Des Boodram
@boxscoreprophet
This league is full of intelligent people, but it’s important to understand that handicapping intelligence can look differently wearing many faces in the betting community. Some of us like to stay super chalky, while others go against grain hoping to separate from the pack. Neither strategy is wrong, but the fact that both amongst others can work, lends to the notion that there is no such thing as a lock, and Vegas makes it that way on purpose. If every pick you make seems agonizing, know that it’s supposed to, while making multiple picks pays out big, because it wears you down… the difficulty, the consideration, the energy expended during the game and the close calls or incremental success… it’s like hitting a 275 yard drive on the 18th hole after you’ve been hacking up the course all round… it’s enough to bring you back again. You’ve put in the time, now lets see what fellow WSOH members are thinking.
TAMPA BAY -7 vs Chicago
Many books have this game at Tampa Bay -6.5, but 7 makes me nervous. I was hoping WSOH would go with the -6.5 because I think Tampa Bay wins this game by exactly 7 points. Chicago looked decent against the Falcons but that was at home, and Week 1 games can be misleading. Now Chicago heads on the road against a legit NFC South contender with no current game tape and new cogs like DeSean Jackson, O.J. Howard, and Jacquizz Rodgers to contend with. Edge Tampa Bay, but whether it’s a 7-point edge I’m not sure. I’m not surprised to see this game at the top of the list… so I ask myself… what does Vegas see that I don’t.
NEW ENGLAND -6.5 at New Orleans
WSOH members think New England goes on the road and handles business easily in the 2nd most selected game on the site this week. Drew Brees is a baller at home, and the New England secondary needs at least 4 weeks to figure how to work together. There’s no way I can prove that 4 weeks is the number, but it just seems awfully presumptuous to think that secondary would gel after one week. Give them a few weeks and yes there’s a precedence for that #DerelleRevis #BrandonBrowner. I’m staying away even if the New Orleans defense is a dumpster fire.
DALLAS -2 at Denver
Dallas has to go on the road against one of the fiercest defenses in Denver. The Cowobys are going to be shell shocked in this one against a Broncos squad that handled Philip Rivers and company pretty well. #Altitude
JACKSONVILLE +2.5 vs Tennessee
At 1.5 I’m all over this game. But Jacksonville getting 2.5 points makes me think about it, just a bit more. I still think Houston is more bad than Jacksonville is good, so the Jags win at Houston is not a good Litmus Test. The Titans hung with a pretty good team in the Raiders, so I’m thinking the Titans cover this one… barely.
OVER/UNDER Special
I know I blew it last week when I added no color to the over/under piece of what members could actually select, so my bad on that one. I used no over/under last week, and committed a bit more time this week.
WASHINGTON REDSKINGS @ LOS ANGELES RAMS UNDER 46 points
I’m taking the UNDER on this because I think we all could agree that the RAMS aint’ scoring 40 points. I’m feeling a little like this one will be sloppy early on with a rookie QB for the Rams and other concerns with for the Redskins moving the ball. The Rams defense is tight as well, and they get Aaron Donald also. The Redskins are really caught on this one.
Good luck Gamers.
