Glibertarians.com 2018 Archive

Author: BakedPenguin

  • BakedPenguin’s NFL Pick-’em for Week 9

    I went 9-5 last week, for a nice change from mediocracy.

    If anyone wants to know, I got my odds here, on 10/31.

     

    Here are this week’s picks:

    Oakland (+120) at San Francisco (-3 / -140). Two teams with bad records who both have a few close losses. The 49ers injury situation looks worse than the Raiders, however. OAK – take the points.

    Detroit (+185) at Minnesota (-5 / -220). Two tricky teams to pick. Minnesota seems slightly better, and they’re at home (even if that’s meant jack & shit this year to either team). MIN – give the points.

    Kansas City (-9 / -450) at Cleveland (+350). An improved Browns team has the ability to hold the Chiefs under that point spread, but then I also thought that last week against the Steelers, who were able to take advantage of some holes in Cleveland’s defense. The Browns had 2 interceptions against Tampa Bay, and still lost. And I don’t think Mahomes is going to throw 2 interceptions.

    Pittsburgh (+130) at Baltimore (-3 / -150). This is a tough one. One key to the game will be how well the Ravens tough pass defense matches up against Roethlisberger and the Steelers pass offense & vice versa. Pittsburgh has shown themselves to be a good road team this year, but I think Baltimore has enough to pull out a 3-point win. BAL – give the points.

    Tampa Bay (+250) at Carolina (-6.5 / -300). With either Fitzpatrick (who has historic interception problems of his own) or Winston, the Buccaneers have a definite QB disadvantage to Newton and the Panthers. With the spread under a TD, I’d go with Carolina. CAR – give the points.

    NY Jets (+140) at Miami (-3 / -160). Another tough one. Miami has a record that their stats don’t seem to support. I’m guessing that a lot of that is due to turnovers, and they will be key if the Dolphins want to win. So at home, against a mediocre team. MIA – give the points.

    Atlanta (+105) at Washington (-1.5 / -125). The Redskins are the better team, and the spread is basically a pick ‘em game. I wouldn’t bet the house, but I also wouldn’t have a problem putting three figures down on this one. WAS – give the points.

    Chicago (-10 / -500) at Buffalo (+400). Chicago has shown a talent for throwing away games this year, but the Bills terrible offense and their resultantly overstretched defense gives the Bears a good chance to meet that large point spread. CHI – give the points.

    Houston (± 100) at Denver (-1 / -120). Houston has reeled off a string of 5 straight wins, but they are mostly against teams ranging from mediocre to bad. While the Broncos fit in the top end of that description, they are also a team with a definite home advantage. (Their two home losses this year were against KC & the LA Rams).  I think Denver has a decent chance of stopping the Texans’ streak. DEN – give the point.

    LA Chargers (+105) at Seattle (-1.5 / -125). Tough one. The Chargers have a good team this year, and Seattle has had some close calls against some weak teams. LAC – take the points.

    LA Rams (+105) at New Orleans (-1.5 / -125). Another hard to call game. I’d like to take the Saints at home, and they’re certainly capable of it, but their weaker defense makes me think the Rams do have an advantage. LAR – take the points.

    Green Bay (+200) at New England (-6 / -240). The Packers are not the Bills, so that point spread strikes me as a bit high. GB – take the points.

    Tennessee (+230) at Dallas (-6 / -270). If the Cowboys can get its’ offense going, I doubt the Titans will be able to keep up. (Tennessee is just above Buffalo in points scored). I think a 6-point spread is about right. DAL – give the points.

  • BakedPenguin’s NFL Pick-’em for Week 8

    I went 6-7 last week, so I’m still doing crappy. I put in  a lot more effort last week, and got the same result as when I was half-assing it. You can probably guess what’s going to happen this week. That being said, I’ve added the moneyline odds. Moneyline odds are based around 100 – if there’s a plus in front of them, it’s the amount you’d win from a $100 bet. If there’s a minus, it’s the amount you’d have to bet to get $100. So in the first example, a $100 bet on Miami would win you $290, where a $360 bet on Houston would win you $100.

    If anyone wants to know, I got my odds here, on 10/25.

