Nobody likes to see anybody else get hurt (or you shouldn’t). However, a few of my chums seemed to think that the injury sustained by Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weiss was cause for celebration (or at least an opportunity to take a cheap shot). I think that a lot of these people are missing the bigger picture here which is that Mr. Weiss is now facing surgery and a lengthy recovery process. First Carson Palmer, then Tom Brady, now Charlie Weiss. You have to remember that Charlie Weiss and the “S” word are not friends (http://legalpublication.blogspot.com/2007/07/charlie-weiss-sues-doctors-over-botched.html). If I were Weiss, I would want to think twice before going under the knife after such a debacle. I think that he really only has one reasonable alternative: peg leg. Just think, the next time he wants to try to capitalize on acquiring a personal foul for his team when the action gets too close, he would no longer have to lie to officials by saying that an opposing player “punched him in the face”. He could just start flopping on the ground and accusing opposing players of “sweeping the peg”. The guy is obviously not beyond behaving in this manner to curry favor for his team, he just needs to take it to the next level for dramatic effect. No surgery, more penalties called against opposing teams, I’d have to call that a win-win for Chaz. (Go Green!)
Anyway, Wally Sobchak here in time to bestow my week 3 NFL picks upon thee. Never seen it before and I’ve been following NFL odds for a considerable amount of time. All but one home team is favored this week. Not only is almost every home team favored, with the exception of Washington every home team would be favored at a neutral site (AKA -3 from the point spread). So, my guess is that half of the home teams will cover and half of them won’t. (By the way, my sub par 15-32 record will be addressed next week).
Before I give my picks, let’s break down what we know about the NFL going into week 3.
1) Both the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals have a great shot of going 0-16 this year. Thank the football gods for not having these two AFC teams pitted up against each other this season. This could lead to one of the more interesting offseason moments, the coin flip to decide which 0-16 team will get the number one pick in next year’s draft. It’s too bad, I actually have a lot of friends who are Bengals fans and it’s tough for them to handle that a) the Marvin Lewis era has failed (after a promising trip to the playoffs a few years back) and b) Carson Palmer may never be the same Quarter back after the infamous “sweep the leg, Kimo” cheap shot from said playoff game. Seems like that team needs to be scuttled in the off season and have a start from scratch rebuilding effort. Anyway, still pulling the stripes to salvage something from this wretched start.
2) The Carolina Panthers defense is very underrated. They have played two very solid offenses (both of whom put up very solid offensive numbers in their other games) and have kept their team in a position to win (which they have). Anybody able to get 20-1 or better on the cats to win the Super Bowl wouldn’t be a chump for taking a shot. (Side note: the Carolina DST is available in 35% of leagues in the world of cbs fantasy. If you are in need, they are solid.)
3) Teams I will parlay until they prove that they can’t cover : Philadelphia, New York Giants, Green Bay Packers (this includes this week, more on that later).
4) Teams that I may never take a shot on all season long: the fore mentioned Cincinnati, Kansas City, Minnesota, Miami and Detroit.
So, we will reevaluate these positions next week. On to the picks:
Since home teams are all favorites this weekend, let’s try to figure out who can cover on the road.
Oakland (+8) at Buffalo – Still not sold on Buffalo. They were up 10 early last week and almost lost outright at home. Oakland is not as bad as that first game would indicate. Lane Kiffin seems like he is out after any type of loss. If think the Raiders step up and make it close (or they may go on the never take a shot list).
Carolina (+3.5) at Minnesota – You’re giving points to a 2-0 team who has to play against Gus Frerotte and an iffy Adrian Peterson? Really?
Cleveland (+1.5) at Baltimore – Cleveland has played well for most of its two losses against two superior opponents. Joe Flacco has played the Bengals.
Also, out of the road dog category, here’s my pick on the only home dog playing this week. Give me Green Bay and the points against Dallas. Dallas is great offense minus terrible defense minus road game. Green Bay is good offense plus good defense plus home game. Take those Packers and the points.
