NFL Picks Week 9: Patriots vs Broncos ATS; Friday Five

Season to Date: 23-17 ATS or 58%

Top Picks to Date: 7-1 ATS or 88%

Once again, the minute the lines begin to look transparent, they become clouded by what we gamblers call Caninophilia - a deep and unrequited love with all things underdog. And by we gamblers I mean I just made that up and it's pretty dumb. Nonetheless, four such dogs led us to an inspired 5-0 ATS Week 7, which - being convinced that every dog has its day - led to us backing a whole pack of them last week. Sadly, it appears that we should have let sleeping dogs lie because they ended up biting the hand that fed them in the form of a 0-4 ATS Sunday. Fortunately, however, there's nothing like the hair of the dog that bit you, and we drank it up on Monday when our #1 pick - the Washington Redskins - not only covered the double digit spread but won the game in overtime. 

With Week 9 approaching, the dog days of autumn are upon us. Halloween is in our rear view mirror, Thanksgiving is on the horizon, and while we may not be the top dogs, our top picks certainly have Marco and I feeling like a couple of handicapping hot dogs. I'd write more on this ridiculous theme, but unfortunately I have an appointment to see a man about a dog. 

Forgive me. It's Halloween, it's been a long day, and this pirate and his whole pirate family are experiencing a collective sugar crash. Don't worry, glucose is an acceptable performance enhancing drug. Let's roll.

NFL Week 9 Friday Five Top Confidence Picks

#5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+7) over CLEVELAND BROWNS: Although the Bucs have been terrible, a closer look at their 1-6 record will reveal that 4 of their 6 losses have come by 6 points or less. Cleveland, on the other hand, has been better than usual overall and pretty darn good at home going 3-1 ATS this season. Conversely, Tampa Bay is on a 2-8 ATS run in their last 10, but the selling point here is their two covers came as road dogs. It's just too many points and we'll take e'm.  

       
"No silly, ATS covers are not wins." 

#4. MIAMI DOLPHINS (-1.5) over San Diego Chargers: After jumping out to an impressive ATS start, the Chargers and their leaky defense have come back down to earth losing their last three games against the number. Although they've proven to be an effective road team, going 6-2 ATS in their last 8, the Dolphins are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games on grass and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 at home. In a pick 'em of talent, we'll take the home field advantage and an overtime win by a field goal. Dolphins 20, Chargers 17.



#3. Saint Louis Rams (+10) over SAN FRANCISCO FORTY NINERS: The NFL is so damn unpredictable. One minute the Rams are getting destroyed at home by the Niners, then  they're beating the Super Bowl champs, and a week after that they get trounced in Kansas City. Two things, however, remain the same - A) the Ram's show up to play every week and B) the Forty Niners suck coming out of the bye under Jim Harbaugh losing 3 of their last 4 with two of those losses coming against the Rams. Looks like easy money to us. 



#2. Denver Broncos (-3) over New England Patriots: Someone has to win this game, right? Why not the team with the better offense and defense? We think the line should be a little higher, but because of the Patriots historic home dominance and public backing it's only a field goal. The trend that matters in this game - Peyton Manning is 10-3 ATS as a road favorite of 3 or less since joining the Broncos.



#1 Pick: Our top confidence pick has quietly gone 7-1 ATS this season, which we believe is worth a cup of coffee. As usual, the readers on our mailing list will get this for free and if you were on ourTSZ.com list send us an e-mail at the address below and we'll get the pick to you, too. Otherwise, here's how you get our #1 pick:

1. Click on the Coffee for Vinny and Marco icon to the right and make a donation of your choosing.
2. Send us the confirmation number to vinnyandmarco@gmail.comalong with the e-mail address you'd like your pick sent to.
3. Get our pick and receive all future picks by being added to our mailing list.
4. We will refund coffee donations of more than $25 if our pick does not cover* - that's how confident and fair we are.
*Minus Paypal service charge.

Good luck kind readers. May the spreads be with us all.

Vinny and Marco

NFL Picks Week 8: Patriots vs Bears ATS; Friday Five

Season to Date: 22-13 ATS or 63%

Top Picks to Date: 6-1 ATS or 86%

Last Week: 5-0 ATS or One Million Billion Zillion Percent

Let's skip the boasting this week so we don't have to eat crow next Friday. It's been a pretty good year so far for Vinny, Marco, and of course Floyd Mayweather who has allegedly cleared 2.5 million dollars through Week 7. I guess somebody's been reading The Spread Zone...



Life in TSZ-land has been settling down over the past few weeks. Although returning to the world of education was a steep learning curve (emotionally) early on, time and stability have had favorable effects on students and parents alike. On the home front my daughter absolutely loves kindergarten, has impressed me with her immediate stamina for school while simultaneously disappointing me with the news that she's going to marry a boy named Pirate.



