NFL Handicapping - Week 10 Review  

This is Lucky here, back with a little recap of yet another unpredictable, and thoroughly amazing week. I mean, The Colts D only allowed 14 points, who could have predicted that? I think the heavens even got that one wrong. Let's see what I got wrong, and discover if a name change is truly in order.

GAMES WON - 6

Ravens(-1.5) @ Jets - I took the Ravens in this one thinking Quincy Carter would stumble upon a tough situation and give the game away. I was wrong. I also thought the Ravens would feed Jamal Lewis the ball. I was right. But I sure as hell didn't think that if Lewis carried the pigskin 30 times he would gain a total of 71 yards. A Ron Dayinish 2.4 yards a carry. That's more like a Warren Sappish ypc average. With everything going opposite from what I thought would happen, the game scooted into the extra session. Suddenly a Matt Stover field goal made me a winner. Ravens 20, Jets 17. A small bet on this game gave me a quick boost.

Cincinnati(+3) @ Washington - Like I said, The Redskins have been overrated since Joe Gibbs took over. A Cincy team that had been playing decent ball came in to Washington as a 3-point underdog. Looking at this, there was no way I was taking the 3 measly points. I went for the big money and took the Bengals to win. To my surprise Mark Brunell and Patrick Ramsey gave the Redskins no chance to win the game... Oh, who am I kidding, that's exactly what I thought would happen. The Portis factor was negated early in the second half. Time was running down and The Skins were down 17-0. The Bengals ran away with this one. Mr. Ramsey threw a meaningless touchdown with about 2 minutes left, after a field goal late made it a 14-point game. Don't let the 7-point margin fool you, Washington never had a chance. The Bengals to win, made me a little cash. Bengals 17, Washington 10.

Pittsburgh(-3.5) @ Browns - I didn't take money on this game, but certainly should have. I know, hindsight, it's 20-20, but what made me miss out on this one? Big Ben is destined for greatness, starting 7-0 in his first 7 games. Pittsburgh has a smothering defense that brings back memories of the famous Steel Curtain. Pittsburgh gave the ball to The Bus, who had a full tank in his second start of the year. He looks like the Jerome Bettis of old, giving his team another option when Duce Staley comes back. Phil Dawson kicked an early field goal in this one, putting the Browns up for the last time in the game. Cleveland didn't score again until backup Kelly Holcomb threw a meaningless touchdown with just over 2 minutes left. The better team clearly dominated this entire game. Steelers 24, Browns 10.

Tampa Bay @ Atlanta(-3.5) - Tampa Bay had been winning some games lately but that did nothing for me. As I figured, the Atlanta Defense shut down the Buc running game that terrorized a much weaker Chief unit a week ago. Mike Vick didn't have to do all that much, but made sure his presence was felt by rushing for 73 yards. After starting the game with two unanswered touchdowns and a field goal, the Falcons let up a little, seemingly letting the Bucs back in. Brian Griese's touchdown passes late in the second and early in the third brought the Bucs back with in three. Vick would end the threat in the fourth with a 49-yard touchdown pass to Algae Crumpler. No bet to brag of, but the Falcons won 24-14.

Carolina(even) @ San Francisco - This game was meaningless, but high scoring nonetheless. Luckily for me, I took the over, which was relatively low. Two terrible teams that couldn't stop Drew Bledsoe's feared option attack only had a 40-point over. 64 points later, I took home a little cash and happened to pick the winner as well. Who knew? Carolina 37, 49ers 27.

Philadelphia(-6.5) @ Dallas - This game turned out just as I had planned. I took the over, which Philly won by themselves, and The Eagles favored by just under a touchdown... against Dallas. HA! Dallas got their asses kicked all over the field. I win, not once, but twice. The Cowboys are threatening to be eliminated from the playoff race as early as next week, making me root for them on Thanksgiving when the only thing they can do is get a higher draft pick. An exciting year, that's for sure! Philly 49, Dallas 21.

GAMES LOST - 8

Chicago @ Tennessee(even) - So, I was wrong. This game was a toss up from the beginning. NO McNair, half a Chris Brown, and a complete Billy Volek. That is never a sign of good things to come! But then again neither is this... Starting QB, Craig Krenzel, Thomas Jones (the Bears lone bright spot) out with an injury, and their leading receiver is David Terrell. I guess I picked the wrong poison. But, think about this game and wonder... how in the hell? The game went into overtime, seemingly punishing the 338 people who were watching the two teams play. In the extra period the Bears won on a safety. A safety in overtime for God's sake! And look at the stats, how in the hell did Chicago win? Volek threw for 334 yards, and two touchdowns. Krenzel was 10-28 for 162 yards, no TD's, and two interceptions. The Bears only had a yard over 100 rushing for the game, on 34 carries. And they won! Amazing!
Bears 19, Titans 17.