     

    Here are this week’s picks:

    Miami (+290) at Houston (-7.5 / -360). The Dolphins haven’t been so bad, and the Texans haven’t been so good to normally support a spread over a TD, but Ryan Tannehill is out. And while he’s not the greatest QB around, he’s the best the Dolphins have. HOU – give the points.

    Philadelphia (-3 / -165) at Jacksonville (+145). Cody Kessler seemed to breathe new life into the Jaguars in the second half of last week’s game. After screwing up for an entire month, however, they still have a lot to prove. PHI – give the points.

    Cleveland (+320) at Pittsburgh (-8.5 / -400). Cleveland has shown that they are a much better team than last year. Tough defense, decent running game. I’d be very surprised if the Steelers can meet that point spread. CLE – take the points.

    Denver (+400) at Kansas City (-10 / -520). Again, a point spread I’m not sure that the favorite can meet. The Chiefs have shown they are a strong team, but the Broncos displayed their own skills last week. Even if it was just the Cardinals that they stomped. I wouldn’t take the moneyline, even at 4 to 1, but I’d take the spread. DEN – take the points.

    NY Jets (+280) at Chicago (-7 / -340). Chicago has shown a great talent for letting me down. I think they’ll win, but again, I think it will be close. NYJ – take the points.

    Washington (-110) at NY Giants (PK / -110). The Redskins showed some toughness in their win over the Cowboys. Maybe it’s just because I haven’t paid enough attention, but I don’t see the Giants beating them. WAS

    Seattle (+135) at Detroit (-3 / -150). I’ve been underestimating the Lions all season. At home against the Seahawks, I’ll stop that. DET – give the points.

    Tampa Bay (+170) at Cincinnati (-4 / -200). Tampa isn’t a bad team, but Winston throws a lot of passes to people in the wrong jerseys. Cincinnati is a good enough team to take advantage of that. CIN – give the points.

    Baltimore (-2 / -130) at Carolina (+115). Baltimore is a good enough team to beat Carolina. Cam Newton is a good enough QB to be a pain in the ass for the Ravens, but I don’t think he’s quite good enough to get the win. And with a 2 point spread, it’s basically a pick’em game. BAL – give the points.

    Indianapolis (-3 / -155) at Oakland (+135). Oakland has lost a lot of close games, but the Colts have a good offense. A really good offense. IND – give the points.

    San Francisco (-1 / -110) at Arizona (-110). Ah, the suck bowl. Does anyone care? Meh, ARI – take the point.

    Green Bay (+350) at LA Rams (-9 / -450). I think the Rams will probably win, but again, I also think the Packers are a good enough team to cover the spread. I’d feel better about that prediction if the spread was 11 points, though. GB – take the points.

    New Orleans (-110) at Minnesota (-1 / -110). The Vikings are a good team, but I don’t know if they’re as good as the Saints. NO – give the point.

    New England ( -14 / -1250) at Buffalo (+800). Okay, now that is a point spread. Still, I think the Patriots will make that. NE – give the points.

  • BakedPenguin’s NFL Pick-’em: Week 7

    I think I went 6-7-1 last week, so that sucks. I’m going to put in a little more effort this week to try to improve on that.

    If anyone wants to know, I got my odds here, on 10/18.

     

    It’s that time of the week again. Here are this week’s picks:

    Denver (-1) at Arizona. I do believe the Broncos can handle the Cardinals, even in Arizona. They haven’t traveled well this year (0-2), but Arizona hasn’t been an intimidating place to play (Cards: 0-3 at home) The top two leaders in tackles for the Cards (who are both in the top 5 in the NFL) are both safeties, suggesting to me that they’re letting a lot of rushes into their backfield (To be fair, their #3 guy is an LB). Their offense is the really weak part of the team, however, as only Buffalo has scored fewer points this year. Denver’s biggest weakness corresponds to Arizona’s. Denver’s rushing defense (27th) hasn’t been very good this year, but Arizona’s rushing game (32nd) has been terrible. Meanwhile, their rushing game against the Cards’ rushing defense shows a pretty big advantage. DEN – give the point.

    Note: due to me sending this in late, this will be posted after this game has finished. If I got the pick wrong, you know that’s true.

