Scott Norwood

Scott Norwood
Wide Right started it all.

Saturday, December 29, 2018

2018 Week #17

The final week of the NFL regular season traditionally gives some very unusual results, so as you know if you're a regular reader of this blog, Jason and I flip a coin for each and every pick to see if we can do better than a random coin flip.  Most of the time, we don't.  I added an extra element of randomness this year.  Thanks to nflpickwatch.com, I can see which teams I pick well and which teams I'm the worst at picking, and I found a couple of matchups this week between teams that I'm under .500 picking both squads.  So since I don't know what I'm picking with those teams anyway, and this is the extra-screwy Week 17, I just picked the opposite of what I actually like for those games.  I have those picks italicized for full disclosure.  And I'm winning the fan challenge by two games with one week to go, so if those two games are the ones I lose, I have no one to blame but myself.  Here are our official Week 17 picks, where Jay and I go head-to-head on six games:

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay Coin
GB (6-8-1) Det (5-10) GB GB GB
NO (13-2) 7 Car (6-9) Car NO NO
Atl (6-9) 2 TB (5-10) Atl TB Atl
HOU (10-5) 7 Jack (5-10) Hou Hou Jack
NE (10-5) 14 NYJ (4-11) NY NE NE
BUF (5-10) Mia (7-8) Buf Buf Mia
NYG (5-10) 6 Dal (9-6) NY NY Dal
LAC (11-4) 6 DEN (6-9) LA LA LA
SEA (9-6) 13½ Ariz (3-12) Sea Sea Sea
MIN (8-6-1) Chi (11-4) Min Chi Chi
LAR (12-3) 10½ SF (4-11) SF LA LA
BAL (9-6) Cle (7-7-1) Bal Bal Bal
PIT (8-6-1) 14½ Cin (6-9) Cin Cin Pit
Phi (8-7) WASH (7-8) Phi Phi Phi
KC (11-4) 14½ Oak (4-11) KC Oak Oak
Sun. Nite
Ind (9-6) 3    TENN (9-6) Ind Ind Tenn
Week 16 7-9 7-9
0.438 0.438
Season 132-103-5 114-121-5
0.562 0.485
Lock Total 9 9

All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2018 Week #17

Friday, December 21, 2018

2018 Week #16

Well, we had our "football party" where we get into the previous week's action before picking the upcoming games, just like we do in the playoffs.  That's a lot of talking without a break, so it was no surprise that Jason and I were all partied out at the end of those two hours.  But we got our talking points in and raised each other's eyebrows with some of our observations.  This will be a weekend without football for me, because my wife and I will be off on a Christmas cruise to Mexico.  I'm very much looking forward to being off the grid and not finding out about the picks until I'm back in America next Thursday.  Hopefully I will have avoided some dreadful 2-14 week or something.  Here are our selections for Week 16, which has us battling on eight picks:

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
Saturday
TENN (8-6) 10½ Wash (7-7) Tenn Tenn
Sat. Nite
LAC (11-3) Bal (8-6) LA LA
Sunday
CLE (6-7-1) 10 Cin (6-8) Cle Cin
DAL (8-6) TB (5-9) Dal Dal
Min (7-6-1) 6 DET (5-9) Min Det
IND (8-6) 10 NYG (5-9) NY Ind
MIA (7-7) 4 Jack (4-10) Mia Mia
NE (9-5) 13½ Buf (5-9) Buf NE
GB (5-8-1) 3 NYJ (4-10) GB GB
PHI (7-7) 1 Hou (10-4) Hou Phi
Atl (5-9) CAR (6-8) Atl Car
LAR (11-3) 14 ARIZ (3-11) Ariz LA
Chi (10-4) 4 SF (4-10) SF SF
NO (12-2) Pit (8-5-1) NO Pit
Sun. Nite
KC (11-3) SEA (8-6) Sea Sea
Mon. Nite
Den (6-8) 3 OAK (3-11) Oak Oak
Week 15 7-8-1 7-8-1
0.467 0.467
Season 125-96-5 107-114-5
0.566 0.484
Lock Total 9 9


