NFL Week 13 picks

I picked up a game on Loren last week going 4-2 to his 3-3 mark.
Standings
Derek 49-23
Loren 39-33

New Orleans at Atlanta.
Loren – Atlanta. The Saints are looking strong, but it’s asking a lot of them to win on the road in Atlanta.
Derek – Atlanta. I went with the Saints last time in this match up and was rewarded. But I can’t see them winning twice, plus you know, this one’s in Atlanta.

Seattle at Chicago
Loren – Chicago. Two good defense going head to head. I think Chicago is slightly more talented on the offensive side and ekes out a victory.
Derek – Chicago. Seattle’s road record is not good, plain and simple. This is their second straight week on long travel. With Cutler back I trust the Bears O a lot more than Seattle’s.

Indianapolis at Detroit
Loren – Detroit. It says a lot about Indy that we’d even feature this game in our picks. Still, Detroit should be able to move the ball against the Colts, apply pressure on Luck, and pick up an important victory. The bigger question is whether or not anyone will be there to see it.
Derek – Indianapolis. Can you say shoot out? I’m trying to give one to Loren here, but I can see Luck walking into Ford Field and taking a game. They can score, but can they slow down a Lions team that seems to be finding their offensive groove?

Pittsburgh at Baltimore
Loren – Baltimore. The Steelers are still limping around out there but performing well considering the state of their roster. Look for the Ravens to get dirty, run like crazy, and send the Steelers home in even worse shape.
Derek – Baltimore. Until Big Ben gets back I can’t see taking the Steelers versus a solid team. The Ravens should be able to control this game make some big plays and grind out a win.

Arizona at New York Jets
Loren – New York Jets. It’s the battle of deflated expectations! East coast home team beats long-distance-traveling west coast (approximately) team.
Derek – New York Jets. Ugh, I hate picking the Jets and they look bad, but I don’t see the Cards traveling to the East coast and winning any game right now.

Cincinnati at San Diego
Loren – Cincinnati. Cincinnati will be playing to keep playoff hopes afloat. San Diego will be playing for pride. Cincy will frustrate Rivers and force him into bad throws. Bengals win a big road game, move into second in the AFC North, and fifth overall in the AFC.
Derek – San Diego. Cincy has played well on offense lately but I think these two teams are pretty evenly matched. In that case I’ll go with the home team.

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NFL Week 12 Picks

Both Loren and I went 5-1 last week. I'm sitting pretty at 45-21 while Loren is 9 back at 36-30.

Washington at Dallas

Loren - Washington. I'm off cycle on Washington, picking them when they lose, picking against them when they win. But I've got to make up ground and the Redskins are another one of those any-given-week teams. A mistake free day and the Redskins walk out of big D with a win.

Derek – Dallas. I think Dallas is coming around. They'll need to make some big plays on offense, but I think their corners will play well enough on defense to shut down the big passing plays of RG III.

Oakland at Cincinnati

Loren - Cincinnati. They won't have Run DMC back yet, so the Raiders don't have a lot to work with. The Bengals are a tough nosed team and you walk off their turf bruised. It's going to be a long day for the Raiders.

Derek – Cincinnati. Should be a fairly easy game for the Bengals. Their offense and defense should dominate the game.

Buffalo at Indianapolis

Loren - Buffalo. Indy is playing well, despite the beating they took against the Pats. Why am I picking against them? Desperation. And the Bill could be them. Maybe. With some luck.

Derek – Indianapolis. Does Loren's write up make since? Nope, neither does his pick.

Seattle at Miami

Loren - Seattle. I hoped this matchup would convince Derek to take Miami. Yes, it's a long away trip for the Seahawks. They are also a much better team than the Dolphins. Run the ball, let your defense do what it does, leave with a win against an inferior opponent. What could go wrong?

Derek – Miami. I went back and forth on this pick, I decided to give Loren a shot and play my homer card. Be wary of a team, even a better team, traveling across country.

