Bet the Mortgage: Week 1, 2013 NFL Best Bets

by | Sep 5, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Gambling

weekly-betsWe’re changing things up a bit this year. We’re still going to pick four bets: three on the pointspread and then one moneyline upset every week. Each of us will start with $10,000. We’ll disperse that through all 17 weeks, scoring both the wins and losses and the dollar amounts we end up with.

If it goes as well as it did last season, we’ll both be out of money by week 11. We’ll figure that one out when we get there.

In the mean time, here are the bets:

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ZB NFL Preview 2013: NFC South

by | Sep 2, 2013 | 2013 season

The NFC South was a one team race last year as Atlanta ran away with the division. The Falcons are probably still the cream of the crop, but the league is done punishing the Saints for the so-called Bounty-gate scandal and with Sean Payton back, they should be much improved over the disappointing 2012. The Bucs and Panthers also look to be up and coming. The NFC South could be tightening up in 2013. (more…)

ZB NFL Preview 2013: AFC South

by | Aug 29, 2013 | 2013 season

After chasing Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts for so long, Houston fans had to be thinking it was their turn to reign supreme over the AFC South for a few years when Manning missed the 2011 season due to his neck injury and subsequently moved on to Denver last year. And the Texans are a solidly run organization with the talent to be competitive for some time to come. But the Colts have come storming back. Under the leadership of Chuck Pagano, Bruce Arians and Manning’s replacement Andrew Luck, Indy returned to prominence much faster than expected. It’ll likely be a two-team race at the top of the division for at least another year or two, as the Titans and Jaguars are sorting, yet again, through some growing pains. The battle for the top should be one of the more interesting races of the 2013 season. (more…)

By the Numbers: Best #80 in NFL History

By the Numbers: Best #80 in NFL History

by | Jun 4, 2013 | 80's, By the Numbers, Hall of Fame

We’re going from a not very impressive list of players who are competing to be the Best #25 in NFL history to one of the most storied numbers in league history.

The #80 rivals the #81 as perhaps the deepest and most competitive jersey digit the league’s teams have ever handed out.

Of course one stands out: Jerry Rice. But with the induction of Cris Carter later this summer, there will be eight players in the Hall of Fame that wore #80 as their primary number, which appears to be the most for a single number.

And there are several more on the list who might eventually find their way to Canton.

The best players in NFL History to wear #80 include: (more…)

By the Numbers: Best #25 in NFL History

By the Numbers: Best #25 in NFL History

by | May 24, 2013 | 20's, By the Numbers

Fred Biletnikhoff

Photo credit: Wikipedia user Tim Monaghan

When we wrote our first By the Numbers post a year ago, it was intended to become a regular feature until we hit all 100 numbers (0-99…sorry, we’re not differentiating between 0 and 00). One thing I wanted to hold true to, though, was a random selection of the numbers. I don’t even totally know why—I just did.

Unfortunately, unlike our first selection, which had several players all viable choices as the best #81 of all time, research into our second number consistently came back with one player—the best #25 in NFL history appears to clearly have been Fred Biletnikhoff.

With 589 career receptions, 8,974 receiving yards, 76 touchdowns, a Super Bowl MVP (XI), six Pro Bowls (two of them AFL only), two first-team All-Pro selections, and Hall of Fame induction in 1988, he seems a cut clear choice.

Given the anti-climactic nature of the selection, we sat on it…for a year.

Other names that came up on the list:

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