NFL Week 13

Its now week 13 in a topsy turvy NFL season.  Things are getting fun once again as we start the playoff push.  Last nights game was interesting as the Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints as Drew Brees turned the ball over 5 times.

Week 13 picks:
1)  The Chicago bears defense is back and the offense is good to, the Seattle Seahawks can be dangerous at home but not on the road.  I'll take the Chicago Bears (-3.5) over the Seattle Seahawks at home at Soldier Field.  Chicago Bears -3.5 
2) The Green Bay Packers have had their problems at times they can be slightly off at times,  the Minnesota Vikings are not very good right now and they're not the same without Percy Harvin who may be out again.  I'll take the Green Bay Packers (-8) over the Minnesota Vikings at home. Green Bay Packers -8
3)  You can score on the New England Patriots defense but their offense is excellent, the Miami Dolphins can be good when called upon but not this week.  I'll take the New England Patriots (-7.5) in Miami over the Miami Dolphins.  NE Patriots -7.5 
4) The New York Jets looked terrible in their thanksgiving game and Tim Tebow has broken ribs, the Arizona Cardinals have all sorts of problems and are now playing Ryan Lindley in a revolving door at their quarterback position.  In a game that could go either way I'll go with the NY Jets (-4.5) at home over the Arizona Cardinals.  NY Jets -4.5               
5)  The New York Giants are back their defense played well (Osi, Tuck and JPP are back) and Eli was impressive in their blowout win over the Packers on Sunday night, the Washington Redskins come in with an impressive rookie quarterback and playing well off a Thanksgiving win over the Cowboys.  I'll take the NY Giants (-2.5) to get the win in Washington against the Redskins on Monday night and they'll take a commanding lead in the division. NY Giants -2.5       

NFL Week 12

It's not only week 12 in the NFL, but is thanksgiving.  There are a bunch of thanksgiving traditions starting with turkey and mashed potatoes stuffing, gravy, pie and of course there is football.  The NFL brings us three games on this holiday, although the quality of play on these Thursday affairs hasn't been great, maybe it's not enough off time and the lack of practice time (especially if you have to fly) it is no secret that guys don't like Thursday games.  Aside from us getting together and giving thanks on this holiday there are some good football games in the next five days, some teams have to win to keep their playoff hopes alive and some playing spoiler.  The Chicago Bears will hopefully bounce back from that dreadful performance against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday, and by the way there is a quarterback controversary between Smith and Kaepernick for the 49ers now.  The byes for all team are over with and we can start the stretch run.      

Week 12 Picks:
1) The Dallas cowboys should have lost to the Cleveland Browns last week but the browns beat themselves more then the cowboys won.  Dallas who coming on strong in the division but has a hurriedness offensive line hosts the Washington Redskins, who are not bad but give up a lot of passing yards, in the second game on thanksgiving.  Dallas has a good record when playing on Thanksgiving but I am going to go with the Washington Redskins (+3) to upset the Dallas Cowboys.  Washington Redskins +3
2) The Indianapolis Colts have been a bit of a surprise under the rookie Andrew Luck and at 6-3 are not out of it, the Buffalo Bills have been a bit of an up and down team.  I'll take the Indianapolis Colts (-3) at home over the Buffalo Bills.  Indianapolis Colts -3
3)  Payton Manning has come all the way back from missing all of last season to have the Denver Broncos in the thick of the AFC playoff hunt, the Kansas City Chiefs just can't get out of their own way and hold one of the worst records in the league.  I'll take the Denver Broncos over the Chiefs (-10) in Kansas City.  Denver Broncos -10 
4)  The New England Patriots despite having a porous defense visit the New York Jets on Thanksgiving and if Rex Ryan and the Jets Tebow-less offense aren't ready the Patriots could put a boat load of points up on the board despite loosing a tight end last week but they might get the other one back.  I'll take the New England Patriots (-7) on the road over the (-7) NY Jets.  NE Patriots -7  
5)  The New York Giants who come off their bye host the Green Bay Packers.  The Giants had a week off to get things back together and now they have to show it, the defensive line has to come back as well as Eli who has not thrown a touchdown pass in three weeks.  The Packers have been banged up and Aaron Rodgers has now been as crisp as he can be but they are a formidable team thats getting healthy.  I'll take the NY Giants (-3) to get back to they're winning ways and beat the Green Bay Packers at home in the Meadowlands.  NY Giants -3      

