I went 9-7 last week. That puts me at 139-85 for the season. For a comparison, check out the "experts" over at ESPN.
Here are my picks for the NFL's Week 16:
*Thursday, December 20, 2007*
Pittsburgh 9-5 at Saint Louis 3-11 - 8:15 pm (Sheridan's line: Pittsburgh by 8½)
The Steelers have dropped two in a row, and so now Cleveland is tied with them for the division lead in the AFC North. Pittsburgh holds the head-to-head tiebreaker, however, so they are still in control of their own destiny. They are just 2-4 on the road this season. Saint Louis has also lost two in a row, and now find themselves alone in last place in the NFC West. The Rams are an embarrassing 1-6 at home on the season. Marshall Faulk's No. 28 is scheduled to be retired during a ceremony at halftime. The "retirement" ceremony for head coach Scott Linehan is expected to be held in about two weeks, via press release.
RJ's Pick - Pittsburgh by 5
*Saturday, December 22, 2007*
Dallas 12-2 at Carolina 6-8 - 8:15 pm (Sheridan's line: Dallas by 11)
The Cowboys lost last week at home to Philadelphia. Tony Romo had a disappointing game, throwing 3 INTs and 0 TDs and completing just 36% of his passes, for a quarterback rating of 22.2. (This is where I will decline to make a joke about Jessica Simpson's enormous funbags. I'm far too classy for that.) The Panthers surprised Seattle last week, 13-10. But their season is still over.
RJ's Pick - Dallas by 15
*Sunday, December 23, 2007*
Cleveland 9-5 at Cincinnati 5-9 - 1:00 pm (Sheridan's line: Cleveland by 2½)
How 'bout them Brownies? Cleveland has won two straight and has a realistic chance of winning their division. And even if they don't, they will still almost certainly make the playoffs as a Wild Card (unless they lose their last two games and Tennessee wins both of theirs). They have struggled a bit on the road this season, going 3-4 away from Cleveland Browns Stadium. The Bengals lost last week at San Francisco. Rumor has it that the Bengals locker room is in full meltdown mode, with Chad Johnson and T. J. Houshmandzadeh verbally abusing Carson Palmer while head coach Marvin Lewis stands around with his thumb in his ass looks the other way. They sure know how to run a tight ship in Cincinnati!
Article comments
1 - alessandro
Let's go with Pittsburgh and Dallas.
2 - alessandro
Actually, what would be nice is if the Panthers and Packers win so as to swing home field advantage to the Packers.
Hmmm...let me think about this one.
RJ, no mention of Romo's thumb?
3 - RJ Elliott
If I mentioned Romo's thumb, that would inevitably lead to a Jessica Simpson joke. And I'm better than that. :-/
4 - DOM @ HSU
skins over vikes?... bold move..
5 - alessandro
Oh.
Jess: "Romy, what are you doi...hey, stop THAT!"
Romo: "Ow! Oh boy. That's not good."
Let the rumours begin.
6 - RJ Elliott
Final Score:
Steelers 41, Rams 24 - RJ 1-0
7 - Bennett
Hey RJ,
I've read it here several times (i.e. "since he walked out on his pregnant girlfriend") and in David's column ("leaving teams in his wake like so many pregnant supermodels") and I'm curious...
Is this simply an unwarranted bashing of Tom Brady by a Detroit fan? From what I heard, he broke up with some gal and THEN she claims that she was newly preggers by our noted superstar.
Is there more to this than that?
Is it because there is nothing else negative that can be said about this incredible player? Are we all so jealous that every review or discussion of the Patriots has to include this petty slur?
Is there more than one claim to pregnancy?
Again, I'm just curious as to what drives YOU to denigrate Brady in this manner.
Have a great weekend. No picks for me, too much x-mas, too little time.
Bennett
8 - RJ Elliott
Bennett,
For the record, I actually like Tom Brady. There's not much about him to dislike. And actually, I think that's part of the problem.
A lot of sportswriters like to bust his balls a little bit because he has it so good: fame (he's a household name throughout North America), fortune (he's paid millions of dollars a year for playing a game, and earns millions more in endorsements), good looks (the ladies absolutely love the guy), three Super Bowl rings (and probably a fourth in a couple months after a likely undefeated season), he's athletic, he's got his health, he's been blessed by always playing for good teams, he's got a hot supermodel girlfriend (and before her, a hot actress girlfriend), etc. etc. etc. The dude has it all.
But nobody's perfect. Tom Brady got a girl pregnant and dumped her. I honestly don't know if he knew she was preggers when he kicked her to the curb or not. But it certainly looks kinda bad. And since everything else about the guy is so damn squeaky clean, that makes this bit of negative stand out all the more.
I guess it's partly schadenfreude, and partly just something to make off-color jokes about when writing a weekly NFL column.
