2014 NFL Week 8 Picks

Week 8

San Diego +9 at Denver

Detroit -3.5 versus Atlanta (in London)

Minnesota +2.5 at Tampa Bay

Chicago +6 at New England

Kansas City -7 versus St. Louis

Carolina +5.5 versus Seattle

Buffalo +3 at New York Jets

Miami -6 at Jacksonville

Houston -3.5 at Tennessee

Cincinnati +2 versus Baltimore

Philadelphia +1.5 at Arizona

Indianapolis -3.5 at Pittsburgh

Oakland +6.5 at Cleveland

Green Bay +2.5 at New Orleans

Washington +9.5 at Dallas

Last week: 7-8
Season total: 55-48-3

2014 NFL Week 7 Picks

Week 7

If I were a betting man: I'd parlay Buffalo -5.5, Indianapolis -3, and Pittsburgh -3.

New England -9.5 versus New York Jets

Baltimore -6.5 versus Atlanta

Buffalo -5.5 versus Minnesota

Chicago -3 versus Miami

Indianapolis -3 versus Cincinnati

Jacksonville +5.5 versus Cleveland

Detroit -2 versus New Orleans  

Carolina +6.5 at Green Bay

Tennessee +6 at Washington

Seattle -6 at St. Louis

Kansas City +3.5 at San Diego

New York Giants +6.5 at Dallas

Arizona -3.5 at Oakland

San Francisco +7 at Denver

Pittsburgh -3 versus Houston

Last week: 11-3-1
Season total: 48-40-3

2014 NFL Week 6 Picks

Week 6

If I were a betting man, you know I'm always inclined to include the Monday night game in parlays for hedging purposes, so it's no surprise I'm including the Niners -3.5 in a good matchup. I'd throw them in with New England -2.5 and Pittsburgh +1.5.

Indianapolis -2.5 at Houston

This was a little tough for me at first due to the history of home field advantage on TNF, but like I tweeted, I couldn't use that as an excuse to go against Andrew Luck. He's just playing on another level right now, and his favorite weapon, T.Y. Hilton, kills the Texans every time.

Uh oh defenses: Gronk's healthy.

New England -2.5 at Buffalo

The Patriots looked more like the team we're used to seeing in prime time, and I think they'll keep it up despite playing in a hostile environment. The Bills' pass rush worries me a bit, but New England's offensive line seems to be hitting their stride. The pass protection has gotten some help from the tight ends since they've gone back to more 12 personnel sets as Tim Wright has become more acclimated alongside Rob Gronkowski, and they should have nice matchups in coverage, as well.

2014 NFL Week 5 Picks

Week 5

If I were a betting man, hedging against the Patriots on MNF would have worked last week, and I'll recommend the same strategy this week. I'd parlay Cleveland +1.5, New York Giants -4, and Seattle -7.

Green Bay -9.5 versus Minnesota

This was an easy call as soon as Teddy Bridgewater was announced as inactive. I immediately added the Packers D/ST in one of my fantasy leagues and fired them up, along with Eddie Lacy, in a DraftKings league. Unfortunately, I happened to pick a league that didn't get filled and was thus cancelled without me realizing it, negating my value picks for that team. (Not that anybody really cares besides me.)

Something that bothered me in what was an otherwise uneventful second half was Phil Simms continuing the narrative that Bridgewater dropped in the draft due to a lackluster pro day. That bothered me at draft time, as well, and it's idiotic if true. I wholeheartedly agree with Jim Nantz: why does one showing negate a whole season's worth of scouting? Or in this case, Bridgewater was the best quarterback in his class for two years; you can't ignore his whole body of work.

Chicago +2.5 at Carolina

Reaves had some fans in the draft community.

I picked against both these teams last week, but I didn't expect them to struggle like that. The Bears at least looked good in the first half before HaHa Clinton-Dix made a great play to force Martellus Bennet into a bobble outside of the end zone and the clock to run out. On the other hand, the Panthers are missing a lot of bodies, and while undrafted rookie running back Darrin Reaves could provide a spark, I don't think the matchups are in their favor, especially in pass the passing game

2014 NFL Week 4 Picks

Week 4

If I were a betting man, I'd parlay the Lions -1.5, the Colts -7.5, and the Patriots -3.