All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2018 Week #16

Saturday, December 15, 2018

2018 Week #15

This show was special for Jas and me, as I got to play him some clips from the Pro Football Focus podcast that really sounded a lot like points that we have made on our previous shows.  So we're getting more legit by the minute, it seems.  That's sarcasm, by the way.  But it was definitely a kick to hear some people who make a living breaking down and analyzing football making the same observations that we (and a caller to our show) have made.  Makes you feel like you're doing something right, and who doesn't like that feeling?  I should have felt good about calling the Chargers pick Thursday night, but the awful refereeing took away from it.  As for the rest of Week 15, six games have Jay and me on opposite sides, including me going against his Lock on Monday.  Here are our picks:

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
Thu. Nite
KC (11-2) LAC (10-3) LA 29-28 LA KC
Saturday
Hou (9-4) 7 NYJ (4-9) Hou Hou
Sat. Nite
DEN (6-7) Cle (5-7-1) Den Cle
Sunday
CHI (9-4) GB (5-7-1) Chi GB
ATL (4-9) 10 Ariz (3-10) Ariz Ariz
MIN (6-6-1) Mia (7-6) Min Mia
JACK (4-9) Wash (6-7) Jack Jack
CIN (5-8) 3 Oak (3-10) Cin Cin
BAL (7-6) TB (5-8) Bal Bal
BUF (4-9) Det (5-8) Buf Buf
Tenn (7-6) 1 NYG (5-8) NY Tenn
IND (7-6) 3 Dal (8-5) Dal Ind
Sea (8-5) SF (3-10) SF SF
NE (9-4) PIT (7-5-1) NE NE
Sun. Nite
LAR (11-2) 13 Phi (6-7) LA Phi
Mon. Nite
NO (11-2) CAR (6-7) Car NO
Week 14 8-8 8-8
0.500 0.500
Season 118-88-4 100-106-4
0.573 0.485
Lock Total 9 9


All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2018 Week #15

Saturday, December 8, 2018

2018 Week #14

I can't recall a week with an entire early afternoon block where Jason and I agree on all the picks, but that's what happened for this week.  Right on down the line we had the same pick for all the early Sunday games and didn't start to disagree until the late games and the two night games.  Jay is hoping that he takes me down and facilitates my first really bad week of the season, because my percentage takes a much bigger battering than his if we both stink it out.  I'm hoping to bring him up to my level and keep my fantastic season going.  Did I mention that I'm 2nd out of 1,654 fan handicappers on nflpickwatch.com?  And that I'm better than all of their "experts" this year?  Perhaps I can be an expert next season, lol.  Here are our picks for Week 14, where we go head-to-head on five games, not counting the Derrick Henry showcase game Thursday:

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
Thu. Nite
TENN (6-6) 4 Jack (4-8) Tenn 30-9 Tenn Jack
Sunday
GB (4-7-1) 4 Atl (4-8) GB GB
NO (10-2) 10 TB (5-7) NO NO
Car (6-6) 1 CLE (4-7-1) Cle Cle
BUF (4-8) NYJ (3-9) Buf Buf
KC (10-2) 6 Bal (7-5) KC KC
NYG (4-8) WASH (6-6) NY NY
HOU (9-3) Ind (6-6) Hou Hou
NE (9-3) MIA (6-6) NE NE
LAC (9-3) 14 Cin (5-7) LA LA
Den (6-6) SF (2-10) SF SF
Pit (7-4-1) 10½ OAK (2-10) Pit Oak
DAL (7-5) Phi (6-6) Dal Phi
Det (4-8) ARIZ (3-9) Ariz Det
Sun. Nite
LAR (11-1) 3 CHI (8-4) Chi LA
Mon. Nite
SEA (7-5) 3 Min (6-5-1) Min Sea
Week 13 11-5 9-7
0.688 0.563
Season 110-80-4 92-98-4
0.579 0.484
Lock Total 9 8


