ZB Notebook 10-01-2013

by | Oct 1, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Random Thoughts

The New Orleans Saints are for real. They’re better than Atlanta. They’re clearly better than Miami. It was easy to see through the first month of the season that they were going to be better than in 2012. But the ease with which the Saints dismantled the Dolphins last night made it crystal clear: The Saints are for real.

Drew Brees took the offense up and down the field at will. And the defense teed off on Ryan Tannehill, sacking him four times and not giving him any chance to get comfortable at all.

I think this game is more indicative of the strength of the Saints than an indictment of Miami. The Dolphins have plenty of issues to solve – particularly its need to better protect Tannehill. But Miami also is an improved team on the upswing. This was a good, dominant win for New Orleans on a national stage.

(more…)

Catch ZB’s Maggio on the radio or online

by | Sep 27, 2013 | Fantasy Football

Zoneblitz fantasy editor Anthony Maggio can also be found online or on the radio. He’s doing a Friday Internet chat you can stream here at noon central on Fridays.

And don’t forget his Sunday morning radio show on 1500 ESPN. Now that the Twins’ season has mercifully ended, Anthony has a full hour to answer your last-minute questions, starting at 9 a.m.

You can email him questions at maggio@zoneblitz.com or tweet #1500blitz. He’ll get back to almost all of you.

1500ESPN_logo_stacked

NFL Picks 2013: Week 4

by | Sep 24, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Picks

Sunday was one of those “who the hell knows” days when you just never know what’s going to happen in the NFL. A Cleveland team that’s ownership doesn’t even want to win in 2013 beat a desperate Vikings team that had hoped to rebound from an 0-2 start during its home opener. Indianapolis went on the road and not only beat the popular Super Bowl favorite 49ers, but destroyed them. Carolina shut out a flailing Giants team. And the ranks of the unbeaten include New Orleans and Miami.

So it might be fitting that Tony, who often preaches picking the thing you think most unlikely to happen, won the week with an 11-5 mark. All things considered, none of us were destroyed by the upsets. Anthony Maggio finished 10-6 while Rich and I trailed at 9-7. This produces a three-way tie for first in our season rankings.

Here are the standings heading into week four:

Week three Season total
Tony 11-5 32-16
Maggio 10-6 32-16
Andy 9-7 32-16
Rich 9-7 27-21

Week four brings on the first bye weeks and a slate of games that doesn’t have a lot of divisional rivalry games, but again pits a mix of teams you don’t get a chance to see play all that often. It also includes the NFL’s annual trek to London. This year the game features a rematch of Super Bowl IX. Unfortunately, that game was held 38 years ago. In 2013, both teams enter the game 0-3.weekly-picks

Here are our picks for the week:

(more…)

Bet the Mortgage: Week 3, 2013 NFL Best Bets

by | Sep 19, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Gambling

Last week Tony waited until just before kickoff to make his bets. Not sure if he figured it would help his accuracy or not, but it seems like it just gave him more time to over think.weekly-bets

He again hit just one of four bets, dropping him to 2-6 for the season. He’s down to $9,334 from our $10,000 starting point.

I’m not doing real well – another 2-2 mark put me at 4-4 for the season. But I’m at least hitting the bigger ones. I’ve added $687 to my $10,000 start.

Tony is heading off to a bachelor party. He promises to get his picks added in here at some point. But I wanted to get this posted, because I’ve got a betting interest in the Thursday night game. So, here goes week three.

UPDATE: It’s not so much improving my accuracy, it’s that after two weeks, I clearly would make more money if I didn’t make bets. (more…)

NFL Picks 2013: Week 3

by | Sep 17, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Picks

The second week schedule looked like a tough one, but the Zoneblitz contributors handled it well. The four of us combined to go 45-19 for the weekend. I led the pack with a 13-3 mark while Rich rebounded from a rough first week as he and Anthony both hit 11 each. Tony got 10 correct.

weekly-picksSo heading into week three, the standings look like this:

Week two Season total
Andy 13-3 23-9
Anthony 11-5 22-10
Tony 10-6 21-11
Rich 11-5 18-14

 

The schedule doesn’t look a whole lot easier this week with many competitive games on the slate. Hopefully we’ll continue looking like we’ve got at least a bit of a clue. Here goes:

(more…)