The Chiefs Got B.J.ed in the End Zone

I once read that as a sports gambler it's better to watch two or three football games closely rather than try to follow the whole schedule each week. Unfortunately, I did neither last night, opting instead for the medicinal effects The Magic School Bus, Busytown Mysteries, and Popsicles on my daughter's painful sounding cough. Fortunately, it was preseason football which is only slightly less enjoyable to watch than The Little League World Series dominating the ESPN channels this month. The only highlight I saw was the game winning touchdown thrown by San Francisco Forty Niners back-up to the back-up to the back-up quarterback...drum roll please...B.J. (always an unfortunate name) Daniels to beat the Kansas City Chiefs and hand us our only loss of the day.

              
"If Colin, Scott, and Colt go down, I'll be ready."

Friday Night's Games: 3-1 ATS
Overall Preseason Record: 5-3 ATS

No time to lollygag, we've got a website to run. Although it's a lot more time consuming than I imagined, the feedback has been exceptionally motivating. Now let's get to those very unpredictable looking Saturday games.

ARIZONA CARDINALS (-3) over Dallas Cowboys: Remember when the Arizona Cardinals started last season 4-0? Don't worry, nobody else does either. During that run, however, their defense looked off-the-charts good shutting down the likes of the Seahawks, Patriots, and Eagles. They appeared to be a team to reckon with in the NFC West before rattling off nine straight losses en route to a 5-11 season. The Dallas Cowboys, on the other hand, are eternally disappointing their fans of late - coming into the season looking strong and then finding new and exotic was to grab defeat from the gentle grasp of victory. Preseason is a perfect time to practice analyzing lines, and Dallas getting 3 points seems way too attractive to us, which is why we're happily giving them up.

Tennessee Titans (+3) over CINCINNATI BENGALS: AJ Green will be sidelined for this game with a mild hamstring injury. Jake Locker will probably take more snaps than Andy Dalton and with the depth the Titans have at wide receiver in Kendall Wright and Damian Williams they'll be able to put enough points on the board to hold on for the win when the scrubs come in. Besides, my animal communicating, psychic mother-in-law tells me that a light blue team is going to do great things this year. If it's not the Carolina Panthers, then it must be these guys.



NEW YORK JETS (-2.5) over Jacksonville Jaguars: A few weeks ago I was told by a fellow capper that a safe bet in the preseason was the New York Jets to win all their games, arguing that players would play even harder when Geno Smith came in for Mark Sanchez because they're all thirsty for change in New York. Clearly that advice didn't pan out in game 1, but that was Detroit on the road and this in Jacksonville at home. If you've been following along this preseason you've probably noticed that only 5 of 16 home teams won during Week 1. This week, however, the tables have turned with the road team losing 7 of 8 so far this week. With a line under 3, we'll bet on that trend continuing.

HOUSTON TEXANS (-3) over Miami Dolphins: With their impressive win last week over the Minnesota Vikings, Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak is now a remarkable 11-2 SU in Weeks 1 & 2 of the preseason. With an overall record of 17-12 SU, it appears his model is to try hard to win the first two games, then use the latter two for evaluation purposes. Although the Dolphins have been impressive this preseason and may be a sleeper wild card team in the AFC East, a field goal isn't enough to persuade us to buy.



SAINT LOUIS RAMS (-4) over Green Bay Packers: Honestly, I could waste your time talking preseason stats or the power of Jeff Fisher's mustache, but the truth is this line makes me feel like a stupid little fish in a stupid little pond. Four points is the bait that 83% of the public is biting on. There has to be a better reason than the goose egg Green Bay put up against the Arizona Cardinals last week for the Rams to be giving up four points.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (-3.5) over Denver Broncos: A great deal is being said about Pete Carroll's 20-9-1 ATS record in the preseason and almost as much is being said about the Denver Broncos being a shoe-in to represent the AFC in this season's Super Bowl. Therefore, what we have her is a little something called The Hook - that half a point on either side of the field goal or the touchdown that is tempting us towards one side or the other. We'll give the hook to the Broncos fans and watch Seattle roll when John Fox gives the hook to Peyton Manning and all their other starters.



There you have it, folks. It feels great to be inching closer to the real football season, closer to the exhilaration and the agony, the heartache and the irregular heartbeat that comes with 12 hour football marathons.

