NFL Picks – Super Bowl XLIV: Colts vs. Saints

For those that hate my NFL writing, congratulations! Last game of the year until September. I may write a post game blog post, but other than this no more NFL talk.

The Super Bowl already? Come on, it’s only been five months since the start of the season. I want more football, damnit! That’s what I tell the people (women mostly) that complain about football “consuming” my life. Are you serious? There are only 21 Sundays that matter in the NFL season. There are also Monday nights and some Thursdays, but it’s the shortest professional sports season of them all. If you’re like me and you’re tired of the haters saying you watch football all the time, remind me of the grueling seven month offseason we have to endure. Seven months without the NFL for me is the worst part of the year. Summer? Pfft, who needs it? I’d rather watch a game with the boys with a beer in my hand and some nachos on the table. That’s what I like.

You see that speech right there? It was passion. It was from the heart. Keep in mind that I’m a lifelong St. Louis Rams fan, as a 6 year old boy in 1986 watching Eric Dickerson’s jheri curl flapping in the wind, that watched his team win 6 games in three years. You should have seen me when my team was actually good! When they actually mattered! I was happier than Rex Ryan in a buffet line. Now I feel as uncomfortable as Jim Caldwell doing standup comedy. (Have you heard the man talk? No? Me neither.) That’s when I REALLY loved the game. Now? I have other things like fantasy sports as well as gambling to keep me entertained. Speaking of, I look forward to Super Bowl Sunday in the afternoon when I spend a good hour or two laying down prop bets on the most ridiculous things. Good times. Oh, I should get to the game huh? Might as well.

NFL Picks – Conference Finals

The final four. Saints? Yep. Vikings? Yep. Colts? Yep. Charg…err…Jets? Huh? Three of the teams playing this week are ones we thought would be there from the start of the year because they’ve been consistent all year long (aside from benching starters later in the year). The Jets are the one that don’t belong…at least from the outside. If you watched the playoff games, though, they definitely belong. I found it amazing this week when I learned that the last time the two #1 seeds faced off in the Super Bowl was way back in the 1992 season when the Cowboys destroyed the Bills. Eighteen years. Pretty crazy if you think about it. You would think that the two best teams in the regular season would meet in the Super Bowl more often. The Colts and Saints can do it this year. Also, the last time the league MVP won the Super Bowl in the same season? Kurt Warner of my St. Louis Rams in the 1999 season. Is it wrong that I know that the Rams beat the Titans on January 30, 2000? I remember the exact date. God, I miss when my team was relevant. Anyway, this isn’t about me reminiscing about the past. It’s about the present. Let’s get to the picks.

NFL Picks – Conference Semifinals

For the NFL haters that read the blog, only two weeks left. Then I’ll write about only wrestling although I might delve into TVs or movies once in a while.

The interesting thing about round two in the playoffs is that in the 90s a lot of the time the home teams won these games. This past decade, though, it didn’t happen. Just last year we saw three of the four teams that had byes lost (Titans, Giants, Panthers) while only one of the teams (Steelers) won. Home field doesn’t mean as much anymore. Before I get started I should say that this is my favorite weekend to be a fan of the NFL. You’ve got the top eight teams (at least we think so) playing double headers in back to back nights. These games are usually very good. I’m excited. Let’s get to the picks.

Last week: 2-2
Regular Season: 168-88 (.656)

All game times are Eastern.

NFL Picks – Wild Card Weekend & SB Pick

To those that hate that I write about the NFL, don’t worry. Only four weeks left. Then I can write even more about the men in their underwear. That sounded oh so wrong.

In my preseason preview I got 8 of the 12 playoff teams correct. I almost got Houston and Pittsburgh, both of whom came oh so close. The biggest AFC surprise to me were the Bengals. I did not see a playoff team in them, so kudos to them for overachieving at least to me. In the NFC I went for a bit of the reach in picking the Seahawks to win the NFC West, which wasn’t even close. On the plus side, at least I was right in predicting that 3 of last year’s 4 top seeds (Giants, Titans, Panthers) would all miss the playoffs. I remember getting criticized for that one. Turns out all four of them missed out, including the Steelers. If somebody would have said that before the year they’d be ripped for it. This league is crazy, people. By the way, my worst preseason pick? Picking my Rams to go 7-9. The team did play hard and they lost their share of close games, but I guess I was too optimistic, huh?

