Thursday night is upon us again. It was what used to be the halfway point of the year. But, with a 17 game season, there really isn’t a halfway point. That’s math though and I’m just a gym teacher. I’ll leave that to all the mathematicians out there.
With Week 7 in the books, let’s see how the Concret3Cowboy and I did:
Week 8 Results:
Blind Owl: 5-7-1
Concret3Cowboy: 6-6-1
Whoa. Can you smell that? I smell something in there. Is it? Can it be? A…….comeback? The Cowboy is clawing his way back up one game at a time. If he continues the comeback at this rate, he’ll lose by one game in Week 17. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the totals:
Totals:
Blind Owl: 56-49-2
Concret3Cowboy: 46-59-2
Can the Concret3Cowboy keep his winning ways going this week? Let’s go find out:
GB @ ARI: ARI -6.5
Blind Owl: Hey, a halfway decent TNF game. Aaron Rodgers vs. Kyler Murray. I’ll take that. Pick wise, the Cardinals have been rolling lately. Although it is really hard to bet against Aaron with 6.5 points. I’ll call it here, Arizona will win, but the Pack will cover in what could be a real good one.
Concret3Cowboy: Rodgers doesn’t have any WRs for this game. Arizona is just far too hot to not take. Even with JJ out (who wasn’t expecting that) this Cardinal defense is far better than the Packers D, and with an easier job to do.
NE @ LAC: LAC -5.5
Blind Owl: Got to give credit where it’s due. The Pats beat the absolute piss out of a bad Jets team and their backup QB. Not that it mattered, they were going to throttle them anyway. Now they get a good opponent in the Chargers coming off a bye week. Herbert will put up some numbers against that vulnerable Pats defense, and the Chargers will tear through the New England offensive line. Easy cover here for LA.
Concret3Cowboy: Listen, I don’t care how many points the Pats put up on the Jets… it’s the Jets. Chargers are coming off a bye and got to witness it live.
WAS @ DEN: DEN -3
Blind Owl: Denver looked terrible a week ago. They lost to the Browns backup QB and 3rd string running back. I had a little too much faith in my guys. The defense couldn’t stop anything. I think a big rebound is in order here. It won’t be pretty, but they’ll win by more than a field goal. Big game from McManus. Multiple loooooooooong kicks coming.
Concret3Cowboy: Another week another slow start by the Bronco slow start just to come back to lose by 3. They’ve had some extra time and now have Jeudy coming back into a line up that is desperate to get some health. The Broncos still don’t have a middle backer but hey, Juedy is nice to have back. Washington didn’t play horribly against the Packers, but this defense has been a huge letdown. Their offense also lacks explosiveness so give me Denver.
MIA @ BUF: BUF -13.5
Blind Owl: Oh good lord. These big spreads just keep on coming. That being said, almost every time the Bills get a big spread, they cover it. Miami hasn’t looked too impressive lately. I still can’t forget them losing to the Jags a couple weeks back. Josh Allen will tear up the Phins.
Concret3Cowboy: Buffalo got a reality check from the Titans, but a bye week to lick their wounds. You learn more in loses than wins, expect the Bills to murder the fish for the second time this year. I almost feel bad for Tua, but like I said when he came into the league, he had to learn how to throw in a different motion from his serious hip injury. He will never be the quarterback he was in college, period dot.
CAR @ ATL: ATL -2.5
Blind Owl: My boy Matty Ice did real good last week against the Dolphins. The Falcons beat them outright. I think the roll continues against a Carolina team that lost big to the Giants. A big one for Matt Ryan here.
Concret3Cowboy: Carolina gave up on their new QB pretty fast. Maybe because Sam Darnold sucks, maybe Carolina just sucks when Cristian isn’t playing. I don’t like picking the Falcons, especially after they just got over Miami last week, but here we are.
PIT @ CLE: CLE -3.5
Blind Owl: This one is tough. I’m sure Cleveland is still beat to hell. But Pittsburgh hasn’t been very impressive. I really don’t know what to do here. I guess the smart money goes to the favorite right? Well, not me. I got a big lead, I’ll take the Steelers and the points.
Concret3Cowboy: Is Baker back? I have no idea. They said he could have played against the Broncos so I’m expecting him to play. I really just don’t care about the Steelers, maybe because they only have one side with their logo? They do nothing for me, give me the Browns.