Please don't forget to sign up for you TSZ Insider membership before the season kicks off.

http://www.thespreadzone.com/tsz-insider.html

Although nearly all of our picks and 100% of the resources on our site are absolutely free, the $1/week Insider package gets you our team consensus Thursday and Monday Night games, our VIP playoff picks, our Friday Five confidence Rankings, and some other bonus picks along the way.

As always, thanks for reading.

Vinny

www.thespreadzone.com

Mysterio's Tuesday Two

In 1988, Morrissey crooned the histrionic reminder that "every day is like Tuesday." Never have such fictional lyrics been truer than today. The winter holidays tend to divert us all from routine and towards our family gatherings and obligations - even in Canada. With Christmas and Boxing Day behind us, however, Mysterio is back at TSZ and ready to build on the perfection that has been his Tuesday Two.

LAST WEEK: 2-0 ATS

SEASON TO DATE: 4-0 ATS

Translation: Nailed it. For those of you who followed his lead, you should have quintupled your money. Even if you didn't bet that much, it's really fun to say quintupled. Before we get to Mysterio's weekly work of art, let's welcome those who have joined our community through Friday Five inquiry.

TSZ Weloming Committee: We proudly announce the arrival of Lowen A., Micahel M., Jeff W., Andrew G., and Stan J. Gentlemen, you've come at good time. We fully intend to finish the season strong and carry our community into a playoff run for the ages. If you want to know how to access our Friday Five, click on the link below:

http://www.thespreadzone.blogspot.com/2012/12/friday-five-grand-finale.html

And now, drum roll please...

Mysterio's Tuesday Two

It's been an insanely busy holidays so I'm going to keep this short. In the history of Mysterios' Tuesday 2 we are now 4-0. Whether the games mean nothing or if they are very important, I always take the 2 games that I think are locks and post them for our guaranteed monetary gain. Last week Atlanta covered on Saturday and the biggest baby in the NFL (Cam Newton) covered on Sunday. Big wins for me and my other follower Gabby. Gabby wasn't pleased with the 2 different days my picks were on so this is for you Gabby. 2 picks, both on Sunday.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS -10 vs. St Louis Rams

                      

The Seahawks can win games now by just showing up! Having blown out their last 3 opponents I look for this 1 to be over by half time. A 10 point spread might as well be 27 because this game will be a blowout!

P.S. Matt Flynn may fill in but he is a VERY capable backup! P.S.S. Watch for Sherman to be handing out "Skittles" on the sideline. Seahawks by 28!

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS -10.5 vs. Miami Dolphins

Believe it or not, New England still has home field to play for. Watch for Billy B. to have a game plan in which not only will Brady pass for 440 yards but New England will dominate every facet of the game. Miami will play hard for Regis (Joe) Philbin but it won't do any good against a team that needs to step it up and get rolling for the playoffs. New England by 20!

                                   

Sorry to keep it so short TSZ faithful but being a single Dad on the holidays is more work than on normal days.

If Vincenzo and Spartacus going 5-0 last week doesn't  get ALL your friends to join TSZ I don't know what does.

Roger that Houston and a big 10-4 to all your bets this week!

MAY THE SPREADS BE WITH US!!!!

--Mysterio

Thursday Three: Straight Outta Compton...Wisconsin

With the holidays in full swing and the NFL season culminating in another exciting playoff push, the founders of TSZ - that's right, four months in and we're already third person, bitches - decided to hand over the Thursday Three reins to their crafty, intelligent, and enthusiastic readers. One man's laziness is another man's courageous act of trust. The best thing about writing is: everything is semantics. 

The guidelines were simple: Write us a Thursday Three blog post. Give it an intro, include your picks, and make it entertaining. Although the mass of entries did not constitute an Internet traffic jam, there were several submissions to choose from, the most complete of which came from Green Bay, Wisconsin.

