NFL Picks

The NFC and AFC Championships are finally here.  Thanks to those who signed up for our Facebook page.  If you sign up for the page, you’ll be notified on your Facebook news feed when new articles are updated on THE PASS RUSH, which is simply amazing!

It’s a good way to keep in touch with us during the offseason since you’ll likely not hear from me again after the Super Bowl until August.  Actually, I may stop in in late February, early March to get the fantasy baseball talk heated up, which I play pretty competitively.  Those articles will, of course, be posted on our sister site, THE HIGH HEAT.

I hope you remember to come back next season and sign up for the Pick ‘Em league, which I’ll be doing again next season and will also be delivering an NFL custom shop t-shirt to the winner.  Deez Nuts just got his, which I’m sure he’ll be rocking for his Vikings.

The season, like any, has had its fair share of ups and downs.  For me there were slightly more ups than downs.  We had some hot streaks and there have been some cold ones, but for me, the hot have outnumbered the cold and that’s what we try to strive for each season.

We had a fantastic week this past week.  Our picks were 3-1 in the divisional round.  Although I played the games lightly since it’s playoff football, it still moved me up a few units, which is what we want going into the NFC and AFC Championship games.  You may also want to check out Vernon Croy’s Super Bowl Picks.  Let’s get to the my NFC and AFC Championship picks.

NEW YORK JETS @ …

At first site, I thought the spreads were average, but now I’m starting to fall more in love with my picks. But you’re not going to make big money in the playoffs — the easy money was made betting against the Lions, Raiders, Rams, Bucs, Browns, and Chiefs in the first half of the season before the books caught on. That part of the season is over.  Now we have some fun money to play around with and that’s all we’re going to do. No big bets for me this week, but a little something to keep things fun.

You should also sign up for a FACEBOOK PAGE, which I just made, to keep in touch with us through the offseason.  Do it! I’m doing the pick ’em league next year too with the winner getting an NFL custom shop t-shirt. Deez Nutz just won a Vikings t-shirt.  Pretty cool.

Onto last week’s summary.

Luckily, we hit the Ravens last week.  I told you Ray Rice would have a big game and that Randy Moss would get shut down, but I didn’t want to wager too much on the road against the undefeated Tom Brady at home in the playoffs.  But I went with my gut and took the Ravens to get a little back after the Bengals let me down.

My thesis on Bengals winning at home was wrong since Mark Sanchez didn’t suck like he usually does since all he had to do is hand the ball off to that fat ass from Iowa University who had a monster game and that Darrelle Revis guy shut down Chad Johnson.  Fortunately for Sanchez and his half-stache, he has the privilege of having the best offensive line in football.…

Playoff football is finally here.  Last week, our picks went 3-1 with our sole loss by a half point. Some of you may have even been lucky enough to have that one push if you got the line at -4 instead of -4.5.

We’ve also been cleaning up in hockey, as we added 3 units of profit to our yearly total yesterday and we are up a whopping 12 units.  We hit a rough spot early in the season with some unfortunate shootouts, but a little perseverance and hot streak has us up big.

This week, I’m eying up the Wild Card lines to see if there are any good plays to make. Unfortunately, 3 of the games are rematches from week 17.  When has that ever happend?

NEW YORK JETS @ CINCINNATI BENGALS -2.5

The Jets blanked the Bengals 37-0 last week to earn a shot in the playoffs.  That game meant nothing for the Bengals.  Carson Palmer played just a half before handing the game over to J.T. O’Sullivan.  I think this is a chance to take advantage of last week’s game.  Without last week, I’m sure the Bengals would be 4-6.5 point favorites.  The Jets D will keep this game tight, but I will have to bet against the rookie in his NFL playoff debut. The Bengals are not going to let the Jets run for over 250 yards again. Sanchez threw for a mere 63 yards last week. When the playoff pressure is on, I think you’ll see him throw a pick or two to the Bengals. I think the Bengals are the best play to make this week.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES @ DALLAS COWBOYS -4

All of you know that I’m an Eagles fan.  Sure, …

It was a winning week this past week.  We took down some plays on the Packers, Chargers, Eagles, Texans, and Vikings, and had losses with the Saints and Cardinals.  No big deal, I’ll take a 5-2 week anytime.  Now we’re getting into the thick of the NFL season when things get really exciting.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS -3 @ JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

As soon as I saw this spread, I loved it.  I said, hold on, did the Colts already clinch home field advantage? And it turns out that they did.  I quick news search on Google stated that Peyton Manning and all healthy starts will play this Sunday.  I would love taking the Colts if home field was on the line, but with no motivation to really win this one and not knowing how long Peyton will play: a quarter, a half, who knows, I think you stay away from this one.  On the other hand, I’m sure the Colts, like the Saints, want to go undefeated.  Can you imagine 18-0 Colts vs. 18-0 Saints in the SuperBowl?

