Saturday, October 30, 2010

Guru's Gutsy Guesses Week 8


Trying this one more time. An abysmal 6-8 record last week puts the YTD (year-to-date) mark at 24-17 (just shy of the 60% mark).

Here's the latest picks:

1. Denver +2 v. San Francisco: Forget what you saw last Sunday, when Darren McFadden ran through the swiss cheese Denver defense to the tune of 4 scores. Denver's a mediocre team, but the Niners are just inept; too bad they can't carry over some of that SF Giants magic. I'll relish in getting the extra 2 points too.

2. Dallas -6.5 v. Jacksonville: have the Cowboys covered ONCE this season? And when was the last time Jon Kitna started an NFL game? But you gotta like the Cowboys in this one, and when the Jags lose, they lose BIG.

3. Washington +2.5 at Detroit: Redskins LOVE to be the underdog. I don't buy Matt Stafford throwing 3 TD's or being the second coming of the Savior in Detroit... I think he struggles in his first game back.

4. Green Bay +6 v. NY Jets: I like that if the Pack is down late, I got Aaron Rodgers for me to try to cover.

5. St. Louis -3 v. Carolina: How in the world should I know who to pick? I DO know that the Rams have firmly established a Ram's Lair home field advantage.

6. Miami +1.5 at Cincinatti: The unraveling of the Bengals season starts here.

7. Buffalo +7.5 at KC: I don't think people understand how good Ryan Fitzpatrick is. Man went to HARVARD, people!! He's smart? Doesn't hurt that he can get it quickly out to any of his WR's at a moment's notice. I LOVE that you get a TD cushion here.

8. Tennessee +3.5 at San Diego: I hesistate to say "this is the best best of the week" cuz I said that about SF-Carolina and Pittsburgh-Cleveland and lost both times, but I just can't fathom this line. It's a 5-2 team v. a 2-5 team, the 5-2 team looking like the obviously better team the first few weeks even against really good competition, and the 2-5 team is literally fumbling their season away, and has the worst special teams in NFL history probably (and possibly the worst head coach in history too). It's naught but pure stats (Chargers have #1-ranked offense and perceived awesome talent) that make the Chargers favorites, but at some point you gotta realize that it's not a fluke that they're losing all these games.

9. Tampa Bay +3 at Arizona: I changed my pick midway through this sentence. I thought it was classic case of Cardinals being world-killers at home, not looking like they've ever touched a football on the road. But Max Hall looked awful in Seattle, and Josh Freeman looked pretty good in leading his team back. When in doubt, pick the team w/ the better QB.

10. Seattle +2.5 at Oakland: Another not very good team v. not very good team matchup. Haven't really watched these teams at all this year, besides both gashing the Chargers. Seems like classic letdown game for the Raiders.

11. New England -6 v. Minnesota: I think the mistake that I've made consistenly so far this season is betting on struggling teams (think Dallas, San Diego, Minnesota) will come back strong because 1. they're talented 2. they made the playoffs last year, so they have to this year too, right? and 3. flashy, hyped up players on their teams lure me into it. Ultimately, though, a rotten egg is probably rotten for a reason, and I gotta give up on some of'em......until they prove me wrong.

12. Pittsburgh +1 at New Orleans: One last gasp for the defending champs on the national stage with everyone rooting for them. I again changed my pick midway through this post. Something is just wrong w/ the Saints; they've lost to bad teams and eked out wins over other bad teams. So what happens when they actually play a good team? I'll take the best team in the NFL right now AND a single point (which is what the Steelers won by last week to foil my bet).

13. Indianapolis -5.5 v. Houston: General rule of thumb: Don't bet against Peyton Manning at night. Only an idiot would do that.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

No comments: