Pittsburgh 23, Tennessee 26
I had: Pittsburgh -7
After much frustration trying to get my mobile browser working, I ended up tweeting my pick so I’d have proof just in case it ended up being right. Obviously that didn’t end up being necessary.
I absolutely hated the idea of taking Pittsburgh by a touchdown over anyone, and obviously I should’ve stuck with that feeling, but the Titans are just so awful this year that I just ended up getting stuck in a never-ending loop of “I’ll take Pittsburgh… no, I hate that… I’ll take Tennessee, no, I hate that… I’ll take Pittsburgh… no, wait…” The obvious solution would’ve been to take the points, but since when do I ever realize the obvious solution when it actually applies?
This Week: 0-1 (0-1 outright)
Season: 40-37-1 (50-29 outright)
Cincinnati -2 over At Cleveland
Don’t love Cincy on the road this year, but Cleveland is looking like the worst team in the league and a Week 17 matchup with arch rival Pittsburgh at 0-15 is bigger than any of us, and probaly has to happen.
Indianapolis +3.5 over At NY Jets
When I’ll know I’m in the clear: “Tim Tebow is coming out with the first team offense to start another drive, and it’s starting to look like he’s going to stay in this game.”
Kansas City +4 over At Tampa Bay
Kansas City might be a much more brutal trainwreck than Tampa Bay, but when two trainwrecks collide (to make an even bigger trainwreck, I guess?) you take the points. Tampa Bay should absolutely not be favored by 4 over anyone.
At Atlanta -9 over Oakland
Did Vegas outlaw double-digit lines? That’s the only way I can figure out several of last week’s spreads, and this one. I’m not as sold on Atlanta as a lot of people, but we’re talking about Oakland!!! Not a team, not a team, we talking about Oakland!!!
(Yeah, okay: an Allen Iverson reference may have been weirdly out of place even for me. Let’s move on.)
At Baltimore -3.5 over Dallas
This should be an easy pick but it’s not sitting well with me for some reason. That’s probably a bad sign? Let’s move on again. Quickly.
Detroit +3.5 over Philadelphia
The old “two ugly/disappointing teams who have been murdering their fan bases all year en route to memorably forgettable seasons are playing each other, so take the points” trick!
(Wow, these two teams are weirdly similar. It really doesn’t seem like they should be.)
At Miami -4.5 over St. Louis
Has any regular season game in the last few years exposed two teams as frauds at the same time more thoroughly than “Arizona 3, St. Louis 17″?
New England -3.5 over At Seattle
A lot of weird chatter going on about this game. I think everyone is overthinking this. New England’s offense is capable of just absolutely burying anyone who can’t keep up. Seattle can only win if they play their kind of game. This feels like a no-brainer to me. How big of a chance is there that Seattle manages to dictate the tempo of the game? You might think it’s much higher than I do, but do you think there’s any chance Seattle wins if that doesn’t happen? Play the odds here.
At Arizona -4 over Buffalo
Arizona has been exposed as an absolute fraud, and I don’t really want to pick them at all (let alone by 4.5), but Buffalo may be one of the top three worst teams in the NFL this year.
Minnesota +2 over At Washington
I should love being able to grab the points here with RG3 and his top target Pierre Garcon both questionable for this game and Minnesota coming out of nowhere to look like a genuine playoff team. I don’t know what’s weirder: that Minnesota is the underdog or that I hesitated before I took them. Very weird football year.
NY Giants +6.5 over At San Francisco
I’m counting the ways these two teams are different than the ones who met last winter for the NFC Championship. Hold on. Hold on. Still counting. Hold on. Oh, yeah: THEY’RE NOT!!!
Okay: Alex Smith looks a whole lot better this year than he did last year. He looks like a legitimately top tier NFL quarterback, actually. (Yes: we’re talking about Alex Smith.) But what about Eli Manning? Dude is on another planet the last two years.
San Francisco is a beast and is probably heading for a 1 or 2 seed. But there’s no way you sell me on them being almost a touchdown better than the defending Super Bowl champions. I’m just not seeing it. (And yes, I’m taking New York outright because I think an upset is very possible and picking the favorite is boring in games like this.)
At Houston -3.5 over Green Bay
This line is too low. Grab it and run.
Denver PK over At San Diego
Peyton Manning on Monday Night Football.
Peyton Manning on Monday Night Football.
Peyton Manning on Monday Night Football.
Peyton Manning on Monday Night Football.
Peyton Manning on Monday Night Football.