TSZ's Thursday Three

HO HO HO!  It's Christmas time ladies and gentlemen. We're muddling through our first blizzard of the season here in Wisconsin...definitely going to be a White Christmas for us. With the playoffs on the horizon there's plenty of good match-ups to choose from this weekend.  First of all, I like the Green Bay Packers (-11.5) - surprise, surprise - to take care of the Tennessee Titans at Lambeau.  Even though they've already clinched the NFC North ("the Bears still suck" ), they are fighting for the NFC's 2nd seed.  They found out last year that resting players backfires, so they're going to keep their foot on the gas and both hands on the wheel. Go Pack! I also like the St. Louis Rams (+3) to take advantage of a slumping Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. Much like last year Tampa Bay is sliding to the finish line, especially now that they're out of playoff contention. Their ATS dominance is no longer a consideration like it was through the first eleven weeks.  They are coming apart at the seams, while the Rams have impressed ATS on the road all year. My favorite team this week is the New York Football Giants (-2.5) to handle the Baltimore Ravens.  Baltimore already clinched a playoff spot while the Giants NEED to win to have a shot at the playoffs.  The Ravens have not been playing good football lately and the Giants play their best ball with their backs against the wall.  Look for New York to bounce back from that horrific game in Atlanta and show up big this weekend.  Unfortunately, there's no more Thursday Night games this year; I really enjoy watching football on Thursday because it makes me feel like the weekend has already begun.  I guess Saturday in Detroit will have to do. Here's to a great week 16 everyone.  Hopefully we all do well and some extra spending money for the holidays. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.  Peace. Beer n Brats for Breakfast  Green Bay Packers Fan Some deleted scenes that missed the cut simply because they did not have the complete package were: #2) New England Patriots (-14.5) over Jacksonville Jaguars: Beli"cheat" and Brady haven't slept all week because of the beating they took the first half Monday night. The only back that gets to carry the ball this week is Woodhead. The Jag's spent their time watching film of USC and West Virginia to evaluate next years QB. All that adds up to a 40+ point first half as the Patriots never pass up an opportunity to run up the score. Texas Todd Broncos Fan CAROLINA PANTHERS (-8.5) vs Oakland Raiders: This will be the most points the Panthers have been favored by all season. The Raiders have four wins this year - two against the Chiefs. They are quietly the worst team in the league. Carson Palmer is the Carson Daly of the NFL. They both marginally peaked in 2002, but it's been downhill for a decade. No one knows what happened to Carson Daly - I think I saw him selling oranges on I-5. I think Palmer will be joining him soon. Hand the team over to Pryor and see what happens. Carolina will cover. Buffalo Bills (+4.5) at Miami Dolphins: An AFC Least battle royale. Why are there certain organizations that are destined to suck? Both Miami and Buffalo struggle to find the right players. They both haven't had a good QB since Marino and Kelly. They both try to make big free agent splashes and then those players just seem to decline once they put on the uniform. Carousel coaching staffs, shitty QB play and a culture of failure just plague these 2 organizations. I think the Dolphins win and cover but I don't know why.  Noah G.  New York Giants Fan Thanks for the hard work, TSZ readers/authors. You continue to make this the best gambling website in the world according to its third person founders.  Peace, Love, and Happiness Vinny and Marco Daily Reminders #1. Coffee Donations: If you appreciate what we're doing here, feel free to buy us a cup of coffee anytime - top right of the page. It takes a lot of caffeine to keep this thing going. Many thanks to those who have donated. It has felt like a warm, delicious compliment every time. Please send us a note, too, so we can make sure to thank you in the next post. #2. Follow us on Twitter @vinnyandmarco. Spend weekends with Marco in the Twittersphere or feel free to just e-mail us anytime atvinnyandmarco@gmail.com. #3. Now that we have the support and appreciation of fellow handicappers, we feel like The Spread Zone has as much potential as any free gambling website out there. We always appreciate feedback and suggestions. Like my favorite baseball team likes to say, "Together We're Giant." Look what it did for them.

Thursday Three: TSZ Fan Picks For Week 12

Last Week: 3-0 ATS

Season to Date: 3-0 ATS

Last week was obviously our Thursday Three's first week here at TSZ, but what a great start. The Ravens-Steelers game was kind of a wash, but we were very clear that we would only take the Ravens up to 2.5 points and that goes for our fans, too. 

This week some of our fan-experts have included a Thursday game, which is why we've been pressuring followers for submissions in order to publish this post as quickly as possible. Although Marco and I haven't been able to post all of our picks yet (don't you hate it when real life gets in the way of fun, gambling-related hobbies?), we fully intend to have the rest of the Week 12 schedule (16 games again baby) out sometime between the first and third courses of food and football tomorrow.

It's Turkey Day Eve, it's getting late even in Cali, and although I'd like to say I'm sleeping in until Detroit-Houston kicks off at 9:30, I'm pretty sure my three year-old daughter has much earlier plans in store for me. Marco and I love Thanksgiving because we both have so much to be grateful for - friends, family, and now a kind, intelligent, and supportive group of gamblers with whom to share the joys and the frustrations of NFL handicapping. Speaking of gratitude...