    Tennessee at LA Chargers (-6.5). The Titans are another team with a mediocre offense, one I think the Chargers can deal with. On the other side of the ball, the Titans have a decent defense, although their passing defense is much better than their running defense (26th). This works in favor of the Chargers, particularly Melvin Gordon. Playing in LA, I think the Chargers will be able to get that extra TD to beat the spread. LAC – give the points.

    New England (-3) at Chicago. I wish the point spread were larger, it would give me more confidence in saying the Bears may well have a rebound game at home (against the spread, if nothing else). They’ve done well at home, while the Patriots have looked great at Gillette Stadium, and well… not so much anywhere else. The one key weakness I would fear would be Chicago’s average pass defense against Tom Brady and the rest of a team that knows how to make plays when necessary. Usually. CHI – take the points.

    Cleveland at Tampa Bay (-3.5). The one area where the Buccaneers have shown real weakness is pass defense, where they are giving up the highest average YPG and over 3 TDs a game. They are quite fortunate, therefore, to be playing the Browns, who are tied for scoring the fewest passing TDs per game behind high round draft pick Baker Mayfield. Cleveland’s running game is one of the strongest in the league, although Tampa has shown they aren’t too bad at stopping the run. I think the biggest question is, can Jameis Winston throw more TDs to his own receivers than “completions” to Denzel Ward? Assuming the answer is yes, I’ll go with the Bucs at home. TB – give the points

    Detroit (-3) at Miami. The Dolphins stats don’t seem to support their record (partially due to a large blowout loss in New England). The only statistical advantage I can see for them is Miami’s ground game against the Lions’ rushing defense. And while Miami’s passing defense has given up a lot of yardage, they also have the most interceptions in the league. Additionally, Detroit hasn’t shown they can play on the road this year. MIA – take the points

    Carolina at Philadelphia (-4.5). Another game where I think the home/road records come into play. The statistical matchups are fairly even. A lot will come down to how the Eagles’ can (or cannot) hold Cam Newton at bay (or intercept him three times as they did last year). While that’s unlikely, I do think they will be able to turn their home field into a real advantage. PHI – give the points

    Buffalo at Indianapolis (-7.5). The Bills have shown a heroic inability to score points, with the one unusual exception being their one win against Minnesota. They recently hired Former Panthers QB Derek Anderson to pump up their anemic passing. I think the most important matchup will be the Colts passing vs Buffalo’s pass defense. While the Bills could keep it close with good defensive play and better offense, I don’t expect their new QB to make that much of a difference. IND – give the points

    Cincinnati at Kansas City (-6). The Bengals had a hard time dealing with Pittsburgh’s passing, and they are now facing a similar problem facing the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes. While the Bengals have shown they can play on the road, they’re also now facing one of the best offenses smarting over a close loss. Their best hope is going to come dealing with a mediocre Kansas City defense. KC – give the points

    Minnesota (-3) at NY Jets. The Jets are going to have a hard time stopping Kirk Cousins. The other matchups in this game are pretty much of a wash, statistically. They are probably going to get somewhere on the ground, but unless Sam Darnold plays better than he has previously this year, I think the Vikings have a definite advantage. MIN – give the points

    Houston at Jacksonville (-4.5) The Jaguars remain the league’s statistical leader on defense, although they appear to be in freefall after two big losses to Dallas and Kansas City. Meanwhile, The Texans appear to be on the rise after starting the season 0-3. I think this is one game where the numbers don’t matter nearly as much as the motivations for the players. The Jaguars will be looking to end their losing ‘streak’ at home, and they do have the talent to do so. JAC – give the points

    New Orleans at Baltimore (-2.5). The Saints have the league’s highest scoring offense going up against the league’s stingiest defense in the Ravens. Typically, in this matchup, you pick defense over offense. However, I’m feeling contrarian right now. NO – take the points

    LA Rams (-9.5) at San Francisco. I’ve been checking team and individual player stats for a while. For this one, I’m just going to take the Rams. LAR – give the points

    NY Giants at Atlanta (-5). The matchups for this one are fairly even. As above, I’m getting lazy, and it’s getting late, so I’m just going to go with the home team. ATL – give the points                                                                                                                                 .

