Week 4 TNF Pick

A great week of NFL action – in fact, we will have the summary of Week 3 and Week 4 picks Saturday evening – but for now, our Thursday Night Football pick:

49ers (-3.5) over RAMS

In his last two games, Colin Kaepernick has looked terrible. Surely, they will rebound against the lowly, yet surprisingly not that bad Rams team.

See you guys Saturday!

Week 3 NFL Picks

*NOTE: As I reference in the post, I drew these picks up last night, and am posting them shortly before the end of the 1st round of games. How do you know I'm not lying? The picks.

This is very much coming last moment – I’m writing this at 1:15 Sunday morning – so there won’t be analysis with the picks. We promise to give you more content and analysis next week. With any further ado, our NFL Week 3 ATS picks:

TITANS (-3) over Chargers

VIKINGS (-7) over Browns

Bucs (+7) over PATRIOTS

Texans (-1.5) over RAVENS

COWBOYS (-3) over Rams

Cardinals (-7) over SAINTS

SKINS (even) over Lions

BENGALS (+3) over Packers

PANTHERS (+2) over Giants

Falcons (+2.5) over DOLPHINS

49ERS (-10) over Colts

Jags (+19) over SEAHAWKS

Bills (+2.5) over JETS

Bears (-2) over STEELERS

BRONCOS (-15) over Raiders

After Thursday’s victory by the Chiefs, here’s our updated record:

Last Week: 7-8-0

Overall: 8-8-0

Week 2 Recap and KC-PHI Pick

When we started this blog just five days ago, it was predicated on the assumption that we, as masters of sports knowledge, have an above average knowledge base about the NFL.

Unfortunately for our egos, five days is a long time in the sports World.

Since our last post, we were embarrassed by our absolute onslaught of the Packers-Washington line last week – Green Bay was favored by 7 (and won handily, 38-20) -, our distrust of Carson Palmer, and our (particularly Forrest’s) willingness to pick against the Broncos -4.

Fortunately, the Bengals covered on Monday Night and we finished the week a modest 7-8 (we did not pick the NE-NYJ game). Luckily, we get an interesting matchup to redeem ourselves on tonight.

Chiefs (+3.5) over EAGLES

It took me a while, but I gave in. En route to a late night snack before picking up Grand Theft Auto V Monday night, somehow I went from “I don’t think we can pick KC in this one. The odds are just too stacked against us,” to “I think I’ve talked myself into picking KC.” I think Zach combined for all of five words in a ten minute span of me trying to analyze this.

Yes, it is a primetime game and Michael Vick is the opposing starting QB. Yes, Chip Kelly’s new offense has to be hell to prepare for on a short week. And yes, the Philadelphia crowd will be all but welcoming to Andy Reid’s return. However, this is also Philadelphia. Their defense has forced four punts in the first two weeks of play – a defense that spotted the stellar Chargers offense 33 points on its way to a loss last week. Kansas City is by far the best defense they will have played so far, and we know in the past Philadelphia has had problems protecting the ball and their quarterback. And perhaps the greatest X-factor: in his short tenure so far in Kansas City, the players have truly taken to Andy Reid. They will want to win this game for him, as Jamaal Charles told us early in the week.

The emotions will be high, and it should be an entertaining Thursday night game. Let’s see how long it takes for me to realize that, as always, I’m a giant homer for picking the Chiefs in this game.

We will check back in on Saturday to talk about the game and make our picks for Sunday.

-ZA, FR

NFL Week 2 Picks

In order to prepare us for our post-21 lives, we (being Zach Altschuler and Forrest Richardson) have decided to track our picking prowess for the 2013 NFL season – and being the generous we are, we decided to make it available to you.

Here are our Week 2 picks (ATS, because we are all men here):

RAVENS (-7) over Browns

Does anyone in Cleveland really believe Brandon Weedon is the solution? The Champs are coming home, and no one pulls off “we got stomped so time to make a statement” quite like Joe Flacco.

TEXANS (-8.5) over Titans

When was the last time there was a team as good and as boring to watch as the Texans at the same time? Still, it is the Titans. (Zach has observed I’ve started the first two picks with questions – we’ll see where this takes us).

COLTS (-2) over Dolphins

I can see Sohail arguing with us over this pick, but we just don’t trust the Dolphins. Not that we trust the Colts either. But in Andrew Luck we trust.

BILLS (+3) over Panthers

Because Carolina sucks at winning.

