Week 15, West Coast Style

coast /koʊst/ –noun
1.
the land next to the sea; seashore: the rocky coast of Maine.
2.
the region adjoining it.

Vegas fits definition #2 for several reasons
1. Vegas is approx. 4 hours from the ocean.
2. We have the same: laid back mindset, cultural values (or lack thereof), tastes in music and fashion as SoCal.
3. Californians make up more than any other group of people that live here.
4. We're in the Pacific Time Zone.
5. Vegas is Hollywood's playground.

Now that I've established how ridiculous I am by arguing geography on a sports blog, let's make our Week 15 predictions.

• Houston +1 Denver-Easily the toughest outright call this week, I'm going with the home team in a big performance by Andre Johnson.
• San Fran +9 Cincy-Way too many points for a bad Bengals team on the road.
• Arizona +3.5 New Orleans-This should be one of the more entertaining games this week. In a track meet, I'll take the Cardinals in an upset.
• Atlanta +13.5 Tampa Bay-It's just too hard for me to take the Bucs as this big of favorite, even with their previous meeting in the books.
• Baltimore -3.5 Miami-I have action on Baltimore -3 this week....if I lose that bet to an 0-13 talent-less Dolphins team I may go into tilt mode and wager on somewhere between 8 and 139 games next week.
• Buffalo +5.5 Cleveland-This game clearly should be the Sunday Night flex game this week...if it weren't for small market Buffalo and a Cleveland team that the average fan can't name more than 4-5 Browns. With all that said, I'll take the Bills to keep it close.
• Green Bay -10 St. Louis-This may be a mistake, but I'm still in love with the way the Packers are playing this season. On paper, they should blow the beat up Rams out of the water.
• Pittsburgh -3.5 Jacksonville-If the Pats didn't prove their superiority last week against the Steelers, this line would be higher. The Jags away from home don't scare me at all.
• New England -23.5 NY Jets-I'm betting this game on any spread up to 49.
• Carolina +9 Seattle-This is just too many points for a bad road team to cover.
• Tennessee -4 KC-Again betting against Croyle. By the way, I'd love to hear the defense of Jeff Fisher on the "hit" that was put on Merriman. Watching that play again on NFL Replay, is there any doubt this happened?
• Indy -10.5 Oakland-The Colts roll again. Where is JaMarcus Russell?
• San Diego -10 Detroit-Even with Merriman out, the Chargers roll again. I'm not saying this team could go into New England and win, but anybody else?...Look out. Looking at the 1:00 games this week, it appears I'll be napping. (Indy, SD, Dallas are combined 31 pt favorites)
• Philly +10.5 Dallas-I have no idea what to make of the Eagles, it just feels right to take them here.
• Washington +4.5 NY Giants-The Skins are clinging to a small bit of hope that they can win out and secure the last NFC playoff spot. That thought will end this week, but it will be close.
• Minnesota -10 Chicago-Who would've thought this would have been a realistic line at the beginning of the season??? The Vikes are the most dangerous team in the NFC right now.

Those are the top 5 off the top of my head....does 2Pac getting killed here count?

Week 15 - Midwest Flava

Three weeks to go and I'm only five games back. Clearly I had to be listed as the underdog (3-1 sound right Rich?) when we started this thing - my opponent LIVES in Vegas. Let's just say he has a significant homefield advantage. I know, I know....excuses are like assholes. But, it would have to considered an upset if I come back and beat the geographically confused Rich aka West Coast Style - Vegas is just a little bit a way from being West Coast. We'll have to change that name to West Close Style.

Alright, after I just called out my competitor (and compadre) I need to back up my words. To quote Key from the movie Hustle & Flow, "There are two types of people: those that talk the talk and those that walk the walk. People who walk the walk sometimes talk the talk but most times they don't talk at all, 'cause they walkin'. Time for me to start walkin'....or something.