Washington -3.5 versus New York Giants

Have I mentioned how much I hate Thursday games? The home teams had covered every week until this week, and with Jon Beason still out, I thought Alfred Morris would help mitigate the risk of Kirk Cousins turning back into a pumpkin. I should have seen this coming with Eli Manning looking more and more comfortable in this fast paced offense and facing a bad secondary. At least I was right about Rueben Randle?

Buffalo +3 at Houston

Tying my upset of the week to E.J. Manuel might not be the smartest thing I do this week, but the Texans got exposed a bit last week. If the Bills can get ahead early and move the mall consistently with their running game, they can take advantage of Ryan Fitzpatrick's limitations. Buffalo's already playing stout run defense, and although Alfred Blue looked good (as I had hoped), Houston needs the hobbled Arian Foster to be a workhorse. However, I retain the right to rescind this pick if DeAndre Hopkins makes another ridiculous one-handed catch.

An illegal formation robbed a catch of the year candidate from counting.

2014 NFL Week 3 Picks

Week 3

If I were a betting man, I'd parlay Baltimore -1.5, New Orleans -10.5, and Carolina -3. Chicago +3 also got serious consideration, but you could still hedge on the SNF like MNF.

Tampa Bay +6.5 at Atlanta

Well that didn't go well. While I tweeted that the Falcons would definitely win, I took the points because I thought the Buccaneers would at least be competitive. I underestimated the injuries to their defense, especially on the line, but they're the most disappointing team in the league to me.

Dallas -1 at St. Louis

Murray just kills the Rams.

I still don't believe in the Cowboys defense, but I believe in Austin Davis even less. DeMarco Murray's breakout game as a rookie was when he went for 253 yards and a TD on 25 carries against the Rams, and with the way the Cowboys offensive line is playing, I'd expect more dominance against a St. Louis team that gave up 144 yards to Bobby Rainey on the ground last week. If the Rams do compete, it'll likely be on the back of Jared Cook since the Cowboys get killed by tight ends, but I wouldn't count on Davis until he proves it.

2014 NFL Week 2 Picks

If you missed last week's post, I'm tweeting out Thursday night picks and using vegasinsider.com for the lines each week.

Week 2

If I were a betting man, I'd parlay the Buccaneers -5.5 and Titans -3.5 with the Colts -3 on Monday, although you could talk me into the Jaguars +6 in place of Indy.

Baltimore -2.5 versus Pittsburgh

I got my tweet out late on Thursday, so I'm including a screenshot to show I was definitely in on the Ravens this week. It's amazing how often a team bands together and is galvanized in the face of adversity on a short week. Of course, being the home team on TNF definitely helps.

We'll have to keep an eye out to see whether Baltimore will stay dedicated to the run after the Week 1 debacle of allow Joe Flacco to fire up 62 passes after benching Bernard Pierce for his first career fumble. The big back looked better in this one along with old Cal favorite Justin Forsett, but that may have been a result of the Steelers getting gashed by the exact same zone blocking scheme that nearly cost them their opener, as well. The good new for Pittsburgh is that Le'Veon Bell looks great in an offense that was done in by red zone miscues, punctuated by an interception that Ngat-a whole lot of d-lineman can make. *crickets* Let's move on...

Miami +1 at Buffalo

As the line indicates, this is one of the toughest picks of the week with both teams coming off huge upsets. I'm going with the more talented team even though they're on the road and out their entire linebacker core because I still don't trust E.J. Manuel to be consistent. He could get rattled by this Dolphins defensive line that was all over Tom Brady in the second half last week. With how good Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon are at defensive end, I wonder if they'll convert last year's third overall pick, Dion Jordan, back to outside linebacker once he is reinstated with the league's new drug policy.

Alfred Morris needs to be consistently fed to get a W.

Jacksonville +6 at Washington

I actually think Washington wins this game at home, but the line is way too high given the talent levels of these teams. Of course, I thought the Jaguars would cover last week's +10.5, and they blew a 17-0 lead in agonizing fashion: a fumble return for a touchdown when down 10 with 1:24 left. I think whichever team stays patient with the running game and gets their workhorse back more touches takes this one.