Wow what a whacky
week of football...must be something about the number 13.
The Patriots did a
nice job securing AFC East Crown, in their 23-16 win in Miami last
week....extra special to be four games ahead of the rest of the
division. Nicely done, and kudos. Miami covering the spread in the
final seconds was just a cherry. Next week, while the dolphins will
fly to San Fran as 10-point road dogs, the Pats will host the Texans
as 3.5-point home favorites.
I am a broken
record. What's with the hook? This game is huge to both teams. For
the Pats a “W” here means a first-round Bye Week, and possibly
Home-Field advantage throughout the playoffs, as well as moving
within one game of the Texans. For the Texans, a “W” would mean
securing No. 1 seed and completing the circle of victories over all
of the other divisional leaders in the conference. Whew. Stakes are
soaring. Monday Night.....Bright Lights, Movie Stars. Some stats
declare that the Patriots are 10-1 in their last 11 Monday
night contests, with the wins coming by an average of more than 20
points. Then I ask you, why does this spread seem so skewered to me?
Man, it's every single week. Let's use our heads for a minute;
The Texans are no joke this year, their
offense is stellar – as is the Patriots, of course, but which
Defense will be more effective against the opposite force? Last time
these two teams met up in Foxboro, Welker tore his left ACL and MCL
in a 34-27 Patriot loss. Oof. This week, the Pats will be short on
the offensive side with TE, Gronkowski out recovering from forearm
surgery until late December, and Julien Edelman last week lost for
the season with a broken foot. The Pats re-signed Donte' Stallworth
on Tuesday to help fill the void. Just a for an instance, if the
Pats did happen to lose, in reality, they will probably (hopefully)
be matched up with the Texans again for the AFC Champ game....and you
know the stats on when the Pats play a team for the second time in
one season...just think about it. It wouldn't be the worst thing to
happen........I'm just saying. Alas, I don't know about that hook,
the trends tell me diddly...some favor the Pats and some favor the
Texans...it should be a great, edge of your seat Monday Night
Football Game whose results will factor into that over-sized machine
of NFL stats and spit out a number of different perks for the winner.
Last
week, San Fran went to St. Louis as 9-point favorites to re-enact the
tie game they shared in week 11....except, this time St. Louis won in
overtime 16-13. The 49ers can actually kick the kicker for the
loss.....49ers K, David Akers, missed a field goal in OT and gave the
Rams the ball on their own 41-yard line.....couple of moves later and
Goodnight San Francisco.
Next
up for St. Louis is a trip to Buffalo as 3-point road dogs. I think
the Bills cover, no stats, just gut.
San
Fran will host Miami as 10-point home favorites and although I think
the 49ers will win, but I think the spread is too high. All of
Miami's losses this season, despite where, have been closer than
10-points and the Dolphins seem to travel well. Although, this will
be a pit-stop at home for the 49ers as their next two games are on
the road, first here, to Foxboro and then to Seattle – both places
difficult to play on the road and the back and forth across the
country has got to amount to something. Huh. Well, this game is a
flip for me....10-points is a lot.
Speaking
of Seattle....wow. It's difficult not to be impressed by rookie QB
Russell Wilson and his level head under pressure against the Bears in
last week's 23-17 overtime win. The Bears also lost Brian Urlacher
for three weeks with a hamstring strain. Owie. Next up for the
Bears is a trip to Minny as 2.5-point road favorites. Well, that's
kind of a weak spread, considering that this is a repeat road trip
for Chicago who conquered the Vikings 28-12 two weeks ago. There is
the question of familiarity, but I truly think that we, Patriot
Nation, just assume other teams utilize the outrageous advantages of
deja vu as well as our own.....and that's just not true. Chicago
also already knows how to beat Minny in the dome. The Seahawks will
host Arizona as 10-point home favorites in this week's Battle of the
Birds. Eek. A lot of chalk. But....it's not unusual for Seattle to
win by more than ten at home and the Cardinals have been imploding
since their “hot” start. I say the ocean birds eat the pretty
red ones.
Last
week, the Jets back-doored the Cardinals...in a 7-6 win. The boys in
Green finally scored a touchdown in the beginning of the fourth and
held the Cardinals to two field goals. Boring. Next.
The
Jets go to Jacksonville as 2.5-point road favorites. Oh Brother.
Talk about a party of inconsistency. Flip it.
My
final game from last week to discuss is that Ind-Detroit nail biter.
QB Andrew Luck, another rookie with a rock solid confidence and laser
arm, led his team to a victory when all odds were against them. The
Colts were losing 33-21 with 2:39 left in the game when Luck tossed a
42-yard touchdown to LaVon Brazill to bring them within 5-points.
Then, this young magician orchestrated an 11-play, 75-yard drive with
a little over a minute left......on fourth down with four seconds
left on the clock, Luck connected with Avery for the winning score.
Talk about on the edge of your seat! Very Peyton-like for such a
young lad.
Next
up, Indy hosts Tennesee as 5-point home favorites and Detroit goes to
GB as 7-point road dogs. I think Indy covers the spread and Detroit
does too, but loses to my beloved Pack.
Finally,
tonight, Denver goes to Oakland as 10.5-point road favorites. Denver
is fighting for all kinds of props; like first-round Bye. Oakland
has been on a horrific losing streak, however, with the exception of
their 38-07 loss to NO in week 11; the Raiders have not lost by more
than 7-points at home all season. I think the Raiders cover the
spread.
Ok
folks, I'm outie. Hope you all have a great weekend!
Also,
I'd like to shout out a very special Happy Birthday to my gorgeous,
brilliant and totally wonderful Eleanor who will be 5-years old
tomorrow. Gosh the time flies. I finally get why my dad wanted to
“put bricks” on my head. :)
Picks without bricks: Bills -3; Miami +10; Seahawks -10; Raiders +10.5; Indy -5 and Detroit +7.
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