FALCONS (-5) over Rams

We had a debate earlier over which team currently has the most future Hall of Famers on their roster, and we like the Falcons chances. Seriously, check this list: Tony Gonzalez (lock), Matt Ryan (probable if career arc continues), Steven Jackson (maybe), Julio Jones (potentially), Roddy White (doubtful). We could only come up with one team even close to this (Denver). As for the pick, the Falcons come into the Georgia Dome after a loss to their most hated rivals; yeah, everyone is pissed. You’d be crazy to pick otherwise.

Redskins (+7) over PACKERS

When we went to look at the lines for this week, this one inspired an award for how crazy it is: the weekly “Michele Bachmann” award. Every week, we’re going to give this out to one line we think is just flat out ridiculous. Seriously, how are the Packers getting SEVEN points? We know: RGIII and Alfred Morris looked shaky at best last week, and Rodgers and the Packers come into their season opener at Lambeau after a heated loss to the 49ers, but seven seems just generous. Take the points.

CHIEFS (-3) over Cowboys

The narrative of the Tony Romo era has officially shifted from “worst-best QB ever” to “best-worse QB ever”. Seriously, coverage of the Cowboys has me feeling bad for the guy. We know Jamaal Charles may not be 100%, and that we should take last week’s win with a grain of salt – but really, I’m just a giant homer.

Vikings (+6) over BEARS

Zach is taking over the keyboard now. 6 is a big spread, even for Chicago coming off an impressive win at home and the Vikings coming off a bad loss at the Lions. Adrian Peterson is probably due for a huge game.

Saints (-3) over BUCS

Josh Freeman and Cam Newton are currently competing for the young QB with the most wasted potential. Drew Brees may be the most overachieving QB in NFL history.

Lions (-1.5) over CARDINALS

Could the Lions actually redeem themselves after last season’s complete meltdown? And remember when Carson Palmer was actually good. That was only like, four years ago. We don’t have much hope for the Palmer era in Arizona.

RAIDERS (-5) over Jags

If you watch the entirety of this game on Sunday, you have a gambling problem.

GIANTS (+4) over Broncos

Eli could be due for a bounce back game after the worst 36-31 victory ever last Sunday. Brother Peyton cannot possibly play as well this week…. Or can he? Eli is 0-2 in Brother Bowls so somehow Forrest thinks this he’ll win this week out of spite for his fraternal brethren.

EAGLES (-7) over Chargers

One of the toughest games to pick the Eagles seems like the ultimate boom or bust team. We think the Eagles will play amazing this week, having nothing to do with the fact that they are playing the Chargers. Plus Oregon highlights came on as we were writing this so that has to be a sign.

SEAHAWKS (-3) over 49ers

Best game of the week and maybe the year. One of us thinks Seattle is the best team in the NFL, the other thinks it’s the 49ers. Anyways we debated for 15 minutes on this pick and the reason Seattle came out on top is solely for the insane home-field advantage they will have. Can you imagine if they break the decibel record for the loudest sporting event ever and still don’t win?

BENGALS (-7) over Steelers

The Steelers are about to be, or are already, in free fall. Plus the Bengals are legitimately the better team, which feels a very weird thing to say considering this is Cincy we’re talking about.

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And there you have it. We’ll be back on Tuesday to laugh at how bad we did, or bask in the glory of our achievement. Either way, it should be a fun ride.

Let the debate begin.

-ZA, FR

KC to DC

Over the course of human events, people get to experience few great things.

This will not be one of them. However, we can promise moderate entertainment. In the last two years, a friendship has been crafted, through politics, drinking, and sports. Mostly sports. And then drinking. And then politics. The important things go first, people.

In an attempt to publicly display our thoughts, theories, and perspectives when it comes to matters of the sports world - the issue of greatest importance in life - here we are.

Starting tonight, we promise to provide you with entertainment and laughs as you read weekly NFL picks and analysis, MLB Playoff analysis, and much more. Maybe a podcast is even in the works.

So why KC to DC?

The aforementioned relationship is between two men from very, very different parts of the great nation we call 'Murica. Forrest Richardson - from Savannah, MO and a diehard KC sports fan - and Zach Altschuler - from Herndon, VA (in the DC area), and an avid DC sports connoisseur - are your leaders on this journey. With two very different backgrounds, we hope to bring you the full spectrum of sports analysis - and maybe some laughs as well.

We're excited to this. So sit back, grab a beer, and enjoy the ride.

-ZA, FR