As Doc Brown mentioned when he posted his picks and analysis yesterday, Christmas cometh early for all you football fans out there looking to make a buck or just take in some Thursday Night Football at a local Hooters because you don’t have the NFL Network. We’ll be posting our picks a day early from here on in, and Del’s hoping that will help get him above .500 ATS. Two out of the last three weeks have been rough, so we’re hoping the early start will get Del going quickly for week 10.
Those of you who have been banking on Doc and Del’s Top 3 all season (and winning money if you have been) should be excited this week as Doc and Del agree on two of their Top 3. The first is Tampa Bay. They’re at home against one of the worst teams in the NFL and still aren’t favored by a full 7 points. For some reason, the Bucs can’t get any respect. Tampa Bay’s reputation is overshadowing its success this season, which I’m sure is just fine by the team. Sure, they lost to the Falcons as many of us expected they would, but most people expected them to get blown out on the road. They had a chance to win and came up just short. Tampa should beat the Panthers by at least two touchdowns.
The other pick Del and Doc agree on is the Rams +6 against the Niners. This is the same type of situation that the Bucs are in. For some reason, nobody want wants to believe that a team that won six games over the past three seasons can turn it around. On top of that, everyone had high expectations for San Francisco coming into 2010 so they’re waiting for them to bust out. If you came into the year thinking the Rams would be terrible again — you were wrong. If you thought the Niners were a playoff contender — you were wrong about that, too. Don’t let preseason expectations blur your vision. It’s already week 10.
As for Del’s other Top 3 pick, I like the Pats getting 4.5 on Sunday night in Pittsburgh. With a healthy offensive line, I think these two teams were evenly matched. The Steelers offensive line is hurting badly, however. We tend to overlook injuries to the O-line because it doesn’t consist of “skill players.” The guys in the trenches just as important, and I think Vegas is overlooking that aspect of this game. Guard Chris Kemoeatu hasn’t practiced with knee and ankle injuries and left tackle Max Starks was just placed on IR. Any offensive line position is difficult to fill, but it’s crucial for a right-handed passer to have confidence in his left tackle. I think Pittsburgh’s offensive line issues will be a factor and New England wins this game outright.
(ATS = Against the Spread, SU = Straight Up)
