Week 1 NFL Picks by Brick

Maybe I am just a little over excited for the start of the NFL season, but damn, there are some match-ups that look great on paper this weekend. Looking over these match-up reminds me why I prefer the NFL game to the college game.

The NFL just does it right, it truly is an “Any Given Sunday” proposition. There is not one match-up this weekend where I cannot make an argument for how the underdog could pull out a victory. Sure College Football has Appalachian St. vs. Michigan, or USC vs. Stanford, but there are far too many ND vs. Sister Mary’s School of the Blind for my taste.

The NFL also is just a better product than college football. Say what you will about the emotion or the passion of college football, but the NFL game is so much more complex in terms of schemes, College is checkers to the NFL’s chess. There is just no argument there, if you think differently you are clueless, get out of my blog.

So that brings us to the point of this column, lets make some picks. If you have read this far, you might as well keep reading, its not like its going to get any dumber. I'm just going to look at the games where I think there is a strong chance that I'll be putting this game on my TV for at least a quarter. If you want someone to pick ever game, and get most of them wrong, go read Simmons.

Washington Redskins + 3.5 at NY Giants

Of course I’ll be watching this one, it is only the fucking 1st game of the season. As for the winner, There is a reason I didn’t pick the Giants to make it back to the playoffs, one is that they have regressed from last season, while the rest of the Division at least maintained, while others improved, and this was a tight division to begin with. So with the Giants regressing, and the Redskins standing firm, the Redskins have move ahead of the Giants.

The pick – Redskins


Seattle +1 at Buffalo

I’ll be checking this game out more due to the fact that it features two teams that I think could make playoff runs that any real feel that it will be an exciting game. As for the spread, I think this is more due to the general public’s reluctance to accept the Seahawks as a good team, than any real indicator of how good or bad either team is. The Hawks have some questions at both WR and RB, but the rest of the team is better than anything Buffalo has to offer.

The Pick – Seattle



Jacksonville +3 at Tennessee

I’ll be watching this since I have MJD and D. Garrard on a couple fantasy teams, and because I love being right about what a shitty NFL QB Vince Young has turned into. As for the pick, I don’t care if Jacksonville doesn’t have any WR’s, they didn’t last year either and they kicked ass.

The Pick – Jaguars


Tampa Bay +3 at New Orleans

Here is a great example of how the NFL just does it right. Division match-up, week 1, two teams with Super Bowl aspirations. Right here is the game of the week. I don’t care about either team, but I’ll be watching due to the match-up. I don’t care who wins, but since I’m writing a pick column I guess I’ll take:

The Pick - Saints


Chicago +9.5 at Indy

Here is a great one to make some money on, IMO. Peyton hasn’t ever played with his starting center this week. Chicago’s defense is still very good. Indy will win, but it will be closer than the spread. So as you end your Sunday football orgy, enjoy a game that is going to be easy to fall asleep to.

The pick – Chicago plus the points

Minnesota at Green Bay +2.5

Monday nights appetizer for the Main course of the Raiders. I’ll have this game on as I try to pass the time until kick-off at 10:15 (oh yeah there is a major rant coming about that BS). So in a battle of two outstanding defenses with offenses having major question marks, I’m going with the team that should do a better job of shutting down the run due to superior DT’s.

The pick – Minnesota


Denver at Oakland +3

That’s right, the icing on the cake that is NFL kickoff weekend. The Raiders take on the Broncos. I am constantly amazed by how confident that Bronco’s fans are that Shanahan has this team on the right track. I cannot believe how many places pick the Broncos to be a playoff team. What am I missing, they can’t stop the run, they have moved away from their dominant run game, and they have nothing at WR other than Brandon “I hate my TV” Marshall. Look, I don’t claim that the Raiders are world beaters, but they match-up extremely well with the Bronco’s, I am taking the Raiders outright, the points are just gravy.

The pick - The Raiders


Seven games out of 16, that right there is a good goal. And thanks to the red zone channel I’ll be sure to catch parts of just about every game out there. These are just the games that I will definitely tune into for at least a drive or two, depending on how good they actually are.