Prediction: Colts 24 – Jaguars 20

Free Pick: Colts -3 (Confidence: 2/5)

DALLAS COWBOYS @ NEW ORLEANS SAINTS -7

I am loving this as an Eagles fan.  Not only did the Eagles win over the Giants give the Eagles sole possession of the NFC East with 2-straight home games against the 49ers and Broncos, but the Cowboys lost to the Chargers after losing to the Giants and now have to go on the road to face the Saints.  Saints are still playing for home field so I think you see them win this one.  The Cowboys December woes continue.  Get the “Is Wade Phillips getting fired?” talks going.  I’m loving this!

Prediction: Saints 27 …

So after a ridiculous Thanksgiving weekend run, the NFL went back to being totally unpredictable and downright silly again, led by the Raiders beating the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

My Eagles won and gave us a big hit, but my other top 3 picks failed me as the Pats lost the Dolphins, the Vikings lost to the Cardinals, and the Cowboys lost to the Giants.

There’s no way I thought the Patriots would lose after their disappointing Monday Night loss to the Saints.  The Cardinals lose at home to the Panthers and 49ers at home and beat the Vikings? No one can make sense of whats going on with the Cardinals on a week-to-week basis.  I played the Cowboys since I thought Eli Manning is DONE due to his foot injury. Well, it turns out that he still has some gas left in the tank.

A quick glance at the spreads and I hate this week’s card.  But let’s see if we can find anything good.  I’m going to make this one short and sweet since I am running short on time.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS -10 @ CLEVELAND BROWNS

The Steelers have lost 4 straight including losses to the Chiefs and the Raiders. They also lost Hines Ward and Polamalu is still out. One of our readers suggested teasing Steelers -3 and taking the over 26.  That may be the way to go, but I like the under here. Don’t count on much scoring from the Browns. I had a pick of Browns +21, over 32.5 when the Browns faced the Bengals and the final score in that one was 16-7. The Browns are playing better D lately and this one will possibly be in the snow.  I like the Steelers -3 …

We’ve been on a hell of run lately.  From the last Sunday night through the Friday after Thanksgiving, we were on an 11-0 run. We took some losses on Saturday due to some bad beats (Georgie Tech QB Josh Nesbitt getting injured and then missing the over on the Florida/FSU game by 3 points after FSU settles for 3 points on the 1 yard line instead of going for it on 4th down), but we had a hell of a Sunday.  I placed 1 BIG bet on Sunday during the day and that was my Chargers/Vikings teaser, which was won very easily. We then won the Sunday night game and then the Monday night game as well, extending the Sunday/Monday night steak to 6-0.  We then took the Saints winnings and put them on UNC Tuesday night, which also hit for us with ease.

So since last Sunday night, let’s tally up those W’s and L’s. Are you ready for this? 15-3 (83.33%).  In other words, don’t mess with the master’s flow when he has a one bad week! Our winning percentage in the last week is higher than the employment rate in this country (there’s 17.8% un- and under-employment, for your information).

ONE LAST TIME. MY LAST 18 PICKS ARE 15-3. CHA-CHING!

Reminder: Don’t forget to set your picks in our Pick ‘Em league and vote in our poll.

NEW YORK JETS -3 @ BUFFALO BILLS

This is the Thursday Night game, which will be played in Toronto. I don’t like this game at all. Mark Sanchez sucks and the Bills suck too, but managed to beat the Dolphins last week, which was a huge surprise to me.  This one doesn’t even deserve my attention, …

The Sunday-Monday Night streak has been extended to 5-0 thanks to the Ravens pulling it out in overtime and cashing in our 7-point teaser of Ravens -0.5, over 28.5. You can never go wrong betting against a rookie in his first start and that was the difference in this one as DE Paul Kruger picked off the rookie by dropping back into coverage while Ray Lewis blitzed, getting the pick, and setting up the field goal. Thank you to those who bought me a beer for taking down my NFL play of the week, my teaser of Chargers -6.5 and Vikings -3.5. When I see Paul Kruger or Ray Rice, I’ll be sure to offer them a cold one for last night’s big win.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS @ NEW ORLEANS SAINTS -1.5

Tonight is the GAME OF THE YEAR — not as in this pick is a lock, but as in the best game to watch in the last 3 years, maybe since the 2006 Rose Bowl if I might say so (see and vote on our new poll). Maybe this is the second game of the year after we were treated to the Colts and Patriots just not too long ago.  This is expected to be the most wagered game of the year.

My previous stance on this game when the spread was released was to tease it by adding 7 points to the Patriots +3 that they got to start to make it Patriots +10 and take the over 48.5.  If you got into that teaser while the Pats were getting 3 points, I still like that pick, but I’m going with the Saints -1.5.

I think the Saints win this one in a very, very …