Sunday, October 16, 2011

Week 6 NFL picks: Bronx, Birds are on the brain

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Back from a day at the Bronx where I saw Lehigh beat Fordham on Saturday.

By the way, the Bronx has more than a baseball team and a famous stadium, or at least a new stadium built right across the street from where a once famous stadium once stood.

The Bronx has a zoo, and botanical gardens and what looks to be some nice parks and neighborhoods.

No, sorry, I am not ready to move there. I am just saying, it's not as bad as you envision it.

Beautiful view of the George Washington Bridge last night as I drove home from Fordham. Not much about that ride is pleasant, but the GW Bridge, bathed in pink lights for breast cancer awareness, looked good.

My NFL picks last week, well, they didn't look so good. Some would say I was in mid-season form by going a mediocre 7-6 outright, and a pathetic 5-8 vs. the spread and 5-8 with the over/under numbers.

For the season, I am now 48-27 outright, 35-39-1 against the spread and 38-35-2 on the over/under numbers.

To me, it's still baseball season and tonight's game in Milwaukee is what I am more focused on than anything happening in the NFL today.

I do think the Eagles will win big today and we'll see hundreds of Philly "fans" tossing aside their Flyers jerseys and turning into Olympic leapers as they fling themselves back on the bandwagon, assuming their knees are healed after they have jumped off the "Dream Team Express" in the last two or three weeks.

Here we go:

HOME TEAMS IN CAPS

GREEN BAY (-14.5) 41, St. Louis 14 -- Over the 47.4 -- I doubt anyone in St. Louis will even care about this disaster.

PITTSBURGH (-12.5) 21, Jacksonville 14 -- Under the 40.5 --Pittsburgh hasn't acknowledged it has a baseball team for years, but they do have the best ballpark. PNC is terrific.

Philadelphia (-3) 38, WASHINGTON 28 -- Over the 47 -- It will be be back to bashing Ryan Howard, Cliff Lee and Co. on the radio talk shows.

San Francisco (+4.5) 30, DETROIT 21-- Over the 46 -- Detroit gets to feel like Philly did last weekend.

ATLANTA (-3.5) 24, Carolina 17 -- Under the 50 ... Falcons still are overrated.

CINCINNATI (-7) 23, Indianapolis 20 -- Over the 40.5 -- Indy has to wait until the Super Bowl comes to their town in February to see good football.

NEW YORK GIANTS (-3.5) 28, Buffalo 21 -- Under the 50 -- No one changes personality more each week like the Giants. The Rich Littles of the NFL come up big here.

BALTIMORE (-7.5) 24, Houston Texans 21-- Over the 44.5 -- Harbaugh brothers keep rolling.

OAKLAND (-6.5) 30, Cleveland 17 -- Over the 44.5 -- Maybe they should make a movie about this Oakland team. (Money Ball is about the Oakland A's in case you are not a movie buff or Brad Pitt fan).

New Orleans (-4.5) 28, TAMPA BAY 20 -- Under the 49.5 --- Saints are just one botched goal-line play away from being undefeated.

NEW ENGLAND (-7) 24, Dallas 20 -- Under the 55.5 -- This one will be No. 1 in the TV ratings and give Eagles fans more hope that the NFC East is still well within reach.

SUNDAY NIGHT

CHICAGO (-3) 17, Minnesota 13 -- Under the 42 -- The baseball game in Milwaukee tonight might outscore this one.

MONDAY NIGHT

NEW YORK JETS (-7) 23, Miami Dolphins 13 -- Under the 42.5 -- The networks still love the Jets, even if they're not all that great this year. I hope I can watch this one rather than a Game 7 of the NLCS.

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/2011/10/week-6-nfl-picks-bronx-birds-are-on-the-brain-.html

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