| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Final Hours! Up to 30% off + free shipping
50 Cent Reflects on His First Mets Game and Branching Out Musically
Dave's Dime Week 13: Chewed Up and Spit OutTHE INTRO Oh Las Vegas. I love you so much. I visited you last week with hopes and dreams of poker riches, fairy tale endings and gumdrop buttons. I left you with no internet connection to send out the Dime, no money in my pocket and no dreams left in my heart. As cruel fate would have it, I return to you YET AGAIN this week. This time humble, with no delusions of grandeur. Miles away from the Strip to play Bingo with my mother. Bingo. Off the strip. You have truly chewed me up and spit me out, old friend. I will recover, but will my dignity? It is too early to tell. On the bright side, at least I got the Dime out this week. THE RECORD Last Week Spread "Picks": 2 - 0 - 1 (1.000) Spread "Leans": 5 - 5 - 0 (.500) Spread "Coin Flips": 0 - 2 - 0 (.000) With the spread: 7 - 7 - 1 (.500) Without the spread: 13 - 2 - 0 (.867) Season Spread "Picks": 21 - 14 - 1 (.600) Spread "Leans": 44 - 51 - 2 (.463) Spread "Coin Flips": 14 - 14 - 1 (.500) With the spread: 79 - 79 - 4 (.500) Without the spread: 105 - 56 - 1 (.652) QUICK RECAP OF LAST WEEK THE GOOD ($) Kansas City (-7.0) @ Oakland (+7.0) (/) Cleveland (+3.0) @ Atlanta (-3.0) (/) Tennessee (+11.0) @ Philadelphia (-11.0) (/) Detroit (+7.0) @ New England (-7.0) ($) Jacksonville (+13.5) @ Indianapolis (-13.5) (/) Miami (+7.0) @ Denver (-7.0) (/) NY Jets (+2.0) @ Buffalo (-2.0) ($) Dallas (-3.0) @ NY Giants (+3.0) TIE THE BAD (/) Green Bay (-8.0) @ Minnesota (+8.0) (?) Cincinnati (+1.5) @ Houston (-1.5) (?) Tampa Bay (+5.5) @ Chicago (-5.5) (/) Arizona (+7.0) @ Seattle (-7.0) (/) St. Louis (+6.0) @ San Diego (-6.0) (/) Washington (+8.5) @ San Francisco (-8.5) (/) Baltimore (+3.0) @ New Orleans (-3.0) THE PICKS ($) - Indicates a "Pick", which is a side that I feel strongly about (/) - Indicates a "Lean", which is the side that I'm leaning towards (?) - Indicates a "Coin Flip", where I don't have much of an opinion * - Indicates Outright Upset Pick THURSDAY (/) Chicago (+7.0) @ Detroit (-7.0) PICK WITH THE SPREAD: Chicago (LOSS) PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: Detroit (WIN) (/) Philadelphia (+3.0) @ Dallas (-3.0) PICK WITH THE SPREAD: Dallas (LOSS) PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: Dallas (LOSS) (/) Seattle (+1.5) @ San Francisco (-1.5) PICK WITH THE SPREAD: Seattle (WIN) PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: *Seattle (WIN) SUNDAY (/) Washington (+9.5) @ Indianapolis (-9.5) In what was likely seen as a battle between two of the game's best young quarterbacks in RGIII and Andrew Luck when it was scheduled, this game is nothing more than fodder for the Colts at home at this point. Don't love laying 9.5 points against a team with a defense that has played fairly well like Washington's, but at home against a weak opponent Indianapolis is usually good for a blowout. PICK WITH THE SPREAD: Indianapolis PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: Indianapolis (?) Tennessee (+7.0) @ Houston (-7.0) There isn't anything about this game that screams "play me!" to me; Houston is obviously the better team, but are the Texans good enough to be laying a touchdown at this point? Against Tennessee, probably. But while I'd just as soon skip this one all together, I feel like the Titans will put up enough of a fight to get a cover. PICK WITH THE SPREAD: Tennessee PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: Houston (?) Cleveland (+3.5) @ Buffalo (-3.5) Buffalo is the better football team, and at home should cruise to an easy victory over the Browns. But is anything that easy when picking Browns games this year? With all of the magic/nonsense surrounding the team this year, I don't feel great about not taking them with the points, but I don't feel good about that either. PICK WITH THE SPREAD: Cleveland PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: Buffalo (?) San Diego (+6.0) @ Baltimore (-6.0) The games I'm indifferent on just keep piling up. I thought that the bye week and getting healthy would get San Diego back on track, but while the Chargers have won two straight they haven't really picked up any style points in beating Oakland and St. Louis at home by one score each. Baltimore has been solid this season and is coming off of a good road win at New Orleans, but should the Ravens really be a 6-point favorite against a quality team? Are the Chargers a quality team? I'm still leaning yes, but this game will tell us a lot. PICK WITH THE SPREAD: San Diego PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: Baltimore ($) NY Giants (-3.0) @ Jacksonville (+3.0) The Giants are HORRIBLE, there is absolutely no denying that. But let's take a quick look at their eight losses: @Det, Ari, @Phi, @Dal, Ind, @Sea, SF, and Dal. Those are all against really good teams. This week, the Giants face a team that is much worse than they are; a team with the NFL's