San Francisco at New Orleans

Loren - New Orleans. Playing a road game against a rejuvenated team while you have a QB controversy? Recipe for upset! OK, so the 49ers are still the odds on favorite simply because of their defense. But Kaepernick is an untested, unknown quantity. We've seen guys hot out of the gate and start making first timer mistakes shortly thereafter. Give the ball away too many times against the Saints and they'll make you pay.

Derek – San Francisco. How do you slow down the Saints? You stop Drew Brees. How do you stop Drew Brees?  You put him on the ground. The 49ers are a team that can knock and sack scare a QB. Expect a low scoring affair.

Green Bay at NY Giants

Loren - NY Giants. Did you know that in terms of YPG, the Packers have a statistically better defense than the Giants, both against the pass and the run? Did you know that in terms of YPG, the Giants have a statistically better offense than the Packers, both running and passing? Toss up, I'm taking the Giants on their home field with something to prove and a bye week to get healthy.

Derek – Green Bay. The Be work is the worry here. But it seems that these teams are going in different directions. And it's not quite time for the Giants to make their annual run of wins. Maybe next week.

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NFL Week 11 Picks

Another 4-2 week for me, unfortunately for Loren he had a 2-4 week. My lead’s up to 9. Derek – 40-20, Loren 31-29.

Cincinnati at Kansas City
Loren - Cincinnati. I chose this game hoping Derek would be tempted to take the Chiefs at home. Yeah, no such luck. The Bengals are obviously the better team and should put a beating on KC.
Derek – Cincinnati. The Chiefs are the worst team in the league, they made a game of it last week against Pittsburgh but don’t expect that again, and I mean for the rest of the season.

Philadelphia at Washington
Loren - Philadelphia. Yes, I'm crazy. But look, the Eagles have lost 5 in a row so they're due. They've played a pretty brutal schedule during their losing streak but have a much easier target in Washington. Minus Vick, this team is still the team that started 3-1 with wins over Baltimore and the Giants.
Derek – Washington. The loss of Vick made this easier, sure he’s not the best QB but he’s better than a rookie making his first start on the road against a team that will score a lot of points.

Tampa Bay at Carolina
Loren - Tampa Bay. Carolina is one of those 'any given Sunday' teams. They don't do any one thing really well, though, and the Bucs do with their run stopping D. Unless Cam figures out how to recapture some of last year's passing magic, it's going to be a long day for the Panthers.
Derek – Tampa Bay. The Bucs are playing pretty dang well right now and I don’t the Panthers are the team to knock them down. Five the ball to Martin and then give it to him some more.

NY Jets at St Louis
Loren - NY Jets. When you're down by as many games as I am, you sometimes just think to yourself, "Why not?" This is a why not pick. Why can't the Jets beat the Rams? Probably because they're the Jets, but this pick is no worse than any other.
Derek – St. Louis. Take a not great Rams team or a dumpster fire Jets team, hmm. Never mind, I can’t pick the Jets. So long Rexy!

Baltimore at Pittsburgh
Loren - Baltimore. I'm always leery of this match up to begin with, but there's an additional X factor in play this week. Never underestimate the boost a good backup QB can give a team, and how difficult it is to make a game plan for someone you haven't seen on the field. That said, the Steelers still can't run consistently and Baltimore should be able to keep their offense on the field for long stretches of the game.
Derek – Baltimore. The Ravens have been pretty blah lately, but the absence of Big Ben is going to hurt the Steelers a lot, plus the absence of their defense. I’m assuming they’re all hurt now.

Chicago at San Francisco
Loren - San Francisco. A tie? Against St Louis? Ugh. The deflation of that game followed by the scare with Harbaugh could be enough to spook a team facing a really tough D. But Harbaugh is back in the locker room and will be on the sideline, which is exactly where Cutler will be. See my note above about good backup QBs providing a change of pace for a team, but as long as the 49ers' don't make any egregious mistakes, they should win this one at home.
Derek – San Francisco. Both of the normal starting QBs got rung last week but looks like Smith will be back while Cutler won’t, this doesn’t bode well for the visitors.

