Well, our bets for the season are still terrible–but a 4-0 week for Andy last week, combined with a ho-hum 2-2 week for me, puts us at 24-28 (Tony) vs. 24-27-1 (Andy) for the season. Maybe rather than following our betting advice, you can find a book in Vegas that will take action on our fierce battle?

This weeks picks:

Andy

Denver (-10) at Oakland – The Broncos’ three losses this season were in Peyton Manning’s first five games back from injury against Atlanta (one loss), Houston (one loss) and New England (three losses). Denver has won seven in a row and has scored more than 30 points in six of those seven games. The last few have not been blowouts, but I don’t see an Oakland team that hasn’t scored more than 20 points in a month sticking with Denver.

Baltimore (+2.5) at Washington – I really enjoy watching Robert Griffin III play and I think this team is on the right track. But the Redskins are 1-3 as a favorite this season and they’re coming off three straight division wins, two of which were nationally televised and highly publicized. I think they’re due for a letdown. Besides, Baltimore is a veteran team that despite missing several star cogs is playing well enough on defense to mean Joe Flacco and Ray Rice don’t have to score a ton of points. I think this continues and the Ravens rebound from a tough loss to Pittsburgh.

Philadelphia at Tampa Bay: Over 47 – The Eagles are a bad team, but they’re playing a bit better the last couple weeks. They’ve gone over in three of their last four games, going under against Washington only because the Redskins held Philly to six points. The trend in Tampa games is that the Bucs score a lot and they give up a lot too. They’ve gone over in eight of the last nine games. The spread is 7.5, which feels about right to me. But the 47 number feels very reachable by these two teams.

Upset of the week: New Orleans (+200) at New York Giants – There really isn’t much I can say to make this one sound rational except I’m just not feeling it from the Giants this year. They’ve lost three of four. Eli Manning still just seems a little off. The defense has played better the last two games, but in the four before that it gave up 31, 24, 24 and 23. Plus Drew Brees is coming off of a five interception night and one would think he will be focused and looking to atone. I’m going for the upset.

Tony

Kansas City (+6.5) at Cleveland – Both teams are terrible, but while the Browns appear to be getting a little bit better, the Chiefs played inspired football last weekend, and should keep it closer than a touchdown.

Chicago (-3) at Minnesota – The surprising start appears to be quickly imploding for the Vikings, who shut down top receiver Percy Harvin for the week, and have continued to have QB struggles over the last month and a half. My uncle in Chicago shot me a message this week, saying he was worried about Adrian Peterson going for 300 yards rushing this week. I told him if AP gets 300 yards, the Bears will only win by four.

Baltimore (+2.5) at Washington – I get Baltimore is shaky, and I get Washington is at home. But Baltimore is still 9-3, and better in my estimation than the Giants, whom the Redskins barely beat at home last week.

Upset of the week: Arizona (+405) over Seattle – There are a lot of upset lines that I would be tempted to put some money on if in Vegas this week, but unfortunately I didn’t actually pick any of them in our straight up picks–so I’ll grab one of the bigger ones that intrigues me. Seattle has been playing well, and Arizona hasn’t–but Seattle will be missing James Carpenter and Pro Bowler Brandon Browner. Oh, hell, it’s not likely to happen, but what the heck has gone right in my season of picks?