NFL Pointspread Contest: Week 8

[Anthony]

Sunday, October 29:

N.Y. GIANTS 9 1/2 over Tampa Bay (1:00 PM ET)
PHILADELPHIA 6 over Jacksonville
CINCINNATI 4 1/2 over Atlanta
TENNESSEE 3 over Houston
CHICAGO 16 1/2 over San Francisco
GREEN BAY 3 over Arizona
NEW ORLEANS 2 over Baltimore
KANSAS CITY 5 1/2 over Seattle
SAN DIEGO 9 over St. Louis (4:05 PM ET)
CLEVELAND 1 1/2 over N.Y. Jets (4:15 PM ET)
DENVER 1 1/2 over Indianapolis
Pittsburgh 9 1/2 over OAKLAND
CAROLINA 5 1/2 over Dallas (8:15 PM ET)


Monday, October 30:

New England 2 1/2 over MINNESOTA (8:30 PM ET)


BYES: Buffalo, Detroit, Miami, Washington

Home team in CAPS; designated tie-breaker games in red.

Don't forget to designate three picks as Best Bets.

For complete contest rules, click here (http://www.sports-central.org/community/boards/showthread.php?threadid=12547).

[Dublin Mike]

1

Tampa Bay
Jacksonville
CINCINNATI
TENNESSEE bb
San Francisco
GREEN BAY
Baltimore bb
KANSAS CITY
St. Louis
N.Y. Jets bb
Indianapolis
Pittsburgh
CAROLINA

MINNESOTA

[Ellis]

2

Tampa Bay +9.5
PHILADELPHIA -6
Atlanta +4.5
TENNESSEE -3 BB
San Francisco + 16.5
Arizona +3
NEW ORLEANS -2 BB
KANSAS CITY -5.5
St. Louis +9
N.Y. Jets +1.5
Indianapolis +1.5 BB
Pittsburgh -9.5
CAROLINA -5.5
MINNESOTA +2.5

[bama4256]

3

N.Y. GIANTS
Jacksonville
CINCINNATI
Houston
CHICAGO
Arizona-BB
NEW ORLEANS-BB
KANSAS CITY
St. Louis
N.Y. Jets
DENVER
Pittsburgh-BB
CAROLINA


Monday, October 30:

MINNESOTA

[#99]

4

Tampa Bay
Jacksonville
Atlanta
TENNESSEE
San Francisco
Arizona
NEW ORLEANS
KANSAS CITY
St. Louis
N.Y. Jets (BB)
DENVER
OAKLAND
CAROLINA (BB)
New England (BB)

[Bran]

5

N.Y. GIANTS (BB)
PHILADELPHIA
CINCINNATI
Houston
CHICAGO (BB)
GREEN BAY
Baltimore
KANSAS CITY
SAN DIEGO
N.Y. Jets
Indianapolis
Pittsburgh (BB)
CAROLINA
New England

[The Pirate Bob]

6

N.Y. GIANTS -9 1/2
PHILADELPHIA -6
Atlanta +4.5 BB
TENNESSEE -3 BB
CHICAGO -16 1/2
GREEN BAY -3
NEW ORLEANS -2 BB
Seattle +5.5
SAN DIEGO -9
N.Y. Jets +1.5
Indianapolis +1.5
OAKLAND +9.5
CAROLINA -5 1/2

New England -2 1/2

[themush]

7

Tampa Bay (BB)
Jacksonville
Atlanta
TENNESSEE (BB)
San Francisco
Arizona
Baltimore
KANSAS CITY
St. Louis
N.Y. Jets
Indianapolis
Pittsburgh
Dallas
New England (BB)

[Anthony]

8

Last week: 6-6-1. Season totals: 49-45-6, Pct. .520. Best Bets: 8-9-4, Pct. .476.

Home team in capital letters; point spreads (opening line) in parentheses after underdog team; selections with point spreads in bold.

SUNDAY

Tampa Bay 13 (+9 1/2), N.Y. GIANTS 10 - With the Giants in line for a letdown coming off a big division win and a short week, Bruce Gradkowski's Kyle Orton impression figures to continue for at least one more week ... and it's big balloons!

N.Y. Jets 21 (+1 1/2), CLEVELAND 7 - How can you rank 26th in the NFL in passing when your targets include Kellen Winslow Jr., Braylon Edwards and Dennis Northcutt? Well it's easy if you have the worst quarterback in the league throwing to them; and at 1-5, the Browns fit all too well with the four teams the Jets have beaten thus far, who are 5-22 among them.

PHILADELPHIA 24, Jacksonville 20 (+6) - Byron Leftwich's left ankle, which he is now admitting he tweaked four weeks ago in Washington, is reportedly bothering him again, but the main story line for this game is a tale of two hamstrings: Donte' Stallworth's may have healed sufficiently to enable him to play this week, while that might not be the case with Matt Jones, who at 6'6" would be a huge asset against the vertically-challenged Eagle secondary if he does make it back. Better opportunities for a quick return on investment can be found elsewhere.