MLB Postseason Awards

Last week Major League Baseball announced their postseason awards.  Mike Trout of the L.A Angels and Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals were clear winners of the American and National League, Rookie of the Year.  The Next day Davey Johnson who led the Nationals to a 98 win season and a division title, won Manager of the Year for the second time in his career as he brought DC its first postseason run in 79 years.  Over in the American League Bob Melvin who guided the young Oakland Athletics to 94 wins and an AL West title on the final day of the regular season won the award.  In AL MVP (Most Valuable Player) voting Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers, who won the first Triple Crown in 45 years beat out Rookie of the Year winner Mike Trout, in a vote that was not as close as some expected.  Over in the NL, Buster Posey of the World Champion San Francisco Giants took home the award.  As for the Cy Young, in the AL Tampa Bay Rays lefty beat out the Tigers Justin Verlander to take home the hardware.  In the NL Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets who led the league in strikeouts and ranked second in wins and ERA took the award, to become the first Knuckleballer to win a Cy Young.  Now after another Marlins fire sale (the Miami Marlins traded everyone who makes any money to the Toronto Blue Jays for prospects) we begin the long winter, as we wait to see what free agency brings.        

NFL Week 11

Its week 11 in the NFL and many teams go into it banged up at the quarterback position.  Four teams have quarterbacks out with injuries, three concussions and at least three of them will go into this week with back-ups.  Most of these teams with injured quarterbacks are in the thick of the playoff race, now the playoff picture may be built at least partially by the second string QB.  Michael Vick was heading down the road towards a possible benching in Philadelphia we'll now see what Nick Foles can do with Vick out.  Jason Campbell will start for the Bears in Chicago, in place of Jay Cutler this week.  Ben Roethlisberger is not a concussion but he might be out longer then the others with a broken rib, Byron Leftwich will star for Pittsburgh in the meantime.  Alex Smith is the one who may be cleared to play in the 49ers monday night game vs. the Bears and their back-up.  Concussions are a tricky injury in which symptoms can show up at any time and you don't want to rush your comeback due to the fact that you may be more susceptible to a second one if you come back to soon.  Whenever you go out of a game with a concussion you have to be cleared by an independent neurologist before you can com back.  we are almost three quarters of the way through the season and in a league predicated on how teams deal with injuries, the playoff picture (we can start looking at playoff seeding next week) might be defined by back-up quarterbacks.  how long will guys be out with injuries, how will others step up, this will be fun.
Week 11 picks:
1)  The Arizona Cardinals play has suffered of late with inconsistent line play, while the Atlanta Falcons are in the top 5 teams in the league and weren't handed their first loss until last week they have playmakers on both sides of the ball.  I'll take the Atlanta Falcons (-9.5) at home over the Arizona Cardinals.   Atlanta Falcons -9.5
2) The Jacksonville Jaguars are a bad team who can't get it going this season, while the Houston Texans are arguably the best team in the NFL (that could change from week to week) right now with only 1 loss, they are a team that can probably go anywhere and beat any one.  This week the Texans are home, I'll take the Houston Texans (-15) at home over the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Houston Texans -15 
3)  The Cleveland Browns are a young team with an old rookie quarterback, while the Dallas Cowboys have run into some bad luck and some injuries.  I'll go with the Dallas Cowboys (-7.5) to win over the Cleveland Browns at home and keep themselves in the playoff hunt.  Dallas Cowboys -7.5 
4) The New York Jets are in denial about their team, since they think they still have a chance at salvaging this year.  They clearly undermined their quarterback by singing Tim Tebow, who's media circus they've kept down and their defense despite some injuries isn't very good, and their 3-6.  This week the hapless NY Jets who need something positive to go their way are on the road to face a listless St. Louis Ram team which is not very good but quite frankly the Jets might not be better.  I'll go with the NY Jets (+3.5) on the road in St. Louis because if you can't beat the Rams who can you beat.  NY Jets +3.5 
The New York Giants have the bye to rest up, (played 11 straight games give or take the preseason) get Eli right, and find their pass rush. They'll be all right, every year including last year, they got off to a fast start then their season dipped in the second half and they went on to win the Super Bowl.                                  

