Tag: NFL

NFL Divisional Round Preview

diviosnlLast weeks games were the biggest let downs of all time. One of the worst weekends of football ever. Every game sucked and then we were all forced to watch RGIII basically forced into ripping his knee apart. I was a little angry with myself that I wasn’t aware Christian Ponder wasn’t going to be playing seeing as that game was my only loss of the week putting me at 3-1 for the playoffs but realistically 4-0. Whatever. So this weekends games seem like they will all be pretty good. Saturday we got the Ravens and Broncos and the Packers and 49ers. Then Sunday Pats and Texans and Seahawks and Falcons. So here are some top of the line picks that you should definitely bet on if you want to make some money this weekend:

Ravens @ Broncos (-10)– Really Vegas? This is the playoffs. Maybe they didn’t get the memo but the Broncos quarterback is notorious for playoff one-and-dones and this Ravens defense is coming off an emotional win where they literally gave the Bengals zero ground. From a betting stand-point this game is a lay-up. You take the Ravens with the points all day everyday. Now with that being said, I really am unsure of who is going to win this game. My gut is saying that the Broncos pull it out but my head is telling me Peyton Manning is going to do what he usually does and that is lose in the playoffs. I think it’s definitely a low scoring game and the Ravens win on a late field goal to send the two horses packing.

Tbow’s Pick- Ravens +10

Packers @ 49ers (-3)- By far the game of the weekend right here. Well, at least that’s what most people think but I see this as a one-sided affair. I picked the Pack to lose last week but they caught a huge break with Christian Ponder not playing. On the surface you might think he wouldn’t have made much of a difference but if you saw Joe Webb throw a football you would know that the Vikings had no chance with him behind center. The Packers are a mediocre defense at best and their offense hasn’t impressed me of late. I think the extra week of preparation will work to the Niners advantage and their big play capability will be what puts them over the edge against the Packers defense.

Tbow’s Pick- 49ers -3

Seahawks @ Falcons (-3)- This is the matchup that I am most looking forward to. I said last week I liked the Hawks to win but wasn’t sure if they had what it takes to play on the road. Honestly, last week didn’t tell me much. Was their defense really playing that good or was it all because RGIII had one knee? The offense turned it up in the 2nd half but that’s only because the Skins defense couldn’t get off the field because of the offensive 3 and outs. I will tell you one thing. If the Seahawks start the game on Sunday like they did last week there is no chance they win the game. I’m really surprised at how low the spread is for this game. Falcons at home where they dominate and they basically dominated the conference all year. This is Matty Ice’s last chance to show that he’s not completely useless in the playoffs and this franchise cannot afford to lose another playoff game at home. Hawks made a good run but they are young and will be back next year, they need to learn to play on the road too.

Tbow’s Pick- Falcons -3

Texans @ Patriots (-10)- This is a very interesting game to say the least. You see it all the time in the NFL how hard it is for teams to win 2 games against the same opponent in a short time span. Patriots laid a beating on the Texans in week 14, and it had a pretty obvious effect on the entire team the rest of the season. The Texans were honestly saved by having to play last week because if they had a bye and were coming into the divisional round against anyone following all those losses you can guarantee them to lay another goose egg. They got to play however and get a little bit of confidence back in their game and that should make for a better showing on Sunday. I do like them to keep it close but I don’t know if they have enough to beat the Pats. I think it is possible but I like the Pats by a touchdown or field goal in this one. Don’t expect a blow out.

