- Last week I took a stab at picks for the upcoming weekend and I'm about to do the same. I'm pretty sure while it was not an overwhelming landslide of wins, I came out on top more times than not last weekend. Here's a look at what I like this weekend and why:
- Since there is only one football game Saturday, there is one wager I really like: the over. In most books that number is at 57.5, yet there is nothing to support that number being that high. The last three Navy games have resulted in total points scored 51, 42, and 56. The last four Army games have totals of 56, 39, 38 and 55. In the last five years the Army-Navy game hasn't hit 57, so why the 57.5 mark? The contrarian in me says Vegas knows more than we do. Go over 57.5.
- Saturday morning and afternoon will result me and my wife arguing over more things than the holidays. "You're not getting the UFC pay-per-view." "Yes, I am, it's an early Christmas present to |STAR|me|STAR|" "It's too much money!" "Yeah, so was your Christmas present, do you want me to take that back?" Anyway, I love Jon Jones he's from my hometown of Rochester, NY but getting anywhere from 3.5 to 4 to 1 on him beating Lyoto Machida is too much. Back Lyoto for those odds even though my heart says I hope Jones wins.
- An interesting note on Jon Jones, he comes from a crazy athletic family. His brother is a defensive tackle for the Ravens (Arthur) and his other brother Chandler Jones is a defensive lineman for Syracuse.
- Onto Sunday. Ravens – 16.5, take them. Look, the public will look at Orlovsky and not realize he was up against a crappy New England secondary. The Ravens are looking to get a bye; they're the right play here.
- Bengals -3. Cincy hasn't covered this spread in the last four weeks and face a team that's won their last six. Vegas wants you to go Houston so the Bengals are the right play here.
- Titans +3.5. Drew Brees has only this little of a spread to beat after winning his 3 of his last four games by at least 11 points? The truth is, Drew does not play as well outside of his friendly dome (see Seattle in the playoffs) and the New Orleans defense is nothing to be afraid of. Go Titans who are in more of a panic mode for a playoff spot.
- The Sunday night game, which is probably the most interesting game on paper. If you want to take the Giants with the +3.5 points, I understand. However, if I was a Giants backer I'd be more inclined to bet the odds here that they win the NFC East which is now roughly anywhere from 3:1 to 4:1. If the Giants win Sunday, they're in full control of their destiny having the tie-breaker and being in first place. That's not to say they'll win it given they get Dallas, the Jets and Washington for their last three games.
- In summation, for |STAR|entertainment|STAR| purposes only, money-wise I'd go 2X(Army/Navy O/57.5), 1X(Machida +350), 1X(Ravens-16.5), 2X(Cincy-3), 1X(TEN+3.5), 1X(NYG to win the NFC East 3:1).
- Again for fun, I'll post results, good or bad in the upcoming week. Have a great weekend everyone!!!