Thankful for Thanksgiving Football

After an explosion of losses in the early games, I was able to recover nicely last week to finish 8-6. I'm not as happy as I could have been but I did continue the non-under .500 streak. I guess that's one thing I have to be thankful this year. And with that, here's my special Thanksgiving Picks!

GB @ DET - GB. Is there anything more to be thankful for then a Detroit game that ACTUALLY MATTERS on Thanksgiving. It's been so long since Detroit has been relevant and this game could actually sway in Detroit's favor being the home team, but let's not forget that they are facing the undefeated Green Bay Packers.

MIA @ DAL - DAL. I'm thankful for the Dallas kicker, Dan Bailey. Only because he's on my Fantasy team. COME ON BAILEY! 50 YARD FIELD GOALS ALL DAY!

SF @ BAL - BAL. I'm always thankful for my brother and so should everyone else who has a sibling. Without a brother, who else can you beat up with no regard for injury and get away with it because, quote, "He started it." The Harbaughs should have plenty of fun at this game. I wonder if they have an inside bet going as in winner gets the turkey leg. Like I've said in weeks past, Baltimore has shown up when they are suppose to and shut down when the game is a cake walk. Luckily for them, San Francisco isn't a cake walk.

BUF @ NYJ - NYJ. I'm thankful for the waiver wire in my work fantasy league. Thank you C.J. Spiller, now earn another contract with a big game against the division rival. Unfortunately his lone efforts won't be enough but that's fine with me, since I have the Jets winning yet again.

MIN @ ATL - ATL. When it comes to Atlanta, how can you not be thankful for PRIIIIIIME-TIIIIIME. Atlanta was the first team for Sanders to play for and with that came one of the greatest defensive players and sharpest dressers to play the game. While I still feel that Minnesota has the potential to put up big numbers, without their prime-time player Adrian Peterson, I just don't see that happening against a playoff contender like Atlanta.

CAR @ IND - CAR. I'm thankful for Peyton Manning being hurt so that the Patriots won't have to face the Colts in the playoffs. With Peyton Manning out, this game will go to the Panthers. ALL ABOARD THE CAM NEWTON TRAIN.

TB @ TEN - TEN. I'm thankful for Chris Johnson not showing up this year. It's really helped me fantasy wise when facing my opponents. Let's go Hasselbeck, papa needs to pay off his fantasy fees.

ARI @ STL - STL. I'm thankful for turf. It may not be the best solution to indoor football but it definitely makes for one heck of a show, possibly the greatest show. See what I did there? St. Louis has played a lot better at home than they have on the road scoring at least a field goal more back home in St. Louis. Sure three points doesn't sound like a lot but come on... it's the Rams. They'll take it.

CLE @ CIN - CIN. I'm thankful for gingers like Brian Scalabrine and Andy Dalton. Where would the world be without them? Let's go BenGALS.

HOU @ JAC - HOU. I'm thankful for backup players that step up when the time comes. Houston has done an amazing job with that so far but now they've lost their starting quarterback. It's been a tough year for back up quarterbacks, especially their first game. However, I'm still going to take the Texans in this one, considering they just haven't shown signs of defeat, even with injuries.

WAS @ SEA - SEA. There's not much to be thankful in this game, so I guess I'm thankful that Pete Carol is coaching for Seattle, because that means he isn't still coaching for New England. That's right, if you don't remember, Pete the Poodle once coached the Patriots. Thank God he left.Washington has had it's share of injuries so Seattle could pull this one off, especially with Washington on a six game losing streak.

CHI @ OAK - OAK. In this game, I'm thankful for second chances and that's exactly what Carson Palmer got. He might actually have a chance to win this game since Cutler isn't playing. Oakland will just have to contain Matt Forte.

NE @ PHI - NE. I'm thankful for Michael Vick being so injury prone. I'm also thankful for GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!!!!

DEN @ SD - DEN. I'm thankful for Tim Tebow. Why you may ask? Because he's thankful for me being a fan of his, and hasn't even met me. That's the kind of guy he is. Definitely taking the under dog in this game, so I can only hope the real Philip Rivers shows up and throws four picks.

