NFL Playoffs: Divisional weekend picks and bets

by | Jan 12, 2013 | 2012 season, NFL Gambling, NFL Picks

After a week of rather lackluster Wildcard games, the NFL playoffs are back at it today with a slate of games that at least appears to be a lot more appealing. In our new pick format last week, Andy kicked my butt, going only 7-5 with his picks, but getting two best bets for 11 total points. I went 5-7, and finished with 7 points.

Andy Tony
Baltimore at Denver
straight up Denver Denver
spread Baltimore +8.5 Denver -8.5
over/under over 45 over 45
Green Bay at San Francisco
straight up San Francisco San Francisco
spread San Francisco – 3 San Francisco -3
over/under under 45 under 45
Seattle at Atlanta
straight up Seattle Atlanta
spread Seattle +2 Atlanta -2
over/under under 44.5 over 44.5
Houston at New England
straight up New England New England
spread New England -9.5 Houston +9.5
over/under over 47.5 over 47.5
Best Bets Baltimore at Denver over 45 Baltimore at Denver over 45
San Francisco -3 Green Bay at San Francisco under 45
Seattle +115 Seattle at Atlanta over 44.5
New England -9.5 Houston at New England over 47.5

Our game takes:

(more…)

Did Bears make mistake firing Smith?

by | Jan 8, 2013 | 2012 season, NFL Random Thoughts

Heading into the weekend of week 17, I had a Twitter exchange with Da Bears Blog wherein he indicated he did not believe Smith’s job was in jeopardy, regardless of whether Chicago won or lost in week 17 against Detroit.

The Bears went on to win the game, but Smith was fired regardless of the 10-6 record posted by the Bears. I thought there was a decent chance Smith’s job was on the line but guessed that he would not be canned if the team finished 10-6, even if it missed the playoffs.

We both were wrong, but looking at some of the candidates teams are looking at right now, I’m starting to think Da Bears Blog should have been right.

The Chicago Tribune reported today that the Bears have a list of 12 potential candidates they might interview. AND they aren’t letting their assistant coaches interview anywhere else because they might want to retain guys like Rod Marinelli and Jeremy Bates, respectively the defensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

(more…)

ZB Notebook 1-6-2013

by | Jan 6, 2013 | 2012 season, NFL Random Thoughts

For the playoff teams, wild card weekend was the news. For the rest, the coaching carrousel was the biggest news. A couple surprises popped up.

The biggest stunner to me was Buffalo’s selection of Syracuse head coach as its next leader, replacing the fired Chan Gailey. Syracuse is better than it was four years ago, but it’s still a mid-level school in an uninspiring conference. So I was surprised to see Marrone get the attention he did this offseason.

The 48-year-old also was being pursued reportedly by Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia and San Diego. And he does have experience as an offensive line coach and as an offensive coordinator in the NFL, so it’s not like he’s coming in cold.

Judging by the comments at BuffaloRumblings.com, the hire is receiving mixed reviews in Buffalo, but Brian Galliford, manager of the site, has a number of posts with information about why he was hired. The Saints had a pretty successful offense when he was there, Galliford notes, even though Sean Payton called the plays. (more…)

NFL Playoffs: Wild Card Weekend Picks and Bets

by | Jan 5, 2013 | 2012 season, NFL Gambling, NFL Picks, NFL Random Thoughts

The chili is in the crock pot. The logs will soon be ready for the fire. And the regular season is over. It’s time to separate the contenders from the pretenders. It’s time for playoff football.

It’s well documented that while our picks during the season were ok, our bets during the season were terrible. So even though we did ok with a different betting system for college bowl games, we decided to mix things up again for the NFL playoffs, given that there are fewer games to choose from. So, our picks are below. Let us know in comments who you think is going to win this week and who is likely to emerge with the Lombardi Trophy in a month. (more…)

Redskins’ “other” rookie leads team into playoffs

by | Dec 31, 2012 | 2012 season, NFL Random Thoughts

At my fantasy drafts back in August and September, whenever someone was hemming and hawing over who to pick, I often rather arrogantly shouted out “Alfred Morris is still available.” I generally was rewarded for my trash talk with some confusion, a couple of guffaws (unless it was the seventh or eighth time I brought up his name) or perhaps some ridicule. The drafter would usually roll his eyes and pick someone else.

Well, 1600 yards and 13 touchdowns later, Morris has made me look like a dumbass.

I had a fairly successful season this year. I won two leagues, took fifth place in a game-picking pool that included 167 participants and, most importantly, beat my brother in both our picks and bets segments (although admittedly the latter isn’t saying much).

But it is guys like Morris who make fantasy football challenging and who keep me from talking too much trash. They make deep research rewarding — and this year I failed. There was no greater “no name” getting selected in drafts as the 2012 season got underway. He’s a rookie sixth-round pick on a team coached by Mike Shanahan, who usually rotates running backs like Lindsay Lohan rotates court appearances. (more…)

Wrapping up 2012 picks and bets

by | Dec 31, 2012 | 2012 season, NFL Gambling, NFL Picks

In an effort to provide accountability – and because I’m sure all six of you who make a point of looking for our picks and bets every week are dying to know – we wanted to provide final regular tallies for our best bets and picks segments.

In week 17, our futility continued when it comes to betting. Andy and Tony both hit just one of four picks, though both of the correct ones were moneyline upset picks that, if bet right, might have kept us from going completely broke with our imaginary money.

The 1-3 tallies left Andy with a 30-37-1 record for the season. Tony tumbled to a 28-40 mark.

Our picks were markedly better. Andy finished out the season with a bang, going 13-3 in week 17. A 27-5 run the final two weeks upped his record to 166-89-1 for the season. Tony led most of the way but fell to 9-7 in week 16 and 10-6 in week 17 for a 161-94-1 mark.

I’d like to once again thank the team bloggers who participated in our celebrity pick segment every week. Their efforts resulted in a 158-97-1 mark for the season.

As this is a highly anticipated segment each week, we’ll probably come up with something for the playoffs too. Check back for details on that later.