NFL Picks, 2012 season, Week 8

by | Oct 24, 2012 | 2012 season, NFL Picks

The Houston Texans took advantage of an injury-depleted Baltimore Ravens defense on Sunday but also stymied what had been one of the league’s more interesting offenses at times during the 2012 season en route to putting an impressive beating on the once-vaunted purple-and-black.

It was the latest and most convincing win in a season full of them so far for the Texans. It also erased the sour taste of a blowout defeat at the hands of the surging Packers from a week earlier.

It leaves the Texans with a 6-1 record heading into the bye. And don’t expect them to let up once they return from a week off. “This team is one of the more focused in the league,” says Barrett Walton, managing editor of Texans Bull Blog. “The rest of the schedule is fairly weak with only the Patriots and Bears looking like reasonable challenges.”

Walton sent a lengthy collection of thoughts that we’ll soon turn into another post. In the meantime, suffice it to say that he thinks this is a team that football fans should get comfortable watching for the next few years. “This franchise is built to last,” he says. “And you can expect to see this team on top for several years to come.”

Walton also joined us as this week’s guest blogger for the pick segment for week eight.

By all appearances, week seven was the easiest one for picking so far. In our confidence pools, several people got every game right or missed just one. On Zoneblitz, an easy week means Andy and I only got three wrong, while our guest blogger Kevin McCauley from the Acme Packing Company missed just two.

That moves our guest celebrity bloggers to a three game lead over me and a four game lead over Andy for the season: (more…)

NFL Best Bets: Week 5 – 2012

by | Oct 3, 2012 | 2012 season, NFL Gambling

I’m going to admit upfront, if you’re using our picks as a basis for gambling on games so far this season, you’re making a big mistake.

I’ve been a disaster and that continued into week four, as my 1-3 took me to 4-12 for the season.

Tony has been better, but not good. His 3-1 brought him to 8-8 for the year.

I feel a turnaround coming sometime soon here, but you’ve been warned.

Here are our picks for week five.

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In depth: Atlanta Falcons

by | Feb 26, 2012 | 2011 season, 2012 season, NFL Draft, NFL Free Agency, NFL Random Thoughts

Coach Mike Smith and General Manager Thomas Dimitroff have manufactured the longest stretch of winning regular seasons in the history of the Atlanta Falcons. But the team has struggled mightily in the postseason, losing in blowouts to Green Bay and the New York Giants in back-to-back seasons.

Still, the cupboard is overflowing, with quarterback Matt Ryan and two stud wideouts in Julio Jones and Roddy White being complemented by a solid corps of players on both sides of the ball. But tight end Tony Gonzalez and running back Michael Turner are aging. And defensive end John Abraham and cornerback Brent Grimes are free agents. So where do the Falcons go from here and how do they take the next step toward becoming a Super Bowl contender?

Jamie Kelly, senior editor of Blogging Dirty, joined us to share his thoughts.

Zoneblitz: How would you assess Matt Ryan’s development? (more…)

NFL playoffs continue with divisional games

by | Jan 15, 2011 | NFL Picks, NFL Random Thoughts

I haven’t had a very good handle on the NFC all season long. I thought the Bears were going to suck. I was wrong. I thought the 49ers were going to win the NFC West. I was wrong — although in fairness to me, there really wasn’t a team that ended up deserving to win that putrid, dreck-filled division.

Anyway, the trend continued last week. I hit the two AFC matchups, even nailing the scenario in which the Jets would beat Indy, almost to a T.

But the NFC games stymied me. But what the hell. Let’s have another go at it this week, eh? (Pointspreads via Vegas.com)

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