Sixers Celts Home and Home Preview

Looking-great-Drew.-Screencap-via-@SmoothShawonSixers are hosting the Celtics tomorrow night followed by a game at the Garden on Saturday. We are almost a quarter of the way through the season and the Sixers and Celts are both sitting at 10-8. These two games probably don’t mean as much to the Celtics as they do to the Sixers. Who knows when Bynum is going to be back. I have said it all along that if the Sixers can go .500 until Bynum is back they will be able to contend for a championship. However, if he gets pushed back any later than mid January I will have to retract that statement. Most years .500 would get you a spot in the playoffs easily in the East. This year I’m not so sure. I thought the Sixers would have the Atlantic locked and have Boston as their biggest threat but Brooklyn and New York decided to show up this season. The reason I say these two mean more to the Sixers than the Celtics is because this could possibly be the team going forward for the duration of the season. It’s possible there is no Bynum at all which should result in a blanket party for Sixers upper management for leading us all on, so this is really a test to see if they have what it takes. The Sixers beat them in the first match-up this year, and that is the game where I think something clicked with Evan Turner because he has been on a tear ever since. I think he is the X-factor in these two games along with Thad Young. Celtics don’t really have anyone who can match up with Thad because he’s big and athletic.

Unfortunately, it looks like the Sixers might not have Nick Young for these two games because he’s still battling vaginitis turf- toe. While Nick Young really helps the Sixers bench scoring which is the reason they have been struggling the past few games without him, I don’t think his absence will hurt them too much. Celtics can score at times but at other times they can be shut down with good, solid D which is what the Sixers play. Plus when the Sixers played the Celts earlier, the Sixers were without J-Rich who is a more consistent 3-point shooter so I’ll call it a wash. I honestly wish this wasn’t a home and home because I think most likely we are going to see a split. It is just human nature for Team A who won last night against Team B to relax while Team B needs to play harder to make up for the night before. But, since the Sixers have been owning the Celtics the past few years in regular season games I like a nice clean sweep. Jrue has been playing like an all-star point guard, and quite frankly if he doesn’t make it I will never watch an all-star game again. He’s averaging 18 points a game and 9 assists and has just simply taken over close games in crunch time and hitting clutch shots.

Keys in the Sixers 2 wins- Lavoie Allen plays shut down defense on KG, Dorell Wright and Jason Richardson are dripping like a Hanukkah candle from the 3 point line, and Thad Young and Turner rack up double digit points. Game. Set. Match

Game 1- Sixers 100-83

Game 2- Sixers 97-92

Maybe Rondo can try not to get thrown out of another big division game over a regular foul.

NFL Week 5

There we go. Last week I came into form. Had it not been for terrible, terrible, terrible defense on the Ryan to Roddy hail mary from the 1 yard line, my pick that the Panthers would beat the Falcons would have come true. But that’s why I love spreads. 9-5 last week, which is what I’ve been expecting. Like the NFL players, I guess I’ll blame my poor picking in weeks prior to the replacement refs. Thanks a lot. Week 5 has some interesting matchups, and with my overall record at 28-28-4 I will look to break over the .500 mark and not look back. As an extra pick this week, I like the Rams to beat the Cards tonight. If the Rams can duplicate what the Dolphins did on defense, they should have no problem beating them and handing the Cardinals their first loss.

Falcons @ Redskins (+3)- Major, major match up this week. I’m not sure if there will be any defense in this game, or only 22 bodies standing against the offenses. I’m not even sure who I like more in this match up. The Falcons are riding high off a tight win at home last week, and the Redskins won a tough one against the Bucs. I will give the edge to the Redskins in this match up because of the fact that they are at home, and not in a dome. Matty Ice has had trouble on the road in his career, and while I liked the Falcons to lose last week (which they should have) I actually like them to lose again. This time the spread isn’t as big as 7 but the Skins cover and win.

Tbow’s Pick- Redskins +3

Eagles @ Steelers (-3.5)- Steelers had an extra week of rest and preparation time, and the Eagles are coming off a HUGE divisional win against the Giants in prime time last Sunday. I can see the Eagles coming out flat and playing like shit, but I won’t believe it til I see it. The defense is too tough for that, and they should beat the Steelers, or at minimum keep it close.

