Bet the Mortgage: Week 11, 2013 NFL Best Bets

by | Nov 14, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Gambling

weekly-betsWell, I took a shot with going big for one bet in Week 10–which promptly flopped. And, of course, since I played it relatively safe on the rest, my 2-2 finish resulted in a grand total of a $9 loss–definitely not breaking the bank this way.

Still, a $9 loss is better than dropping over a grand in smaller bites, which is what Andy pulled off with another 0-fer weekend, once again with his Thursday night massacre. I haven’t heard from him yet this week on bets, so maybe he’s finally going to keep his losing to Sunday’s.

Week 10 Season Week +/- Bankroll Season +/-
Andy 0-4 15-25 -$1,050 $9,935 – $65
Tony 2-2 19-21 -$9 $13,244 + $3,244

This week, as Andy pointed out in our Week 11 picks, there are finally some great games–which can sometimes make for some tight lines. But not this week, it appears, as even the historic 9-0 vs 8-1 Chiefs vs. Broncos matchup features a line greater than 7 points–somewhat amazingly in favor of the one-loss team. Our Week 11 bets are below…

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NFL Picks 2013: Week 11

by | Nov 13, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Picks

Life always feels a little bit more complete during the football season and that’s never more true than when the bye weeks weekly-picksstart winding down and the games take on more importance.

That’s starting to happen now. After a few weeks of lesser inspiring match-ups and six-team bye weeks, there are finally some truly great games in store for the next three weeks.

That’s a relief. Collectively we weren’t very good at picking the winners last week. And if we can’t pick them correctly, we at least ought to be able to enjoy watching them.

Here are the standings so far:

  Week 10 Season totals
Andy 10-4 98-49
Tony 8-6 92-55
Maggio 8-6 88-59
Rich 5-9 87-60

So, with that mediocre week behind us, we now can look forward to a collection of games that includes Kansas City at Denver, New Orleans hosting San Francisco and even a Monday night match-up worth waiting up to watch as New England visits Carolina. Here’s who we think wins: (more…)

ZB Game of the Week: Panthers at 49ers

by | Nov 9, 2013 | 2013 season, Game of the week

A month ago it looked like Ron Rivera was on the proverbial coaching hotseat and the Carolina Panthers were headed toward another disappointing season. But the cats got healthy against Minnesota and have not looked back, winning four straight in dominant fashion. They’ve outscored foes 130-48 during the stretch, which upped their record from 1-3 to 5-3, squarely in the mix for a playoff run in the season’s second half.

Save for a slow start, San Francisco has been almost as good as advertised throughout the 2013 campaign. They’re 6-2 and on a five game win streak during which no team has come closer than 12 points. But this is an important game for both teams, as each is in second place in their respective division.

So it was an easy choice in making this our Zoneblitz Game of the Week. Brandon Becker, editor at Cat Crave, and Al Sacco, staff writer for 49ersgab.com, 49erswebzone.com and sportsoutwest.com share their insights as to what it’s going to take to come out on top. (more…)

Bet the Mortgage: Week 10, 2013 NFL Best Bets

by | Nov 7, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Gambling

weekly-betsI’ll admit, I started to get a little bit cocky last week. And after pointing out that Andy often likes to start his losing early, he did just that–his Thursday Cincinnati bet had me even more confident heading into Sunday. Unfortunately, while he didn’t exactly knock the cover off, my hot streak cooled, so this week he gained on me. But will his betting on Thursday night games continue? We’ve already discussed the inexplicable line on the Vikings game (when we discussed, the Vikings were 2.5 point dogs, it now ranges from a PK to 3 point dogs depending on where you go), which even has me tempted to break my rule of betting on (or against, in this case) the home team…

Week 7 Season Week +/- Bankroll Season +/-
Andy 2-2 15-21 +$598 $10,985 + $985
Tony 1-3 17-19 -$222 $13,253 + $3,253

We’re coming into the final 7 weeks of the season, and neither of us have made life altering bets–neither of us have had to consider what we would do if we actually got down to $0 budget, but neither of us have made enough that our wives are likely to let us quit our day jobs to take sports betting up as a full-time gig.

Maybe this is the week we start to change that?

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NFL Picks 2013: Week 10

by | Nov 5, 2013 | 2013 season, Game of the week

As is often the case in the NFL, the only thing that went as expected was the unexpected.weekly-picks

Upsets abound and some narrowly averted bigger upsets almost made the numbers even worse. At the end of it all, week nine was nothing like week eight, when we combined for a 45-7 mark. Last week three of us struggled to a 7-6 record. The lone standout was Rich, who gained some ground in the season pool by nailing 9 of 13 games.

Here are the standings:

Week nine Season totals
Andy 7-6 88-45
Tony 7-6 84-49
Rich 9-4 82-51
Maggio 7-6 80-53

With week nine in the books, we’re approaching the final third of the regular season. Games are starting to matter more and division matchups will again start becoming more prominent. Here’s who we think will win the 14 upcoming games. (more…)

ZB Game of the Week: Bears at Packers

by | Nov 3, 2013 | 2013 season, Game of the week

If they haven’t already, the Packers are close to proving themselves the class of the NFC North again. But people are being way too dismissive of the Bears.

Yes, the defense is in tough shape, due both to injury and retirement. And yes, Jay Cutler’s injury hurts. But there is still a lot of veteran pride on this team and Josh McCown is hardly the worst alternative you could come up with in the NFL these days.

Plus, in a rivalry game, I’ve seen a lot stranger things happen than a team like Chicago pushing Green Bay to the brink. That’s why this week’s Monday Night matchup is the Game of the Week. So what do the locals think? Jake Perper, founder and head writer from Bears Backer, and Raymond T. Rivard, editor of LombardiAve.com, have joined us to share their thoughts. (more…)