Last Night and This Week's Odds

SAINTS THWART CONCERTED EFFORT BY PANTHERS

SAINTS 20, PANTHERS 23
The most formidable specter in the Doormat world is being faced with the possibly of making it to .500.  All season, teams look up from their battered, muddy, ill-fitting cleats and squint into the glare of mediocre respectability, and race back to the safety of the Basement. If you make it to .500 who knows what the fans might expect.  Bright light gives me a headache.

The Saints have joined the legions that have come before.  Coming dangerously close to going 5-5, the Saints smartly staked the Panthers to a 23-3 lead before entering the 4th quarter.  Defeat looked assured. On the other side of the pigskin, with a solid shot at going 4-7, the Pansies had to go ALL OUT in the 4th, which really was just to run out of gas like they often do.  The Saints piled up 17 straight points...but they managed to stop the bleeding when it mattered most- at the end of the game, and still nail down the loss.

Both teams are 4-6 and hovering on the patio...and the temperature is dropping.

THE WEEKEND

Note that I am not picking winners (except in a couple games)- I'm picking whether they beat the spread or not.  Place your bets.
Team in all caps at end of blurb covers spread.

Patriots (-13)  at Forty-Niners
Everyday this line balloons another point. Could be an epic beat-down. Or the Pats take the week off and win 31-13.  Tom Brady finally gets to play a game against his favorite team when he was a kid, idolizing Joe Montana.  Patriots cover the spread as 49er defensive backfield gets spun around 17 times and falls to turf.   PATRIOTS

Steelers (-8) at Browns
Somehow, through 10 straight losses, Browns coach Hue Jackson still comes up with creative ways to lose.  He's running out of options, but can always recycle. The Steelers are 4-5 and are STILL favored by 8 points.  Should be a WHALE of a game, if you know what I mean.   STEELERS.

Giants (-7 1/2) vs.  Chicago
The Bears should certainly lose this game, but I don't think Jay Cutler can do the 1-man wrecking ball act 2 weeks in a row without arousing some suspicion.  Bears cover the spread.  BEARS.

Chiefs  (-7 1/2) vs.  Tampa Bay
Chiefs win their games by an average of 10 points.  And the Chiefs are nothing if not average.  They also have 13 interceptions, the most in the NFL.  Double that point average.  Chiefs by 20.   CHIEFS.

Detroit (- 6 1/2 ) vs.  Jacksonville
Lions see an opening, like the cat-door to the great outdoors.  The NFC North is there for taking!
Jags will win this game, just because we're all expecting the Lions to win, and anybody in Detroit knows what that means.  JAGS

Dolphins (-1 1/2) at Rams
Lambie rookie Jared Goff gets thrown to the...sea mammals in this one.  Fins have won 4 straight, actually scraped past the .500 mark, and both teams are pretty solid Parity Division members.  Lambs are desperate.  Lambs lose.  DOLPHINS

NY Jets-  The Jests have the week off.  They're sleeping it off, in fact- snoring so loud you can't hear the slobbering begging at the sliding door to the Patio, with all those 4-6 wannabes out there.

Everybody else has to lose more games for me to even CARE

-Wacko