Tbow’s Pick- Eagles +3.5

Packers @ Colts (+7)- Packers pulled to .500 last week and the Colts had the week off. Like I’ve stated, having extra time to prepare is a BIG deal in the NFL. No Jennings for the Pack and that extra week for the Colts might be a recipe for upset. Lets face it, the Packers should be 1-3 if the Saints kicker could do his job. I think we all hear the name Packers and expect them to win, but are they really that good? I don’t believe it so I will take the Colts to cover, maybe even shock the world this week.

Tbow’s Pick- Colts +7

Browns @ Giants (-9)- My Eagles beat the Giants last week and the G-Men are desperate for a win as the season’s first month is in the books. I like Eli to put a whooping on the Browns in a blowout, even though the Giants play much better on the road for some reason.

Tbow’s Pick- Giants -9

Dolphins @ Bengals (-4)- The Bengals are an interesting team to me. I don’t know if I believe in them yet. Dolphins have a tough D this season, and the Bengals haven’t had that killer instinct to put bad teams out of  reach early. They kind of let the Jags and Browns hang around for a while. My gut is telling me the Dolphins pull off a win this week, or maybe I just have to poop. Either way.

Tbow’s Pick- Dolphins +4

Ravens @ Chiefs (+6)- Cmon now Vegas. I wipe my ass with 6 points. Ray Lew might kill Matt Cassell in this game. No joke. All day. By himself. One pillow. One pillow case. Gun at his waist.

Tbow’s Pick- Ravens -6

Seahawks @ Panthers (-3)- Panthers looked good last week, but came up short. Seahawks looked, well, not so good. They are just a different team on the road. However, I think they can beat the Panthers. A heavy dose of Marshawn is in order and the Hawks can control the pace of the game that way.

Tbow’s Pick- Hawks +3

Bears @ Jags (+5.5)- Which Bears team will show up? Well, which Jay Cutler. Bears D is legit this year and they could make the Jags offense hell on Sunday.

Tbow’s Pick- Bears -5.5

Titans @ Vikings (-6)- No Locker could be a blessing in disguise for the Titans. Vikings are hot and the Titans are not, with their star QB down and out, this is the perfect recipe for a team to rally around the vet Matt Hasselbeck. Shocker special here, Titans upset the Vikings, but who would have thought the Vikings would be in position to be heavy favorites against anyone?

Tbow’s Pick- Titans +6

Broncos @ Patriots (-7)- Pats offense exploded in the 2nd half at Buffalo. I expect them to pick up where they left off. The Broncos had it easy last week, and the media is on Peytons nuts again. The guy sucked worse than any QB against the Falcons who don’t even have a good defense. I don’t care what anyone says, Peyton will feast on the shitty teams and will get owned by the decent to good teams. Pats in a smokeshow this week.

Tbow’s Pick- Patriots -50

Bills @ 49ers (-10)- 49ers are good. The Bills are bad.

Tbow’s Pick- 49ers +10

Chargers @ Saints (-4)- How can anyone pick the Saints to win? I still hate you Drew Brees, did the replacement refs blow the ball wide left last week?

Tbow’s Pick- Chargers +4

Texans @ Jets (+9)- Talk about embarassing. 9 point dogs at home on Monday night. Kick em while they’re down. Week 5 was a little late for my calling of Tim Tebow, but I’l take it. This will be Tebow’s team starting Monday night, and surprisingly they still have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs given how horrible they played against the Niners. One might say the Jets need a miracle to make the playoffs. Well to that person I’d say, Tebow is a miracle worker. Shock the world Monday Tim.

Tbow’s Pick- Jets +9

Week 4…A little late

I completely forgot to write up my picks for week 4 so I will rapid fire through them right now. Last week was a very, very bad week so I hope to rebound this week. I was an atrocious 4-10-1 last week. Just not acceptable. That brings the 3 week total to 19-23-1. So here we go:

Pats @ Bills (+4.5)- This game scares me. A lot. Everything we thought of the Patriots this year has been the opposite and no Logan Mankins who was the only solid option on the O-Line makes me lean towards picking an upset. But I just don’t think Brady will let that happen. I think it’s a close one but Pats cover.