     

     

     

  • Why Are Precious Metals Precious?

     

    Why do we view these metals as valuable?

    The most understandable reason, obviously is utility. Certain properties of these metals can accomplish what nothing else can, or at least, at a far less cost.

    However, that doesn’t seem to relate to the value of most of the precious metals.

     

    (Note: I’d add copper) The value of these metals appears totally unrelated to any utility they have. Their utility as money (rare, stable units) may play a part today.

    911 Metallurgist gives a good rundown of why people would want these metals for specific business /  use purposes. And while that’s understandable, it doesn’t account for the massive price of the metals beyond what they can accomplish economically.

    That’s my main point: these metals are valued at a price point far beyond their utility. So what makes them valuable?

    The history of civilization does provide a massive clue: they have been used as currency for millennia. But the question regarding fiat currencies still applies: if no one values them, do they have any value?

    Please feel free to show me I’m wrong.

  • BakedPenguin’s NFL Pick-’em – Week 6

    I think I went 7-8 last week, so that sucks.

    If anyone wants to know, I got my odds here, on 10/3.

    It’s that time of the week again. Here are this week’s picks:

    Arizona at Minnesota (-10). I think the Vikings are the better team, but I don’t know if they’re 10 points better. I’m going to say no. ATL – take the points

    LA Chargers at Cleveland (PK). The Browns are a much improved team this year. Since they’re playing at home this week, I’m going with them. CLE – PK

    Chicago (-3) at Miami. Miami’s been playing much worse recently. Chicago’s been playing well. CHI – give the points

    Carolina at Washington (-1). Kind of surprised about this one. I think the Panthers are the better choice. Watch them lose by 3 TDs. CAR – take the points

    Indianapolis at NY Jets (-2). The Colts have been finding ways to lose all year, so with the Jets at home and the low point spread, I’ll go with them. NYJ – give the points

    Pittsburgh at Cincinnati (-1.5). Another game where the spread seems a little low. I’m going with the Bengals. CIN – give the points

    Tampa Bay at Atlanta (-3). Tough one to pick, but I’ll go with the Bucs. TB – take the points

    Seattle (-2.5) at Oakland. I think the Seahawks offense can deal with the Raiders defense. SEA – give the points

    Buffalo at Houston (-10). They have the same record, but the Texans have a much better point spread. Still, 10 points seems a bit high. BUF – take the points

    LA Rams (-7) at Denver. The Rams are steamrolling it this year, and the Broncos… aren’t. LAR – give the points.

    Jacksonville (-3) at Dallas. Jax hasn’t been that great, and Dallas hasn’t been that bad this year. I could go either way on this game, but I’ll pick the Cowboys. DAL – take the points

    Baltimore (-3) at Tennessee. Another couple teams with the same record, but I think the Ravens are the better team. BAL – give the points

    Kansas City at New England (-3.5). The Patriots have been playing better recently, but I think the Chiefs have the edge. KC – take the points

    San Francisco at Green Bay (-9.5). The Packers are the better team, but I think that point spread seems a bit high. SF- take the points

  • BakedPenguin’s NFL Pick-’em – Week 5

    I think I went 8-5-2 last week, so a little better than previously.

    If anyone wants to know, I got my odds here, on 10/3.

    It’s that time of the week again. Here are this week’s picks!

    Indianapolis at New England (-10.5). The Patriots are probably the better team, but they have been wildly inconsistent this year, which makes the 10.5 point spread seem a bit high to me, even at Foxboro. IND – take the points

    Baltimore (-3) at Cleveland. If the spread were a bit higher, I might take the Browns, but I think Ravens can cover 3 points. BAL – give the points

    Jacksonville at Kansas City (-3). Two pretty good teams, and the Chiefs very good offense makes for a compelling story going up against the Jaguars defense. While the traditional logic is to take the defense in that scenario, they’re also playing in KC, and the new rules restricting defense make me think the Chiefs have an advantage. KC – give the points

    Tennessee (-3) at Buffalo. The Titans are looking like a good team this year, and the Bills are looking… like the Bills. TEN – give the points

    NY Giants at Carolina (-7). The only thing I wonder about with this game is whether the Panthers can cover the spread. Based on not very much, I’ll say yes. CAR – give the points