worst defense and a hopeless rookie quarterback putting together one of the lowest quarterback ratings in a season in NFL history. I'd be stunned if even the awful Giants screw this one up. PICK WITH THE SPREAD: NY Giants PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: NY Giants (/) Cincinnati (-3.5) @ Tampa Bay (+3.5) Cincinnati is getting into one of its regular season grooves, complete with great defensive play and solid offensive play that gets you to thinking the Bengals might be good enough to do some damage this postseason only to lose in the first round. Fortunately, it isn't the first round yet, and the Bucs should be easy pickings. PICK WITH THE SPREAD: Cincinnati PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: Cincinnati (/) Oakland (+6.5) @ St. Louis (-6.5) In true Raiders fashion, the star of Oakland's improbable win over Kansas City that sparked the running game last week is out with a concussion this week. St. Louis has been making life hell for really good quarterbacks all season long, and Derek Carr is still a long way away from being a really good quarterback. Can't find many points for the Raiders this week in what should be a pretty easy one for the Rams. PICK WITH THE SPREAD: St. Louis PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: St. Louis (/) New Orleans (+5.0) @ Pittsburgh (-5.0) The Saints are awful on the road, but that's okay because they are unbeatable at home, right? Three straight home losses later, and we can just go with "the Saints are awful", right? Drew Brees is having a down year, and while I think the Saints are more than capable of scoring on and beating Pittsburgh, I sure as hell am not taking them with the way they are playing this year. PICK WITH THE SPREAD: Pittsburgh PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: Pittsburgh (/) Carolina (+2.5) @ Minnesota (-2.5) Okay Carolina. I know you are awful, but you had a bye week to prepare for one of the worst teams in the NFL. And, due to the pathetic division you are in, you are actually still alive for a playoff spot! You can't go into Minnesota and lose under these conditions, can you? Fellas? PICK WITH THE SPREAD: Carolina PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: *Carolina ($) Arizona (-1.5) @ Atlanta (+1.5) Okay, okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves. One of the NFC's best teams loses on the road to the defending champion Seattle Seahawks and is now all of a sudden a virtual pick'em against the pitiful Atlanta Falcons? Even win Drew Stanton at quarterback I'm happy to back the Cardinals confidently against the Falcons. PICK WITH THE SPREAD: Arizona PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: Arizona ($) New England (+3.0) @ Green Bay (-3.0) The Patriots are just playing at another level right now with four straight victories by 21+ points including three over playoff teams in Detroit, Denver and Indianapolis. Yes, I understand that Green Bay has been invincible at home, but the Packers haven't played a team or a quarterback near this caliber over that stretch. The Patriots match up perfectly against Green Bay with two shutdown corners that can help contain the Packers' duo of elite wideouts, and while I don't expect the Patriots to win by 21 I am definitely through picking against them as a n underdog. PICK WITH THE SPREAD: New England PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: *New England (/) Denver (-1.5) @ Kansas City (+1.5) Denver has completely owned AFC West rivals on the road in recent seasons and has held over Kansas City for years during the Peyton Manning era. Maybe this spread is a gift and I'm foolish not to take it. But the Broncos really aren't playing well over the last month or so, and the Chiefs' hiccup against the Raiders aside have been one of the best teams in football over the last two months. Kansas City's physical play on both lines and home field advantage have already won them games against New England and Seattle at home; why not the Broncos Sunday night? PICK WITH THE SPREAD: Kansas City PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: *Kansas City MONDAY (/) Miami (-7.0) @ NY Jets (+7.0) I REALLY hate this game. By default, I have to take the Jets; the Jets are a 7-point home underdog in a division rivalry game playing in their second straight prime time game after having been blown out and embarrassed in the last one. With that said, the Jets are starting a quarterback they don't believe in in Geno Smith this week and the Dolphins are really good. Miami should win by 28, but I'll roll my eyes and take the Jets in a very clear spot that they should be much looser than the Dolphins who need this win. PICK WITH THE SPREAD: NY Jets PICK WITHOUT THE SPREAD: Miami Good luck! Thanks for reading! --------------------- Questions? Comments? Love the Dime? Hate it? Should I cut it down to a nickel? EMAIL ME FEEDBACK! For past issues of the Dime and all of my current and archived work, visit www.davesdime.com Cyber Monday Sneak Peek! 25% Off + Free Shipping
|