Tbow’s Pick- Texans +10

NFL Playoff Preview

nflplayoffI tried out picking every game every week and after a few weeks it was just too much. So I figured I would save the most important picks for the playoffs. I don’t think I need to remind you how dominant I was last year, but I will any way. 9-2 overall picking with the spreads, including my exact score prediction nearly coming true if the Giants could have mustered that 2 point conversion. I have no idea right now what team has an edge on winning the Super Bowl, that’s how close I think most of the teams are. Well, let me retract that statement. That’s how close I think all the NFC teams are, and I think the NFC will win the Super Bowl again. So get your money on Bovada and bet all these games and then you can generously split the winnings with me:

Bengals @ Texans (-5)- Easiest money of the week right here. Yeah, most people already jumped ship on the Texans seeing as they have been playing garbage of late but let’s not forget how dominant they were over inferior opponents for the entire season. And honestly the Bengals are an inferior team. Defenses were able to contain AJ Green towards the end of the season, and I look for the Texans to come out and destroy the Bengals on the ground and also in the air the few times they will actually have to throw. Texans all the way from start to finish and will be looking to avenge their loss to the Pats in the Divisional Round.

Tbow’s Pick- Texans -5

Vikings @ Packers (-9)- I had been going back in forth in my head on this one a lot. In the NFL, it’s not easy to beat a team twice in a season, never mind twice in two weeks. Green Bay will have the advantage being at home and by just the sheer fact that they didn’t win last week. It will be cold in Lambeau and I think the cold will be the main factor in the game. As we saw last week, Rodgers tore apart the Vikings defense in the 2nd half, but that was in the 70 degree dome. I think Peterson continues his MVP season and the Vikings come out and stun the Packers on the road in this first week of the playoffs. Ever since their loss early to the Seahawks which should have been a win, the Packers have piled up the wins but have just not seemed completely right. With Jennings being hurt all season and Nelson playing here and there, the inconsistency I think hurt the offense and will be the demise of the Packers this season. There is hope for everyone, even Christian Ponder can win an NFL playoff game.

Tbow’s Pick- Vikings +9

Colts @ Ravens (-7)- It’s real hard not to root for the Colts this year with all that coach Chuck Pagano has gone through and what the team has done to rally around him. There are a few things we can’t forget about this team though. Andrew Luck is a rookie quarterback. Andrew Luck has not played well on the road this year. Baltimore has almost as big of a home field advantage as Seattle and lastly this could be Ray Lewis’s last game. I think all of that is too much for the Colts to over come. Luck will be a great QB in the league in years to come but I just don’t think the Colts as a team are there yet. They will definitely learn a lot from this game to take with them into next season, but I see Flacco playing well and Ray Rice controlling the game on the ground.

Tbow’s Pick- Ravens -7

Seahawks @ Redskins (+3)- This is the game I’m most looking forward to. Russel Wilson vs. RGIII. It’s really hard to bet against the Seahawks after the tear they have been on, but it’s also hard to bet against what the Skins have done in the same period. I do think that Seattle is a more complete team, mostly because their defense is on a much higher level than the Redskins. The only question is, what can the Seahawks do on the road? They were a mediocre road team all season, and the last road game they played wasn’t even a road game it was on neutral ground in Canada. I do think however that the Hawks defense can bottle up RGIII and the butler Alfred Morris and I think Lynch can keep going beast-mode and Wilson will do what he’s done all year which is manage the game well and limit mistakes.

Tbow’s Pick- Seahawks -3

 

 

How Pissed Would You Be If You Were Tim Tebow?

sanchezPoor Timmy is all I gotta say. How big of a slap in the face is it to trade for a quarterback only to try and ruin his career? If you don’t think the Jets just wanted to screw Tebow over you’re crazy. Everyone knows Tebow wants to be a quarterback. Whether anyone thinks he could be an NFL quarterback is irrelevant because Tebow doesn’t care. I’m sure he hated every single second he was on the punt team but he decided he could put up with it until Mark Sanchez showed his true colors and he could swoop in and save the day. Unfortunately for him, Rex Ryan is one of the worst head coaches of all time and brought the Jets down with his decision to stick with Sanchez week in and week out. And to boot, he goes and gives the job the last two weeks to the 3rd string quarterback who was inactive for half the games. Um, that makes total sense. Sure you can argue all day about which guy is better, and McElroy might be a better quarterback but what is the point of trading for Tebow if you have a guy who could be your future already on the roster? Let’s bring Tebow in, make him put on 25 pounds so it screws up his mobility and throwing, so we can have a guy we can run a fake punt to twice all season.