As for your comment: "Is this simply an unwarranted bashing of Tom Brady by a Detroit fan?" - I don't know what you mean here. I bash just about every player and every coach and every team over the course of a season (and that most definitely includes Detroit). The only exception is of course Sage Rosenfels. Bashing him would be blaspheme.
9 - Bennett
Thanks RJ,
I always feel my comments are way more strident than I mean them. My typing fingers (3) are known to be a bit more asshole-ish than I expect.
You're right of course, he does have a damn fine life, and part of being a celeb is taking the bashing.
I'm not so much a New England fan as a Tom Brady fan. When he came into the game (out of the blue) back in 200? to replace and injured Drew Bledsoe(?) I had flashbacks of how I felt watching Joe Montana and the 49ers back in the early days of the Walsh dynasty.
It's pure football pleasure to watch a QB do so well, to have the obvious respect of and for his OL, receivers, and coach. It's so rare to see what we're seeing this season, and my appreciation of the game goes back to the days of Lamonica and Madden with the Raiders.
I'm enjoying the hell out of watching him work.
Bennett
P.S. LOVED the "Gets Wet" video from last week. Keep up the great job.
10 - Bennett
However, the "Lemon Party" video... Sick pup!
11 - alessandro
Cleveland, GB, Indy, Detroit, Buffalo,Jacksonville, Arizona, TB, Seattle, NE, Tennessee, Philadelphia, SD, Minnesota
Speaking of Garcia and women, when he was playing in Calgary he was hooked up on a blind date with a girl I dated. Nothing came of it but he kept calling her. She wasn't interested - especially since, cough, I came into the picture.
Although pretty and blessed with a wicked je ne c'es quoi and charm, she did not look like that pezzo di carne he married.
12 - DOM @ HSU
i dunno i usually get extremely board come these last few week.. i don't really want to look deep into these matchups..
i like what you got.. I'm looking for upsets and i cant find any.. i like Buffalo and i like Philadelphia this week..
i think I'm 142-82... missed last two Thursday games.. would of had Denver last week..
i wouldn't write the playoffs... maybe a Superbowl column..
13 - RJ Elliott
Final Score:
Dallas 20, Carolina 13 - RJ 2-0
14 - Degenerate Gambler Inc
Your 0-2 ATS, how come you never post your spread record?
15 - Chris McVetta
Herm Edwards: "YOU PLAY ...TO LOSE ...THE GAME!"
And, apparently, so does Derek Anderson.
16 - DOM
luckily i had no money on this week.. lol... no one could of predicted...
17 - YuTang
Arrrgh always go dogs final 2 weeks, why do i never listen to myself, why? Hope you have a great Christmas RJ, thanks for informative and entertaining year, hope you decide to do some playoff writing, btw you heard it here first, NEW ENGLAND LOSES IN AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, SU AND ATS.
Cheers
Slainte Mhath
18 - RJ Elliott
Final Scores:
Bengals 19, Browns 14 - RJ 2-1
Lions 25, KC 20 - RJ 3-1
Colts 38, Houston 15 - RJ 4-1
Bears 35, Packers 7 - RJ 4-2
Giants 38, Buffalo 21 - RJ 4-3
Jaguars 49, Oakland 11 - RJ 5-3
Eagles 38, NO 23 - RJ 5-4
SF 21, TB 19 - RJ 5-5
Arizona 30, Atlanta 27 - RJ 6-5
Seattle 27, Ravens 6 - RJ 7-5
Patriots 28, Miami 7 - RJ 8-5
Tennessee 10, Jets 6 - RJ 9-5
Redskins 32, Vikings 21 - RJ 10-5
19 - RJ Elliott
Sheridan's odds for the "no line" games:
Seattle by 10.5 over Baltimore
Arizona by 10 over Atlanta
20 - RJ Elliott
ESPN's "experts" through 15 games:
Wickersham 9-6
Salisbury 9-5
Hoge 9-6
Jaworski 10-5
Schlereth 11-4
Allen 11-4
Mortensen 9-6
Golic 8-7
Accuscore 9-6
21 - RJ Elliott
Final Score:
SD 23, Denver 3 - RJ 11-5
22 - RJ Elliott
ESPN's NFL "experts" -
Wickersham 10-6
Salisbury 10-5(?)
Hoge 10-6
Jaworski 10-5
Schlereth 12-4
Allen 12-4
Mortensen 10-6
Golic 9-7
Accuscore 10-6
23 - RJ Elliott
Through 16 weeks:
Jaworski 156-69 (69.33%)
Schlereth 160-80 (66.67%)
Hoge 157-83 (65.42%)
Accuscore 151-85 (63.98%)
Mortensen 151-89 (62.92%)
Salisbury 150-89 (62.76%)
RJ Elliott 150-90 (62.50%)
Wickersham 148-91 (61.92%)
Golic 143-96 (59.83%)
Allen 141-99 (58.75%)
24 - RJ Elliott
RJ's record ATS this week: 7-8-1
25 - RJ Elliott
Week 17 is up!