Special Holiday Coffee Donation Thank You to: Greg - nice to have another Niner fan on the site. Thanks for the pick me up. 

Marco and I were, however, a little disappointed with the Thursday Three turn out this week, but we are very forgiving during the holidays and understand we weren't the best role models. Please know that none of this would be possible without you, so when we guilt trip you it is only in the best interest of everyone involved. And let's face it - you've been spoiling us with all of your commentary, feedback, and e-mails. Keep 'em comin'.

                                      

That being said, this week's Three is a slightly smaller sample size and a more eclectic group of confidence picks. Nonetheless, there were three that came up in multiple submissions, and here they are:

Week 12 Thursday Three: TSZ Fan Picks: 

3. Green Bay Packers (+2.5) over NEW YORK GIANTS

"Greenbay is in tough race to catch Chicago, plus they have the revenge factor from last year. Anytime you give me points with the Packers I am taking them. Giants just haven't been impressive - too many inconsistencies.

Hameen Ali
Dover, DE
All Around Fan

"Packers have injuries but have still been winning games. Nelson is back on the field also with Jermichael Finley getting some touches last week. Overall I think Packers have more weapons and Rodgers just knows how to win games. Plus the NY Giants have two straight losses to the Steelers and Bengals which I believe Packers are way better than. Only advantage the Giants have are them coming well rested off of a bye week. Also, Green Bay Packers ATS AWAY (3-2) - NY Giants ATS HOME (1-4)"

Greg
Hercules, CA
Niners Fan

2. St. Louis Rams (+2.5) over ARIZONA CARDINALS

"Ryan Lindell is apparently starting for the Cards.  Nuf said?  Ok, Ok, Ok...but seriously, the Rams defense should give the ARI O-line plenty of problems.  They should bounce back now that they're in the more comfortable underdog role."

Beer & Brats for Breakfast
Green Bay, WI
Packers Fan

"Taking the STL underdogs here. Arizona struggled offensively, and the struggled against the Rams in the first round. I believe the Rams overlooked the Jets game, and we saw what they are capable of doing (SF game). Fisher will find a way to pull this one out versus an Arizona offense that is pretty week. It'll be a defensive battle, but Bradford will pull out the win by 3 points!"

Luis G.
Long Island, NY
Steelers Fan

1. Denver Broncos (-10.5) over KANSAS CITY CHIEFS:

"Denver's defense is too good for KC and manning will eat them up. A little worried about all the points but KC will turnover the ball just enough to keep it at two tds. Also not sure how the rb situation is with macgehee out but nothing manning doesn't fix this week."

Todd
Broncos Fan

"Peyton Manning has made the Broncos a whole different team. Broncos have a 6-4 ATS record 3-2 ATS AWAY record. Also when the Broncos are ATS FAVS they are 5-1. Chiefs are probably one of the worst teams in the NFL this year. 1-9 SU record with a 1-4 ATS HOME record. Also in fantasy football KC has given up the MOST fantasy points to team defenses. Enough said!"

Greg
Hercules, CA
Niners Fan


Other teams receiving the fan nod included: Cleveland, Tennessee, San Diego, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh. 

So there you have it TSZ readers. Let's hope our fans build on the success of last week and make this segment into something we can all be proud of.

We're grateful you're all here. Happy Turkey Day. Enjoy the feast, the football, your friends, and your families. 

Vinny and Marco

Reminders: This is a new section we will include at the end of every post. Our goal at The Spread Zone is to help you make money, and if we can scrape together a few pennies with Google Adsense and other Ad revenues, we're going to try to do that. But we need you're help.

#1. Coffee Donations: Feel free to buy us a cup of coffee anytime - top right of the page. It takes a lot of caffeine to keep The Spread Zone running. If you'd rather wait and see how you do with our picks, that's fine. If you appreciate what we're doing regardless of the outcome, you can donate anytime. Thanks again to everyone who has done so already. It has felt like a warm, delicious compliment.

#2. If you shop at Amazon.com, Oldnavy.com, ebay.com, please click on these links through our blogs because allegedly we might get a commission. So far, we haven't, but we don't know if anyone is clicking. Also, please tell us where you do shop, and we'll start an Shop Here List.

#3. Now that we have the support and appreciation of fellow handicappers, we feel like The Spread Zone has as much potential as any free gambling website out there. We always appreciate feedback and suggestions. Like my favorite baseball team likes to say, "Together We're Giant." 

