Underdogs

After that run a few weeks ago where I picked 5 out of 6 against the spread, I had this fantasy that my new life’s calling was to be a sports betting tout. Somehow, the world would get wind of my prowess and people would start paying me exorbitant sums to offer my predictions on who would win what; I’d get invited to Vegas and the Superbowl to be a celebrity talking head and I’d become a modern-day Jimmy the Greek without ever having to win or lose a fortune of my own.

Since then, however, I’ve stumbled, losing 3 out of 4 on the final week of the season and only going 2 for 4 against the spread last week. (And one of those was the heartbreaking loss by Pittsburgh, don’t get me started on that again.)

This weekend, though, I’m feeling pretty confident about my betting picks. I’m going the straight underdog ticket: Chargers +8.5 against the Colts, Giants +7.5 against the Pokes, Jags +13.5 against the Pats, and Seattle +7.5 against the Pack. My reasoning is that all the bye week teams are going to be stale and, even if they win, will have a bit of trouble getting untracked. In fact, I’m so confident, I’m doing a 4 team parlay of the underdogs for the first half lines, which has San Diego +6, New York +4.5, Jacksonville +7.5, and the Seahawks +4.5. The surest bet, I think, is the Jagoffs keeping pace with the Cheatriots at least through two quarters.

Straight up, my predictions have all the home teams prevailing, although I think anything can happen in the NFC, especially in Dallas. I still don’t think Tony Romo is the real thing and if Owens is still hurt then the Cowboys could be going down.

I’d like to see the Seahawks win but, being old, I’m sort of a Favre fan, too, so won’t be too sad if my hometown team gets eliminated.