Sunday, November 22, 2015

NFL week 11

It was another 2-2 week last week in the NFL, leaving me 2 games under .500 for the season.  For some reason I can’t get the success from the college ranks to spill over to the NFL.  I’ve decided to do something different this week.  Obviously what I’ve been doing hasn’t been that successful, I mean it’s kept me close to being a winner, but really just getting me juiced each week.  Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity, I don’t believe I’m insane, but the test results are still pending from the doctor. 

I talk about looking at the whole body of work, and not over reacting to last weeks results too much as that usually leads to poor decisions and less money in your pocket.  That was what initially got me to look at St. Louis this week, as they should get back to controlling the game with the run, and not passing as much as they did last week.  However, they are starting a new QB in Keenum this week, who is making a first start and it’s on the road.  So that games out the window.  Then I turned to Houston, who is coming off the big win at home, and has a very good passing attack and improving defense.  Similar situation though as Hoyer is probably out with a concussion and Yates is in, now they don’t look as good.  Romo is back behind center for the Cowboys, so that should help provide some stability in their offense, but he’s rusty as hell, and let’s be honest, do you have any idea which version of Miami is going to show up?  I don’t, and you can’t trust a Jekyll/Hyde situation.  Bradford went down last week for the Eagles, and apparently he is dealing with a myriad of injuries.  In comes Sanchez, who should benefit from getting all the first team snaps this week, but did anyone else see him play last week?  I don’t want to say he single handedly lost me my bet last week, but he played a major roll.  Without having to worry about the passing game, the Bucs defense can stack the box and take away the run.

The Redskins offense looked unstoppable last week, and now they are getting 7.5 points on the road?  Interesting.  However, the Saints defense is probably the worst in the NFL, and they did fire the defensive coordinator after the loss, so don’t read to much into that.  Add in the terrible play they have on the road and going against a strong Carolina defense and they don’t look so desirable.  It’s like a girl that you meet in the club with the lights down low, she’s hot.  Then you see her in normal lighting and it’s like, what the fuck was I thinking.  Detroit got a huge win last week on the road at Green Bay, and are only laying 1 point against Oakland.  Seems to good to be true, and in NFL gambling if it seems to good to be true it usually is.  San Diego has more injuries on it’s offense than I can count.  I don’t think they even know who is playing on the offensive line for them.  They haven’t been able to run the ball all season, and are without best WR for the year.  So what does that leave us with?  Not a whole lot, but lets see what we can find.

Green Bay at Minnesota (-1):
Green Bay is a public team, so they will get the majority of the bets each week regardless of how they’ve been playing.  I won 2 weeks in a row going against the Packers, first with the Broncos getting points at home, and then with Carolina getting points at home.  I backed off going against them last week with Detroit, but was tempted and should’ve pulled the trigger.  Now I get the superior team at home and only have to lay 1 point, which is basically a pick em game.  Yes please.  This Packer defense is terrible.  They have more holes than swiss cheese.  When playing on the road this year the Packers are allowing 139 rushing yards and 242 passing yards per game.  Do you think they will be able to slow down let alone stop Adrian Peterson?  I don’t.  Peterson is playing like his old self and has gone for over 100 yards rushing in his past 3 games, and actually went for over 200 last weeks at Oakland.  Bridgewater is playing well, and is minimizing mistakes.  On offense the Packers have really struggled to get the run game going, and lately they haven’t been attempting to run the ball hardly at all.  Rushing attempts by Green Bay the past 4 weeks are 17, 21, 19 and 18.  In the past 2 weeks they’ve had 109 passing attempts.  That’s not how you win in the NFL, and it’s certainly not how you win a division game on the road.  The Vikings defense is rated #8 against the pass and #9 overall.  Don’t look for the Packers to turn their woes around this week, take the Vikings.

Tampa Bay (+6.5) at Philadelphia:
First things first, buy the half a point and take the full touchdown.  I’ve already talked about the Eagles offensive woes, so let’s discuss Tampa Bay’s defense.  Did you know they are rated #7 in the NFL on defense?  Also, the other 2 times they were a touchdown or more underdog on the road they won the games outright?  I’m looking at you Atlanta and New Orleans.  Sure those were division games, but this team gets up for the games that matter.  Winston has been playing better each week, and is doing a good job of taking care of the football.  They’ve been really running the ball, averaging 30 attempts per game, and that helps take the pressure off Winston.  The defense has also been strong, and keeping them within striking distance each game.  The Eagles have struggle stopping the run this year, and that will play into the Buc’s hands.  Throw in the fact that Sanchez is an interception machine, and I think we have the making of an upset.  Take the points.

Cincinnati at Arizona (-4.5):
Cincinnati was upset at home last week on Monday Night Football as a big favorite.  This team struggles in the big games, and this is an even bigger game than last weeks.  They are traveling across the country on short rest and have to go against the most complete team in the NFL?  Really?  Arizona has the #1 rated offense overall, and the #3 rated defense overall.  At home the defense is only allowing 94 rushing yards and 198 passing yards per game.  Their offense is averaging 131 rushing and 303 passing at home this season.  Oh and Carson Palmer get’s to face his old team, which usually adds a little something to results as well.  Throw in the coaching edge that Arizona has over Cincinnati and the Bengals are looking at back to back losses and a while bunch of question marks.  I’ll take the superior team and lay the points at home. 


Good luck this week, and check back for the Thanksgiving day breakdown for all 3 games. 

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