My apologies for lagging on blog entries as opposed to video ones. There's just been a lot of things going on around here and I fell behind, but with my Sunday pretty free, I'll be putting in a couple of football thoughts, a major thought on the ineptitude of the NHL when it comes to handing out punishments and My Top 5 MLB Free Agents.
But we start with my three top picks for this afternoon's NFL matchups. If you've read any of my NFL picks in the past, you'll know that I'm a big fan of putting money on teams that have proven to be winners. I can't stand the idea of losing money because of betting on losing teams, so I've chosen three teams that have proven to be winners this season, last season or for the last decade.
New Orleans Saints (-7) vs. Carolina Panthers
The Saints have certainly had their struggles this year after winning the Super Bowl a year ago, but I think getting a big win at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday night will really go a long way to them cementing themselves again as threats to repeat as champs. They showed a lot of resolve by coming from a halftime deficit to win that game.
I think we get trapped sometimes into talking about this Saints team like they're 0-8 when in fact, they're 5-3. They still have the 3rd best defence in the NFL and they take on a Panthers team today that's 1-6 and have the worst offence in the NFL. The running game is in shambles and Matt Moore will have to face a Saints secondary that gets back Tracy Porter and Jabari Greer.
New England Patriots (-5) vs. Cleveland Browns
Much is being made about the fact that the Browns are coming off a win against the New Orleans Saints and have now had two weeks to prepare for the New England Patriots. There's also a lot of talk about how much game planning Eric Mangini can do because of his knowledge of the Patriots and how Bill Belichick thinks. I get all that, but I think it comes down to one 1-on-1 matchup.
The one position where the Patriots have an enormous advantage is at the quarterback spot. Tom Brady has done it all in such a short amount of time in the NFL, while Colt McCoy will be happy to get over the 100 yard mark in passing today. This is the key difference and why the Patriots will continue to roll.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+9.5) vs. Atlanta Falcons
Everyone is jumping on the Falcons bandwagon as the boys from the ATL have had two weeks to prepare for the Bucs. But a few things have me believing that the Buccaneers keep this game competitive and possibly win outright and pull off yet another upset.
The Bucs' secondary can do enough to contain Roddy White so that he doesn't become a game-breaker. Josh Freeman can do some damage against a weak Falcons secondary that's 27th in the NFL in pass defence. LeGarrette Blount has 192 yards rushing in the last two games to give Tampa a run threat. Lastly, the Bucs are 3-0 on the road this year and are 4-0 in games decided by three points or less. Too many positives not to take the Bucs.