Until next week, a good day to you sir, Wally Sobchak.
| Home Team | Line | Opponent | Wally's Pick | Dickie's Pick |
| Atlanta | -4.5 | Kansas City | Atlanta | Atlanta |
| Buffalo | -8.5 | Oakland | Oakland | Oakland |
| Chicago | -3.5 | Tampa Bay | Chicago | Chicago |
| Tennesse | -4.5 | Houston | Tennessee | Tennessee |
| Minnesota | -3.5 | Carolina | Carolina | Carolina |
| New England | -12.5 | Miami | New England | Miami |
| New York Giants | -13.5 | Cincinnati | New York | New York |
| Washington | -3.5 | Arizona | Washington | Washington |
| Denver | -5.5 | New Orleans | New Orleans | Denver |
| San Francisco | -3.5 | Detroit | Detroit | San Francisco |
| Seattle | -9.5 | St. Louis | St. Louis | Seattle |
| Baltimore | -1.5 | Cleveland | Cleveland | Cleveland |
| Philadelphia | -2.5 | Pittsburgh | Philadelphia | Philadelphia |
| Insidanapolis | -5.5 | Jacksonville | Indianapolis | Indianapolis |
| Green Bay | +2.5 | Dallas | Green Bay | Green Bay |
| San Diego | -8.5 | New York Jets | San Diego | San Diego |
Dickie Dunn here,
Let's just say it's a good thing the schedule this week gives us the battle for the Keystone State in Philly/Pitt and a rematch of the "Frozen Tundra" game with Dallas visiting Green Bay because the rest of the schedule is fairly weak. Oh and FYI, Vegas has the over/under on how many times Chris Berman uses his "FROOZENNN TunnnnDraaa at LAMBEAU field !!" line at 6 1/2. Take the over.
Atlanta vs KC is the chop off your pinkie game. Wally and I always joke that with a game like this if you were given two choices. Watch every play of the game or chop off your pinkie...which one would you choose? If you start thinking about which pinkie you'd have to go with....it's not a good sign for that game. I like the Falcons, I think they know how to do one thing well (run the ball) and that's one more than the Chiefs.
You gotta take the Carolina Panthers against the Vikings, I had a turf toe problem in college and it hurt bad. I would try and play and put it out of my mind but in the end it just hurt...a lot. and I was a lineman, didn't have to make quick cuts and get up off the ground almost every play. So AP is not going to be a happy camper come the second half when that painkiller injection wears off.
I think the Redskins will cover over the Cardinals, AZ has looked halfway decent, but you need to win a road game before I take you seriously. Besides the Cardinals are so cheap you know they didn't spring for a private charter flight and aren't staying in a 5 diamond hotel. So you mean to tell me the Cards are going to play well after sleeping on a crummy bed and flying cross country with a three hour layover in ATL? I don't think so.
You gotta love Broncos fans. the team goes 2-0, one good win, one win helped out by a ref's blown call and they start checking out January flights to Tampa. I think they're good....it's just a little early. In the words of Winston Wolf....well you know what they are. ( It's a family blog) But as long as they're playing at home and teams have to come up to altitude to play them, they'll win the early home games.
I think you take the Packers this week because I'm not sold on the Dallas D. I think the Patriots could be the first team to go 13-3 straight up and 0-16 against the spread. Until vegas realizes that Tom Brady isn't coming back anytime soon, take all those points you're going to get betting against them.
One quick side bar, it's good to see the Treasury Dept get involved in bailing out our financial system this week. Anytime you can cover for the mistakes of CEO's who spent shareholder's money like drunkensailors, bought things that they didn't understand,sold products to clients without telling them the true risks, got insurance companies to insure said products so the clients felt ok about buying them. Even though no one at the Insurance companies seemed to understand the risks they were taking buy insuring these structured products, and make the American taxpayer pay for it, it's a win win. Now the Taxpayers will own the largest mortgage portfolio the world has ever seen. Don't get me wrong I think we'll come out ahead in the long run. Since the loans given to these banks by the Fed/treasury dept will be around 11 1/2% interest. Any we'll be buying the mortgages at 30 cents on the dollar. Shouldn't the CEO's of the companies that got us into this mess in the first place lose their jobs? Instead they'll get huge bonus checks beacause the shares of these companies will rise as a result of unloading this debt to the American Public. Nice. U-S-A!! U-S-A!!
One bright note, the RTC trust that Treasury Secretary Paulson is planning to revive for this endeavor, has as a nickname, "The Wolf". Which a classic reference to Harvey Keitel's character in "Pulp Fiction". I imagine it this way. W is on the phone freaking out to Paulson. Paulson calms him down and says... "Sit down and relax and wait for the Wolf." W- "you called the WOLF?". Paulson. " yeah, you feel better now?" W- "shoot yeah bro, that's all you had to say!"... Good Times.
My thoughts...and picks for the week.
Faithuflly submitted, Douglas C Niedermayer.
I mean, Dickie the Greek.
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