Vikings @ Packers(-4) - Talk about a Heartbreaker. This game was my big bet for the week. I went ahead, put a bunch of cash down, and watched the Packers kick the crap out of an undermanned Viking squad. Unfortunately, I only watched that game for 55 minutes. The last 5 minutes some other game came on. The Vikings and The Packers were still playing, but all of a sudden the game was tied. I Tivo'd back about a minute of high speed Tivo and found the original game I was watching. Unfortunately, it wasn't a new game at all, just a terrible slap to the face. In a matter of what seemed like seconds, Daunte Culpepper slung the pigskin all over the field, tying the game with 1:20 seconds left. I was stunned. Unfortunately for him, he scored the points too fast. Brett Favre led his team down the field and Ryan Longwell kicked a short field goal to win the game... by 3. Ouch! A Packer win has never felt so painful. Packers 34, Vikings 31.

Giants(-2) @ Arizona - The Giants here seemed like an easy pick. New York's athletes on offense, mainly Tiki Barbar, had me excited about a miniscule two-point spread against a feisty, but poor Arizona team. Or so I thought. Arizona took it to New York. Beating them with two touchdowns from a young man named Emmitt Smith. Remember that name, he's going to be something big one day! Wow! Tiki got his 100 yards, but after the game Tom Coughlin named Eli Manning starter for week 11. Tough for me sure, I got this one wrong. But how about Warner? Lead your team to a loss against the Cardinals. Then get replaced almost immediately after the game by a rookie. Times are a little tougher for him I'd suppose. We'll see what Eli can do. Arizona 17, Giants 14.

Houston(+9) @ Indianapolis - The Texans truly disappointed me. They could only manage to score 14 points against The Colts, who are just about the worst defense in the league. I expected Peyton to have a big game, and he did. I sure didn't expect David Carr to turn the ball over four times and fail to throw a single touchdown. I took the Texans to win in this one, going for the big bucks as I've done with them often. But they couldn't follow through. They didn't even get close to the spread either. Houston is a perfect fit for this season, I never know what to expect. Colts 49, Texans 14.

Buffalo(+8) @ New England - Buffalo proved me wrong once again. Lately it has been on the other side of the radar, but not this time. Somehow the Bills "tough" defense gave up a whopping 151 yards to Corey Dillon on Sunday night. Tom Brady threw for two touchdowns and the Bills were never in it. Drew Bledsoe might as well have been running Nebraska's old option attack the way he played. He threw for 76 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. His backfield mate, Mr. McGahee rushed 16 times for a criminal 37 yards. Can't win with those numbers. Unless you're the Bears of course. Pats 29, Bills 6.

Detroit(+3) @ Jacksonville - Detroit played poorly, but sent the game into overtime with an amazing, Dante Hall like performance by Eddie Drummond, who just happens to be faster than lightning. He returned two punts for Touchdowns for his teams only TD's on the day, leaving him thinking, "Who's the human highlight film now, Dominique?" Unfortunately for the Lions, they couldn't stop the Jaguars in overtime to force a punt. David Guarrard, who played very well, threw a touchdown to Jimmy Smith to win the game in OT. This marks the 6th time the Jaguars have won in the last minutes of a football game this year. Fred Taylor led his team with a season high 144 yards rushing and 21 yards receiving. Jaguars 23, Lions 17.

Kansas City(-5) @ New Orleans - Derrick Blaylock filled in for The Chiefs holy man with flying colors. His 186 yards rushing and 224 yards from scrimmage had me thinking the Chiefs had a pair of Priests. Unfortunately for Blaylock, he had the same problem Mr. Holmes has had this year. Despite his amazing game, the Chiefs couldn't win, leaving them at 3-6. Aaron Brooks threw a touchdown pass late in the fourth to Joe Horn, giving the Saints the win and bringing them to 4-5. Trent Green couldn't get it done, throwing for more interceptions than touchdowns. This game told me what this year has already shown, you never know. Saints 27, Chiefs 20.

Seattle(even) @ St. Louis - Could Matt Hasselbeck look any worse? Shaun Alexander had more rushing yards than Matt had passing yards. Don't get me wrong; Alexander came to play, gaining 176 yards on the ground. But Hasselbeck was 15-36 for 172 yards, without a TD, and one interception. That's about as sickening as games get! That's a 45 rating. What would you have to do to get 0? Ask Craig Krenzel I guess, he got damn close. Maybe next week. I love the Hawks; I still think they have a chance. All this did was leave them tied for first in their division. The only problem is, Sundays action didn't give me any hope either. It wasn't a hard played game against a tough team. It was a game Seattle just gave away. Not that The Rams don't deserve their credit, but the Hawks did nothing to help their cause. Hasselbeck needs to watch last year's playoff game against Green Bay. He was a leader with an aura of confidence. Lately he's been short-arming balls and just flat out throwing like a sissy. Terry Bradshaw, who has just a little less hair than Matt, laid into Matt after his horrible performance. Hopefully that will piss Matt off a little, and get his competitive juices flowing. Anything to show a little life would be nice. I lost a little, but didn't risk anything big on the Hawks.
Rams 23, Hawks 12.

I came out of the weekend down a little. Thanks to some good odds on The Bengals to win, plus a big Monday Night victory, the 6-8 week didn't harm me that much. I'm left down a few bucks, but nothing drastic. Next week begs to be better, and leaves me hoping for Craig Krenzel of all people, to lead his team, The Bears of all teams, to their 4th straight victory. That would truly do it for me. Until then, this is still Lucky, signing out.

Feel free to drop old Lucky a line at luckylester@hotmail.com to let me know of you're success this football season.

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