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Nov 17
2007
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WEEK 11 UPSET SPECIAL AND PICK 5Posted by DAMAN in Untagged |
Alright everybody, Gabriel Gold is back with some more money picks for you. Last week we went 4-3 with the upset special and Monday night pick and a bet of 110 per point spread and 100 for each of the two moneylines suggested netted us 170; of course if you put 714 on everything(500 Accuscore Challenge points divided equally amongst 7 picks), that profit jumps to nearly 1300. So let's get another winning week started. First, there is my upset special. Two teams coming off wins will square off in Cincinnati. Of the two wins Arizona's was more impressive, absolutelyshutting down on offense similar to Cincinnnati's, the Detroit Lions. The return of Karlos Dansby sparked the Cardinals and their 9th ranked defense, allowing -18 yards rushing. Meanwhile, Cincinnati again beat up on the mistake prone Ravens, winning without getting in the end zone, 21-7 on 7 Shayne Graham field goals. Arizona will miss Bertrand Berry who will finish his third straight season on IR, replacing him with the less talented duo of Joe Tafoya and Darryl Blackstock. I look for Arizona to take advantage of the #31 Cincinnnati defense behind Kurt Warner and his 86 passer rating, sore elbow and all. Chipping in will be Edgerin James who should have a solid game with the Bengals allowing opposing runners 4.7 yards per carry. The Bengals will rely heavily on Carson Palmer, in the absence of any resemblance of a running game, which won't be easy against a Cardinal team allowing just over 200 passing yards a game. The Bengals do come in averaging 24 points a game, but have scored more than 21 only once since week 2 and Arizona has surrendered more than 21 only 3 times, none in the last 3 weeks. Arizona's offense has performed pretty well despite multiple injuries at O line, quarterback, and wide receiver and will face a Bengal defense that has given up at least 24 points to every opponent this year that does not hail from Baltimore. The edge on defense gives Arizona the road victory this week against the Bengals, who are yet to put together back to back wins this year. Take Arizona, leave the points. Now onto my PICK 5. In no particular order they are: (1) Jacksonville -3 versus San Diego. This game will come down to two key areas, the run game and turnovers. Both teams must run the ball well and keep from turning it over to win this game. In its 5 wins, the Chargers are +15 in turnover margin and at least +1 in each game, but in the 4 losses they are -4. The Jaguars turned it over 7 times in the 3.5 game Quinn Gray era, but just 6 times in 5.5 games under Garrard, who returns this week. As for the running game, if Jacksonville stops LT, they win. The Jags allowed 175 rush yards per game in their 3 losses, and only 66 per game in the 6 wins. For the season, despite allowing 4.1 yards per carry, Jacksonville has forced its opponents to throw 3 times to every 2 runs. San Diego has won every time they've run more than they've thrown, and only once when attempting more throws than runs; and what did they need in order to accomplish that win? only 5 interceptions(the sixth had no bearing on the outcome of the game) from one of the game's all-time greatest quarterbacks(who was without 2 wide receivers and 1 tight end), two special teams touchdowns, one(potentially) 74 yard loss in field position due to an inadvertent whistle, and all of that would still not have been enough without also receiving a missed 29 yard field goal from one of the greatest clutch kickers of all time. Now since I don't foresee a repeat of that great fortune I have to go with Jacksonville. David Garrard, and his 103 passer rating with no interceptions all season, will be back, along with the #3 rushing attack against a Charger team giving up 4.5 yards per carry. Jacksonville, at home, will win this game by at least a touchdown. (2) New Orleans +1 at Houston. The Saints pass defense is porous, no question, but Houston's lack of a running game will allow the Saints to focus on stopping the returning duo of Matt Schaub and Andre Johsnon. Drew Brees will look to rebound from a poor performance last week against a Texan secondary which does only give up a little over 200 passing yards a game, but will be without its best defensive back, Dunta Robinson, for the rest of the season. Brees, a native Texan, should have a big day, and so should the guy who Houston passed up in last year's draft, Reggie Bush. Bush will be a big part of the gameplan, both air and ground, as he attempts to show Houston what they missed out on(just like Vince Young whose 2-0 against the Texans). I think this game will be a shootout, and in a shootout you give the edge to the better offense, which is New Orleans. Saints by 3. (3) New England -15.5 at Buffalo. Let's face it, the Patriots are unstoppable right now and if they weren't playing hard enough already, Don Shula stirs the pot a little during their bye week. First of all, Mr. Shula, it's not if the Patriots go 16-0, it's when and secondly, if you want a team to have an asterisk, it would be your 72 Dolphins, after all they only had to play 14 games. I know this is getting a little off track, but I do believe that New England will go 16-0 and they will have faced a much tougher, and longer, schedule than the over-celebratory Fins of Yesteryear. Now, where were we, oh right, the next victim. JP Losman will get the nod for Buffalo following a less than mediocre outing in the late win last week against winless Miami. He didn't play well against the Patriots the first time and he won't this week either, and without Marshawn Lynch, the Bills are in BIG trouble, as they will be lucky to score 14 points. If they do get to 14, then the Pats will need 30 to cover, hmmmm. You don't need me to tell you about the Patriots' stars, so I will just remind you that even though Buffalo has won 5 of 6, those 5 wins came against 4 teams that combined have less wins than New England. New England will cover, I guarantee it or your money back(I know you aren't paying me, yet, but if you were, then this game would be a money back guarantee). New England HUGE. (4) Cleveland -2.5 at Baltimore. The Ravens turn back to the ineffective Kyle Boller this week as they take on Derek Anderson and the Browns. Anderson, a former Raven draft pick, will look to again punish his former team as he faces a still banged up Baltimore secondary. The Browns' offensive line has only given up 13 sacks all year, and even without a strong game from Jamal Lewis, the emergence of Braylon Edwards and growth of Kellen Winslow, will torture Baltimore's #5 defense. The Ravens have only scored more than 14 points once in their last 6 games and just do not have enough firepower to keep up with a Cleveland team that will put points on the board. Baltimore will remain winless in its division, Cleveland by at least a touchdown. (5) St. Louis -3 at San Francisco. Last week, the Rams finally put together a game offensively that reminded me why I picked them before the year started to be a playoff team.(Hey give me a break, they've had more injuries than Steve Young had concussions) San Francisco's offense is dead last in everything but rushing, averaging a full 50 yards less per game than 31st. And if that's not bad enough, Trent Dilfer will replace the injured and ineffective Alex Smith, which means that Frank Gore will see 8 in the box and have a very long afternoon. The Niners have not scored more than 17 points since week 1, and that just will not get it done against a Ram team that finally found some rhythm last week. Bulger, Holt, and Bruce, not to mention a healthy Steven Jackson, will take full advantage of San Fran's 21st ranked pass defense and get a relatively easy 2nd victory of the year. St. Louis by double digits. To recap, the upset special is Arizona over Cincinnati outright, and the pick 5 is Cleveland -2.5 at Baltimore, New England -15.5 at Buffalo, St. Louis -3 at San Francisco, New Orleans +1 at Houston and Jacksonville -3 against San Diego. Check back late Monday afternoon for my Monday night matchup.
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