PIT KC - PIT. Seriously? I'm thankful for my buddy Brandon who's got a little Steeler on the way. Just another terrible towel to be waved.

NYG @ NO - NO. In this game I'm simply thankful for Monday Night Football. How can you not? It make Mondays significant again for a third of the year. While I'd love to see Cruz salsa dancing in the endzone all night, I'd rather another New York team go down.

Falling Asleep on Revis Island

Last week was a good week to be a Patriots fan. Lucky for me, I am. Not only did I win a free lunch for Tom Brady's performance over Tebow's but every New York team lost. Buffalo got stomped by Dallas, the Giants lost to the, now 8-1, San Francisco 49ners and the Jets barely played three quarters against the Patriots. Oh and most importantly, I continued my non-losing weekly record by sporting a nice 10-6 record. I should have grabbed a couple extra wins if San Diego and Philly could show up when they're suppose to.

This week since I'm unprepared to put out an entire list of my picks, I'll be coming back in the next day or so to post the rest. For now, Let's start with the J-E-T-S... Don't... F*#@.... Up!

NYJ @ DEN - NYJ. There's a very bold line between what I want to happen and what I think is going to happen. I would love for Tim Tebow and the Broncos to shut the Jets down, but that doesn't seem plausable with the Jets potential offense. This could be a coming out game for Sanchez against a bad defensive secondary. The good news for the Broncos is that the Jets have had barely any time to prepare for the offense that Tebow runs. Well, if you count the 4th quarter of the Pats game, they've had plenty of time.

Rest of the picks to come later. Check back tomorrow night for more!

(***THE PICK ABOVE WAS MADE PRIOR TO THURSDAY NIGHTS GAME. AS YOU CAN SEE, I PICKED WRONG, BUT I'M HAPPY ABOUT MY LOSS. GOOOO TEBOW***)

And now the continuation of THE picks:

CIN @ BAL - CIN. Here's the thing about Baltimore. Yes they're tied for 2nd place in their division with Cincinnati but Cincinnati is at least showing signs of life. Baltimore is a coin flip team. They're either playing or they're not. Baltimore's losses have come from teams with a combined 11-16. I'm not saying they only ease back when they play bad teams but they could easily be 9-0. Now they have to face a team that just played their hearts out against the division leader. Don't expect the Bengals to ease off the break pedal in this one.

JAC @ CLE - JAC. They both have the same record and the only reason Jacksonville isn't also in last place is because Peyton Manning isn't around to pull Indy out of it's endless slump. I'll go with Jacksonville but only because Cleveland is limited more because of injuries.

CAR @ DET - DET. This could be Cam Newton's chance to salvage the season. In fact, it could really help out the teams moral considering they also face Indy next week followed by Tampa Bay. If Carolina gets a couple early scores on the board, Detroit could have yet another problem playing catch up, which seems to be their weakness this year. I'll take Stafford and MEGATRON for the bounce back win.

TB @ GB - GB. HAHAHA. Might as well just be a bye week.

BUF @ MIA - BUF. All right boys, we won one two weeks ago. We won another last week that's two in a row. If we win one on Sunday, that's called a winning streak. It has happened before. Unfortunately for Miami, Shula's not calling the shots and Andrew Luck's not coming through that door. But Fitzmagic is!

OAK @ MIN - OAK. Minnesota has a decent young quarterback, an all star running back, and a healthy pair of wide receivers. You'd think they'd be able to put up points in the double digits after a bye week. Guess not. I'll ride the Palmer train for another week.

DAL @ WAS - DAL. Dallas has shown they want to be playing in January. Washington not so much especially with a loss to Miami last week.

ARI @ SF - SF. Oh so Arizona beat Philadelphia. Big Whoop, so has everybody else. I'll take the 8-1 division leader in this one. Go Niners... I mean, 40-niners!

