levcohen
phillyisforphanatics215Cleveland, Arizona, Green Bay, Washington on BYE
Note: *= upset pick.
New York Giants at Cincinnati Bengals:
Line: Giants favored by 4.5
Over/under: 47.5
My prediction: Giants- 23, Bengals- 20
Bengals cover
Under
Results: Bengals- 31, Giants- 13.. Now that was surprising. I thought this might happen, but decided not to pick the upset. 2/3, with just the winner wrong.
Tennessee Titans at Miami Dolphins:
Line: Dolphins favored by 7
Over/under: 44
My prediction: Dolphins- 26, Titans- 17
Dolphins cover
Under
Results: Titans- 37, Dolphins- 3.. Wow. The Titans aren’t a good football team, but the Dolphins lay an egg. Just over/under right.
Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings*:
Line: Lions favored by 3
Over/under: 45.5
My prediction: Vikings- 26, Lions- 20
Vikings cover
Over
Results: Vikings- 34, Lions- 24.. 3/3. Adrian Peterson is a beast.
Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots:
Line: Patriots favored by 13.5
Over/under: 53.5
My prediction: Patriots- 30, Bills- 20
Bills cover
Under
Results: Patriots- 37, Bills- 31.. I got only the over/under wrong. From now on, I’ll always pick the over in this matchup.
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints:
Line: Falcons favored by 2
Over/under: 53
My prediction: Falcons- 31, Saints- 28
Falcons cover
Over
Results: Saints- 31, Falcons- 27.. Just over/under correct. I knew this might happen, but I decided to stick with the then undefeated Falcons.
San Diego Chargers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers*:
Line: Buccaneers favored by 3
Over/under: 46.5
My prediction: Chargers- 27, Buccaneers- 24
Chargers cover
Over
Results: Buccaneers- 34, Chargers- 24.. Just the over/under right. Chargers really should have won this game.
Denver Broncos at Carolina Panthers:
Line: Broncos favored by 4
Over/under: 47
My prediction: Broncos- 30, Panthers- 27
Panthers cover
Over
Results: Broncos- 36, Panthers- 14.. Just the line wrong.
Oakland Raiders at Baltimore Ravens:
Line: Ravens favored by 7.5
Over/under: 48
My prediction: Ravens- 26, Raiders- 20
Raiders cover
Under
Results: Ravens- 55, Raiders- 20.. Just the over/under wrong.
NY Jets at Seattle Seahawks:
Line: Seahawks favored by 5.5
Over/under: 38.5
My prediction: Seahawks- 27, Jets- 14
Seahawks cover
Over
Results: Seahawks- 28, Jets- 7.. Again, just the over/under wrong.
Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles:
Line: Cowboys favored by 2
Over/under: 44
My prediction: Cowboys- 23, Eagles- 20
Cowboys cover
Under
Results: Cowboys- 38, Eagles- 23.. Just the over/under wrong.
St. Louis Rams at San Francisco 49ers:
Line: 49ers favored by 13
Over/under: 38
My prediction: 49ers- 23, Rams- 10
49ers cover
Under
Results: 49ers- 24, Rams- 24.. Tie! I hate ties.. 0-2-1.
Houston Texans at Chicago Bears*:
Line: Bears favored by 1
Over/Under: 38.5
My prediction: Texans- 23, Bears- 20
Texans cover
Over
Results: Texans- 13, Bears- 6.. Over/under wrong.
Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers:- LOCK
Line: Steelers favored by 12.5
Over/under: 41
My prediction: Steelers- 34, Chiefs- 10
Steelers cover
Over
Results: Steelers- 16, Chiefs- 13.. Surprisingly close. Only the pick correct.
9-4-1 on pick.. 83-62-1 total
8-6 on spread… 78-68 total
7-7 on over/under… 67-78-1 total
Upset picks:
Texans over Bears- CORRECT
Vikings over Lions- CORRECT
Chargers over Buccaneers- INCORRECT
14-21 total.
Lock of the week:
Steelers over Chiefs- CORRECT
9-1 overall
QB of the week:
Matt Ryan, Falcons: Even in a loss, Ryan was great. He completed 34 passes for 411 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 1 interception. He continues to be an elite quarterback.
Surprising QB of the week:
Joe Flacco, Ravens: This is a surprise. Flacco was coming off four straight poor performances. In this game, he threw for 341 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 1 interception. He added a touchdown rushing.
