The bets last year were mostly brutal. I hit a couple good weeks at the end to make a small profit, but finished below .500 in actual bets. Tony … well, he’s still in hiding. He lost the entirety of his mythical bankroll and then another ¾ of that figure that he’d managed to find some mythical bank to stake.

He’s making contact with us when he feels it’s safe, and he plans to participate in the pool again this year.

Here are the rules: We each start with $10,000. We pick either against the spread or the over/under for three games each week and then finish with one upset against the money line. So here are the standings so far:

Andy $10,000
Tony $10,000

And here are our, for entertainment only, wagers on this week’s opening weekend.

Andy

Week one is always tough. Who the hell knows what’s going to happen.

$750 – Houston (-5.5) vs Chicago – The Bears looked terrible during the pre-season and Jay Cutler no longer has his security blanket in Adam Gase, under whom he played some of his best ball. The run game is a question mark, even with the addition of Josh Sitton, and Kevin White will be playing his first real game in two years. Meanwhile, the Texans debut Brock Osweiler, Lamar Miller and a deep threat in Will Fuller, who, as long as he catches two or three out of four deep passes, should make life easier for DeAndre Hopkins. Texans win this one in a romp.

$500 – Oakland at New Orleans: Over 51 – Drew Brees is aging, but still money at the Super Dome. Derek Carr has Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree ready to hit up a bad Saints defense. There will be some fireworks in this one, fantasy folks.

$750 – NY Giants (-1) at Dallas – I am baffled as to why the line is so close to even in this game, with Dallas offering up no pass rush and starting a QB who has not played a real NFL game yet. Dak Prescott may be fine in time, but it’s his first start against a game-planning defense. And the no pass rush part plays right into the hands of the Giants, where Eli Manning is in his third year in this system – and he has a real number two receiver himself. The Giants will roll in this one.

$300 – New England (+215 money line) at Arizona – I don’t really think the Patriots are going to win this game, but I think it is too easily being put in the win column for the Cardinals. Bill Belichick remains the league’s best coach and, even under Jimmy Garoppolo, he’s going to find a way to make this team competitive. We may learn something about Arizona this week. I suspect they make the playoffs, but I’m not convinced this team doesn’t slide a bit this season. It’s not often you get the Pats at +215 – I’m passing up a couple more obvious upset opportunities to take a shot on this one.

Tony

I’m not sure why we keep doing this — last year I managed to blow my entire bankroll by midseason, and, had this not been hypothetical, I probably would have ended up paying Guido with some broken bones. But what the heck, it’s all good fun, right?

$1,000 – Kansas City Chiefs (-7, +105) over San Diego Chargers – Wouldn’t surprise me if this ended as a push, but I think the Chargers will be one of the worst teams in the NFL this year, and you can’t go 0-16 if you don’t lose the first game. Not that they’re going to be that bad, but…they might.

$500 –  Jacksonville Jaguars (+6, -110) over Green Bay Packers – Originally had this on the money line, until I saw the flaw in my Giants bet (see below), so what the heck, I’ll take six points. I still think the Packers win the north (blech), but I also think they’re ripe to get punched in the mouth a few times, and I think the Jaguars are looking to do some punching, especially starting the season at home.

$750 – New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys: Over 45.5 (-110) – I’ll double dip in this game, which actually features two defenses that I don’t love. The Giants spent a lot of money this season to improve their defense, but it was bad enough to still give up points to the Dallas offense, especially after Eli has thrown 4 OBJ touchdown passes.

$1,000 – New York Giants (+160, money line) over Dallas Cowboys – Initially had this as a bet with the even odds paying +100, but realized if I’m going to do that, I might as well take +160 on the money line.  Not sure why that sports book would offer the initial bet.