Sunday, November 27, 2011

Weekly NFL picks: Do the Eagles have another surprise in them?

FROM KEITH GROLLER

The Thanksgiving picks got this weekend off to a great start: 3-0 against the spread; 2-1 outright and 2-1 with the over/under totals.

For the season we are now 110-48 outright, 86-69-3 against the spread and 74-81-3 on the over/under totals.

Gotta do this quick because we're headed to Philly for Eagles-Pats and while it's a 4:15 start, the traffic will be brutal starting around noon.

HOME TEAMS IN CAPS

ATLANTA (-9.5) 24, Minnesota 14 -- Under the 44.5 --Falcons have seemed to rally around their coach to take him off the hook after that bad decision against the Saints.

TENNESSEE (-3.5) 24, Tampa Bay 17 -- Under the 43 -- This is off topic, but what the heck happened to the University of Tennessee football program? 5-7? A 10-7 loss to Kentucky? Bet the Phillip Fulmer era doesn't seem so bad now. These Titans will improve to 6-5, not bad.

Arizona (+2.5) 19, ST. LOUIS 16 -- Under the 40 -- I have a feeling Steve Spagnuolo will be coming back to Philly as Andy Reid's defensive coordinator in 2012.

INDY COLTS (-3) 20, Carolina 17 -- Under the 45.5 -- Never will a win make so many so unhappy..

CINCINNATI (-7.5) 27, Cleveland 13 -- Over the 37.5 -- The late great Larry O'Rourke would be proud of the way his Bengals have played this season.

Houston Texans (3.5) 20, JACKSONVILLE 17 -- Under the 37.5 -- Another former USC quarterback trying to make a comeback. Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer, Mark Sanchez ... the guy playing for the Trojans right now is better them them all and should be the Heisman Trophy winner. But that's something else the Reggie Bush shenanigans took away.

NEW YORK JETS (-9) 24, Buffalo 17 -- Under the 42 -- Two weeks ago, some people were talking about an all-New York City Super Bowl. Not so much anymore.

SEATTLE (-3.5) 14, Washington 13 -- Under the 37 -- Win this one and beat the Eagles on Thursday night and suddenly, the sad-sack Seahawks are in playoff contention.

OAKLAND (-4) 20, Chicago 17 -- Under the 41.5 -- Jay Cutler is one of these guys who don't really appreciate, until he's not there.

PHILADELPHIA (+3) 24, New England 17 -- Under the 51 -- With these Eagles, whenever you think something is going to happen, the opposite does. A lot of people expect the Eagles to lose today, but without Michael Vick the defense knows it has to pick it up a notch and it will.

SAN DIEGO (-6) 27, Denver 10 -- Under the 42 -- Watching John Elway forced to project happiness when Tim Tebow does something good reminds me of the fictional female owner of the Cleveland Indians fighting to conceal her dismay when the Indians win in the movie "Major League".

SUNDAY NIGHT

Pittsburgh (-10.5) 21, KANSAS CITY 14 -- Under the 40 -- How did the Chiefs get these national TV games?

MONDAY NIGHT

New York Giants 24 (+7), NEW ORLEANS 21 -- Under the 50 -- Neither of these teams are all that great, and the Giants O-line is brutal. But the Giants defense is still pretty good and they'll get to Brees enough to pull a surprise.

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/

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