Denver -1 @ Houston
Cincinnati -9.5 @ San Francisco
New Orleans -3.5 vs Arizona
Tampa Bay -13.5 @ Atlanta
Baltimore -3.5 @ Miami
Buffalo +5.5 @ Cleveland
Green Bay -10 @ St. Louis
Pittsburgh -3.5 vs Jacksonville
New England -23.5 vs NYJ
Seattle -9 @ Carolina
Tennessee -4 @ Kansas City
Indianapolis -10.5 @ Oakland
Detroit +10 @ San Diego
Dallas +10.5 vs Philadelphia
Washington +4.5 @ NYG
Chicago +10 vs Minnesota

TPC

Week 14 Recap

The playoff picture is starting to get a lot clearer. Big wins by Minnesota and Cleveland vaulted them into a good position to capture the final wild card spot in their respective conferences. Couple the Browns win with a devastating Titans loss, and the final weekend of the NFL season could be fairly anti-climactic. If the playoffs started tomorrow, Cleveland and Minnesota are very scary 6 seeds. Both teams are finishing out the regular season on a tear.

It was a weekend of blowouts with a handful of good games. Dallas-Detroit, SD-Tennessee, NY Giants-Philly provided the most excitement this week. Unfortunately, I couldn't pick many real money winners this week...1-4 on the week. By starting out 0-4 in the early set of games, it made for a fast drinking day to absorb some of the pain. By the time Minnesota routed San Fran for my one and only real money win, I was fast asleep only to wake up to the Colts leading Baltimore by 30+ in the 4th quarter.

We're again on a short week here at the Bullpen Catcher, so stay tuned to picks due by early Thursday (including the largest point spread in NFL history).

Week 14
Midwestern Flavor 7-9
West Coast Style 9-7

OVERALL
Midwestern Flavor 99-99-10
West Coast Style 104-94-10

Week 14 - TPC

Washington +3 vs Chicago

Carolina +10.5 @ Jacksonville

Philadelphia -3 vs NYG

Dallas -11 @ Detroit

Buffalo -7 vs Miami

Oakland +10 @ Green Bay

Pittsburgh +10.5 @ New England

Tennessee +1 vs San Diego

Cincinnati -6.5 vs St. Louis

Houston +3 vs Tampa Bay

Arizona +7 @ Seattle

Minnesota -8 @ San Francisco

Cleveland -3.5 @ NYJ

Kansas City +6.5 @ Denver

Baltimore +9.5 vs Indianapolis

New Orleans -4.5 @ Baltimore



TPC

Week 14 Rapid Fire (West Coast)

• Washington -3 Chicago
• Carolina +10.5 Jacksonville
• Dallas -11 Detroit
• Miami +7 Buffalo
• NY Giants +3 Philly
• Oakland +10 Green Bay
• New England -10.5 Pittsburgh
• San Diego -1 Tennessee
• St. Louis +6.5 Cincy
• Houston +3 Tampa Bay
• Arizona +7 Seattle
• Minnesota -8 San Fran
• Cleveland -3.5 NY Jets
• Denver -6.5 Kansas City
• Indy -9.5 Baltimore
• Atlanta +4.5 New Orleans

Perfection

"Wow. What a great week of football." 20.5 point underdog Baltimore (the biggest home dog in Monday Night history) beat the Patriots. It was all over....several times. How the Ravens failed to close that game out was one of the most painful experiences I've ever seen. On just the final drive by the Patriots alone we saw: a 4th and 1 where the Ravens stuffed the Pats only to have Billick call timeout right before the play started (he's as good as fired---that was the icing on the cake), a ball that was tipped infinitely far in the air where the defense intercepts it 90% of the time fall gently to the ground, a 4th and 5 where the defense held their ground only to have a holding call give the Pats new life, and a beautiful throw to the back corner of the end zone where Gaffney may or may not have had full possession and 2 feet in bounds. That was all right? Oh yeah, Kyle Boller (which except for one play) outplayed Tom Brady and on the last play launches a ball for the end zone and it's caught! Needless to say, the Ravens fell one yard short. It was an unbelievable finish to an even more surreal game. The Pats have now had 2 straight close calls. With a huge target on their back, it's looking bleak that they are going to run the tables and go 19-0. Pittsburgh next week is the best team they will face until January. If they win there, facing the Giants with a 15-0 record and home field advantage sowed up......how many of their starters will play against the Giants? Throw in a possible must win situation for the Giants, and there are 2 more hurdles in the regular season for perfection.