I can only imagine her first crush is an off-shoot of her favorite cartoon and I suppose I can be grateful that it's not called Jake and the Neverland Jerk Faces or Jake and the Neverland Drug Dealer's Kids. Although I had my suspicions, turns out Pirate belongs to a local police officer. I have mixed feelings about all of it and am sincerely rooting for the lesbian nun in her to emerge by adolescence. Can we talk about something else now? Please?

NFL Week 8 Friday Five

Unfortunately we've received a couple of reports that some kind of virus is trying to infect The Spread Zone. We've done everything we can to clean that up on our end and according to my A.V. it's all systems go. Even if it's not, the virus has had an undeniable impact on our results, so let's just roll with it. Remember - all the lines we're using come from our friends at 1Vice. If you like great bonuses, solid customer service, and quick payouts, click on the link to the right and hook us up with a commission. If you'd just like to say thanks for what we do (after you cash in big this weekend of course), then click on the Coffee for Vinny and Marco button to the right and send us some caffeine. Otherwise, just enjoy our mutual success and spread the word about The Zone.

Let's get to work. As usual, HOME TEAMS are in CAPS and our picks are as bold as a Starbuck's dark roast.

#5. Oakland Raiders (+7) over the CLEVELAND BROWNS: Cleveland has been up and down all year while the Raiders have mostly been down. We believe, however, that Derek Carr is showing some promising signs as a young starting QB in this league, and we look for the defense of the Raiders to keep them in this game just long enough for Carr to deliver the first fourth quarter comeback drive of his career. Some might argue that the Raider's poor rush defense plays right into Cleveland's strength, but we see those stats as skewed. Keep in mind that the Raiders have lost every game so far, so the rushing stats against them are padded. Take the touchdown and run.



#4. TENNESSEE TITANS (+3) over Houston Texans: Give us a home dog in Tennessee. This is the battle of the worst ATS stats you will ever find. The Titans are 2-16-1 ATS in their last 19 against the AFC south. Bet the Texans right? Hold up. Houston is 1-15 SU in their last 16 after a home loss. We believe Tennessee is slightly better than their record while Houston just doesn't have the right QB to put it all together. We'll take the points again.

#3. Chicago Bears (+6) over NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Banged up on defense, struggling on offense, locker room in-fighting, blowing big leads, blowing in general - that's Chicago Bears football for Pete's sake. Don't knock it. Also, whenever you knock Jay Cutler - and we've done it a ton - that's when he comes back and shows you why he'll always have a job in the NFL. The stat of the week - road teams are 6-1 ATS in Chicago's games this year. Those points look fantastic to us.



#2. Philadelphia Eagles (+2) over ARIZONA CARDINALS: Nick Foles is now 14-4 (12-5-1 ATS) as a starter since taking over the role five games into last season. He is also 6-2 ATS on the road overall and a compelling 3-0 ATS as a road underdog. He is also on my fantasy team along with LeSean McCoy and the Eagles defense. He is also a former Arizona University graduate and dated lots of sorority girls. One of them knew Kevin Bacon. Therefore, take the Eagles and the points.



#1 Pick: Our top confidence pick has quietly gone 6-1 ATS this season thanks to New Orleans pulling off the 1 point loss to the Lions last week. Now we really believe we have something worth marketing. As usual, the readers on our mailing list will get this for free and if you were on ourTSZ.com list send us an e-mail at the address below and we'll get the pick to you, too. Otherwise, here's how you get our #1 pick:

1. Click on the Coffee for Vinny and Marco icon to the right and make a donation of your choosing.
2. Send us the confirmation number to vinnyandmarco@gmail.comalong with the e-mail address you'd like your pick sent to.
3. Get our pick and receive all future picks by being added to our mailing list.
4. We will refund coffee donations of more than $25 if our pick does not cover* - that's how confident and fair we are.
*Minus Paypal service charge.

Good luck kind readers. May the spreads be with us all.

Vinny and Marco

NFL Picks Week 7: Chiefs vs Chargers ATS; Friday Five

Record to Date: 17-13 ATS

Last Week: "Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues." - Confucious
Translation: 1-4 ATS, but our #1 Jags pulled a dramatic, come-from-behind-didn't-win-but-back-door-cover for us in the final 30 seconds of our game bringing our top picks to...

Top Confidence Picks: 5-1 ATS

I know The Spread Zone is all about football (and sometimes basketball, hockey, World Cup soccer, Brazilian women's handball, and the occasional college football game - Where are you MaChez?), but as a lifelong and rabid San Francisco Giants baseball fan I would like us all to share a moment of celebratory silence while I scream a humble "F-------------K YEAAAAAAAAH" of gratitude at the top of my lungs.