NFL week 10

This NFL season is flying by as we enter week 10.  We have some good story lines though as Matt Ryan and Tony Gonzalez lead the undefeated Atlanta Falcons, the Houston Texans are having their best start in franchise history, the New York Giants are good and had a 6-2 first half can they avoid another second half collapse and win 10-12 games (I hope so), the Chicago bears have a fearsome defense.
Week 10 picks:
1)  The New England Patriots and Tom Brady usually find a way on offense but you can score on that somewhat porous defense,  the Buffalo Bills have a 5-3 record but the injury bug has bit them lately.  The Patriots are the better team in this on, I'll take the New England Patriots (-11) over the Buffalo Bills up in Foxboro.  New England Patriots -11
2)  The Oakland Raiders are not a very good 3-5 team, the Baltimore Ravens are a good team that despite some injuries on the defensive side of the ball normally has a good D.  I'll take the Baltimore Ravens (-7.5) at home in this one over the Oakland Raiders. Baltimore Ravens -7.5 
3)  The San Francisco 49ers are on the cusp of being one of the best teams in the NFL, while the St. Louis Rams have yet to put it all together.  I like the San Francisco 49ers (-11) over the St. Louis Rams in San Fran.  San Francisco 49ers -11
4) The New York Jets have had a week off to regroup and maybe figure out how to use Tim Tebow in the offense more.  The Jets have had injuries on both sides of the ball and a sputtering offense at times, this weeks game is in Seattle to play the Seahawks where they have the benefit of the 12th man and Russell Wilson has been I think a surprise.  I'll take the Seattle Seahawks (-6) at home in Seattle over the NY Jets.  Seattle Seahawks -6  
5)  The New York Giants had a 10 point lead going into the final quarter last week and Pittsburgh scored 10 unanswered to win, were the Giants not as prepared maybe Hurricane Sandy might have had something to do with them not being as prepare but once your on the field its all X and O's and numbers and angles.  The NY Giants have to get right in a hurry and win one before their bye week, we don't want to spend the week talking about a second half collapse.  The Giants play a Cincinnati Bengals teams that isn't playing great on both sides of the ball.  I believe the Giants can get right and they'll do it this week going int the bye, I'll take the NY Giants (-3.5) over the Bengals in Cincinnati.  NY Giants -3.5                       

NFL week 9

We've reached week 9 in a very interesting NFL season.  Some people aren't very focused on football this weekend after hurricane Sandy, for those sports provide a diversion from getting back to normal.
Week 9: picks
1)  The Green Bay Packers have had some injury problems but those guys are coming back and the Packers are going to become their usual force especially at home, the Arizona Cardinals started off well but have struggled of late.  I'll take the Green Bay Packers (-10) over the Arizona Cardinals in Green Bay.  Green Bay Packers -10   
2)  The Chicago Bears can be a tricky team at times with a jackal and hyde quarterback but there defense is a force,  the Tennessee Titans are a young team who have played some tight games.  I'll go with the Chicago Bears (-3.5) on the road over the Arizona cardinals.  Chicago Bears - 3.5
3)  The Seattle Seahawks have become a good home team and have an exciting young quarterback, the Minnesota Vikings are young and I don't like them go into see the 12th man.  I'll take the Seattle Seahawks (-4) at home over the Minnesota Vikings.   Seattle Seahawks -4  
4)  The New York Giants hung on last week by a hand in Dallas and have become one of the top 5 NFL teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers are a tough physical team.  I'll take the NY Giants (-3) at home over the Pittsburgh Steelers.  NY Giants -3  

power rankings:
1) New York Giants
2) Atlanta Falcons
3) Houston Texans
4) Chicago Bears
5) Green Bay Packers
6) Baltimore Ravens