SEA @ STL - STL. Coin flipper on this one. While both have been flipping between showing up and practically transparent, I'm going to go with St. Louis as a home team winner. No other reason than that.

TEN @ ATL - ATL. Atlanta is playing the way I expect them to be play. They beat the teams they should and lose to the ones they should. Lucky for them, Tennessee is one of those teams they should beat despite only having one more loss than the Falcons.

SD @ CHI - CHI. San Diego just can't seem to put anything together. Meanwhile the Bears are rolling past potential playoff teams. Who knew?

PHI @ NYG - NYG. Everybody's beating up on the Eagles these days. Why not the Giants too? I wouldn't want to face the Giants pass rush, especially with broken ribs. Good luck to Vick.

KC @ NE - NE. I don't really know what else to put besides my pick.

Is is Thursday yet??

So it's Wednesday afternoon and I'm writing out my picks for the week. Normally I'd have a few more days and wait for Friday's injury report to come out. Unfortunately, the NFL thought it would be fun to have games on Thursday night because Sunday and Monday wasn't enough. Normally I would agree but because of NFL restrictions, the game will only be played on NFL Network which I don't get on my TV.

Besides watching the different colored bars move back and forth on my computer, I also have to write out my picks early. Hopefully I don't get screwed by the late injury report.



OAK @ SD - SD. After a hard fought game against Green Bay, it took an interception too many by Rivers to spoil an underdog win for San Diego. Not this week however against a struggling Raiders team.

ARI @ PHI - PHI. Philly just couldn't hold on last week but I don't expect that to carry over to this week. Especially against Arizona.

JAC @ IND - JAC. Jacksonville has at least two wins this season and Indy barely got the ball past the 50 yard line last week. In fact, their only offense was from a pick six. Sorry Indy.

DEN @ KC - DEN. I actually have a bet this week that Denver will play better stats wise against Kansas City than Tom Brady will against the Jets. So since I'm picking Denver, I'm hoping the Karma will sway in my favor.

PIT @ CIN - PIT. I understand that Cincinnati is standing tall, tied for first place with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but I truly don't believe that Andy Dalton can keep it up. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see it happen but against this Steelers' defense, it could be a true test for the young gun.

BUF @ DAL - DAL. Okay Dallas, you got in your feel good win last week against Seattle. Now let's do some work against a competitive team.

NO @ ATL - NO. Not sure if I get this game on TV this weekend, but I'd love to watch it. Both teams hold the 1 and 2 spot in the standings and it's always a fun match up ever since the Falcons were reborn with Matty Heisman. I think Atlanta got lucky last week with a few catches by Julio Jones. Not expecting the same outcome this week.

STL @ CLE - STL. So St. Louis had a tough game against Arizona. Let's not forget they played great against New Orleans. Sure you could attribute that to the turf but I'm going with my gut on this one and picking the Rams to run all over the Browns considering the Browns have one of the worst running defenses in the league.

WAS @ MIA - MIA. Yea MIAMI! YOU WON ONE! NOW WIN TWO!

TEN @ CAR - CAR. CHOOOO CHOOOO... Hopping on the Newton Train.

HOU @ TB - HOU. Andre Johnson who?? Houston's on a three game winning streak.

BAL @ SEA - BAL. Baltimore will win this game hands down. I'm just hoping they let Sidney Rice catch a ball a few times in the end zone for my fantasy team.

DET @ CHI - DET. Wish I would get to see this game too. NOPE. Thanks NFL broadcasting schedule. Taking the Lions in this one, especially with a bottom five pass defense in Chicago. Let's face it, Detroit is all throw.

NYG @ SF - NYG. San Fransisco is a few games from clinching in their division. That's just sad. The NFC WEST is by far one if not the worst division in sports. I'll take the red hot Giants in this match up all day.

NE @ NYJ - NE. The Patriots haven't lost three straight games since 2002 and I'm a firm believer in the team that wants it more will win the game. Now I'm not saying the Jets don't want to win a whole lot, but at this point, it means more to the Patriots to win this game. We're talking three game losing streak and a possibly third place in the division. P-A-T-S BEAT THOSE JETS!!!