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NFL Week 10 picks

Back on the winning track for me. I went 4-2 last week to gain another game on Loren who went 3-3. Total records as of now are…36-18 to Loren’s 29-25 record.

New York Giants at Cincinnati
Loren – New York. That was a disgusting loss against the Steelers last week. Good thing they’re playing a mediocre team this week. Still, coming in to this game with a hangover from that loss could spell doom for the Giants. As the Bengals proved against Denver, they have the firepower to challenge better teams.
Derek – New York. The Bengals are one of those “ok” teams, they can play good, bad or somewhere in between. You can always pick against them with confidence but you can’t be surprised if they win. I’m going with the Giants here, they have a better offense and much better defense to handle the Red Rocket and AJ Green.

Detroit at Minnesota
Loren – Detroit. It looks like Stafford and Megatron are getting their mojo back. They better. Detroit’s run D isn’t nearly as good as their secondary. If you’re Minnesota, run the ball all day, control the clock, and mix in a few play-action shots down the field to keep the defense honest. Detroit should be able to handle that, but we’ve seen them lose games they should win.
Derek – Detroit. Obviously the Lions aren’t they team they were last year. They’ve lost something or at least have come back down to reality. That being said they’ve seemed to right the ship the last few weeks and aren’t turning the ball over every other possession. They should have enough offense to make up for the lack of time of possession you’re going to see. AP will have a big day but not big enough.

Atlanta at New Orleans
Loren – Atlanta. Yeah, I’m not going to pick against the only undefeated team in the league. This will probably be a high scoring, close game. But if the difference comes down to which team can make a defensive stop…which would you pick?
Derek – New Orleans. I think it was just last week I said I wouldn’t go against Atlanta until they lost. But I’ve got a feeling about this game. The Saints are playing better and the Falcons don’t look soooo explosive. I think this comes down to one possession and I like Brees with the ball in his hand. Home Dome advantage?

New York Jets at Seattle
Loren – Seattle. This is probably going to be one of those inexplicable games where the Seahawks have a home matchup against a team on the ropes, a game they could make a statement with, and they somehow find a way to lose. Overall, the Seahawks are the better team. If the Jets were smart, they’d abandon all post-season aspirations and start mixing up their personnel, come up with a new offensive plan that plays to their strengths. Ha ha, I just said, “If the Jets were smart…”
Derek – Seattle. Ha ha, Loren said “If the Jets were smart…” Seattle at home is usually a good bet. Wilson seems to be rounding into form and the D is still holding up. I don’t see a bad team in the Jets getting better all of the sudden in the hostile work environment that is the Clink.

Dallas at Philadelphia
Loren – Dallas. Man, I don’t like taking Dallas on the road. This just instinctively feels wrong. After last week’s pasting by the Saints, though, the Eagles don’t deserve a pick here. The Eagles are the most frustrating team in the NFL. On paper, their offense is stellar and their defense should be better than average. If you can’t step up on the field, though, all the paper simulations don’t mean a thing.
Derek – Dallas. Gotta stick with a team that makes minor mistakes to cost themselves the game against a team that seems to make every mistake possible. They only scored 13 against the Saints D. ewww.

Houston at Chicago
Loren – Chicago. This is the hardest game to pick this week. Everyone and their mother jumped on the Bears’ D bandwagon this week. Really? They gave up 20 and 22 points to the Titans and Panthers, respectively, the last two weeks. Hearing the pundits, you’d expect they’d had two consecutive shutouts. But here’s the reason I’m taking Chicago: tossing out the 13 points they scored against the Lions in week 7, the Bears have averaged over 37 points per game in their last 5 games. They haven’t been playing the best defenses, but it shows you the offense is clicking. If their D can even just play up to par for them this week, it should be a home win for Chicago.
Derek – Houston. I think the Texans are a legit 7-1 team and the Bears are more like a 5-3 team. They’ve been playing better recently but Houston will be the best team they’ve played since the Packers and they lost that one. I’ll be surprised if Cutler has less than 3 interceptions. He’s going to be on the run most of the game.