Disappointing QB of the week:
Ryan Tannehill, Dolphins: I wanted to put Eli Manning on here for the third straight week, as while he did throw for 211 yards this week he had 0 touchdowns and 3 turnovers. But I decided to put Tannehill here, because he had what was supposedly a great matchup against the Titans. He responded by throwing for 217 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions in the loss to the Titans.
RB of the week:
Adrian Peterson, Vikings: For the fourth straight week, Peterson had over 100 yards rushing. He had 171 with a touchdown and added a 2 point conversion (worth 2 points in a lot of leagues).
Surprising RB of the week:
Steven Jackson, Rams: The talent was always there for Jackson. The Rams offense, though, wasn’t helping him, and neither were his aging legs. He broke out this week, against the 49ers defense no less. He rushed for a season high 101 yards, and ran in his second touchdown of the season.
Disappointing RB of the week:
Reggie Bush, Dolphins: Again, Bush was supposed to have a juicy matchup with the Titans. He responded to that by starting off with 4 rushes for 21 yards, fumbling, and getting benched for the rest of the game. Disappointing.
WR of the week:
Calvin Johnson, Lions: This is the Megatron we know and love. 12 catches for 207 yards and a touchdown.
Surprising WR of the week:
Danario Alexander, Chargers: Alexander had 3 catches and 61 yards going into this game. In this one, he had 5 catches for 134 yards and a touchdown. Pretty good.
Disappointing WR of the week: Eric Decker, Broncos: Decker had 7 touchdowns in the previous 5 games. In this one, he had no scores, and just two catches for 15 yards.
TE of the week:
Tie between Jimmy Graham, Saints and Tony Gonzalez, Falcons: Both these guys had great weeks. They each had two touchdowns. Graham had the edge with 146 yards to Gonzalez’s 122, but Gonzalez had the edge in catches- 11 to 7. These two are possibly the two best TE’s in the NFL, and they proved it on Sunday, going head to head in the Falcons vs. Saints showdown.
Surprising TE of the week:
Greg Olsen, Panthers: This week was a good one for TE’s, as three had at least 100 yards and two touchdowns. Olsen is the third of that trio. He caught nine balls for 102 yards with two touchdowns, a surprising outburst because he had no 100 yard games and just one touchdown before this game.
Disappointing TE of the week:
Rob Gronkowski, Patriots: Gronk did have 31 yards and a touchdown, but that wasn’t what people were looking for from him against the soft Bills.
HUGE MLB TRADE- Preliminary stages, not official:
Marlins Get: Yunel Escobar, Adeiny Hechavarria, Henderson Alvarez, Justin Nicolino
Blue Jays Get: Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, Emilio Bonifacio, John Buck
Summary: This looks a lot like another trade that happened last year, between the Dodgers and the Red Sox, with the Red Sox dumping Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford and their contracts to the Dodgers for basically nothing. I think this one is even worse for the Marlins than that one was for the Sox.
Marlins point of view: Basically a salary dump, while getting one productive MLB proven player (Escobar), a young starter who had a bad year last season (Alvarez) and a few prospects. Reyes and Buehrle had just signed long term deals last offseason, so they must be feeling pretty badly right now, as they have to move to Toronto, Canada. Anyway, I guess the Marlins felt so strongly about giving two semi bad contracts that they added three assets in Johnson, Bonifacio and Buck.
Blue Jays point of view: This is a great trade from the Jays point of view. They are moving a bunch of mediocre players for a package that includes: An elite pitcher who is an annual Cy Young candidate, a great leadoff hitter and a solid #2 or #3 pitcher. They also got a role player who is an above average starter at multiple positions, and a good backup catcher who would be a decent starting catcher. With this trade, the Jays now have a great core group of players: Jose Bautista, Reyes, Johnson, Buehrle, Brett Lawrie. They can now really compete with the Yankees, Rays and Orioles for the AL East crown.
My point of view: Awful trade for the Marlins. After getting a new stadium, and new hopes, before last season, all those hopes are gone. Their best remaining player, Giancarlo Stanton, is now upset. They are now not going to be a factor in the playoff hunt for a long, long time. As for the Blue Jays, I think they are now truly a playoff contender. With Johnson and Buehrle slotted into two rotation spots, and a lot of pitching depth in the minor leagues, starting pitching is no longer their weakness.
sportslines 