Tebow could have gone to Jacksonville and been starter by week 4. That team is god awful though, so I don’t blame him for wanting to go to New York instead. Think of the decision from Tim’s point of view: I’ll go to New York, get to live in the city, sit behind Sanchez until week 4 when they have 3 losses and Sanchez is playing like the terrible quarterback he is, take over a team with a solid defense, good running game, and who cares who the wide-out’s are because who needs wide receivers?  I think the Jets would definitely be in the playoffs if they handed the team over to Tebow earlier on in the season, but they would have been the same as the Broncos last year. Not really contenders because the defense is good but not that good and the offense has no weapons to come from behind and win a game. I would LOVE to see Tebow go to the Vikings next year. They have a very good defense, the best running back in the league, a solid tight end in Rudolph and a wide receiver in Percy Harvin who can do whatever you need him to. If that isn’t a perfect place for Tebow to thrive I’m not sure what is. And let’s face it, Christian Ponder is garbage. He won’t win you any games, and he sure as hell can lose you games single handedly. Tebow might  not win you that many games, but he is excellent at managing the game and making smart decisions to put you in position to win.

I know most of you reading this probably hate Tebow and think he sucks, but any normal thinking human can’t possibly not feel bad for the guy this season. If you win 8 games in the NFL at QB you deserve a chance to lose your job, not be subject to the side show known as the New York Jets. Vote and tell me what you think, whether you feel bad for Tebow this year or whether you think he deserved to be part of this joke team.

Wait, there’s a football game tonight?

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Man, you would think today was the damn Super Bowl. I guess that’s how I would act too if my favorite team played one good team a year.  Anyway, I’m excited because it should be a good game. What I would give for my Eagles to switch with the Patriots and move to the AFC East and put the Pats in the NFC East. 6 automatic wins almost every year. And the only reason I say almost every year is because once in a while the Jets will make the playoffs so those games are harder. I will give my expert analysis however and give both teams keys to victories:

Patriots keys: If the Patriots want to win tonight, it’s all about scoring and scoring early. Now, this could be a problem because it is pretty crappy outside, but weather might not come into play that much. I realize the Texans can score as well, but scoring early and often will really put pressure on the Houston offense which would love to sit on the ball and control the clock. On defense it’s all about stopping the run. Containing Foster would be huge and give the Patriots a clear advantage. The pass defense should be simple. If you want any chance of winning a Super Bowl, you should be able to stop one wide receiver. Houston only has Andre Johnson, and he is a good wide out but the one goal is to contain him for no big plays. Dink and dunks are fine, as long as you can score on offense. Try and get to 30 and hope you can outscore that offense.

Texans keys: Control the clock. If Houston can run, which they can, I really like them tonight. The best way to beat the Patriots is to keep their offense off the field. You know the Patriots offense will score, but it’s not impossible to hold them to 20. Limit possessions and put pressure on Tom Brady. If you can force a few turnovers and run the ball there is no reason to not win this game.

Needless to say, I like the Texans. Honestly, the Patriots have not beaten a really good team in who knows how long. Last year they lost to every good team in the regular season and didn’t beat the Ravens, Billy Cundiff and Lee Evans beat the Ravens. Maybe this is the game where the Pats can show that they are the real deal and aren’t just going to beat up on mediocre teams and then lose to the Giants in the Super Bowl again. I just think the Texans defense is too good, and the Patriots defense isn’t there yet. I see a low scoring game tonight, even though many expect it to possibly be a shootout. The only way it will be a shootout is if the Texans defense shits themselves and forgets how to play. Patriots will score but not a lot and it should be a good, tough, hard fought game. Pats fans better hope it doesn’t come down to a field goal or they might be signing Billy Cundiff next week because Gostkowski is garbage.

Prediction: Houston 21- Patriots- 20