    Denver at NY Jets (-1). A fight between two mediocre teams. However, with a one point spread, it’s essentially picking which team will win outright. Basically, who sucks less on the given day. I’ll say the Jets. NYJ – give the point

    Atlanta at Pittsburgh (-4). Another fight between two teams unlikely to see the playoffs. I want to pick the Steelers, but I’m really thinking they’re going to win by a FG or less. Ah, screw it. PIT – give the points

    Green Bay (-1) at Detroit. Another game that’s essentially a pick ‘em. I hate picking so many away teams, but I’m not picking the Lions. GB – give the point

    Miami at Cincinnati (-6). Damn, another game where I want to pick the away team, at least against the spread. I’ll ignore that here. CIN – give the points

    Oakland at LA Chargers (-6). I think LA is the better team here, and they’re at home, so this is one of my earlier choices. LA – give the points

    Arizona at San Francisco (-5). San Francisco isn’t that great, but Arizona has been terrible this year. SF – give the points

    Minnesota at Philadelphia (-3). I think the Eagles will be able to cover a 3 point spread at home against the Vikings. PHI – give the points

    LA Rams (-7) at Seattle. The Rams have been a much better team than the Seahawks this year, so this is one away team I don’t mind picking. LAR – give the points

    Dallas at Houston (-3). I really don’t know which team to pick in the Texas bowl, so I’ll go with the Texans at home. HOU – give the points

    Washington at New Orleans (-6.5). New Orleans has a very good offense, but they’re headed against a Redskins defense that isn’t bad. Meanwhile, the Washington offense isn’t bad, and they’re going up against a Saints defense that’s mediocre. If the spread was a bit higher, I’d probably go with Washington, but I do think NO can cover under a TD. NO – give the points

  • BakedPenguin’s NFL Pick-‘em – Week 4

    I think I went 8-8 last week, but in my defense, I never said I wasn’t terrible at handicapping.

    If anyone wants to know, I got my odds here, on 9/26.

     

    It’s that time of the week again. Here are this week’s picks:

    Minnesota at the LA Rams (-7) The Rams have looked really good every week this year. The Vikings have looked like…. The Vikings (non-early-1970’s). 7 points at home? LAR – give the points.

    Miami at New England (-7) I hate to pick against a team that’s come up with a way to win for many years, (and at home, too.) but New England has not been looking good this year. The Dolphins have found a way to win this year. And against a TD spread? MIA – take the points.

    Houston at Indianapolis (-1½) The Texans have looked like a team that finds a way to lose – all three games this year. Indy just looks like a bad team, one that’s playing at home. IND – give the points.

    Cincinnati at Atlanta (-5½) Atlanta’s not a horrible team, and Cincinnati isn’t a great one, but 5½ points to the Falcons seems a bit much. I’d say the Bengals will at least cover the spread.CIN – take the points.

    Buffalo at Green Bay (-10) The Bills are an odd team. Mostly terrible, but can come out to play, as the Vikings saw. And since the Vikings tied the Packers, it would seem like both opponents would be comparable for the Bills. Therefore, I’m going to go with the Packers in this one (I know it makes no sense; that’s the point. Fuck you.) GB – give the points.

    Detroit at Dallas (-10) This one is hard for me, as I’d like to see both teams lose. 10 points seems like a lot for the offense starved Cowboys, even against a team with as shoddy a defense as the Lions. DET – take the points.

    NY Jets at Jacksonville (7½) The Jags are almost certainly a better team than the Jets; the real question is what the Jets will show – will they be the same team that smashed the Lions, or the one that gave Cleveland its’ first win in a couple years? For that coin flip, I choose not: JAX – give the points.

    Tampa Bay at Chicago (-3) Again, I think Tampa is a better team than Chicago, but Chicago is home. Ehh, I’ll give this one to the road warriors. TAM – give the points.

    Philadelphia (-4) at Tennessee. The Eagles are tough, but so are the Titans. And the Titans are at home. TEN – take the points.

    Seattle (-3) at Arizona. Wow, you really have to suck. I mean, you really have to suck when you are a field goal down to Seattle as the favorite. Kinda hate to do this, but I’m going to pick the Cards here. ARI – take the points.