MIN @ GB - GB. If you won't mind, could you at least let Adrian Peterson score a few touchdowns. I could really use a win in fantasy. Spread the wealthy Packers.

Out with the Heart, In with the Stats

Another week, another winning record. Last week was the "go with your heart" picks. For the most part I did pretty well. There were a couple games that got out of hand, especially the San Diego and New Orleans game. I'll take full credit for the New England pick, but I said I was going with my heart, and I do have New England blood. Unfortunately, this week will be a condensed article as I don't have much time to write it out. No worries though because the last time wrote it out quickly, I went 9-7 so at least I'll be looking at a potentially productive week.

NYJ @ BUF - NYJ. The only reason I'm taking the Jets is because I believe they want it more so their going to play harder for it. I don't think the swirling winds from the Great Lakes will stop the Jets from Touching Down.

SEA @ DAL - DAL. They may not have shown up against the Eagles, but the Seahawks are a different type of bird. Expect Dallas to bounce back against a 2-5 team.

CLE @ HOU - HOU. Andre Johnson is still ruled out for another week. However, that hasn't stopped the Texans from throwing up a couple wins against division rivals, Tennessee and Jacksonville. With no Peyton Hillis, Cleveland will have to rely once again on the pass where they rank in the top five in passing defense.

ATL @ IND - ATL. No chance Indy.

MIA @ KC - KC. After two convincing wins over Oakland and San Diego, I'd say that Kansas City is a team to be taken seriously. Sorry Miami, but better luck next week against the Redskins.

TB @ NO - NO. I feel like these two teams just played each other, oh wait, they did. Three weeks ago, Tampa Bay showed they belonged in the NFC South and came out swinging against New Orleans. Unfortunately, the Saints have scored 83 points since that loss, and I don't expect anything less from them this game. It's tough for a team to lose two games against a division rival in a year, but if it happens to New Orleans they'll be sharing the division lead.

SF @ WAS - SF. At 6-1, when do you stop picking them?? Maybe, just maybe next week against the Giants.

DEN @ OAK - OAK. OKAY YOU RAIDER HATERS, Now that Carson Palmer has actually had time to step out onto the practice field with his new team, expect a whole different look to this Raiders' offense. While they won't have McFadden in the backfield, that shouldn't matter considering Denver is horrible against the pass. Heyward-Bay and Moore should get plenty of touches in this high scoring game.

CIN @ TEN - CIN. Let's face it, Andy Dalton could be the real deal. He's taken a team that was likely to have a top five pick in the draft next year and made them a playoff contender. Meanwhile Tennessee is still waiting for their running back to decide if he'd like to do his job. I'll take the young gun in this match up.

STL @ ARI - STL. St. Louis finally showed some life last week, and not only through the air but on the ground as well. If last week was any indication that Jackson is feeling healthy, this game be a good one for fantasy owners. Also Arizona is 30th in the league against the pass which could help Bradford if he's healthy.

NYG @ NE - NYG. Sorry New England fans but I'm not going with my heart on this one. The Giants run a very similar offense as the Steelers. If the Giants can keep the ball out of Brady's hands, then they can control the clock. It shouldn't be to hard considering the Patriots secondary plays prevent defense about 99% of the time leaving the middle of the field open for Manningham and Cruz.

GB @ SD - GB. San Diego lost to Kansas City and Green Bay is 7-0. Check Please!

BAL @ PIT - PIT. I always love this match up. Every year it seems this game is intense and now they get to do it on Sunday Night Football, which makes the stage even bigger. I'll simple take Pittsburgh in this game since they were able to be so affective last week in New England.

CHI @ PHI - PHI. OH Hey Philly, didn't see you there. Not until last week when you finally showed up against a good defensive team in Dallas. Meanwhile Chicago has had two weeks to prepare for the Eagles but I don't think that's going to matter much. My gut says, go with the Eagles.

I guess that wasn't as condensed as I thought it would be.