Sharky's NFL play of the week

[Sharky]

a weak finish last year (1-2 in last 3 and 2-3 in my last 5) sent my record to 11-8...below my expectations, but still in the money

in the "WOW, what a difference a year makes game", the HOUSTON Texans (12-4 2012; 2-14 2013) and Washington REDSKINS (10-6; 3-13) kick it off Sunday with Ryan Fitzpatrick taking the helm for new coach Bill O'Brien at Houston and RGIII, "I never had a playbook at Baylor", attempting to learn Jay Gruden's scheme after his inability to grasp Mike "Shenanigans" the last 2 years for Washington...with those 2 "Os", ya gotta look to the 'Ds'...and look for newly signed JJ Watt and rookie Jadeveon Clowney to make it a long day for the skins'...take HOUSTON -2.5 for an easy win to start 2014

Good Luck!

Sharky

[biggg]

I just stick to Wong teasers and props but if I were gambling I would take Houston also if you get -2.5.

[DSchles]

Is there any way to revise your original post's title so that we don't have to read "play of the weAk" all year?

Don

[Canceler]

Is there any way to revise your original post's title so that we don't have to read "play of the weAk" all year?

Don

If I'm remembering correctly from years past, the title is not a mistake, but a play on words.

[DSchles]

If I'm remembering correctly from years past, the title is not a mistake, but a play on words.

Oh, really? Is this an attempt at self-deprecating humor, implying that the play is made by a weak handicapper? Not sure I'd want to title a column of mine that way.

Don

[mofungoo]

Oh, really? Is this an attempt at self-deprecating humor, implying that the play is made by a weak handicapper? Not sure I'd want to title a column of mine that way.

Don

I read it as, he is going after the weak lines.

[Sharky]

For what it’s worth, the “weak” comes from a bookie I used to use a very, very long time ago who told a mutual friend my plays were “weak”….still not sure if he meant in quality or denomination..lol..but he does make of point of asking me every week for my play..lol...so I laugh and think of him every time I read it...that's all

this week features a rare “toss up” for my p-o-t-w, so I present 2 plays-o-the-weak:

The Dallas Cowboys come to LP Field with a, shall I say, “weak”.. …”D”…to face the first week road winning TENNESSEE Titans who pummeled the Chiefs @ Arrowhead…said weak “D” also lost their leading tackler (7), LB Justin Durant, in their week one loss to the 49ers in the process…take the TITANS -3.5 in a real snoozer

The HOUSTON Texans beat a bad Redskins team using a defense that was anything but weak and travel to the Rayyyyyyders “black hole” this week and their league leading (#32) rank “O” who amassed a “comical” total of 13 yards rushing and 72 yards passing @ the Jets last week before adding 73 yards (12 & 61) on their final TD scoring possession (4Q; 1:27) when the game was already out of hand…take the Texans -3 for the 2^nd week in a row’s easy win

Good Luck!

Sharky

Last week: 1-0
Season: 1-0

[muffdiver]

I enjoy reading your picks and I don't care how you spell wyk!!!

[KJ]

Well, if we are going to use this thread for football picks (I guess because some haven't paid the fee to post in the sports section), I have a play this week. I am trying to play individual games sparingly this year but this game jumped out at my from the get go, I was just waiting for the line movement.

New York Giants +2.5 over Arizona. The line opened at Giants -2, and I have been waiting for the movement. I would like to get 3, so will hold off placing my til tomorrow while I shop around.

Reasoning: Arizona with high expectations, escaped their home opener with a 1 point win over SD. No shame there, I guess. They now travel 2500 miles and 3 time zone east to play the Giants, who looked terrible. Teams traveling 3 times zones east, lose a whopping 67% of the time, compared to the normal away team loss rate of 57% over recent years. Call it jet lag or whatever. In addition, this is a classic 'trap' game for Arizona, as they return home next week for a big inter division game with SF.

[Gamblor]

One more.

OAK +3.5 vs Hou - Oak lost to Jets who are better than people think and had to travel across the country, and Houston won vs Redskins who are as bad/worse as everyone expects.

[Gamblor]

OK one more. That's it.

BUF -1.5 vs Mia - Betters are probably reading a little too much in the big Miami win vs NE. I can't clearly say Mia is better than Buffalo. Like their D, but their skill position players are pretty bad. Wallace and Moreno? Ewwww.

[Gamblor]

3-4 last weak, Giants didn't pull through (although I liked Seattle for the Thursday game).

Jets +7.5 vs GB - Jets have a solid D, and Geno is improving from being horrible.
INDY -3 vs Phi - Like picking against Phi because betters tend to take a shine to them, didn't work last week, hopefully works out this week. I tend to bet against teams with good O's but bad/questionable D's (which can also describe Indy I guess).

[Gamblor]

Ten +8 vs INDY - Know enough not to bet against Indy in a close line, but Indy does have a tendency to not show up at all in certain games.
"OAK" +4 vs Mia - Neutral field, and can't say Miami is clearly better than Oakland. Also, the weird disconnect between Philbin and Tannehill makes me suspect something more is going on with that team, kind of like Schiano last year.
Phi +4.5 vs SF - Weird things going on in SF with Harbaugh (possibly getting traded to Cleveland, going to Michigan?, players tired of him, upper managment tired of him), probably accounts for why they are not hitting on all cylinders. Plus calls are going Philly's way, which tends to be ongoing.
DAL +3 vs NO - Probably a game that will wind up with someone making a comeback to win close at the end, might as well take the points in this case. Plus NO still not hitting on all cylinders.



Wen't 1-3 last week, 5-8 this year.