CIN @ NYJ: CIN -10
Blind Owl: Cincy came out BIG last week. They beat the brakes off of the Ravens. Burrow did well. Chase is an animal. I actually traded him in fantasy. Dumb right? Well, they get another chance to kick some ass. They’ll beat the Jets into submission. The Jets can’t do anything in the past couple weeks.
Concret3Cowboy: Cincinnati does a really good job of doing well when I say they won’t but really bad when I say they will get it together. The current #1 seed in the AFC can’t lose to the Jets right? … right?
TEN @ IND: TEN -1
Blind Owl: 1 point? From a team that demolished the Chiefs? The Colts did get a good win over San Fran, but that won’t be good enough. Titans all the way.
Concret3Cowboy: The Titans are rolling, even with Derrick Henry under 100 yards, they beat the pants off of the Chiefs. But I can’t help but remember them losing to the Jets. But they also beat the Bills. The Colts have really turned things around and Wentz is playing really well right now. But I’m going to roll with the Titans.
PHI @ DET: PHI -3.5
Blind Owl: Detroit did all they could to prove they made the right choice with Stafford for Goff. But they still came up short, even with all that emotion. The Eagles weren’t what I wanted them to be against the Raiders last week. I guess I’ll give them another chance here. Fly Eagles Fly.
Concret3Cowboy: I believe in you Detroit! No one else does, but I do. Just cover please.
SF @ CHI: SF -3.5
Blind Owl: Another one I’m conflicted on. San Fran looked bad against Indy, and they let me down. That being said, y’all know my feelings on Justin Fields and all his Ohio State comrades. Got to go with historical truths I suppose. Give me the 9ers.
Concret3Cowboy: Justin Fields doesn’t like possessing the ball. Tampa probably could have scored 50+ if they weren’t trying to negotiate with the fan for Tom Brady’s ball for his 600th TD pass. Jimmy G was bad, like really bad against the Colts last week but not as bad as Justin. So give me the 49ers.
LAR @ HOU: LAR -14.5
Blind Owl: Houston BLOWS! Rams.
Concret3Cowboy: They may not have covered against Detroit but with two fake punts and spontaneous onside kicks, I don’t think anyone else wins such a weird game. And it’s Houston, who just traded away Ingram. Who’s even playing QB for Houston? The only other news that came out of H-Town was that their owner said something about Asians. I didn’t know he wanted a trade as well.
JAX @ SEA: SEA -3
Blind Owl: This is a juicy spread. Geno Smith has made me look dumber than usual. I’m still shaky on him, but I guess I have to go with what I’ve seen. I figured the spread would be bigger, so Seattle all the way. Jags suck.
Concret3Cowboy: Geno “the GOAT” Smith.
TB @ NO: TB -5
Blind Owl: Jameis, Jameis, Jameis. You can’t keep doing this to me. I’m done with you. Tom Brady and the Bucs are going to win big.
Concret3Cowboy: Ok, ok Tampa covered last week. This is why trends have nothing to do with picks and betting. It’s false hope, like diet soda not making you fat. Forget about everything else, the only thing that matters is this week. Tampa covers in New Orleans.
DAL @ MIN: DAL -2.5
Blind Owl: This is a sneaky good game here. Both offenses are clicking. BO game of the week here. When it comes to my pick, I think the Cowboys are for real for the first time since I was born. This will be a shootout for sure. All I have to say is, hey Minnesota, get ready to suck some Dak. Cowboys win.
Concret3Cowboy: I really want to pick Minnesota, both teams are coming off a bye but Dallas has a lot of fire power on both sides of the ball. Given Zimmer’s defense hasn’t looked like a Zimmer’s defense and a Zimmer’s offense doesn’t do shootouts, give me Dallas.
NYG @ KC: KC -10
Blind Owl: Kansas City is showing vulnerability. Mahomes looks human for the first time in his career. Now I won’t go as far as the Cowboy did on Facebook and call him “overrated” but I will say he’s not done well. That being said, he gets a chance to right the ship against the Giants. Chiefs with a good win here.
Concret3Cowboy: In my reach of the week, the New York Football Giants cover against the Kansas City Chiefs. Why? Because Jackson Mahomes is going to do something stupid, Patrick is going to force 5-7 passes that should be intercepted and it doesn’t get worse than what this Chiefs defense has been. They’re literally ranked 32nd in every meaningful defensive statistic. Joe Judge is making his 10 vets run extra gassers in prep for this prime time game.
