Time for my NFL picks for this upcoming week
Music to listen to: Un Buitre Amable Me Pico by Omar Rodriguez Lopez
I’ve been playing this song constantly for the past week and still find it epic.
On to the picks (home team in CAPS)
MINNESOTA (-5.5) Buffalo: How about Stevie Johnson’s Twitter rant after his bad performance against Pittsburgh last week. This has Nick Anderson-level potential for the mental on-field breakdown of a pro athlete. Anderson was a star player for the Orlando Magic in 1995 and had a chance to clinch game one of the NBA Finals that year against the Houston Rockets with four late free throws. He missed all of them, Houston came back to win that game and the series in four games. The Magic never reached that level for many years and Anderson was never the same player. Granted, the Bills aren’t in the Super Bowl and won’t even make the playoffs this year so the comparison may not be completely accurate but when I saw all of Johnson’s drops, especially the one in overtime in the end zone, I thought of Anderson.
MIAMI (-4.5) Cleveland: The LeBron James we saw last night against Cleveland was the player that many of us grew to enjoy the past seven years. In a way, I’m glad that he got the game over with in Cleveland so that we can all move on. I understand the bitterness that the fans have because they felt like LeBron left them in a mean way, which he actually did. However, like any breakup with a significant other, you have to move on and hope for the best. BTW, the Cavs are one of the five worst teams in the NBA so taking anything that James did last night has to be looked at through that scope.
Jacksonville (+3) TENNESSEE: I like Courtland Finnegan. Met the guy once at Belmont when he attended a men’s basketball game there. Super nice guy off the field and a good citizen. However, he got what he deserved last Sunday from Andre Johnson. I thoroughly enjoyed the fight, however…
BALTIMORE (-3) Pittsburgh: I find it strange how Courtland and Johnson got fined $20K each while James Harrison gets fined $25K for his hit on Ryan Fitzpatrick. I’m all for protecting the safety of players but first, I don’t think Harrison’s hit was that bad, especially in comparison to some of the other hits he’s had this year. Furthermore, how can you have two men take each other helmets off, swing closed fists at each other and neither one get suspended AND fined less than a hit on a quarterback. Combine that with the NFL’s desire to have 18-game seasons and you’re seeing a textbook example of hypocrisy in action.
NY GIANTS (-7) Washington: The Giants own Washington and this Sunday will be no different. New York will get this win but unfortunately will miss the playoffs which as a Giants fan is disappointing.
DETROIT (+5) Chicago: People are showing the Bears a little too much love lately and as much as I have love for Jay Cutler (Vandy Commodore represent!), this game has a three interception performance from him written all over it. If the Bears are smart, particularly Mike Martz, they’ll wear out Matt Forte and the running game in this contest.
GREEN BAY (-8) San Francisco: The Packers are one of the two best teams in the NFC and barely lost to the top squad in its conference on the road last week. I think some home cooking will help Green Bay. How bad is it that the 49ers are still contenders in the NFC West?
New Orleans (-6.5) CINCINNATI: What do you do if you’re the Bengals ownership? Do you blow up this unit and start over? I think you have to consider it because they’ve reached the peak with this core of players. Is there a trade market for Chad Ochocinco?
Also, much respect to Drew Brees for being named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year. It was an obvious choice that could have been predicted back in March. However, in any other year, you could have made cases for Jimmy Johnson from NASCAR and Rafa Nadal from men’s tennis. Johnson just won his FIFTH consecutive Series Championship, which is ridiculous in auto racing. Nadal just won THREE consecutive majors this year on THREE different surfaces. That’s comically good.
TAMPA (+3) Atlanta: The Falcons are the better team but I think the Bucs have one more good win in them before fading out of the playoffs’ picture.
Oakland (+13) SAN DIEGO: The Chargers are the better squad but those are a lot of points to cover, even if its at home.
SEATTLE (-5.5) Carolina: When you’re unsure about a game between two below-average squads, take the home team with the points.
INDIANAPOLIS (-5.5) Dallas: Some had this as a Super Bowl prediction at the beginning of the year. I’ll admit that I had Indy winning the AFC but didn’t understand the love for the Cowboys. Dallas got their two game boost with the interim head coach and start coming back to reality with this contest.
St. Louis (-3.5) ARIZONA: Enjoyed the Derek Anderson rant after the Cardinals loss to San Francisco on Monday. He could have avoided all of that by just saying that the team was losing and all you can do is laugh. Personally, if the Giants were losing like that and Eli Manning was caught on the sidelines like that, it wouldn’t make me mad.
We’re seeing the disconnect between the mentalities of fans and athletes increase over time. Fans have to realize that athletes don’t live and die with every moment in every game. The majority of the players want to win for a variety of reasons such as money, fame, personal pride, championships, ego, etc.
Their approach to the game differs on each players. You have some players like Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics who are intense all of the time and then you have some like Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic who is smiling the majority of the time on the court. This doesn’t mean that either man wants to win more than the other, that’s just the way that individual is wired.
Anderson may have seen that the Cards were losing by a lot and was laughing with his teammate to relieve the tension and anger of being defeated on national TV. That’s just my two cents.
NEW ENGLAND (-3.5) New York Jets: The game of the year so far and it should be entertaining. Both teams legitimately don’t like each other, which is rare in these days in pro sports, so even as an outside observer, I like that energy going into the contest. I can see either squad pulling off the win but I’m going to take the home squad.
Those are my thoughts, what are yours?
Last week: 7-9-0
This week: 1-0-0
Season: 95-76-3
The Sports Inquirer 
Leave a comment