CINCINNATI 28, Atlanta 14 (+4 1/2) - Carson Palmer should benefit from John Abraham being out (groin), and the Falcons haven't won or covered in the City of Satan since 1970. The home team in this one has also won and covered in the last four meetings regardless of site.

TENNESSEE 17, Houston 10 (+3) - Only one thing jumps off the page here, and that is Houston's current ten-game road losing streak, the NFL's longest.

CHICAGO 31, San Francisco 7 (+16 1/2) - Everybody's entitled to one screw-up, and the Bears' offense had theirs in Arizona two Monday nights ago; and it sure doesn't hurt Chicago's cause that the home team in this series has won eight in a row by a combined 265 to 89.

GREEN BAY 45, Arizona 6 (+3) - The last thing the Cardinals need right now is to go somewhere they haven't won since 1949! They'll have to wait until Tony Romo comes to town (in two weeks after next week's bye) before even thinking about snapping out of it.

NEW ORLEANS 20, Baltimore 16 (+2) - This one's tough: The Ravens have won four in a row following a bye week, but have won only one of their last eleven indoors. The Saints are also coming off the bye, which may halt their momentum, but the Superdome mystique is difficult to buck at this stage. File this game in the same stay-away cabinet as Jacksonville-Philly.

KANSAS CITY 17, Seattle 3 (+5 1/2) - Just when you thought it was safe to proclaim the Super Bowl Runner-Up Jinx a thing of the past, Matt Hasselbeck goes out and gets injured, joining Shaun Alexander (who's still not ready to return) on the sidelines. A needed confidence-builder for a KC defense that has struggled the last two weeks.

SAN DIEGO 30, St. Louis 24 (+9) - If Damon Huard can light up the Charger secondary, you've gotta like the chances of the still-formidable St. Louis air show (rated fourth in the league) getting more than a TD.

Indianapolis 23 (+1 1/2), DENVER 14 - Isn't it rather awkward seeing a 6-0 team as an underdog? And the Colts have won and covered five in a row on grass (upon which they will make their 2006 debut here) and are 8-1 straight up and 7-2 against the line in their last nine outdoors. This is the week Denver's near total lack of offense will matter.

Pittsburgh 20, OAKLAND 13 (+9 1/2) - After repeated attempts to deny it, the Steelers owned up to Ben Roethlisberger's having sustained a concussion last Sunday when they filed this week's injury report. He's listed as questionable facing the league's top-ranked pass defense and the defending champs are 0-3 on the road this year. If there is a reason not to take the points, I can't find it.

CAROLINA 24, Dallas 0 (+5 1/2) - Bill Parcells must be a Democrat the way he cut and run on his team's season in front of a national audience on Monday night; and to add insult to injury, the Panthers go out of their way to make the Cowboys wear their blue jerseys whenever they host Dallas. This game should be carried by Comedy Central - not NBC.

MONDAY NIGHT

New England 20, MINNESOTA 10 (+2 1/2) - It is extremely encouraging for the Patriots to see rookie wide receiver Chad Jackson in there, while there is little if anything to be encouraged about Minnesota's offense. Hard to go past New England and its nine-game winning streak (7-2 against the spread) inside NFL domes.

BEST BETS: TAMPA BAY, GREEN BAY, CAROLINA

[Jeff Boswell]

9

NY Giants
Philadelphia
Cincinnati
Tennessee
San Francisco
Green Bay (BB)
New Orleans
Kansas City
St. Louis
NY Jets
Denver
Pittsburgh (BB)
Carolina (BB)
Minnesota

[Marc]

10

N.Y. GIANTS
PHILADELPHIA
CINCINNATI (BB)
TENNESSEE
CHICAGO
GREEN BAY (BB)
NEW ORLEAN
KANSAS CITY
SAN DIEGO
N.Y. Jets
DENVER
Pittsburgh
CAROLINA
New England (BB)

[Anthony]

It wasn't a very good week for everyone cumulatively - thanks in large part to the Jets and Panthers, who contributed a combined 1-19 to the records of the ten who made picks this week! :(

And we already have our Week 8 winner - and it's #6, The Pirate Bob. The exacta will completed either by #7, themush (the only one who picked Dallas over the Panthers) if New England covers, or by #1, Dublin Mike, should Minnesota's backers collect.

Complete details after it's over at Triple H.

[Anthony]

1st 6 The Pirate Bob: 9-5 ... 55 points
2nd 7 themush: 8-6 (2-1) [5-0] ... 18 points
3rd 5 Bran: 8-6 (2-1) [3-2] ... 11 points
4th 8 Anthony: 8-6 (1-2) ... 5 points
5th 10 Marc: 7-7 ... 3 points
6th 1 Dublin Mike: 6-8 (2-1) ... 2.5 points
7th 4 #99: 6-8 (1-2) ... 2 points
8th 2 Ellis: 4-10 (2-1) ... 1.5 points
9th 9 Jeff Boswell: 4-10 (1-2) ... point
10th 3 bama4256: 4-10 (0-3) ... 1 point

(Best Bet Record)
[Record in Tie-Breaker Games]

For current standings, click here (http://www.sports-central.org/community/boards/showthread.php?postid=179685#post179685).