In my first full fall doing this back in 2012, this was something I wanted to do, and it's something I look forward to every fall, but it's not as much fun doing it alone. And so for the fourth straight year, my friend Adam Quinn will be joining me in this weekly feature. We'll make our picks based on any number of things ranging from actual football reasons to spite for Nick Foles (Adam) or bee uniforms (me) to, as will probably be the case two or three times this season, when Adam goes insane and picks based on either cheerleaders, reverse psychology, fantasy players he has, or letting one or both of his kids pick for him. I give him crap for this, but I may end up doing this with Matthew somewhere along the line too.
We're competing against the spreads set by ESPN and presumably Vegas, and we have a few other people joining us in this endeavor as well. My dad is back for another year of this, and Geoffrey Clark, a buddy from my North Central days and writer at Chicago Bulls Confidential returns after a one year hiatus. I will be tracking our picks in relation to each other here, and since the season doesn't start until this evening, you can join us or watch the standings unfold here.
If you were to open the Week 1 schedule on Pigskin Pick 'Em, you'll note that the Tampa-Miami game is still on there even though it's already postponed to Week 11. I've thus deleted our picks for that game. As we open the season, Adam and I disagree on six games out of the first 15. To my fellow competitors, good luck!
Thursday Night
Kansas City Chiefs @ New England Patriots (-8.5)
Lucas: Patriots. The Tom Brady Revenge Tour is complete. But that isn't stopping all of New England from rightfully hating the lying tyrant (who will be in attendance!) The fact that Barstool Sports is planning to have 70,000 of these flying around Gillette Stadium to wave in his face is amazing.
Lucas note: And the boos. I can't wait.Towels Anybody? pic.twitter.com/XC27GMO2Rx— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 31, 2017
Adam: Chiefs. It’s hard for me to see New England winning by that much. Both teams have been hit by the injury bug, and with Edelman going down & Brady turning 40 I see this one being closer than a touchdown.
Sunday, Early Afternoon
Atlanta Falcons @ Chicago Bears (+7.5)
Lucas: Bears. I can't believe I'm doing this. Every logical instinct says to run away from the train wreck and lay the points with the elite offense. But for some reason, I'm feeling a back door cover on this one.
Adam: Bears. Running my rule again from last year: a touchdown or higher line I take the Bears, less than I take the opponent. The Bears will be HORRIBLE this year... good thing I will only be able to see a few of the games... otherwise I may cry.
Lucas note: *makes a note to check 506 Sports every week and text Adam every time the Bears will be on in Dallas*
New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills (-6.5)
Lucas: Jets. Mainly because I'm leery of the line and with Tyrod Taylor being questionable, I'm playing it safe.
Adam: Bills. With a surprise move... Buffalo moves to Toronto! OK maybe not, but dumping a talented wideout and some other key players, it seems that the new regime in Buffalo want to make a splash. Shady will have plenty of opportunities to do his work.
Baltimore Ravens @ Cincinnati Bengals (-2.5)
Lucas: Ravens. I gotta back Cubs reliever Koji Uehara on this one.
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 3, 2017Adam: Ravens. Everyone this preseason has been talking up the Ravens. For some reason I still never seem to think they are that good. Well, I will give them one, taking the points on the road.
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cleveland Browns (+9.5)
Lucas: Steelers. So the Cleveland police union is refusing to hold the flag for the anthem out of protest... of a bunch of Browns players kneeling in protest during the anthem? This crap is getting out of hand, and it seems a little hypocritical.
Adam: Browns. Pittsburgh is good, but combining preseason hold out Bell’s conditioning, Big Ben’s age and the
Arizona Cardinals @ Detroit Lions (-2.5)
Lucas: Cardinals. Not that I trust Carson Palmer in a shootout against Matthew Stafford, but it's Bruce Arians against the guy I'm going to be taking about 50 unprovoked potshots at this season starting now.
Oakland Raiders @ Tennessee Titans (+0.5)
Lucas: Raiders. Tough call, but the Raiders bucked the "West Coast Teams Playing At Noon" trend last year, and I want to be ahead of the curve.