    Cleveland at Oakland (-2½). Cleveland’s been playing a lot better this year, but they’re playing in Oakland. However, the spread is low. Yes, I’m actually taking the Browns, minus the points. Watch them win by 1. CLE – give the points.

    San Francisco at LA Chargers (-10½) The 49rs suck, but I don’t think they suck more than a TD + FG against the Chargers (who aren’t that great themselves), even in LA. SF – take the points.

    New Orleans (-3) at NY Giants. Yeah, the Saints are a better team than the Giants. I’d give them this one. NO – give the points.

    Baltimore at Pittsburgh (-3). Yeah, and the Ravens are a better team than the Steelers, I’d give them this one. BAL – take the points

    Kansas City (-5) at Denver. The Chiefs might have it over the Broncos, but a 5 point fav in Denver? They  aren’t that good. DEN -take the points.

  • BakedPenguin’s NFL Pick-em – Week 3

     

    NY Jets at Cleveland (-3) Starting off with a tough one. Cleveland has been showing some cojones this season, but I have to think the Jets will pull through. NYJ – take the points.

    Indianapolis at Philadelphia (-6.5) Both teams have been mediocre this year. Indy hasn’t shown much of a talent for covering the spread, however, so I’ll go with Philly at home. PHI – give the points

    Cincinnati at Carolina (-3) Carolina pissed me off by blowing last week’s game, while the Bengals have shown up for both of theirs. CIN – take the points.

    Tennessee at Jacksonville (-6.5) Jacksonville is a much better team than I originally thought, so I’ll go ahead and take them this week, probably only to be let down. JAX – give the points.

    New Orleans at Atlanta (-3) The Falcons are another team that’s better than I thought. However, I still don’t think they’re better than the Saints and their insane offense. NO – take the points

    Denver at Baltimore (-5) Denver has a rather amazing 2-0 record. The reason I think it’s amazing will probably be apparent by halftime. BAL – give the points.

    NY Giants at Houston (-3) Crap. Tough game. I wouldn’t put a cent on this IRL, but for here, I’ll go with the Giants. NYG – take the points.

    Oakland at Miami (-3) Miami has been looking good so far this year. So them playing at home against a mediocre team like the Raiders is one of my easier picks this week. Watch me get it wrong. MIA – give the points.

    Green Bay (-3) at Washington I hate Washington. I really, really hate Washington. Have I mentioned that I hate Washington? Go Green Bay. GB – give the points.

    Buffalo at Minnesota (-16.5) Minnesota is a better team than the Bills (who are the new Browns) but 16.5 points better? Mmmm… BUF – take the points

    San Francisco at Kansas City (-10) Again, KC is a better team than the 49ers, but 10 points? Well, okay. KC – give the points.

    LA Chargers at LA Rams (-7) Imma go with the Chargers, for no particular reason. LAC – take the points.

    Chicago (-5) at Arizona Chicago isn’t that great, but Arizona sucks almost as hard as its former Senator. CHI – give the points.

    Dallas at Seattle (-3) In another “I don’t like this team” special, fuck the Cowboys. SEA – give the points.

    New England (-6.5) at Detroit The Patriots are better than the Lions, but I’m not sure they’re a TD better in Detroit. OTOH, I’m not sure they aren’t. NE – give the points.

    Pittsburgh (-2) at Tampa Bay Tampa has looked much better than I thought they’d be. The Steelers haven’t. I’ll go with the Bucs. TB – take the points.

  • BakedPenguin’s NFL Pick-em – Week 2

    Introduction for week 2

    I approached The Powers That Be with the idea for writing a weekly NFL pick-‘em column. They graciously agreed, and then I spit the bit on getting the first column in on time, because I’m irresponsible. The good news about that is my picks are probably going to suck, and this column can serve as a vehicle for Glibs to make fun of my handicapping skills.