NFL Picks for Week 17

It’s the worst week to pick games when only a handful of them really matter. Throw logic out the window and grasp at straws here. I’ll bet on the four things that I mention at the end, but other than that it’s a quiet betting week for me. I’m not THAT stupid. Am I? Note that there are no more Monday night games this year. That’s a bit of a letdown. After all, who is going to tell me that “THIS GUY” or “THAT GUY” is a heck of a player like Jon Gruden does? I’m going to be so lost the rest of the way without knowing the skills of THAT GUY.

Last week: 10-6
Season: 155-85 (.646)

NFL Picks for Week 14

Welcome to my picks for week fourteen. I went 10-6 last week for the second week in a row, which is fine, but I would love a 13 or 14 pick week as we head into the final four weeks. Starting out 0-1 thanks to the Steelers losing doesn’t help, though.

Last week: 10-6
Season: 124-68 (.646)

All game times are Eastern.

New Orleans at Atlanta 1:00 PM
Too many injuries to roll with the Falcons. To beat the Saints you’re going to need to put up 30 or more and they can’t do that with Chris Redman at QB. The Saints continue their incredible run. Saints 34-14

NFL Week 14 Pick for Thursday Nighter

This is my pick for the one Thursday game in week 14. The full column will be up tomorrow.

Pittsburgh at Cleveland 8:20 PM (Thu)
The Steelers are favored by ten right now even though they’ve lost four straight games with the two of them being against the Chiefs and Raiders. Their last three losses were all by 3 points. They are the masters of losing the close games. Those are two really bad teams. Thing is, the Browns are probably worse. Everybody talks about the Steelers trying to get in the playoffs, but what about the Browns? They’re in a three way tie for first pick in the draft and at this point they are in the #1 position based on tiebreakers. They don’t want to lose that! There’s no question that the biggest issue for the Steelers is their defense, which really misses Troy Polamalu, who has proven in his absence that he’s the best defensive player in football. At least he’s the most valuable. You see how many guys are open deep in that secondary and you realize just how good Polamalu is at dictating things when he’s back there. Still, the offense is above average again with Roethlisberger looking like himself and I don’t think they’re going to lose a game on a short week to a pedestrian Browns offense. This will be a low scoring, December football game in a cold city. Not pretty to watch, but the Steelers will pull through. I like the Browns for the cover, though. Steelers 24-17

I’ll be back Friday for the rest of this week’s games.

John Canton
oratoryjohn@gmail.com

NFL Picks for Week 13

I’ll have some thoughts on Ed “Umaga” Fatu passing away late tonight or tomorrow in my Talking Smack column. For now, I’ll post my NFL picks as I do every Friday.

I’m really exhausted today as I write this (the combination of being overworked and hungover), so my write-ups won’t be as thorough as usual. I went 10-6 last week, which is okay, but I picked too many upsets in a week where only two of them happened.

Last week: 10-6
Season: 114-62 (.648)

NFL Picks for Week 12 (Thanksgiving)

These picks are going to be only for the three Thanksgiving games. I will post the picks for the rest of the games on Friday in the evening most likely.

Green Bay at Detroit 12:30 PM (Thu)
The Pack’s defense has showed up the past couple of weeks with impressive victories although they have taken a hit by losing a pass rusher in Aaron Kampman and their number two corner, Al “Milli Vanilli” Harris, for the year. However, against a Lions team that is playing Daunte Culpepper at QB and has a banged up star WR in Calvin Johnson I think the Pack’s D will hold up just fine. Offensively the Pack are very strong with Aaron Rodgers playing at a Pro Bowl level and Ryan Grant entering his patented mode of being a great back in the second half of the year. The combined score of the Lions last five Thanksgiving Day games, all losess? 179-62. Throw another log on the fire, boys. Packers 31-13