Adam: Titans. Plain and simple, Tennessee is the real deal this year. I’ll take that half point at home any day.
Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington Redskins (-2.5)
Lucas: Redskins. As much as I want to pull for Carson Wentz (Go Bison), I can't do it. I think Washington is better and will lull Chainsaw Dan into a false sense of security, at least through one week.
Adam: Redskins. Really feeling the Skins love this year. Had my doubts about Cousins but he seems to be doing just fine. Actually wouldn’t mind having him on my Fantasy teams this year.
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston Texans (-4.5)
Lucas: Texans. I don't care if Tom Savage is starting, I'm invoking the most important gambling rule: Never bet against God, puppies, or first home games for cancer/natural disaster survivors. #HoustonStrong
Sunday, Late Afternoon
Indianapolis Colts @ Los Angeles Rams (+3.5)
Lucas: Rams. Scott Tolzien and/or Jacoby Brissett are going to get killed.
Adam: Rams. I suspect this line should have changed given Luck’s luck. I’ll take the 3.5 with Luck out despite a terrible offense.
Seattle Seahawks @ Green Bay Packers (-2.5)
Lucas: Packers. Aaron Rodgers will wreak more havoc on Seattle than Light Turner and Ryuk did in Netflix's Death Note (which was actually pretty good). That said, Light Yagami > Light Turner.
Carolina Panthers @ San Francisco 49ers (+5.5)
Lucas: Panthers. Congratulations,
Adam: Panthers. What is there to like about anything in San Francisco right now? I have no idea who their QB is, but they didn’t want Kapernick and that is saying something. Do they even have receivers that anyone knows...?
Lucas note: Brian Hoyer/Matt Barkley, and Pierre Garcon. Sounds like a 2-14 team to me!
Sunday Night
New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys (-4.5)
Lucas: Giants. I kind of expected Elliott's suspension to get overturned, but I'm not shocked it didn't because Roger Goodell is a lying tyrant. And yet somehow he's available for this game. I'd look forward to his revenge tour, but the Cowboys will blow it in the playoffs again like they always do. The fact that I'm getting points like this is just the icing on the cake.
Adam: Cowboys. Since Zeke is available for this game thanks to the league granting him one game before his suspension kicks in (unless he gets the injunction), I like Dallas here even giving the points in an important early season match-up.
Lucas note: Yeah, but this was the case last year in Week 1 too (minus the suspension/Goodell Is A Lying Tyrant nonsense), and we all know how that ended.
Monday Night
New Orleans Saints @ Minnesota Vikings (-3.5)
Lucas: Saints. Minnesota's defense being Minnesota's defense aside, would you trust Sam Bradford in a shootout with Drew Brees? Yeah, me neither. Taking the points and the upset.
Adam: Saints. I love how AP's first game not in a Minnesota uniform is in a game where he is playing the Vikings. AP is an interesting late round flyer for my purposes. Other than that I don’t expect much from him. I like the aerial assault Brees and Co will rain down on Minnesota.
Los Angeles Chargers @ Denver Broncos (-3.5)
Lucas: Broncos. Don't bet against
Adam: Chargers. Are they still in San Diego this year or have them moved yet? I don’t know, 3 teams have or will move in the next year or so... anyway, it is not very encouraging when you re-sign a player you didn’t want to sign who got a freakin’ ‘uge deal and not even the Browns wanted him. The only reason Denver may be competitive this year is their D.
Lucas note: Yeah, the Chargers will play their home games in a 30000 seat soccer stadium because Dean Spanos is a [insert your expletive of choice here]. I think once the Rams' new place is done the Chargers are moving there. Then you factor in the Las Vegas Raiders, the London Jaguars, and God forbid my still ongoing Madden '11 Franchise Mode doesn't happen in reality and the Bears become the Mexico City Rhinos with a scorpion for a logo for some reason...
Records Last Year
Lucas: 131-125
Adam: 128-128
Scott: 127-129
Geoffrey: 0-0
No comments:
Post a Comment