All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2018 Week #14

Saturday, December 1, 2018

2018 Week #13

Jason and I will do battle on seven picks this weekend, not counting my upset pick of the Cowboys over the Saints Thursday.  But we decided to do a sorta deep dive on this year's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees in our aftershow, because that's what we felt like doing.  We also had plenty of opinions and hot takes concerning this year's Ray Rice Slap-a-Hoe Tribe member, Kareem Hunt.  As always, we spray to all fields and we spit the truth whether it's PC or not, but if you've been listening, you already know that.  Here's the NFL picks ATS for Week 13:

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
Thu. Nite
NO (10-1) 7    DAL (6-5) Dal 13-10 Dal NO
Sunday
ATL (4-7) Bal (6-5) Bal Bal
Den (5-6) 5    CIN (5-6) Den Den
Car (6-5) 3    TB (4-7) TB TB
Chi (8-3) NYG (3-8) NY NY
MIA (5-6) Buf (4-7) Buf Mia
LAR (10-1) 10½ DET (4-7) Det Det
GB (4-6-1) 14    Ariz (2-9) Ariz GB
HOU (8-3) Cle (4-6-1) Hou Hou
Ind (6-5) JACK (3-8) Ind Jack
TENN (5-6) NYJ (3-8) NY NY
KC (9-2) 15½ OAK (2-9) Oak KC
NE (8-3) 5    Min (6-4-1) NE Min
SEA (6-5) 10    SF (2-9) Sea SF
Sun. Nite
PIT (7-3-1) 3    LAC (8-3) Pit Pit
Mon. Nite
PHI (5-6) Wash (6-5) Wash Phi
Week 12 8-7 7-8
0.533 0.467
Season 99-75-4 83-89-4
0.576 0.483
Lock Total 8 8


All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2018 Week #13

Saturday, November 24, 2018

2018 Week #12

We hope you had a hearty Thanksgiving, certainly better than our Thanksgiving picks, which were a combined 1-5.  Jason and I had good Thanksgivings followed up by long work days, so we may have been a little loopy for this episode of the podcast, but we did our best.  And we had a chat in the aftershow about quitting cable, which I'm moving closer and closer to considering.  We're going head-to-head on only four picks (not counting Thursday), but one will be the Sunday nighter, and it will be fun to see which of us is right on Packers-Vikings because we saw things completely different when it came to breaking that one down.  Here's the rest of the Week 12 picks:

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
Thanksgiving
Chi (7-3) 3    DET (4-6) Chi 23-16 Det Det
DAL (5-5) Wash (6-4) Dal 31-23 Wash Dal
Thanksgiving Nite
NO (9-1) 13    Atl (4-6) NO 31-17 Atl Atl
Sunday
CAR (6-4) Sea (5-5) Car Car
CIN (5-5) 1    Cle (3-6-1) Cle Cle
Jack (3-7) 3    BUF (3-7) Buf Buf
PHI (4-6) NYG (3-7) NY Phi
BAL (5-5) 11½ Oak (2-8) Bal Bal
NE (7-3) 10½ NYJ (3-7) NE NE
TB (3-7) 1    SF (2-8) TB TB
LAC (7-3) 13½ Ariz (2-8) LA Ariz
Pit (7-2-1) 3    DEN (4-6) Pit Pit
IND (5-5) Mia (5-5) Ind Ind
Sun. Nite
MIN (5-4-1) 3    GB (4-5-1) GB Min
Mon. Nite
HOU (7-3) Tenn (5-5) Hou Tenn
Kansas City and the Los Angeles Rams are off.
Week 11 9-4 6-7
0.692 0.462
Season 91-68-4 76-81-4
0.580 0.484
Lock Total 8 7


All of our thoughts and explanations can be heard here:

NFL 2018 Week #12

Saturday, November 17, 2018

2018 Week #11

It was another off-the-wall podcast, not so much for our picks, although those were wildly divergent.  No, it was a Chicago memories show, with Jason recalling seeing someone get shot outside his apartment and me remembering standing outside in bright sunlight while someone ran across the street shooting back at...something.  I don't know what.  There were good memories too, but for a couple of guys who have stayed out of trouble, never been in jail or anything like that, man, we've seen some things.  Maybe it was our way of remembering our past as we get ready for Thanksgiving and more reminiscing with our families and loved ones.  Happy Turkey Day to you and yours, and may your memories be happy and not traumatic.  I think I need a drink.  Here are our picks for Week 11, where we differ on six games, not counting the latest Mike McCarthy bonehead loss on Thursday:

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
Thu. Nite
SEA (4-5) GB (4-4-1) Sea 27-24 Sea GB
Sunday
ATL (4-5) Dal (4-5) Dal Atl
Pit (6-2-1) 5    JACK (3-6) Jack Jack
BAL (4-5) 6    Cin (5-4) Cin Cin
Hou (6-3) 3    WASH (6-3) Hou Hou
IND (4-5) 2    Tenn (5-4) Ind Tenn
Car (6-3) 4    DET (3-6) Car Car
NYG (2-7) TB (3-6) NY TB
ARIZ (2-7) Oak (1-8) Ariz Oak
LAC (7-2) 7    Den (3-6) Den LA
NO (8-1) Phi (4-5) NO NO
Sun. Nite
CHI (6-3) Min (5-3-1) Min Chi
Mon. Nite
LAR (9-1) KC (9-1) KC KC
Buffalo, Cleveland, Miami, New England, the New York Jets, and San Francisco are off.
Week 10 7-6-1 8-5-1
0.538 0.615
Season 82-62-4 70-74-4
0.569 0.486
Lock Total 7 6


All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2018 Week #11

Saturday, November 10, 2018

2018 Week #10

A wild podcast occurred last night between Jay and me, and we have those shows sometimes where we wind up reminiscing about several events from the past, none of which we planned to discuss.  I needed the whimsy to forget about earlier in the show when I confused the Rams and Saints as still being in the same division, which they haven't been since the realignment.  God, I'm old.  As for the games this week, there seem to be a lot of mismatches, which makes me nervous, so I'm fearing a bad week coming, but Jay will be coming along with me since we only disagree on four picks, not counting the Steelers pounding the Panthers on Thursday.  At least we don't have to see Nathan Peterman, which eliminated the possible contingency for me of having to take the Jets.  Jason is going with them anyway, and it's his Contingency Lock, which was a first for us.  Here are the picks against the spread for Week 10:

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
Thu. Nite
PIT (5-2-1) Car (6-2) Pit 52-21 Car Pit
Sunday
NO (7-1) CIN (5-3) NO NO
Atl (4-4) CLE (2-6-1) Cle Atl
IND (3-5) 3    Jack (3-5) Jack Jack
NYJ (3-6) 7    Buf (2-7) Buf NY
CHI (5-3) 7    Det (3-5) Chi Chi
TB (3-5) 3    Wash (5-3) TB Wash
NE (7-2) 7    TENN (4-4) NE NE
KC (8-1) 16½ Ariz (2-6) KC KC
LAC (6-2) 10    OAK (1-7) LA LA
GB (3-4-1) 10½ Mia (5-4) Mia Mia
LAR (8-1) 10    Sea (4-4) Sea Sea
Sun. Nite
PHI (4-4) Dal (3-5) Dal Dal
Mon. Nite
SF (2-7) 3    NYG (1-7) SF NY
Baltimore, Denver, Houston, and Minnesota are off.
Week 9 9-4 9-4
0.692 0.692
Season 75-56-3 62-69-3
0.573 0.473
Lock Total 6 6


All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2018 Week #10

Saturday, November 3, 2018

2018 Week #9

If you want to hear the essence of Kings of Non Sequitur, which is what Jason and I call ourselves due to our propensity to veer way off-topic at any given time, give our aftershow a listen on this week's podcast.  We even jump off in the middle of our picks.  But that's what we've been doing for over 35 years now.  We talk about anything and everything, we go in whatever direction the conversation takes us, and thanks to podcasting, now you can join us on those rides.  We did manage to figure out our picks against the spread for this week, and improbably, we're both not just picking the last undefeated team to go down, but we're both locking it in.  Trap game?  You betcha.  Here are our picks for Week 9, which has us going head-to-head on five Sunday games:

