2016 Week #8

It appears to be an interesting week of games this week in the NFL, and boy, could the league use it.  Much has been written and said about the low ratings across the board for the league this season, with reasoning being anything from the presidential race sucking the energy out of any other entertainment to terrible matchups to the possible start of a general decline of interest.  I tend to believe that compelling games will boost the numbers back up, but time will tell.  Here are our Week 8 picks, with 5 head-to-head games for Jay and me to battle:

Fav	Spread	Dog	Final		Dre	Jay
	Thu. Nite
TENN (3-4)	3½	Jack (2-4)	Tenn 36-22		Tenn	Tenn
	Sun. Morn
Cin (3-4)	3	Wash(4-3)		London, ENG	Wash	Wash
	Sunday
Sea (4-1-1)	1½	NO (2-4)			NO	NO
NYJ (2-5)	2	CLE (0-7)			Cle	Cle
Oak (5-2)	1	TB (3-3)			TB	TB
NE (6-1)	6	BUF (4-3)			Buf	NE
HOU (4-3)	1	Det (4-3)			Hou	Det
KC (4-2)	2½	IND (3-4)			Ind	KC
CAR (1-5)	3	Ariz (3-3-1)			Car	Car
DEN (5-2)	4	SD (3-4)			Den	SD
ATL (4-3)	3	GB (4-2)			Atl	Atl
	Sun. Nite
DAL (5-1)	5	Phi (4-2)			Dal	Phi
	Mon. Nite
Min (5-1)	4	CHI (1-6)			Chi	Chi
Baltimore, Los Angeles, Miami, the New York Giants, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco are off.
				Week 7	10-4-1	5-9-1
					0.714	0.357
				Season	60-43-4	51-52-4
					0.583	0.495
				Lock Total	3	4

All of our picks and observations, including an aftershow with a new segment (kinda) titled "Before the Internet," can be heard here:

NFL 2016 Week #8

2016 Week #7

The apocalypse struck during our podcast making our picks as the Chicago Cubs won the National League pennant for the first time in 71 years.  So this may go against me in the picks, as Jay is the lifelong Cubs fan and may have the mojo in his favor, not to mention his streak of 3 straight 10-win weeks.  Here's our slate for NFL Week 7, which has us differing on 7 games on Sunday:

Fav	Spread	Dog	Final		Dre	Jay
	Thu. Nite
GB (3-2)	7½	Chi (1-5)	GB 26-10		GB	Chi
	Sun. Morn
NYG (3-3)	2½	LA (3-3)		London, ENG	NY	NY
	Sunday
KC (3-2)	6	NO (2-3)			KC	NO
Min (5-0)	3	PHI (3-2)			Min	Min
CIN (2-4)	10½	Cle (0-6)			Cin	Cle
JACK (2-3)	1½	Oak (4-2)			Jack	Oak
NYJ (1-5)	1½	Bal (3-3)			Bal	Bal
Buf (4-2)	2½	MIA (2-4)			Mia	Buf
DET (3-3)	1	Wash (4-2)			Wash	Wash
TENN (3-3)	3	Ind (2-4)			Ind	Tenn
ATL (4-2)	5½	SD (2-4)			SD	Atl
SF (1-5)	1	TB (2-3)			TB	SF
NE (5-1)	7½	PIT (4-2)			NE	NE
	Sun. Nite
ARIZ (3-3)	1	Sea (4-1)			Sea	Sea
	Mon. Nite
DEN (4-2)	7½	Hou (4-2)			Den	Den
Carolina and Dallas are off.
				Week 6	6-7-2	10-3-2
					0.462	0.769
				Season	50-39-3	46-43-3
					0.562	0.517
				Lock Total	2	3

All of our picks and observations, including my aftershow warning about trusting media sources, can be heard here:

NFL 2016 Week #7

2016 Week #6

This appears to be a week of reckoning early for Jay and me, as we go head-to-head on ten games, not counting my win on Thursday night.  Normally we split right down the middle when we are against each other on this many games, and that would suit me fine because it would protect my nine-game lead.  If Jason gets a big chunk of it back here, he's back in the mix for the rest of the season.  But if I take a chunk of games, he's down double digits and looking at a massive uphill climb.  Should be a compelling Sunday.  Here's our picks for Week 6:

Fav	Spread	Dog	Final		Dre	Jay
	Thu. Nite
Den (4-1)	3	SD (1-4)	SD 21-13		SD	Den
	Sunday
Car (1-4)	2½	NO (1-3)			Car	NO
DET (2-3)	3	LA (3-2)			Det	Det
TENN (2-3)	7½	Cle (0-5)			Cle	Cle
Pit (4-1)	7½	MIA (1-4)			Pit	Mia
CHI (1-4)	1	Jack (1-3)			Jack	Chi
Phi (3-1)	2½	WASH (3-2)			Wash	Wash
NE (4-1)	8	Cin (2-3)			Cin	NE
NYG (2-3)	3	Bal (3-2)			Bal	NY
BUF (3-2)	9	SF (1-4)			Buf	Buf
KC (2-2)	1	OAK (4-1)			KC	Oak
GB (3-1)	4	Dal (4-1)			GB	Dal
SEA (3-1)	6½	Atl (4-1)			Sea	Atl
	Sun. Nite
HOU (3-2)	3	Ind (2-3)			Hou	Ind
	Mon. Nite
ARIZ (2-3)	7½	NYJ (1-4)			NY	Ariz
Minnesota and Tampa Bay are off.
				Week 5	9-5	10-4
					0.643	0.714
				Season	44-32-1	36-40-1
					0.579	0.474
				Lock Total	2	2

All of our thoughts and observations, including an aftershow recalling one of the craziest baseball finishes in history, can be heard here:

NFL 2016 Week #6

2016 Week #5

Jay and I managed to not get suspended as we made our picks for this week, but we know if we celebrate too much, Roger Goodell will be waiting to spank our hands with his ruler.  We're head-to-head on four games after Jason's Cards was much the better over my Niners on Thursday.  Here's the rest of Week 5, where we are in lockstep for the Lock of the Week:

Fav	Spread	Dog	Final		Dre	Jay
	Thu. Nite
Ariz (1-3)	4	SF (1-3)	Ariz 33-21		SF	Ariz
	Sunday
MIN (4-0)	7	Hou (3-1)			Hou	Min
NE (3-1)	10½	CLE (0-4)			NE	NE
PIT (3-1)	7½	NYJ (1-3)			Pit	Pit
Phi (3-0)	3½	DET (1-3)			Det	Phi
BAL (3-1)	4	Wash (2-2)			Wash	Wash
IND (1-3)	4½	Chi (1-3)			Chi	Chi
MIA (1-3)	3½	Tenn (1-3)			Tenn	Tenn
DEN (4-0)	4½	Atl (3-1)			Atl	Atl
LA (3-1)	Pk	Buf (2-2)			LA	LA
OAK (3-1)	3½	SD (1-3)			SD	Oak
Cin (2-2)	2	DAL (3-1)			Cin	Dal
	Sun. Nite
GB (2-1)	7½	NYG (2-2)			NY	NY
	Mon. Nite
CAR (1-3)	4	TB (1-3)			TB	TB
Jacksonville, Kansas City, New Orleans, and Seattle are off.
				Week 4	9-6	10-5
					0.600	0.667
				Season	35-27-1	26-36-1
					0.565	0.419
				Lock Total	1	1

All of our thoughts and observations, including a baseball-filled aftershow, can be heard here:

NFL 2016 Week #5

2016 Week #4

The deep, abiding shame felt when one picks against Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots has consumed Jason, and he has switched his pick this week from Buf +7 to NE -7.  So for those who stopped listening after our podcast ended its live stream, this is why you must listen to the whole show, including the aftershow.  Also, Jason gave his Lock of the Week in the aftershow.  Lots of activity in our aftershows, as you already know if you're a loyal listener.  Here's Week 4, which sees us different on (now) five picks:

Fav	Spread	Dog	Final		Dre	Jay
	Thu. Nite
CIN (1-2)	7½	Mia (1-2)	Cin 22-7		Cin	Cin
	Sun. Morn
Ind (1-2)	2	Jack (0-3)		London, ENG	Jack	Jack
	Sunday
Sea (2-1)	2	NYJ (1-2)			Sea	NY
Car (1-2)	3	ATL (2-1)			Car	Atl
WASH (1-2)	7½	Cle (0-3)			Wash	Wash
BAL (3-0)	4	Oak (2-1)			Oak	Oak
NE (3-0)	7	Buf (1-2)			NE	NE
Det (1-2)	3	CHI (0-3)			Det	Det
HOU (2-1)	4½	Tenn (1-2)			Tenn	Hou
Den (3-0)	3	TB (1-2)			Den	Den
SD (1-2)	3½	NO (0-3)			NO	NO
ARIZ (1-2)	7½	LA (2-1)			LA	Ariz
Dal (2-1)	1	SF (1-2)			SF	Dal
	Sun. Nite
PIT (2-1)	4	KC (2-1)			KC	KC
	Mon. Nite
MIN (3-0)	4	NYG (2-1)			Min	Min
Green Bay and Philadelphia are off.
				Week 3	6-9-1	6-9-1
					0.400	0.400
				Season	26-21-1	16-31-1
					0.553	0.340
				Lock Total	1	1

All of our thoughts and observations, including an aftershow fondly remembering the Phoenix Cardinals and not-so-fondly remembering a game we call "The Alamo," can be heard here:

NFL 2016 Week #4