Friday Five: NFL Week 11 Teams Guaranteed to Cover

FRIDAY FIVE LAST WEEK: 2-3 ATS (Boo!)

FRIDAY FIVE SEASON TO DATE: 15-6 ATS (Wow!)

Interesting side note: Of our 21 picks, 16 have been road teams. Doesn't that make our 15-6 ATS even more impressive?

COFFEE DRIVEN BONUS PICKS: 1-1 ATS (Stupid Falcons!)

Doesn't it feel like we just did this yesterday?

As it turns out, The Spread Zone's fan participation Thursday Three locks of the week are very aligned with Marco's and mine, which means two things must be true:

1. We've clearly attracted the most intelligent fans in the football betting community.

2. Marco and I have to come up with another Friday Five bonus pick for coffee donors.

                                   

Although our Friday Five last week was akin to Andrew Bynum's recent hairstyle - pretty bad - our 15-6 ATS mark on the month is nothing the sneeze at. Although our concerns that there would be some overlap between the Thursday Three and the Friday Five have been validated, we decided only good things arise from such consensus - increased confidence in winning and share accountability in losing. Those, my friends, are the secret ingredients to a business worth investing in.

The Spread Zone's Week 11 Friday Five

For those of you new to this segment, Marco and I rank 7 match-ups on the schedule, which we feel confident in winning and/or covering. Much like the Thursday Three, we combine our lists to create a power ranking of sorts from least to most confident. Here are the Week 11 Friday Five.

5. Baltimore Ravens (-3.5) over PITTSBURGH STEELERS: This game was ranked #1 on one of our lists because we were going with the +3.5 the game opened with. Big Ben out doesn't seem to scare analysts out there who believe the Steelers will get the emotional win at home. We're not analysts though - we're gamblers.

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-1.5) over CAROLINA PANTHERS: Win or lose the Bucs haven't played a one point game. They lost to Washington earlier in the year by two, but every other game has been a touchdown or more. On their recent streak of winning 4 of 5, teams haven't come within 10 points. Sure their secondary is hole-ier than the Pope, but they'll score enough to handle Carolina easily.

3. Green Bay (-3.5) over DETROIT LIONS: Talk around the Interweb is how much Detroit needs this game to keep their playoff hopes alive, but Green Bay only has a 1 game lead on Minnesota and Seattle for a wild card spot. Green Bay is coming off the bye and hasn't won by less than 9 on their current 4 game winning streak.

2. ST. LOUIS RAMS (-2.5) over New York Jets: Finally - a home team. As one TSZ fan put it so eloquently, the Jets are a mess. The Rams, on the other hand, are 3-1 at home under new head coach Jeff Fisher, with their only loss coming to Green Bay a month ago.

1. New Orleans (-4.5) over OAKLAND RAIDERS: Yes, we're jumping on the New Orleans bandwagon. With Nick Foles starting in Philadelphia, Drew Brees is going to want to prove current West Lake High School students that he's the best alum playing this week. Plus, as one of our fans cited, "Um, the Raiders kind of suck."

Bonus Picks: We work for caffeine, so if you want the bonus picks please click the Donate Coffee for Vinny and Marco button up top, then shoot us an e-mail at vinnyandmarco@gmail.com to let us know that you did. The tease - one of them is actually an underdog. Or, as always, you can check our full slate of picks for free and decide for yourselves.

Spread Zone Followers: Just shoot us an e-mail and we'll send you our thoughts. I'm pretty sure you've all bought us a cup of Joe by now, and more importantly we really appreciate all of your contributions to expanding this little idea of ours.

Happy betting everyone.

Vinny and Marco



Daily Reminders: This is a new section we will include at the end of every post. Our goal at The Spread Zone is to help you make money, and if we can scrape together a few pennies with Google Adsense and other Ad revenues, we're going to try to do that. But we need you're help.

#1. If you shop at Amazon.com, Oldnavy.com, ebay.com, please click on these links through our blogs because allegedly we might get a commission. So far, we haven't, but we don't know if anyone is clicking. Also, please tell us where you do shop, and we'll start an Shop Here List.

#2. Coffee Donations: Feel free to buy us a cup of coffee anytime - top right of the page. If you'd rather wait and see how you do with our picks, that's fine. If you appreciate what we're doing regardless of the outcome, you can donate anytime. Thanks again to everyone who has done so already. It has felt like a warm, delicious compliment.

