WEEKEND 10 NFL PICKS
 |
| Bought a boogie board in Costa Rica and managed to master it . . . on land! |
Pura Vida would not be the term to describe the National
Football League sufferings this season by the gawd-awful Jacksonville Jaguars,
Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs or Carolina Panthers.
Some might add the
underachieving New York Jets and New Orleans Saints to this list, but at least
the Jets and Saints have won three times and don’t park their cars in the never-used end
zone like the other four sad-sack squads.
There are definite patterns starting to emerge as the NFL
hits Weekend 10. This makes it a bit easier to separate the pretenders from contenders,
but also tougher to win your pigskin pool because most of your rivals are
picking the better teams and not relying on their (beer) gut instincts.
 |
| Killer scorpion paid visit to our condo before wife flushed it down the toilet! |
The Costa Rican eatery, surrounded by surf shops, bars and dusty cabs,
was located next door to Sharky’s sports bar, where a small billboard boasted,
We Now Have NHL Games For Your Pleasure, Just Not Now! Too funny.
So, after seeing crocodiles, monkeys, spiders, lizards,
turtles, crabs, birds and a scorpion (in our freakin’ room), it’s back to the
NFL jungle and my Week 10 picks. Drum roll, please:
SUNDAY MORNING
Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots
The Patriots are heavily favoured to blitz the Bills faster
than you can say “Terry Bradshaw pass the bucket of chicken,” but the Brady bunch’s
spread is 10½ points, which makes it tough to mortgage the house on that game,
unless you don’t like the house or the bank wants it back!
At this time of year the weather can be nasty (snow, ice,
wind) in the Boston area, which makes scoring tougher. The Patriots will win,
for sure, but the point spread makes me a tad nervous.
Gord’s Great Guess: Patriots, but they won’t cover the point
spread.
New York Giants at Cincinnati Bengals
The Giants usually play well on the road. The Bengals plays
well everywhere, but rarely knock off the contenders when it matters.
Gord’s Great Guess: The Giants, despite some poor play
recently, will win by at least 7 points, to cover the spread and prove they are
getting their stuff together for the stretch drive. Playing for the poor people
of New York/New Jersey who lost everything in Superstorm Sandy will motivate
the G-men.
San Diego Chargers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs are 3.5-point favourites, and sport great pirate
posse names like Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, Da’quan Bowers, LeQuan Lewis, Tiquan
Underwood and Arrelious Benn. The buzz about San Diego being Super Bowl
contenders has faded faster than my vacation funds!
Gord’s Great Guess: Expect this one to be a battle, and
close. But I pick the Bucs to prevail by at least 4 points.
Denver Broncos at Carolina Panthers
The Peyton Manning-led Broncos are 3.5-point favourites and
will easily cover that spread and pound the Panthers on Sunday.
Gord’s Great Guess: The Broncos are quietly putting together
a solid season. On Sunday they’ll quietly pick the Panthers’ pockets of a
needed victory.
Tennessee Titans at Miami Dolphins
Miami is 5.5-point favourites and will win by at least 10 on
Sunday against a Titans’ squad that looks to be joining the Jaguars’ plunge to
the bottom of the standings.
 |
| Ziplining through canyon was an adrenalin rush. Deadly snakes were hoping I slipped! |
Oakland Raiders at Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens seem to always win ugly, and this weekend they
will, but they are 7.5-point favourites and I’m not sure they’ll cover that
spread against an Oakland team that hangs around every weekend like a family
member in need of a handout.
Gord’s Great Guess: Baltimore to win, but not cover the
7.5-point spread.
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints
The Dirty Birds are looking for payback after the Saints
laid a 45-16 whipping on them last season, a game in which the Falcons accused
the Saints of running up the score and taunting them while doing it.
Atlanta, one of the best teams this season, will repay the
favour this Sunday and win by at least 10 points.
Gord’s Great Guess: Still tough to believe how much Bounty
Gate hurt the Saints this season. Quarterback Drew Brees, who could do no wrong
in Who Dat Nation last year, can’t fix the leaks this season. Falcons will win
big on Sunday, and smirk while doing it.
Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings
The Lions are getting their stuff together, having won three
straight games, while the wheels have fallen off the Vikings. Minnesota is
favoured to win by at least 1.5 points, but I think that’s off target.
Gord’s Great Guess: Detroit will win by at least 4 points.
The Vikings, losers of three of their past four games, look lost at sea, again!
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
New York Jets at Seattle Seahawks
A story this week in The Sporting News said Rex Ryan of the
Jets is the NFL’s most overrated coach according to a players’ poll. It
suggested Mark Sanchez might be the most overrated quarterback and the Jets’
receivers are the worst at catching footballs.
The Jets spent an entire week pumping up the volume and
practicing the no-huddle offence for a noisy afternoon in Seattle. The Seahawks
are 5.5-point favourites to win.
Gord’s Great Guess: Seahawks haven’t lost at home this season (sorry Green Bay fans to
remind you of that) and they won’t lose to the Jets on Sunday. They’ll win by
at least 7 and talk of firing Ryan, Sanchez and the water boy will continue
everywhere except at our house where Marky Mark can do no wrong in the wife’s blurry eyes.
Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
This is perhaps the toughest game to pick, even though the
Eagles are 2.5 favourites.
The Cowboys have flashes of brilliance but no finish. The
Eagles impress then depress, sometimes in the same drive. Most of the experts
are picking Philly.
Gord’s Great Guess: Dallas seems to have just a bit more
going for them, and an offence that can drive the field and eat up the clock.
This could be a coin flip, but pick the Cowboys by at least 3 points.
St. Louis Rams at San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers will win, for sure. But they are 11.5-point
favourites so covering the spread might be tricky.
Gord’s Great Guess: The 49ers have a great defence.
Quarterback Alex Smith can dazzle at times, but 11.5 points? Yikes that’s a big
spread. The 49ers will win for sure and while the Rams are butt-ugly-bad, not
sure if they will lose by 12.
SUNDAY NIGHT
Houston Texans at Chicago Bears
Without a doubt one of the best battles of the weekend. Odds
makers give Da Bears a 1.5-point edge.
Gord’s Great Guess: All the experts are picking the Bears to
win at cold Chicago. I am playing a hunch and going with the Texans to win by
7. No one will agree with me, but pools are won or lost by hunches and my gut
(filled with Costa Rican ribs and suds) says Houston won’t have a problem.
MONDAY NIGHT
Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers
The only “if” in this game Monday is “if” the Steelers will
cover the 12.5-point spread. They will win, the Chiefs will make Monday Night
Football producers wish for an end to the NHL lockout and the broadcast booth
will beat the fans in the race to see who snores first with this one.
Gord’s Great Guess: Steelers to cream Chiefs by 14 points or
more.
 |
| The before photo . . . the after photo with my look of terror didn't turn out (wink, wink)! |
No comments:
Post a Comment