While a lot of college kids are wrapping up their gridiron seasons, the Big Daddies at Concussion Central just keep pounding on each other. And so we continue to try to pick a winning underdog out of the weekly pro football pack. After some early successes, we've been a miserable failure at this, even with the help of our faithful readers. But if you think you can select an underdog (in caps) that will win its game outright, do sound off in the comments. If I use your choice and it's right, I earn the points listed to the left of the game.
I won't win the season-long pool. But it's for pride at this point, people.
10.5 PITTSBURGH vs. New England
10.5 OAKLAND at Green Bay
10.5 CAROLINA at Jacksonville
10.5 DETROIT vs. Dallas
9.5 BALTIMORE vs. Indianapolis
8.5 SAN FRANCISCO vs. Minnesota
7.5 KANSAS CITY at Denver
7 ARIZONA at Seattle
7 MIAMI at Buffalo
5 ATLANTA vs. New Orleans
3.5 NEW YORK JETS vs. Cleveland
3 CHICAGO at Washington (Thursday)
2.5 NEW YORK GIANTS at Philadelphia
If the Bears are your cup of tea, do put in a good word soon, as the game's tomorrow night and I'd have to send that pick in before kickoff.
Comments (13)
here you are. guaranteed:
Pittsburgh: #1 in fewest points scored against them.
From my memory of your record this season, it seems too late to salvage any pride.
Full disclosure: I know next to nothing about NFL teams or how to predict who is going to win/lose any given game. Unless it's the Patriots, but how can one be sure they haven't stolen the other teams' playbooks and signals?
If you are going to win one now, Jack, make it a big one. Chance of RAIN in Pittsburgh this weekend. STEELERS over the Pats. Finally. After that, take SAN FRANCISCO at home, they are playing (as you are) for pride. Then ARIZONA over Seattle. Matt H. can't keep carrying the team. Below that, you may get a win. But there's no dignity with winning the gimme's.
New England looked mighty vulnerable on Monday night against lowly Baltimore. Pittsburgh is going to be their last major hurdle to an undefeated regular season. Also consider Baltimore for 9.5 against Indy. They played awesome D on Monday night and they can get to the QB and play great run defense. Both Pitt and Baltimore are at home so they should both be able to make a good game of it.
I like the Ravens as well. They're playing with a chip on their shoulder (bad calls in the NE game, and Rolle getting called "boy" by the ref), and I just think the Colts are awfully banged up these days.
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
The Occasional Book
Hope Larson - A Wrinkle in Time, the Graphic Novel
Rudyard Kipling - Kim
Peter Ames Carlin - Bruce
Fran Cannon Slayton - When the Whistle Blows
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 29
At this date last year: 66
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (13)
here you are. guaranteed:
Pittsburgh: #1 in fewest points scored against them.
Chicago is likely.
Giants are maybe.
all others--nope.
Posted by ecohuman.com | December 5, 2007 11:14 AM
From my memory of your record this season, it seems too late to salvage any pride.
Full disclosure: I know next to nothing about NFL teams or how to predict who is going to win/lose any given game. Unless it's the Patriots, but how can one be sure they haven't stolen the other teams' playbooks and signals?
Posted by None | December 5, 2007 11:20 AM
If you are going to win one now, Jack, make it a big one. Chance of RAIN in Pittsburgh this weekend. STEELERS over the Pats. Finally. After that, take SAN FRANCISCO at home, they are playing (as you are) for pride. Then ARIZONA over Seattle. Matt H. can't keep carrying the team. Below that, you may get a win. But there's no dignity with winning the gimme's.
Posted by Mark Mason | December 5, 2007 12:17 PM
Pittsburgh. First time all season I am going against NE. The timing seems right.
Posted by Mike | December 5, 2007 1:18 PM
New England looked mighty vulnerable on Monday night against lowly Baltimore. Pittsburgh is going to be their last major hurdle to an undefeated regular season. Also consider Baltimore for 9.5 against Indy. They played awesome D on Monday night and they can get to the QB and play great run defense. Both Pitt and Baltimore are at home so they should both be able to make a good game of it.
Posted by Usual Kevin | December 5, 2007 1:19 PM
I'm liking Oakland of the big dogs. The New York football Giants otherwise.
Posted by Gannicott | December 5, 2007 1:35 PM
Ravens. KC.
It's hard to play for pride when it's all a guessing game.
Posted by Kevin | December 5, 2007 2:07 PM
Pick the Steelers or the Ravens, both will shock the world!
Posted by not so expdx | December 5, 2007 2:11 PM
10.5 PITTSBURGH vs. New England
LONG SHOT - If Pittsburgh plasy as it is capable, they can beat NE.
Then, in order:
2.5 NEW YORK GIANTS at Philadelphia
Here's hoping we see the good Eli.
7.5 KANSAS CITY at Denver
Denver looks dis-organized and I think KC is finally starting to string stuff together.
7 ARIZONA at Seattle
Only because I want Seattle to lose. This isn't probably too likely.
Posted by Steve | December 5, 2007 3:30 PM
I like the Ravens as well. They're playing with a chip on their shoulder (bad calls in the NE game, and Rolle getting called "boy" by the ref), and I just think the Colts are awfully banged up these days.
Posted by Dave J. | December 5, 2007 4:48 PM
Pittsburgh, Baltimore, San Fran or KC. It's got to be one of those four.
Posted by Jack Bog | December 5, 2007 10:09 PM
Still could be Baltimore.
Posted by Kevin | December 9, 2007 4:47 PM
Just wasn't a good week for 'dogs.
Posted by Mike | December 10, 2007 5:25 PM