#3. Now that we have the support and appreciation of fellow handicappers, we feel like The Spread Zone has as much potential as any free gambling website out there. We always appreciate feedback and suggestions. Like my favorite baseball team likes to say, "Together We're Giant." 

Monday Morning Quarterback

Although it wasn't a complete disaster thanks to our solid afternoon and evening picks, we still need a KC cover tonight to keep our .500+ streak alive. And let me be the first to say, "F- You Rex Ryan." I didn't see the game, but what happened to his alleged mastery against rookie QBs? Give us Tebow, Hail Marys, Our Fathers, and Jesus F-ing Christ ASAP so we can cover some bets.

That being said - and it had to be said - if there's one thing we've learned in life it is that adversity, when embraced, is the greatest fortifier of all. Translation: Losing makes us better gamblers? Isn't that the best thing you've ever heard? Sounds ridiculous, but it's true. When in your life have you paused during a winning streak to truly analyze your success or say to yourself, "I should really take a moment to think about what I'm doing right?" Instead we cavalierly march on, taking for granted that we finally have everything figured out. Until a weekend like this one comes along. 

Please read on, this is as important as the Week 11 Picks ATS we hope to have to you by tomorrow. Here are some things we learned at The Spread Zone during our slightly bumpy weekend. 

#1. The Best Fans in the World

Every team in the NFL - with the exception of the Jacksonville Jaguars - declares unequivocally that they have the best fans in the world. After wins, players and management alike acknowledge they couldn't have done it without their "Twelfth Man." Pedestrian teams like the Seattle Seahawks (5-0 at home, 1-3 on the road) are playoff bound and credit the noise in their stadium for disrupting their competition enough to pull out wins, almost losses, and flat out steals (Green Bay). The reasons NFL teams cite their 77-56 SU dominance at home: their fans, the best fans in the league. 

                             

This weekend, however, proved to the rest of the cyber-world that The Spread Zone is the team with the best fans in not only the NFL, but as Maurice Sendak would say, "the world all around." Thank you faithful followers and supporters for your kind words, your encouragement, and all the coffee.

Coffee Thank You's: Generous donations by Mysterio, John, and an anonymous source I would love to give credit to kept Marco and I caffeinated in anticipation of the gambling rush that is Sunday/Mondays.

Welcomes: We have new followers, but still a hearty welcome to Beers n Brats for Breakfast, WannaBBallers, Davez, and the return of OGA - that's the Original Anonymous. 

As Mysterio put it, "Everyone has a bad week boys, keep your chins up! Now comes your toughest challenge yet.....bouncing back. I've already looked at next week and it's not getting any easier."

#2 Sometimes a Tie Makes You a Better Gambler

Yesterday Jimmy the Weasel took me to the Niners-Rams game at old Candlestick Park. We drove down the night before, got to the park early on Sunday, enjoyed the festive tailgating, then witnessed an historic NFL event - A freakin' tie. During those four hours of entertaining football, roller coaster emotions, and frenzied atmosphere something very interesting happened. Although I walked into the stadium a Forty Niner fan, I walked out a better gambler. 

Jimmy the Weasel is a Rams fan and his team started strong yesterday jumping out to a 14-0 lead. Idiotic Forty Niner fans started equally strong, criticizing play calls and declaring their psychic prowess when the Niners would fall short of a first down. "See I told your that wouldn't work." They were loud, drunk, and obnoxious, which I know is par for the course, bu they were also really, really stupid. "Put Colin Kaepernick in," one of them shouted, and by the second quarter their wish was granted thanks to an Alex Smith concussion. 

The game was ho-hum until the second half when things got interesting - like the idiotic fans behind me saying things they just didn't think about first. With the Niners driving in the Red Zone, Vernon Davis was flanked right, and one of the belligerent fans stood up and yelled, "Yeah baby, give me some V.D. in the end zone." I almost sprayed my beverage over the woman in front of me - which she might not have noticed because she had a giant beehive hairdo obscuring my view. 

                             

If you saw the game you know how it ended, but what you might not know if you haven't attended an NFL tie is how confused and subdued Americans get when a game ends with this result. The one who desired V.D. in his end zone said, "What? No double OT? But in college..." Another naively said, "What? A fucking tie? This isn't college football." There were no bragging rights, no screaming fans yelling, "Yeah mother fuckers, we tied your ass," just confusion and a complete lack of closure. As we were herded out with the masses, Jimmy and I decided to fuel the fires by yelling loudly, "What is this European Soccer?" and "There are no ties in America." 

