5:30 PM (PST) | 6:30 PM (MST) | 7:30 PM (CST) | 8:30 PM (EST) |
Minnesota | Chicago | 7.0 | Minnesota | Minnesota |
2 comments:
The NFL is creating a partnership with researchers at Boston University who are studying the long-term effects of brain injuries on players, the Associated Press reported. “It’s huge that the NFL Draftactively gets behind this research,” Robert Cantu, the co-director of the school’s research program, told the AP. “It forwards the research. It allows players to realize the is concerned about the possibility that they could have this problem and that the NFL is doing everything it can to find out about the risks and the preventive strategies that can be implemented.”
Merry Christmas! And have a good time!
That's definitely a step in the right direction, although there is so much more that could be done to address concussion risk and the NFL has a history of fighting against it. Hopefully, they'll continue along this path.
I hope you had a great Christmas, too!
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