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
Thu. Nite
SF (1-7) 3    Oak (1-6) SF 34-3 SF Oak
Sunday
WASH (5-2) 2    Atl (3-4) Atl Atl
MIN (4-3-1) 5    Det (3-4) Min Min
KC (7-1) CLE (2-5-1) Cle KC
BAL (4-4) Pit (4-2-1) Pit Bal
MIA (4-4) NYJ (3-5) NY Mia
Chi (4-3) 10½ BUF (2-6) Chi Chi
CAR (5-2) TB (3-4) TB TB
LAC (5-2) 1    SEA (4-3) LA Sea
DEN (3-5) 1    Hou (5-3) Hou Hou
LAR (8-0) 2    NO (6-1) Elvis NO NO
Sun. Nite
NE (6-2) GB (3-3-1) GB NE
Mon. Nite
DAL (3-4) 4    Tenn (3-4) Tenn Tenn
Arizona, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, the New York Giants, and Philadelphia are off.
Week 8 8-6 6-8
0.571 0.429
Season 66-52-3 53-65-3
0.559 0.449
Lock Total 5 5


All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2018 Week #9

Saturday, October 27, 2018

2018 Week #8

Jason and I got our picks in very early for Week 8 in the NFL, so that Jason can take his family away this weekend.  So we made our picks Thursday night while the Dolphins got spanked by the Texans, starting the week off bad for me.  We're having a Lock-Off this week, as Monday night sees us locking in opposite teams, so ultimate bragging rights are on the line there.  I usually dislike making picks so early because guys haven't been declared out by their teams yet, last-minute practice injuries can still mess up a team's plans, etc.  At least there weren't any question marks about quarterbacks.  One time, we made picks on Thursday and a couple of QBs were legit hit-or-miss if they would play at the time we picked, to the point where there was no point spread available for those games.  That's the worst.  But we have a spread for all the games this weekend, so here are our picks, as Jay and I duel on seven games, not counting the beatdown Thursday night:

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
Thu. Nite
HOU (4-3) Mia (4-3) Hou 42-23 Mia Hou
Sun. Morn
Phi (3-4) 3    Jack (3-4) London Jack Jack
Sunday
DET (3-3) 3    Sea (3-3) Det Det
PIT (3-2-1) 8    Cle (2-4-1) Pit Cle
CHI (3-3) NYJ (3-4) Chi Chi
CIN (4-3) 4    TB (3-3) TB Cin
Bal (4-3) 2    CAR (4-2) Car Bal
NYG (1-6) 1    Wash (4-2) NY Wash
KC (6-1) 10    Den (3-4) Den Den
Ind (2-5) 3    OAK (1-5) Ind Oak
LAR (7-0) GB (3-2-1) GB LA
SF (1-6) 1    ARIZ (1-6) SF SF
Sun. Nite
MIN (4-2-1) 1    NO (5-1) NO NO
Mon. Nite
NE (5-2) 13½ BUF (2-5) Buf NE
Atlanta, Dallas, the Los Angeles Chargers, and Tennessee are off.
Week 7 8-6 6-8
0.571 0.429
Season 58-46-3 47-57-3
0.558 0.452
Lock Total 5 4


All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2018 Week #8

Saturday, October 20, 2018

2018 Week #7

A spirited discussion of this week's games centered around #stylesclashsunday, which features several NFL games where high-powered offenses take on strong defenses.  Jason and I had hearty disagreements about those games, but seemed to agree on just about all the others, setting up a Sunday where we go head-to-head on only five contests yet had as much banter as any show this season.  Sometimes we get our antlers aimed even harder at each other when there's only so many points of conflict.  I busted out some new numbers to help break down the games as well, and they will be one-and-done if they don't get results.  Here now, our Week 7 picks ATS:

