There continues to be a rally going on at Zoneblitz.com headquarters. Despite a horrible betting start to our season that lasted oh, about eight weeks, our bankrolls could still be salvageable.

I nailed my week 14, going 4-0 and running my four-week stretch to 12-4, 7-1 in the last two weeks. The run has allowed me to overtake my brother, with a 25-26-1 mark for the season.

Tony violated two of his main betting philosophies (he took the under and he didn’t “do the opposite”) in taking the under in the Denver/Minnesota contest, but he hit his other three picks – including the +330 moneyline in predicting the Chiefs would upset the Bears. He must have had a hunch Matt Forte would get hurt. His second straight 3-1 runs his total for the season to 25-27.

Here’s hoping it continues.
Andy

Pittsburgh vs Cleveland: Under 39 – In researching this game I was stunned to find out just how bad Cleveland has been offensively this season. They’ve exceeded 17 points just twice and one of those two games came at Indianapolis. The stats aren’t going to get any better against Pittsburgh. Defensively, however, the Browns have shown competence. And they are pretty good against the pass. The Steelers are primarily a passing team these days, but they can get by on the ground if they must. This will be a fast game with few points scored in a Steelers win.

Detroit (-7) vs Minnesota – No definitive word yet on Adrian Peterson, but there is plenty of talk about Detroit’s offense. They got stymied a bit against New Orleans, but they should come back strong against a pathetic Vikings’ secondary. There isn’t any reason to think Minnesota can stay close against this unit.

Seattle (-6.5) vs St. Louis – I don’t plan to watch this dog of a Monday nighter unless I need to know Marshawn Lynch’s stat-line for fantasy football purposes. But I do think there is money to be made gambling on this one. In the five games since St. Louis upset New Orleans, the Rams have scored 0, 20, 7, 13 and 13 points, these scores coming against powerhouses such as Arizona, Cleveland and this same Seattle team. The Rams are dogs. Seattle has not been lighting up the scoreboard, but has been playing well, winning three of four, and getting solid play from Lynch and, at times, even Tarvaris Jackson. I’m betting here on Seattle to beat the spread but I also would consider the under.

Upset of the week:

New York Giants (-5.5, +155) at Dallas – After thrashing Buffalo in mid-November, Dallas has since won two of three. But those wins included a three pointer over Washington and a one pointer against Miami at home on Thanksgiving. The loss came to a semi-plucky Arizona squad after Jason Garrett unintentionally iced his own kicker. The Giants are coming off of four straight losses, but the three-point defeat at the hands of Green Bay sort of felt to me like the game they played at the end of the 2007 regular season against undefeated New England. They lost that game 38-35 as well, but didn’t lose again on the way toward upsetting the Patriots in the Super Bowl. I kind of doubt the Giants have another Super Bowl run in them this year, but they’ve won three of four against Dallas, including the two contests at the Jerry Jones palace. I think that streak continues.

Tony

Cleveland (+13.5) at Pittsburgh – No way do I expect Cleveland to win this game. But Cleveland has only given up three TD passes in their last 8 games, so I think they can at least keep it closer than two touchdowns. I’m just glad that it looks like my fantasy team that relies on the Big Ben/Wallace/Antonio Brown combo appears to have a bye this week.

New England (-8) at Washington – Washington just lost two key components of their offense via four-game suspensions. Their defense has been vulnerable all year, despite Brian Orakpo’s stunning Geico commercials, and the Redskins are particularly susceptible against tight ends, where they had given up the seventh most fantasy points against in the five weeks before the Jets game last week, and 13th most for the season. Obviously this isn’t fantasy football – but the way Tom Brady has been connecting with Rob Gronkowski, you have to wonder if Brady doesn’t have a 9-point play set up on his own fantasy team (I’m sure he plays – he’s got nothing better to do during his down time).

Houston at Cincinnati: Over 37.5 – I’m done with the unders. Find a low O/U number, go with the over. I’m not crazy enough to take the over 36.5 on the Bears/Broncos matchup, but 37.5 seems attainable given the two offenses involved. Both teams are better known for defense and running attacks, but 24-17 shouldn’t be too tough to reach.

Minnesota (+8, +335 money line) vs. Detroit – Detroit has been playing undisciplined football as of late, and will still be without Ndonknowhowtospell’ka Suh. The Vikings have played close in many of their losses this year, and may be getting Adrian Peterson back in the lineup. I’d prefer to take the points, but at +335, I’ll take them straight up. It’s that, or the +400 Chiefs at NYJets, or +1000 Colts at Baltimore–both of which I actually considered.