By Dave Paniagua
I thought it was going to take me at least 30 minutes to come up with some picks for Sunday’s football games, but the list was pretty easy. Sure, you could go with the Bengals as 10 ½ point favorites over the Raiders, but you’re an idiot if you think the Raiders are going to lie down so easily. Their offense might be worse than Tampa Bay’s, but their defense is ranked third in the league and should force Carson Palmer into some bad situations. That said, here are your four solid picks for the weekend:
Atlanta -3 at Tampa Bay – 2003 was a great year for me. I moved out of my old house, got into a good school, and saw my Bucs win the Super Bowl. This year, we’re a flaming pile of shit that can’t be put out. Bruce Gradkowski has absolutely no line protection, and their schemes are making me sick as a dog. The Dirty Birds, Atlanta Vicks (pictured, #7), or whatever you want to call them, were going south for the winter, but now they’re back on track after a win in Washington. The first time these teams faced each other, Atlanta covered 14-3, despite a threat in the red zone by the end of the game. Things are little easier, as the Falcons are favored by 3 and should look to score early and often. Unless they decide to run all day, the over/under of 37 points should be going the way of being over by the 3rd quarter. Here’s hoping that Tampa Bay does more than a stupid field goal, which is what they did to avoid a shutout against the Steelers last week. Brady Quinn won’t save this team, and I don’t know if even a good defensive player in next year’s draft will do the trick, either. We need a lot of help, and I’ll just say for time constraints that it might be a 5-year plan for us.
Tennessee +1 at Houston – Believe it or not, the Titans are only a few mistakes from being an 8-4 team. At 5-7, they’re spending their team before an early off-season by beating the Manning brothers, with impressive wins over the Giants and Colts. The Texans are a team without a clue, a chance, and most likely the dream of ever making it to the Super Bowl. Hey, that’s a nice stadium you guys have over there, but it doesn’t mean a damn thing when you got a team that is never in the top ten of any category. They’re averaging 16.6 points a game, followed up by a defense that surrenders over 220 yards passing per game. Once again, you have two teams that have played each other before, and the Titans won the first match by 6. This time, the odds makers decided it was cool to give Houston a chance at -1. Don’t believe that line, and take the Titans to cover and probably do it by more than 7.
New York Giants PK at Carolina – I like to look at the weather before some of these games, and Sunday’s forecast for Charlotte is going to be Sunny with a chance of choking on the part of Carolina. Here’s the team that was favored by all sorts of paid sports analysts to go to the Super Bowl and then get killed by the AFC representative. Now, they’re on the brink of not even making the playoffs. The Giants are the other choke job of the year, but mostly because everybody was thinking they could win most of their games by double digits. That’s exactly what they were doing, until a game against Chicago started a 4 game losing streak. Much like Atlanta’s losing streak, I expect the Giants to get off this bandwagon of despair and find a way to win against the Panthers. Did I mention that Chris Weinke (pictured, right) might get the start against the Giants, and the line in Vegas immediately closed? Then, something magical happened and this game is now a pick ‘em. I’m still going with the Giants, because the New York media deserves some positive news in their lives.
New York Jets -3.5 vs. Buffalo – After destroying the disasters known as Houston and Green Bay, the Jets are looking to make the postseason after most people thought they’d be a top 5 pick in next year’s draft (me included). All they’ve done is get their act together and win a couple games. I sure as hell don’t like either team to score a lot, but I think Buffalo doesn’t have what it takes to cover. So, to make a long story short, I see the Jets winning somewhere in the range of 5 to 7 points, maybe more if J.P. Losman takes off early to go surfing
Atlanta -3 at Tampa Bay – 2003 was a great year for me. I moved out of my old house, got into a good school, and saw my Bucs win the Super Bowl. This year, we’re a flaming pile of shit that can’t be put out. Bruce Gradkowski has absolutely no line protection, and their schemes are making me sick as a dog. The Dirty Birds, Atlanta Vicks (pictured, #7), or whatever you want to call them, were going south for the winter, but now they’re back on track after a win in Washington. The first time these teams faced each other, Atlanta covered 14-3, despite a threat in the red zone by the end of the game. Things are little easier, as the Falcons are favored by 3 and should look to score early and often. Unless they decide to run all day, the over/under of 37 points should be going the way of being over by the 3rd quarter. Here’s hoping that Tampa Bay does more than a stupid field goal, which is what they did to avoid a shutout against the Steelers last week. Brady Quinn won’t save this team, and I don’t know if even a good defensive player in next year’s draft will do the trick, either. We need a lot of help, and I’ll just say for time constraints that it might be a 5-year plan for us.
Tennessee +1 at Houston – Believe it or not, the Titans are only a few mistakes from being an 8-4 team. At 5-7, they’re spending their team before an early off-season by beating the Manning brothers, with impressive wins over the Giants and Colts. The Texans are a team without a clue, a chance, and most likely the dream of ever making it to the Super Bowl. Hey, that’s a nice stadium you guys have over there, but it doesn’t mean a damn thing when you got a team that is never in the top ten of any category. They’re averaging 16.6 points a game, followed up by a defense that surrenders over 220 yards passing per game. Once again, you have two teams that have played each other before, and the Titans won the first match by 6. This time, the odds makers decided it was cool to give Houston a chance at -1. Don’t believe that line, and take the Titans to cover and probably do it by more than 7.
New York Giants PK at Carolina – I like to look at the weather before some of these games, and Sunday’s forecast for Charlotte is going to be Sunny with a chance of choking on the part of Carolina. Here’s the team that was favored by all sorts of paid sports analysts to go to the Super Bowl and then get killed by the AFC representative. Now, they’re on the brink of not even making the playoffs. The Giants are the other choke job of the year, but mostly because everybody was thinking they could win most of their games by double digits. That’s exactly what they were doing, until a game against Chicago started a 4 game losing streak. Much like Atlanta’s losing streak, I expect the Giants to get off this bandwagon of despair and find a way to win against the Panthers. Did I mention that Chris Weinke (pictured, right) might get the start against the Giants, and the line in Vegas immediately closed? Then, something magical happened and this game is now a pick ‘em. I’m still going with the Giants, because the New York media deserves some positive news in their lives.
New York Jets -3.5 vs. Buffalo – After destroying the disasters known as Houston and Green Bay, the Jets are looking to make the postseason after most people thought they’d be a top 5 pick in next year’s draft (me included). All they’ve done is get their act together and win a couple games. I sure as hell don’t like either team to score a lot, but I think Buffalo doesn’t have what it takes to cover. So, to make a long story short, I see the Jets winning somewhere in the range of 5 to 7 points, maybe more if J.P. Losman takes off early to go surfing
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