Tbow’s Pick- Pats -4.5

Vikings @ Lions (-4)- The Lions are a team I haven’t liked all season. I think Stafford was kind of a fluke last year, and everything just went right for them. I see the Lions as merely a .500 team this season but as the NFL has shown this season, teams coming off big wins lose and teams coming off big losses win so go Lions.

Tbow’s Pick- Lions -4

Panthers @ Falcons (-7)- This spread might be a tad too high for me. Falcons have been playing flawless but let’s not forget how the Panthers offense looked in the friendly New Orleans dome. I like a shootout today and I actually like the Panthers to upset Matty Ice as they’ve had a few extra days to prepare and with Cam having a little fire under his ass after his pouting last week.

Tbow’s Pick- Panthers +7

49ers @ Jets (+4.5)- This is an intriguing match up  Anyone who watched the Jets game last week, I’m sorry. I was kind of forced to watch it and it almost put me to sleep. The 49ers should come out strong after an embarrassing loss to the Vikings last week, but this could be Tebow week. I think if Sanchez struggles early today, you better believe its Tebow time. Their offense needs a spark, and not Tebow running in the flats every play. Let him loose. I like the Niners to win and cover UNLESS Tebow gets the call at halftime or earlier.

Tbow’s Pick- 49ers -4.5

Chargers @ Chiefs (+2)- Chiefs coming off a big win, Chargers coming off a big loss at home. It might be a tight one but go Philip.

Tbow’s Pick- Chargers -2

Titans @ Texans (-13)- This is a huge spread. But the Texans look like the real deal but last time I said that the team lost to a shitty team. So I don’t think the Texans lose, but who the hell knows?

Tbow’s Pick- Titans +13

Seahawks @ Rams (+3)- Don’t have much time so just doing picks here.

Tbow’s Pick- Rams +3

Tbow’s Pick- Cardinals -6

Tbow’s Pick- Raiders +7

Tbow’s Pick- Bengals -3

Saints @ Packers (-9)- I will elaborate on this one. I hate Drew Brees. What a whiny little bitch he is. Oh we are 0-3 and playing like shit so let me make a comment about how bad the refs are. Get a clue Drew. Your defense sucks. You let up 30+ points to the CHIEFS. Did the refs not tackle Charles on that 91 yard TD? What a pussy he is, go Packers.

Tbow’s Pick- Packers -9

TBow’s Pick- Redskins +3

Tbow’s Pick- Eagles -1

Tbow’s Pick- Bears +3.5

 

NFL Week 3

Last week was a tough week. There were 3 pushes which could have either boosted me to a great week or knocked me down to a terrible week. Either way, I ended with 7-6-3 bringing my two week total to 15-13-3. By my math that is around 54% which is not very good but also not bad. This week I guarantee 10 wins. So if there is ever a week to pony up some money behind my picks, this is it. There have been 2 weeks and the league is as competitive as it’s ever been with 20 teams at 1-1. By the way, screw the Patriots who screwed about 40% of everyone in the world who was in a survivor pool.

Rams @ Bears (-7)- No Forte probably and coming off an embarrassing loss to the Packers in prime time. They have had extra time to prepare though and that goes a long way in the NFL. Rams looked good in their big win against the Redskins but in reality they should have been going to overtime and then who knows what happens. 7 is a good spread for this, I think the Bears win and I see them barely covering the spread.

Tbows Pick- Bears -7

Bucs @ Cowboys (-7)- So clearly Vegas didn’t watch the Cowboys last week. Just looked awful. I expected them to put up some type of fight against the Seahawks but on the other hand the Bucs looked awesome then looked terrible. I think these two teams are very similar and very inconsistent. Both can play at a high level but can also stink up the joint as bad as anyone. I like the Bucs to win and cover.

Tbows Pick- Bucs +7

49ers @ Vikings (+7)- 49ers are looking like the real deal this year. They can throw the ball when they need to and run the ball down your throat. The Vikings lost a heart breaker to the Colts last week and it looks like they are going to lose again this week.