The Pats journey to a perfect season is spectacular and is a great thing for the NFL, but even without them, this has been one of the most exciting NFL seasons in history. I could recap this all, but I think my head might explode. Other interesting stories from Week 13:

• Joe Gibbs is old and needs to be fired. Back to back timeouts to ice the kicker??? This is the worst timeout foul up since Chris Webber. The Skins continue to find new ways to lose games.
• Was there any doubt that the Cleveland-Arizona game would come down to the last play? These are the 2 most exciting teams in the NFL. Each team plays up/down to their level of competition every week.
• Eli Manning has officially shown his true colors, but even doing so has the Giants at 8-4. Has there ever been a more inconsistent talented QB? You can't bench the guy, but he's never going to win you anything. What do you do?
• The Colts continue to do just enough to win through their injuries. What a beautiful backdoor cover by the Jags though!
• I really picked an 0-11 team as a favorite this week. Which explains our new standings.

I'd like to thank my father for forcing me into a casino so he could place his losing Missouri Tigers wager. As a degenerate gambler, I had to put more action on this week's NFL games. I added on Pittsburgh -7 (which tried infinitely hard to give up a late TD to make that game a push), and Buffalo/Washington under 37. 3-2 ATS real money on the week. For those playing along at home, I'm 26-17-1 on the year. Not bad.

Week 13

Midwestern Flavor: As predicted, 10-6

West Coast Style: 7-9

OVERALL

Midwestern Flavor: 92-90-10

West Coast Style: 95-87-10

We're again on a short week at the Bullpen Catcher, so stay tuned for picks due by Thursday morning.

Week 13 - TPC

I'm catching up! Another 10-6 week would look good here.

Dallas -7 vs Green Bay - Blowout Special!
St. Louis-3 vs Atlanta - I could care less who wins this game.
Washington -5.5 vs Buffalo - Skins rally together and win big
Minnesota -3.5 vs Detroit - Lots of home favorites this week. All Day should be back!
Houston +3.5 @ Tennessee - VY has looked horrendous lately. Coincidentally, the big 3 QB's from last year's draft have all looked bad. Hmmm.
Indianapolis -7 vs Jacksonville - Indy needs a statement game. This will be that game.
NYJ +1 @ Miami - I'm still rooting for the O'fer. J-E-T-S, JETSJETSJETS!
Kansas City +6 vs San Diego - For once I'm betting AGAINST the obvious pick of the week.
Seattle +3 @ Philadelphia - No McNabb, No way. Why not let Kolb pick up a start. What does AJ Feeley bring to the table that the rook doesn't? I'm just don't get it.
San Francisco +3 @ Carolina - The 9'ers live and die by Frank Gore. So does my fantasy team.
New Orleans -3 vs Tampa Bay - Not jumping off the Creole Bandwagon just yet.
Arizona -1 vs Cleveland - Should be a fun shoot out. Warner still has it....who would've thunk it?
Oakland +3.5 vs Denver - Should be a close game with both teams establishing a running game. Take the under on this one. Denver should win by a FG or less.
NYG -1 @ Chicago - Oh how the mighty have fallen. Giants win a laugher.
Pittsburgh -7 vs Cincinnati - The Steelers officially eliminate the Bengals from playoff contention. It'll be interesting to see what they do with Marvin Lewis....I think he'll get canned.
Baltimore +20.5 vs New England - If there was ever a Monday Night home underdog to take, this is it. This is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many points. Pats win by double-digits but Ravens cover.

TPC