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
Thu. Nite
Den (2-4) 1    ARIZ (1-5) Den 45-10 Den Ariz
Sun. Morn
LAC (4-2) Tenn (3-3) London Tenn LA
Sunday
Min (3-2-1) NYJ (3-3) NY NY
TB (2-3) Cle (2-3-1) Cle Cle
JACK (3-3) 4    Hou (3-3) Jack Jack
PHI (3-3) 5    Car (3-2) Phi Phi
IND (1-5) 7    Buf (2-4) Ind Ind
NE (4-2) CHI (3-2) Chi NE
Det (2-3) 3    MIA (4-2) Mia Mia
BAL (4-2) NO (4-1) NO Bal
LAR (6-0) SF (1-5) LA SF
Dal (3-3) 1    WASH (3-2) Dal Wash
Sun. Nite
KC (5-1) 6    Cin (4-2) KC KC
Mon. Nite
ATL (2-4) 4    NYG (1-5) NY NY
Green Bay, Oakland, Pittsburgh, and Seattle are off.
Week 6 9-6 5-10
0.600 0.333
Season 50-40-3 41-49-3
0.556 0.456
Lock Total 4 4


All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2018 Week #7

Sunday, October 14, 2018

2018 Week #6

Apologies for getting our picks up the morning of the games instead of the night before.  I had internet issues all last night, as you know if you listened to the podcast.  Can't blame Blogtalk Radio for this one, it was Comcast providing the drama.  But I'm up and running now, so I can post our picks for Week 6 in the NFL, which has a little bit of everything--a surprise Lock by me, a contingency pick by Jason, and some hearty debate over the games.  We'll do battle on nine of the 14 games, so it should be a doozy:

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
Thu. Nite
Phi (2-3) 3    NYG (1-4) Phi 34-13 NY NY
Sunday
Sea (2-3) Oak (1-4) London Sea Oak
ATL (1-4) 3    TB (2-2) Atl Atl
MIN (2-2-1) 10½ Ariz (1-4) Ariz Min
CLE (2-2-1) LAC (3-2) Cle LA
CIN (4-1) Pit (2-2-1) Pit Pit
NYJ (2-3) 2    Ind (1-4) NY Ind
HOU (2-3) 10    Buf (2-3) Hou Buf
Chi (3-1) 4    MIA (3-2) Chi Mia*
Car (3-1) 1    WASH (2-2) Car Car
LAR (5-0) 7    DEN (2-3) Den Den
Jack (3-2) 3    DAL (2-3) Dal Jack
Bal (3-2) TENN (3-2) Bal Tenn
Sun. Nite
NE (3-2) KC (5-0) NE NE
Mon. Nite
GB (2-2-1) 10    SF (1-4) SF GB
Detroit and New Orleans are off.
Week 5 8-7 6-9
0.533 0.400
Season 41-34-3 36-39-3
0.547 0.480
Lock Total 3 3


All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2018 Week #6

Saturday, October 6, 2018

2018 Week #5

Jay and I disagreed on six games this week, which doesn't sound like a whole lot.  But we really had dialogue about those games.  It made for what I hope was fun radio, because we both feel so passionate about our opinions but one of us will be wrong and have to feel the shame next show.  All I can say is, I really hope Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll have some championship pride left.  On to our NFL Week 5 picks:

Fav Spread Dog Final Dre Jay
Thu. Nite
NE (2-2) 10½ Ind (1-3) NE 38-24 NE NE
Sunday
DET (1-3) 1    GB (2-1-1) Det Det
PIT (1-2-1) 3    Atl (1-3) Atl Pit
Bal (3-1) 3    CLE (1-2-1) Bal Bal
KC (4-0) 3    Jack (3-1) Jack Jack
Den (2-2) 1    NYJ (1-3) Den Den
CIN (3-1) 6    Mia (3-1) Cin Mia
Tenn (3-1) BUF (1-3) Buf Buf
CAR (2-1) NYG (1-3) Car Car
LAC (2-2) 5    Oak (1-3) LA Oak
LAR (4-0) SEA (2-2) Sea LA
PHI (2-2) 3    Min (1-2-1) Phi Phi
SF (1-3) Ariz (0-4) SF Ariz
Sun. Nite
HOU (1-3) Dal (2-2) Dal Hou
Mon. Nite
NO (3-1) 6    Wash (2-1) NO NO
Chicago and Tampa Bay are off.
Week 4 6-7-2 7-6-2
0.462 0.538
Season 33-27-3 30-30-3
0.550 0.500
Lock Total 2 2


All of our thoughts and observations can be heard here:

NFL 2018 Week #5