Tbows Pick- 49ers -7

Lions @ Titans (+4)- The Lions are coming off a tough loss to the 49ers and the Titans are coming off a pretty bad loss to the Chargers. The offense for the Lions hasn’t really been there yet, so this is the week I look for them to open it up. Rivers threw for 3 and should have been 4 touchdowns against the Titans last week so I am looking for a huge day from Stafford and Calvin and the Lions to get back on track.

Tbows Pick- Lions -4

Bengals @ Redskins (-3.5)- This is a tough one. The Bengals played good offensively last week, but 20+ points to the Browns offense? That’s worrisome especially seeing how good the Redskins offense looks. I am just going to have to go with my gut on this one and say RGIII doesn’t disappoint in his home opener and the Skins beat the Bengals by a touchdown.

Tbows Pick- Redskins -3.5

Jets @ Dolphins (+3)-  This one needs no analysis. The Jets played a tough team and still put up a pretty good fight and the Dolphins just played a garbage Oakland team.

Tbows Pick- Jets -3

Chiefs @ Saints (-9)- It is really hard to put faith in this Saints team even though the Chiefs have looked BAD on defense. I will give the Saints one more shot and they should explode on offense this week for a big win at home which they need badly.

Tbows Pick- Saints -9

Bills @ Browns (+3)- The Bills looked good on offense granted it was against the Chiefs and I am feeling a big trend this season on teams coming off losses and beating teams coming off wins. The Browns offense showed something last week, and they are at home so I like the Browns in this one, sadly.

Tbows Pick- Browns +3

Jags @ Colts (-3)- So I liked the Colts last week to win and they almost blew it but ended up winning in stunning fashion on a Peyton like drive at the end of the game. Luck is looking like the real deal and he has instant chemistry with Reggie Wayne as well as Donnie Avery. Austin Collie might be coming back this week too and I just think the Colts have too many weapons for the Jags to compete with.

Tbows Pick- Colts -3

Eagles @ Cardinals (+4)- I am a bit nervous taking my Eagles as road favorites. They are coming off a HUGE win against one of the best if not the best team in the AFC and so are the Cardinals. But the Eagles defense is just stout this year. The Eagles offense still isn’t quite there yet and they’ve turned it over 4+ times in the first two games and they have still won both. That says something about how good the Eagles D is. Would it be bad if I only said I like the birds in this one?

Tbows Pick- Eagles -4

Falcons @ Chargers (+3)- The Falcons are 2-0 and so are the Chargers. This ones a coin flip, maybe we see Matthews this week, who knows. Maybe Turner drives drunk to the game, who knows. Since home teams raped last week I will just go with the home dawgs in this one.

Tbows Pick- Chargers +3

Texans @ Broncos (+3)- The Broncos have faced two good teams thus far and the Texans really haven’t had a test. The Broncos are a tough team at home but Peyton looked like the Peyton I expected him to be last game. Turnovers killed them but they still had a shot. I just think the run game of the Texans will be too much so I am taking another road favorite in the Texans.

Tbows Pick- Texans -3

Steelers @ Raiders (+4.5)- Can you say trap game? Coming off a big win against the Jets last week and then a big game next week against the Eagles. I like me some Raiders this week in the black hole to shock the Steelers.

Tbows Pick- Raiders +4.5

Patriots @ Ravens (-3)- Couldn’t think of a better Sunday night game to have on. These two teams are both 1-1 and whoever wins will have a 2 game lead over the other with the tiebreaker going to whoever wins in terms of seeding for the playoffs. I’m just not sold on the Patriots this season. Thought I was after week one but they lost to a decent, not good, decent Cardinals team. The Ravens have never beaten the Patriots in the regular season, but then again the Patriots had won, what, their past 10 home openers? Bound to lose sometime and I just think the balance of the Ravens and them being at home are going to be too much.

Tbows Pick- Ravens -3

Packers @ Seahawks (+3.5)- This will be a good game as well. Like I said last week, The 12th man in Seattle is probably the biggest advantage of any team in the league. It’s loud and it’s a place nobody wants to play. The Packers are vulnerable on defense against a power running game which is what the Hawks have. However, I am not sure they have the defense to keep up with all the Packers weapon. Close first half and then the Pack pull away by two TD’s.

Tbows Pick- Packers -3.5

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