    That said – let’s see what’s up this week:

    The week starts with the Ravens at the Bengals. Baltimore (-1) at Cincinnati – Baltimore looked much better against the Bills last week than the Bengals did against the Colts. And while the Colts were a better opponent and the Bengals will be playing at home, I still have to take the Ravens since a 1 point spread is essentially a pick-‘em scenario. I also think there will be a few Ravens looking for payback from last year. BAL – give up the point

    Kansas City at Pittsburgh (-5). Pittsburgh giving up a late lead against Cleveland was surely disappointing to Steelers fans, and the game resulting in a tie was rather non-conclusive, although several people have pointed out that the Browns will now wind up with a better record than last year regardless of what they do from here on out. KC handled the Chargers, and although their defense looks somewhat suspect, Pittsburgh does too. I wouldn’t go so far as to pick a KC upset, but I’d take them with the points. KC – take the points

    Philadelphia (-3) at Tampa Bay. Tampa looked surprisingly good, at least on offense. The Eagles have a better defense than New Orleans, however. The Bucs played well enough last week to make me nervous about this game, but I still would have to go with the Eagles, and give up the 3 points. PHI – give the points.

    New York Giants at Dallas (-3). Wow. I don’t like anything about this game. The teams, the spread, well… maybe the cheerleaders. That said, I would never put a cent down on this game in the real world. In Internet land, I’ll take Dallas at home because I think they lost to a better team last week. DAL – give the points.

    New England (-2) at Jacksonville. I hate constantly giving points. While this isn’t something I’d bet my house on, there’s gonna be at least one upset. Screw it, Jags win at home against a Pats team that, while still good, isn’t what it used to be. JAC – take the points.

    Minnesota at Green Bay (-1). Well, this one will piss some people off. Sorry Vikes fans, I gotta go with the Packers here, especially after the balls they showed in last week’s comeback. GB – give the point.

    Houston (-2) at Tennessee. Houston played NE tough last week. Tennessee played Miami tough last week. I’d kind of like to take the home team here, but I won’t. HOU – give the points.

    Cleveland at New Orleans (-9). Cleveland may really, really suck, but they at least proved they can play in the NFL, even if they think they’re playing soccer and a tie is okay. Also, Tampa does have offensive talent, but New Orleans really showed nothing on defense last week. NO has the talent to blow out the Browns, but perhaps the Browns will make a habit of actually fighting this year. CLE – take the points.

    Carolina at Atlanta (-5.5). I’d feel good about taking the Panthers if the spread were over a touchdown. This is another game I’m really on the fence about. Eh, screw it CAR – take the points.

    Indianapolis at Washington (-6). Washington beat Arizona pretty badly last week, and Indy got dealt with by Cincy. However, Cincinnati was a playoff team, Arizona has sucked for years, and I HATE HATE HATE anything to do with DC. Fuck you, Redskins. IND – take the points

    Miami at NY Jets (-3). Ehhh, ummmmm – the Jets. NYJ – give the points.

    LA Chargers (-7.5) at Buffalo. That Ravens/Bills game was brutal. That is, unless you don’t care about the Bills, in which case it was just really, really funny. Really funny. And while there’s a decent chance the Bills will be shamed into playing better, there’s a limit as to how much better they can play. LAC – give the points.

    Detroit at San Francisco (-3.5). Ever wish both teams could lose? Detroit at least used to be a worthwhile part of the US economy, but SF has the better team. SF – give the points

    Arizona at LA Rams (-13). Okay. Now THAT is a point spread. In a fuck John McCain massive point spread special, I say LAR – give the points.

    Oakland at Denver (-6). Given Denver’s lackluster (and quite inconsistent) performance over the past few years, I really thought about taking the Raiders with the points. However, it’s in Denver, and Oaktown wasn’t looking that great last week. DEN – give the points.

    Seattle at Chicago (-3). Another tough one, as both teams had tough losses last week. Again, I’ll go with Chicago at home. Maybe they’ll give Mack some energy bars and he’ll actually play 2 good halves instead of one great one. CHI – give the points.

  • BakedPenguin’s NFL Pick-em – Week 1

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    Ed. note: BakedPenguin’s new idea is a good one. However, he didn’t think of it until late Saturday night. So, instead of a preview of the NFL’s Week 1, you get to see how well he did picking them!

    We expect the following weeks will be more timely.
     

    Special thanks to Web Dom for graciously giving up her time spot tonight so we could run this post.

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