Ultimately I left Candlestick with little respect for my fellow Forty Niner fans along with the certainty that I would have felt the same way at every other stadium across the country. As a result, this diminished loyalty to any team in the NFL will ultimately make me - and Marco who has no allegiances - stronger gamblers. 

Just wait. You'll see...

Thanks for all your support, everyone. Coffee donations are awesome - top right of the page if you want to contribute to the cause - comments are better, and followers are the best. Marco and I are going to discuss getting some fan participation into The Spread Zone now that we have such intelligent and loyal NFL fans, so put on your Handicapping Hats and get ready to be published writers. 

See you tomorrow,

Vinny and Marco

NFL Week 5 Picks ATS: Arizona Cardinals vs St. Louis Rams

Week 4 Results: 8-7 ATS

Season To Date: 33-30 ATS

After a rough start last Sunday, Marco and I managed to climb back over .500 thanks to the Giants and Bears covering the Sunday/Monday Night games. If you're anything like us - and I'm pretty sure you are - once we knew we weren't going to win our pool this week, we were ready to look at the Vegas lines for Week 5 and move on.

Monday afternoon before the Cowboys and Bears kicked off, Marco and I had our picks analyzed, talked out, and hammered down. We felt great about our choices. There was balance between home teams and away teams, underdogs and favorites, animal mascots and Native American slurs. Our picks were infallibly perfect. This was definitely feeling like a 14-0 week. Until the next morning. A sports radio blurb, an offensive or defensive stat, an article with picks ATS (which are really hard to find Monday Night), and we found ourselves doubting our initial assessments.

By Wednesday morning, having sided with almost every team in the NFL, it started to feel reminiscent of picking up girls on strobe-lit dance floors back in the '90s. Under the right light, almost anything can look pretty good. Back then Vinny and I would change our minds a half a dozen times before finally getting drunk enough to do something about it. If the spread was good enough we took the points if you know what I mean. The sun always came up the next morning, but it didn't always shine down upon us and say, "Winner."

Let's kick this week off with our Thursday Night Special

Arizona Cardinals @ St. Louis Rams

Does anyone here remember the Houston Oilers? Not only does Jeff Fisher remember them, he played for them, coached them, convinced them to relocate, then convinced the state of Tennessee to allow to remain The Oilers (what???) while he alone came up with a mascot that not only embodied and personified strength and greatness but also allowed for poetic alliteration. That's right - Tennessee Titans. Say that ten times fast. It's easy, because Jeff Fisher made it that way.

Here's my point. Last week, while Marco was engaging in his favorite number crunching hobby, he decided to take a closer look at the games where the Vegas line finished up at less than three points. What he discovered is that of the 22 games with these lines, 15 have been won by the team whose coach had more years of head coaching experience. If Ken Wisenhunt remembers the Oilers, it's probably from a documentary he watched during his high school history class.

Jeff Fisher is a handsome, mustachio-ed, experienced winner. He has inspired a Ram's team which had won only 15 games in 5 years to an undefeated start (2-0) at home this year. The betting trends all favor the Cardinals. They're 5-1 ATS in their last six division games. They're 8-3 ATS in their last 11 against the Rams. They're 11-2 in their last 13 SU. All of that is true. However, those same Cardinals are 0-1 against Jeff Fisher.

                              

Both of these teams have demonstrated an ability to play defense and to score just enough to win ball games. Defensively, the Cardinals give up fewer points while the Rams allow fewer yards. On offense, the Rams rank 27th while the Cardinals are down and 31st. Yes, the Cardinals are undefeated, have beaten the Patriots, survived the Dolphins, and dealt with the adversity of losing their starting quarterback in Week 1.

St. Louis, however, has Greg the Leg. And he was almost all they needed last week - along with a Jeff Fisher designed fake field goal for a touchdown.

This division rivalry will come down to two things: the home crowd in St. Louis, thrilled that they still have something to cheer for after their Cardinals disappointing loss to the Atlanta Braves in the play-in wild card game, and a single - albeit impressive - touchdown by the (gasp) Rams offense.

That's our bold prediction for Thursday Night. Take the Rams and points. And if anyone's offering an Under for the Under, we'd take that, too.

Pick: Jeff Fisher +1.5

Check in tomorrow morning for the rest of our Week 5 Picks ATS