www.edkleese.blogspot.com

Last Week: 13-3
Season: 154-86
Record Picking Redskins Games: 9-6
Against the Spread: 26-32-2
Lock of the Week (ATS): 9-6


Last Week’s Pats: Possibly my best week ever in terms of nailing major upsets: Correctly picked both the Bears and Bengals to win.

Last Week’s Apologies: I thought all last week that EITHER the Saints or Giants would lose, but not both. Turns out I flipped a coin and got it backwards.

This Week’s Picks:

New England at New York Giants: Funny, but it may wind up being Tom Brady and crew against the GIANTS second string rather than the other way around. I see no reason the Patriots roll ends here.

Patriots 34, Giants 20

Cincinnati at Miami: There will be a race to the airport after this one.

Bengals 33, Dolphins 23

Buffalo at Philadelphia: The Eagles have looked extremely good the past two weeks. Is this a sign that McNabb, Reid and friends will return next year, or is it just a swan song?

Eagles 26, Bills 13

Seattle at Atlanta: A meaningless cross-country game for the Seahawks, but for some reason, I see their back-ups finding a way to win this one.

Seahawks 24, Falcons 21

New Orleans at Chicago: The Saints missed their golden opportunity last week. Now, their chances are slim and I don’t like their chances in the nasty weather.

Bears 20, Saints 17

Carolina at Tampa Bay: Much like Seattle, I think Tampa wins this one even if they don’t play their key starters.

Bucs 19, Panthers 16

San Francisco at Cleveland: The 49ers have shown some life the past few weeks, but I’m not sure it’s enough to save Mike Nolan’s job. Cleveland is an odd position of still being alive for the playoffs and yet playing in a meaningless game.

Browns 29, 49ers 17

Detroit at Green Bay: I have a feeling the Packers would like to get the taste of last week’s drubbing in Chicago out of their mouths.

Packers 23, Lions 16

Jacksonville at Houston: This game would smell like an upset anyway, but with Jacksonville resting many players, look for Houston to end 2007 with their first non-losing season.

Texans 20, Jaguars 14

San Diego at Oakland: The Chargers have plenty to play for this week. A win means they avoid New England until the AFC Championship game. It also means they avoid the Jaguars in the first round. Two very good reasons to play this one through.

Chargers 30, Raiders 13

Kansas City at New York Jets: I wonder why NBC moved this game out of primetime?

Jets 6, Chiefs 3

St. Louis at Arizona: I’m not sure any team in the league will enter the off-season with more regret than the Cardinals. They had a very nice season right there in front of them, yet they came up short in several winnable games.

Cardinals 34, Rams 27

Dallas at Washington: As a Redskins fan, this game scares the daylights out of me. Dallas has little motivation this week, but the guys that do play will certainly play hard. Stranger things have happened in rivalry games. Having said that, I think Joe Gibbs has his team on a mission right now, and I don’t think it ends quite yet.

Redskins 23, Cowboys 20

Minnesota at Denver: I know Denver isn’t very good, but have they quit? If not, I can certainly see the Broncos winning this game; Tarvaris Jackson is awful and Denver is always a tough place to play, especially this time of year. Ah, what the heck, go with the upset.

Broncos 24, Vikings 20

Pittsburgh at Baltimore: Baltimore is miserable. Simply miserable.

Steelers 22, Ravens 13

Tennessee at Indianapolis: For some reason, I see Cleveland fans getting their wish this week. I know Indy won’t be playing most of their starters, but this is a nationally televised game, the Titans offense is in the muck, and the Colts are at home. Odd to say this, but I’m going with a big upset.

Colts 20, Titans 17

4 To Score

1. Colts (+6.5) against the Titans. I just don’t see the Colts handing this one over, even with their back-ups.
2. Eagles (-7.5) against the Bills. Eagles seem to be ending the season on a high note.
3. Cowboys (+9) against the Redskins. You can only dress 47 players for an NFL game. The notion that none of the starters will play is false. Brad Johnson is a pro and this is a rivalry game. It won’t be easy.
4. Broncos (+3) against the Vikings. Couldn’t really find a 4th game I liked, so I went with a home underdog.