Since our longtime reader, former hillbilly neighbor, and Los(t) Angeles Dodgers fan Bobby M. affectionately calls San Francisco the Va-Giants, I guess we are in the process of witnessing a genuine Va-Gianasty. Three World Series appearances in her life, and my daughter isn't even five years old yet. Talk about spoiled. As a nice addendum and human interest story, rumor has it Travis Ishikawa (who hit the walk-off homer to send us to the Series) was not only considering retirement earlier this season, but was also considering signing up to be a substitute teacher in Marco's school district. Now he'll never have to sub anywhere ever again, and may even get an ad spot with Sub-way. "You too can walk off the calories if you eat at..."



Coffee Thank You's: Imagine the biggest coffee you could ever order from Starbucks. No, not their chintzy, little Trenta iced beverage cup, but your own 64 ounce travel mug from 7-11 filled to rim with espresso shots, syrups, soy milks, caramel, whipped cream, and anything else they charge an arm and a leg for. Then imagine buying one for your buddy Marco and two decaf versions for your four and two year olds. Then imagine getting a bunch of change back for future purchases. That is the size of the thank you we are extending to Archie G. for his generous caffeine donation to the cause. Too bad we didn't drink those before making our picks last week. Thanks to Archie, however, we believe this week will be our best one yet. If you'd like to contribute to our winning ways or show your appreciation for our picks thus far, just click on Coffee for Vinny and Marco icon. We do this for the love of sports and betting, so no pressure.



NFL Week 7 Friday Five: Every Dog Has His Day

#5. PITTSBURGH STEELERS (-3) over Houston Texans: The Steelers killed us last week, making it very clear they were not going to show up in Cleveland by the end of the third quarter. Hopefully for Pittsburgh, Morrissey was wrong and every day is not like Sunday - at least not last Sunday. Especially when it's Monday. The Texans come into this match-up as one of the darlings of the league, turning things around from their abysmal 2-14 2013. Their highly touted defense hasn't surrendered many points (20/game), but their pass defense ranks 28th in the league and Pittsburgh should have little trouble covering the small spread at home under the bright lights of Monday Night Football. Besides, they are 13-0 ATS at home off an SUATS division loss in which they allowed 30 plus points.  



#4. Miami Dolphins (+3) over CHICAGO BEARS: Miami seems like a good team to bet on as an underdog as they manage to keep games close. The Bears defense is still banged up, which should allow the Dolphins to work their magic and stick around. They gave the Packers a run for their money and will do the same with the Bears. Compelling and random stat to support our pick: When the Dolphins are playing as an underdog after losing two of their last three games and losing their last game by 3 points or less are 10-1-0 ATS. Now that's random number crunching you can bank on.



#3. Tennessee Titans (+5.5) over WASHINGTON REDSKINS: This Halloween my family is dressing up like Jake and the Neverland Pirates, with yours truly as Captain Hook. I understand the big fuss about getting Washington to lose the mascot, but isn't it interesting that we celebrate/romanticize historic rapers and pillagers and nobody complains about the Bucs or the Raiders. Anyway, this is a match-up of two very average teams with pretty average personnel. The line is probably where it should be, but the compelling stat that supports our pick is the fact that the 12 under .500 teams in the NFL are currently 4-18 ATS as favorites. The Redskins are definitely one of those teams. Couple that with the fact that the Titans have only covered once and we'll grab those points every time.

#2. Kansas City Chiefs (+4) over SAN DIEGO CHARGERS: San Diego has been awesome at home this year and is heading into Week 7 with a 5-1 SU/4-2 ATS record. A closer look, however, and you'll notice their last three wins have come against the likes of Jacksonville, the NY Jets, and the Oakland Raiders - with combined records of 1-17. Meanwhile, the Chiefs come in rested and having played their last three games against Miami (W),  New England (W), and San Franciso (L). Andy Reid teams with rest are 16-2 SU and 13-5 ATS. We like the Chiefs on the ML, but we'll take the points.



#1 Pick: Our top confidence pick has quietly gone 5-1 ATS this season, including a pick last week that no one believed in when we took the Jacksonville Jaguars +5.5. Now we really believe we have something worth trading for a Coffee for Vinny and Marco donation. As usual, the readers on our mailing list will get this for free and if you were on our TSZ.com list send us an e-mail at the address below and we'll get the pick to you, too. Otherwise, here's how you get our #1 pick:

1. Click on the Coffee for Vinny and Marco icon to the right and make a donation of your choosing.
2. Send us the confirmation number to vinnyandmarco@gmail.com along with the e-mail address you'd like your pick sent to.
3. Get our pick and receive all future picks by being added to our mailing list.
4. We will refund coffee donations of more than $25 if our pick does not cover* - that's how confident and fair we are.
*Minus Paypal service charge.

Good luck kind readers. May the spreads be with us all.

Vinny and Marco