Cincinnati +4 at Houston: Bet the house on the Bengals. They have the better QB and are getting 4?!?! Houston’s entering the game on a 3 game skid, finally showing the effects of a string of injuries to key players. Cincinnati.
Detroit +11 at New Orleans: You got two 5000 yard passers airing it out, and both QBs enter the game red-hot, which has some people dreaming of a GB-Arizona/Warner-Rodgers type game—it won’t happen, and I’ll explain why later. The Saints have won 8 straight, 5 of them by at least two touchdowns. . .the Lions defense was humiliated by Matt Flynn last week. . .it was so bad, it left you wondering how in the Hell they could even force New Orleans to punt one time. But the Lions defense isn’t that bad. . .no NFL team’s defense is that bad. . .the week before, the Lions held San Diego to 10. But the Lions aren’t going to win. . .because they have to beat the Saints and the zebras, with the Saints actually being easier to beat. . .there will be plenty of iffy pass interference and horse collar penalties giving Brees at least one 5 down series on each possession. . . and Lions receivers will have to get 3 feet down in the end zone for any tds to count. If the game was played with both teams wearing generic uniforms, I’d pick the Saints to win, but the Lions to cover, but since the Lions will have to wear their road uniforms , the pick against the spread is New Orleans.
Atlanta +3 at New York Giants: Atlanta getting 3? Ridiculous. E-Z money to be made betting on the Falcons. . .they are better than the Giants, plain and simple. The Giants can’t run, and have a mediocre run defense—all the Falcons have to do is pay attention to Victor Cruz, and then give the ball to Turner 25 times, and they win going away. The only way the Falcons lose is if the Giants d-line plays like they used to three years ago and harass Ryan into tossing 3 INTs. I don’t see that happening. Atlanta.
Pittsburgh at Denver +9: Initially I figured Pittsburgh would blow away the Broncos, but the more I think about it, the more I like Denver. Pittsburgh has not been an offensive juggernaut by any means, barely averaging 20 points a game, and the Broncos defense has only been torched by premier pass offenses like Detroit, New England and Green Bay. . .the Steelers ain’t in that league. Of course, the Broncos are going to be hard pressed to score any points against the Steelers defense. The one thing the Broncos do well is run the ball, and the Steelers have a solid run defense. It’s hard to imagine Tebow even passing for 100 against Pittsburgh, so for the Broncos to win, they’ll have to get turnovers, kick a lot of field goals and maybe get a return TD from their defense or special teams. . .not likely to happen, but they should kick enough field goals to beat the spread against the Steelers mediocre offense. Denver.
Ha. . .New Orleans never punted!!
ReplyDeleteAnd Dalton sucked. . .
Unreal. I thought the Steelers would blow-out Denver. . . . Tebow still completed less than half his passes (a few should have been caught, but that's the burden of the QB. . . . receivers miss catches, though I wonder whether the lefty ball causes some of them).
ReplyDeleteBut his yards? It is a QB's game now, for sure: 316!?!
50 on the ground, no INT's, no fumbles (I don't think). . . . pretty good game, but still, an OT victory.
Denver can't seem to close them out but a W is a W, as they say.
As for the Atlanta game, the press is pretty harsh. . . they are saying there is nothing good to take from the game against NY. And they are correct. Turner got less than 50 on the ground and Ryan is not good enough to overcome a bad defense when he hasn't got any run support.
He's okay, but he was never 1st round material.
As bad as Atlanta played, and as terrible as Detroit's defense was, I'd still say Pittsburgh was the biggest round 1 flop. To get beat deep again and again by Tebow, when you supposedly have a great defense? Pittsburgh can't believe they got Tebow'd.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, the Pitt/Den game was a forgone conclusion. Pitt was going to win. It was a warm-up, etc.
ReplyDeleteEven if NO lost, Pitt would still have been the biggest flop if for no other reason than last year when NO lost to Seattle.
Atlanta has gaps that are going to be a mess to fix given the free agents on D. The secondary looks awful, though the line is partly to blame. The line is going to have trouble. Abraham is gone. Even if he stayed, he's going to be 34 next season.
Jones was a good pick and worth it because I believed then and believe now he was a bird in the hand rather than 5 in the bush. But how does Ryan get less than 200 yards with Gonzo? White? Jones? Come on. He was sacked twice (one of those times on the last play). Pass protection wasn't an issue. What gives? Is run-blocking an issue?
With Turner and Snelling (though Turner was unable to make cuts and is the magic RB 30 this year), how can't the Falcons make it? If Turner is toast, why not go to Snelling?
2 points on a safety. It's difficult to have a good takeaway.
Onwards to the draft. Holes need to be filled at defense. RB will have to wait. The ATL OC is probably going to be HC somewhere next year and it may be a good thing. The next OC may realize ATL is a running team, especially given the ATL defense. You can't go 3 and out on most defenses and expect them to be rested, especially the ATL D.