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NFL Week 9 Picks

Can you believe the season is half over? Anyway, another 5-1 week for me puts me up 6 games once again. I’m standing tall with a record of 32-16 while Loren is pulling away from the .500 mark with a 26-22 mark.

Miami at Indianapolis
Loren – Miami. Indy is just too inconsistent to afford picking them, even at home. Miami, meanwhile, seems poised to have a mediocre year. This is a vast improvement over what most people thought they would do so, you know, good for them.
Derek – Miami. Both teams are a surprise at this point I’d imagine. I think the Dolphins D will be able to control the game enough to walk away with a win. Think low score here. First one to 20 wins, in fact lets make that 17.

Denver at Cincinnati
Loren – Denver. Wow, Denver looked really sharp in dismantling the Saints. Most people do, though. This will be a much tougher test for them against a decent defense. Denver should still prevail, but this team goes as far as its defense take it. Manning and Co. will take care of business, but can they get consistent run stopping?
Derek – Denver. The Broncos took apart the Saints D and now face another poor D in Cincinnati. Only difference here is the location of the contest and it’s not nearly a big enough difference.

Minnesota at Seattle
Loren – Seattle. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Minnesota takes this one, but I have to go with the home team. If you’re going to beat Seattle’s D, an aerial attack is the way to go. I don’t see the Vikings as likely candidates to safely throw the ball often enough to score points.
Derek – Seattle. Seattle has a great D, they even ratchet it up a notch at home. I don’t expect the Vikings to score more than 10 points and wonder how Ponder will do getting hit every other time he drops back to pass.

Pittsburgh at New York Giants
Loren – New York Giants. The Giants make me nervous every week, but they keep finding a way to win. Once again, I see NY’s D line breaking through to harass the QB. The question is, though, can the Giants take advantage against a really strong defense. In a close game between strong Ds, this could come down to who can hit their field goals. Home team advantage, once again.
Derek – New York Giants. I won’t be surprised by the winner of this game, I can see it going either way in a close one or a blow out. Anything can happen here. Despite the Steelers last game, they haven’t been too consistent this year, while the Giants know how to win, plain and simple.

Dallas at Atlanta
Loren – Atlanta. Every week you have to ask yourself, “Do I trust Romo against X defense.” So, do you trust Romo against Atlanta’s D? Neither do I.
Derek – Atlanta. I’ll be interested to see the Cowboys improved DBs versus Jones and White. The Falcons haven’t relied on the run game much, but haven’t had to. Eventually they’ll lose and this could be that game, but until they do, I’m not going against them.

Philadelphia at New Orleans
Loren – Philadelphia. The Saints have a really tough road the rest of the season. Unfortunately, they shown no signs that their defense is ready to step up. The Eagles have such a balance attack and can score in so many ways, their D just needs to make a play or two to keep this one out of reach.
Derek – New Orleans. I don’t see either teams D slowing the opposition down. But I don’t think the Eagles are that good of offensive team. So I’m going with the team I know can score 30.

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Crazy BLazer Bets

It’s time for a new NBA regular season and with it our yearly Crazy Blazer bets. As a recap we make predictions related to the Blazers that are so far fetched that if anyone of them were to actually happen you'd be willing to pay $5 to the person who made that prediction. As always please feel free to add your predictions to the bottom, of course you're not eligible for the cash.

Derek – Myers Leonard will have one game of at least 25 points 20 rebounds and 7 blocks.

Loren - Three Blazers from the 2012/13 roster make the 2013 Western Conference NBA All-Star team.

Philipp - Damian Lillard will win Rookie of the Year averaging at least 20pts and 10assts per game.

Ryan - Blazers score less than 74 points in a game…and win.

Cliff - Brandon Roy will record a triple-double in all four Blazers-Wolves games.

Carlos – Nic Batum wins the Slam Dunk Championship.

Mike - Blazers will have at least one game where they start 4 white guys.

Chris - Coach Stotts will be head coach of the Western Conference All-Star team this season.

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