PICKING THE CFL AND NFL'S BEST OF THE WEEK

BRALEY BOWL IN THE MAKING AND SMART NFL PICKS

It has been suggested that close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and drive-in theatres. Add football pools to the list, too.

Unlike my younger brother, Ward ‘Mr. Perfect’ Kurenoff, who likes to remind our above average readers how freakin’ accurate his CFL picks are on a daily basis, and that he won a big hockey pool last year when the NHL didn’t stand for the No Hockey League, I prefer the humble route.

But did you notice I picked the Bills to win by at least four points on Thursday and they won by five? And did I mention we have a .750 average on NFL picks after 10 weeks, and higher if you throw out the point spreads? Did I mention how more and more people are using my little old picks for their office pools? Of course not, that’s not how I roll.

Our NFL picks are a bit shorter this week (way too early to start clapping). And I want to add My Two Bits about the CFL East and West Finals, so drum roll, please.

First, the CFL: The B.C. Lions will crush the Stampeders on Sunday. Nik Lewis, who proves you don’t have to be smart to play for the Stampeders, poked the bear by tweeting the Lions were afraid to play them. And to think that was his smartest tweet of the week, but I digress. Lions by 12, maybe even more.

The Toronto Argonauts, owned by David Braley (who also owns the Lions), will knock off the Als at Olympic Stadium in Montreal by at least eight points, setting up a Braley Bowl Grey Cup on Nov. 25. It will be nice to see a sold-out CFL game in Toronto, even if 98 per cent of the Rogers Centre crowd is from out of province and the other two per cent have never heard of the Argos.

Now for the NFL:

Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins

The Redskins are favoured by 2.5 points.  Both teams are 3-6 and starting to shop for playoff tickets. The Eagles are also without quarterback Michael Vick because of a nasty concussion, while the Redskins have a healthy RG3, playing at home.

Gord’s Great Guess: Redskins to fly past the Eagles by 3 points or more.

Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions
The Packers are 4.5-point favourites. They’ll prey Sunday on the Lions in Motown. Some experts are divided on this one, figuring the Packers aren’t what they used to be. Let them waste their money.

Gord’s Great Guess: Pick Packers to prevail by seven points or more.

Arizona Cardinals at Atlanta Falcons

The Dirty Birds are 9.5-point favourites, which is a bit high against a rock-solid defence like the Cards, who can’t score but can stop offences.

Gord’s Great Guess: Pick Atlanta to win, but the point spread is a bit high. Still, I can’t resist going with the Dirty Birds to prevail by at least 10 points.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers

The Bucs are 1.5-point favourites and the Panthers are being called a team of the future by their own fans, which loosely translated means they have no hope in hell now.

Gord’s Great Guess: Bucs win, easy.

Cleveland Browns at Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys are 7.5-point favourites against the Charlie Browns. Everything is bigger in Dallas, except the expectations for the hot-and-cold Cowboys.

Gord’s Great Guess: Cowboys will win by 8 points or more or fans will begin watching the cheerleaders instead of the team . . . wait, half of the fans already do that. Cowboys must win Sunday or playoff-starved fans will convert to Texans’ faith.

New York Jets at St. Louis Rams

How far have the Jets plunged? The lowly Rams are 3.5-point favourites this weekend.

Gord’s Great Guess: The anti-Jets sentiment is understandable, but they will beat the Rams. There are a lot of Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan bashers and those who believe the New York receivers couldn’t catch a flu. But the Jets will win Sunday in convincing fashion (wink, wink), by 3 points or more!

Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots

The Patriots are 9.5-point favourites to squash Andrew Luck and the Colts. That’s a big number for a cold Sunday in the Boston area. It won’t be a T (shirt) party.

Gord’s Great Guess: Pats will win in a squeaker but won’t cover the spread.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans

Wow, the oddsmakers have made the Texans 15.5-point favourites. That’s a Grand Canyon-sized spread.

Gord’s Great Guess: Texans will win for sure. But I’m a tad nervous about the 15.5-point spread and I don’t think the Jags will get blown out by that much, even though Houston won 27-7 earlier this season. My gut says it will be closer this time, by 12 or 13, but not 15.5.

Cincinnati Bengals at Kansas City Chiefs

The Bengals are 3.5-point favourites, but KC is playing much better and almost beat the Steelers last week.

Gord’s Great Guess: The Chiefs will win, maybe even in overtime, but they will win. Barely!

New Orleans Saints at Oakland Raiders

The Saints are marching and Drew Brees is playing like the MVP of yesteryear. The Raiders are hot and cold, but mostly cold. Tougher to secure a safe parking spot in Oakland than a win these days.

Gord’s Great Guess: Saints are favoured by 5.5 points and they’ll win by at least seven points. Raider Nation will be screaming for coaching and player changes, which means another recruiting trip to local prisons!

San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos

The Broncos are favoured to win by 7.5 points at Mile High. The Chargers continue to start fast and run out of gas by the third quarter.

Gord’s Great Guess: Broncos to win by 9 or more.

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers are favoured by 3.5 points without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, which is incredible.

Gord’s Great Guess: Ravens will win a defensive struggle by at least 3 points.

THE MONDAY NIGHTER

Chicago Bears at San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers are 4.5 favourites and the Bears won’t have QB Jay Cutler due to concussion issues.

Gord’s Great Guess: San Fran will prove they are for real on the Monday Night Football stage and blitz the Bears by 8 points or more. Expect a 27-10 kind of game!