Welcome to SLICED SPREAD, the place on Inside Pulse Sports for weekly NFL picks against the spread, head to head survivor picks, and score prognostications.
I’m fresh out of witty banter this week, so…
Onto the breakdown!
SLICED SPREAD: NFL WEEK 13 BREAKDOWN
WEEK 13 ATS: 9-7
WEEK 13 LOCKS ATS: 1-2
WEEK 13 H2H: 11-5
WEEK 13 H2H SURVIVOR PICK: WIN (Saints over Lions)
THIS SEASON ATS: 103-89
THIS SEASON LOCKS ATS: 21-18
THIS SEASON H2H: 130-62
H2H SURVIVOR TEAMS USED:
Chargers (Week 1, Win)
Lions (Week 2, Win)
Steelers (Week 3, Win)
Packers (Week 4, Win)
Giants (Week 5, Loss)
Raiders (Week 6, Win)
Cowboys (Week 7, Win)
Niners (Week 8, Win)
Texans (Week 9, Win)
Eagles (Week 10, Loss)
Patriots (Week 11, Win)
Jets (Week 12, Win)
Saints (Week 13, Win)
SLICED SPREAD: NFL WEEK 14 PICKS
THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
PITTSBURGH (-14.5) over Cleveland – Short and sweet, the Browns simply don’t have it in them to compete with the Steelers on a short week. Steelers win 31-10
SUNDAY:
New England (-7.5) over WASHINGTON – The Redskins gave it their best shot against the Jets, only to stumble badly in the fourth quarter and give up consecutive touchdowns to put the game out of reach for good. They will fair no better against a Patriots team that walloped the Colts for three quarters, then benched everyone to blow their cover. New England won’t let up here on the road and Rex Grossman will not get the job done yet again. Patriots win 28-13
Minnesota (+7.5) over DETROIT – Detroit has been on a downward spiral for a pretty long time now. The Lions might skate by here at home against a feisty Vikings team, but they certainly won’t cover. Lions win 27-24
CAROLINA (+2.5) over Atlanta – The Falcons are simply a different team on the road because of Matt Ryan’s inconsistent play. Meanwhile, Panthers have been improving largely in part to Cam Newton getting better every week. Carolina takes it here in a mild upset. Panthers win 28-21
Philadelphia (+3.5) over MIAMI – Michael Vick will be back behind center for the Eagles this week, and with the extra rest Philly has had since getting embarrassed in Seattle, I think they will keep this one within field goal range. The resurgent Dolphins will win, however, just not by more than three points. Dolphins win 24-21
Kansas City (+9.5) over NY JETS — The Jets normally don’t blow other teams out and Kansas City’s defense has played very well over the past two weeks. Mark Sanchez will engineer another fourth quarter comeback, but New York will be down after three quarters before finally coming to life when it counts most. Jets win 20-14
Houston (+3.5) over CINCINNATI – No matter who starts at quarterback for the Texans, they just have knack for winning. As of late, the Bengals don’t. Texans win 22-17
Tampa Bay (-1.5) over JACKSONVILLE – This is my least favorite game of the week. On one hand, the Bucs can’t even sniff a win; on the other hand, the Jaguars got absolutely obliterated on Monday night and now they have a short week to shake it off and move forward. I just don’t trust either team, so I literally flipped a coin for the first time this season and it came up tails for Tampa. Bucs win 16-14
BALTIMORE (-16.5) over Indianapolis – What are the chances that the Ravens’ defense will simply let up the way the Patriots did last Sunday? Yeah, I thought so. Ravens win 28-6
New Orleans (-3.5) over TENNESSEE – I am shocked that I know a few people who are pounding the Titans this week. Granted, Chris Johnson has found his footing for Tennessee and the Saints are a different team away from the dome. However, I don’t think it’s too tall of a task for Drew Brees to out-pace this Titans team by 3.5 points. Therefore, and since there are so many New Orleans naysayers, my gut feeling pick of the week is… Saints win 31-24
San Francisco (-3.5) over ARIZONA – As I predicted last week, Arizona did me proud last week by upending the Cowboys both head to head and against the spread. With that said, while the Cardinals have been playing extremely well, I just don’t think they have it in them to go toe to toe with this Niners team and come out on top. This will not be an easy game for San Francisco, but they are a disciplined team and they will demonstrate that on Sunday with a hard-fought road victory. Niners win 24-20
*LOCK IT UP: DENVER (-3.5) over Chicago – I am staying aboard the Tebow bandwagon and locking this one up for good measure because the Bears are just decimated by injuries right now and also have a very tenuous quarterback situation. Broncos win 27-16
GREEN BAY (-11.5) over Oakland – The Packers’ defense faltered against a Giants team that played its best game all season, but the Raiders just don’t have the weapons to compete the way New York did. Packers win 35-10
SAN DIEGO (-7.5) over Buffalo — The Chargers slaughtered the Jags last Monday night, but even more importantly, Philip Rivers played one of his most capable games to date this season. The Bills are officially done and I don’t think they will put forth a very good performance out west. Chargers win 28-13
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
*LOCK IT UP: NY Giants (+3.5) over DALLAS — Last week, the Giants and Cowboys both showed that the NFC East division race is far from over. The Giants proved they could hang with the undefeated Packers, while the Cowboys showed they still don’t know how to close the deal when they have to play the role of the frontrunners. After this week’s first of two showdowns, there will be a deadlock in the division, why? Because the Giants thrive on being road underdogs, and the Cowboys love to oblige to their opponents’ desires by losing in December. Giants win 24-20
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
*LOCK IT UP: SEATTLE (-6.5) over St. Louis — On Monday night, we have yet another epic encounter as the Seattle Seahawks face the St. Louis Rams in a real important battle for……… well, I’m really not sure. What I do know is that the Rams are truly atrocious, and so the Seahawks should pound them at home. Locking this one up gives me something to root for on Monday as well… Seahawks win 23-9
That’s it for this week’s edition of SLICED SPREAD.
See you next week – CB.
