Doin Lines Week 15

Last week wasn’t phenomenal, but it was a winning week nonetheless. I went 4-3, which keeps me above .500 overall (40-37-1).  I have to say, this past weekend was probably the least football I’ve watched in awhile. It’s weird how earlier in the season everybody was saying there is no parody in the league. Sure looks like it has evened out a bit since then! As always the home teams are in bold.

New Orleans (-7) Over Dallas

I haven’t picked the Saints for a couple of weeks, so I guess I’m due. I’ve been weary since they went on their non spread covering ways for a few weeks, but last week I think they collected themselves and are ready to dominate again. They can pretty much sew up home field advantage through the playoffs with a win over Dallas. Plus, every home game they’ve played they have won by more than 10 points, which makes this a safe pick in my mind. Dallas on the other hand is dealing with waaay too much pressure, since they never win in December, and this game won’t make anyone feel better about the Cowboys’ chances. I hope they miss the playoffs. I’d love to see it at the expense of Romo as well whether he is engaged or not, it’s just fun to see him struggle! One of my favorite sports hate guys!

Green Bay (+2) Over Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh is just like many defending champs, kinda bad on the title defense. I’m sure they’ll be back as contenders next year, but for now those terrible towels will only get used to wipe tears away after piling up five straight losses. If they can’t beat the Raiders or Browns, I don’t see how they could beat a good Packers squad. It should be an air it out game, Rodgers has been playing much better than Big Ben lately, so you have to take the Pack even on the road. These are the two top rushing defenses (Steelers are #1), so Grant and Mendenhall probably won’t get going. Without the Steelers main man Troy in there, I like Rodgers chances much more, that is, if they can keep him upright. It seems like they’ve made some adjustments to keep him from being sacked as much. They’ve moved the pocket, rolled him out, and are throwing more quick outs. Big Ben will have to deal with Charles Woodson, the consensus for defensive player of the year, and one of my favorite former Raiders. Maybe I’m a little bias in this one as Rodgers is starting for my fantasy team for the first round of the playoffs, but oh well.

Tennessee (-3) Over Miami

No way in hell he could beat Usain!

This should be a pretty good game. Henne is doing much better than I ever expected. Miami has been doing pretty good since their best player, Ronnie Brown, was knocked out for the season. If they want to have any hopes of making the playoffs, they need to win this game. The Titans winning streak was broken against the Colts last week, but I see them bouncing back, and getting back on track. Some had them as one of the best teams in the league going into the Colts game, and losing to the best shouldn’t make you jump off their bandwagon. I think Vince and Chris Johnson should be enough to beat the Fins. I do like Rickey Williams comeback story this year, but I think these past few weeks are going to take a toll on how he finishes the season, because he is old for a running back.

Usain Bolt Over Chris Johnson over and over again

For some reason there’s tons of people wanting to race Chris Johnson or see if he’s faster than so and so. It started with Rajon Rondo requesting a one on one race, and moved to Joey Porter saying his teammate Ted Ginn Jr. could beat him in a running race. Then having Ted Ginn Jr. be a no show for the race! What’s up with that!?! I wouldn’t mind having this happen pregame this weekend, it wouldn’t take too long. I’m not sure what the infatuation is with racing CJ is. CJ thought talked some trash saying that Rondo was just trying to get his name on Sportscenter, but he did say that he would race Usain Bolt, which I find pretty ridiculous! Usain will make him look slow!

San Francisco (+8.5) Over Philadelphia

Dre Bly will never be in Deion's league...

This is probably my boldest pick of the week, but as long as Dre Bly doesn’t pull any crap like this youtube clip, they might be okay. This made me crack up the first time I saw it, as he broke into his Deon Sanders/Merton Hanks high step at the opponents 25! After the game he made no apology, and instead said “I make more good plays than bad ones.” You stay classy Bly! The 49ers are fighting for their mathematical playoff chances, and I don’t really see them winning only covering the spread. The Eagles are flying high, and I think that will continue, but McNabb is always liable to have an off game, especially since he hasn’t had one in a little while. If the Eagles remember how to tackle, this might not be very close, but seeing Crabtree, Davis, and Gore breaking tackles all over the field last week, I don’t see that being the case!

Houston (-11) Over St. Louis

After Houston exploded all over Seattle, they get another easy game this week. Look for Andre Johnson to have close to the 200 yards and 2 TD’s he had last week, because this Rams defense is just as bad as Seattle’s secondary. I think Schaub to Johnson will make a lot of fantasy teams happy in the first round of the playoffs! The more pressing question for the Rams at this point is; who they want to take with the 1st or 2nd pick in the draft next year… Tough decision, but I’m sure they’ll make the right choice…

San Diego (-6.5) Over Cincinnati

Five weeks ago, I wouldn’t have thought that SD would be deserving of nearly a TD spread over the Bengals, but here we are, and they deserve this spread. I think the wake of Chris Henry’s debacle will ultimately be too emotional for the Bengals to overcome. The overall negativity that comes from these kind of situations is bound to have a negative effect. The Chargers on the other hand could very well be the scariest team in the AFC right now. I hate it, but it’s true. The worst part about it for me is that Phillip Rivers is doing good, and he’s going to spread the ball around to the plethora of weapons he has around him. I guess my main question is, when will Norv f*** this up? He has to at some point right!?! I guess I can only hope it happens! I’d gladly take a loss on this bet to see Norv blow it on some stupid play calling or clock management.