Ace's NFL Picks: Week 3

By: Ace, Senior NFL Analyst

Week 2 was a model of consistency as I went 6-8-2 vs the spread and 10-6-0 picking winners. I once again hit on my "upset special" with Atlanta, and my "lock" with New England. Here are my picks for week 3. I like Miami as my upset and Carolina as my lock. Good luck everyone.

Game:                                                                               My Pick (with spread):

New England at Buffalo                                                  New England (-8.5)
San Fransisco at Cincinnati                                           Cincinnati (-2.5)
Miami at Cleveland                                                         Miami (+2.5)
Denver at Tennessee                                                     Tennessee (-6.5)
Detroit at Minnesota                                                       Detroit (-3.5)
Houston at New Orleans                                                 New Orleans (-4.0)
New York Giants at Philadelphia                                   Philadelphia (Off)
Jacksonville at Carolina                                                 Carolina (-3.5)
New York Jets at Oakland                                              New York Jets (-3.5)
Baltimore at St. Louis                                                     Baltimore (-4.0)
Kansas City at San Diego                                             San Diego (-14.5)
Green Bay at Chicago                                                   Green Bay (-3.5)
Arizona at Seattle                                                           Seattle (+3.5)
Atlanta at Tampa Bay                                                     Atlanta (+1.5)
Pittsburgh at Indianapolis                                              Pittsburgh (-10.5)
Washington at Dallas                                                     Washington (Off)

Ace's NFL Picks: Week 2

By: Ace, Senior NFL Analyst

Last week I went 6-8-2 against the spread and 10-6-0 just picking winners. My "upset special" Chicago easily beat Atlanta 30 to 12 and my "lock of the week" Houston took care of Indianapolis 34 to 7. Not a bad start to the season, but hopefully I can do better this week. Here are my picks for week two, my upset is Atlanta (+2.5) and my lock is New England (-7.0).

Game:                                                        My Pick (with spread):

Oakland at Buffalo                                     Oakland (+3.0)
Kansas City at Detroit                               Detroit (-8.0)
Baltimore at Tennessee                            Baltimore (-6.0)
Cleveland at Indianapolis                          Indianapolis (+2.5)
Tampa Bay at Minnesota                          Minnesota (-3.0)
Chicago at New Orleans                           Chicago (-7.0)
Jacksonville at New York Jets                   New York Jets (-9.5)
Seattle at Pittsburgh                                  Pittsburgh (-14.5)
Arizona at Washington                              Washington (-3.5)
Green Bay at Carolina                              Green Bay (-10.0)
Dallas at San Francisco                            Dallas (-3.0)
Cincinnati at Denver                                  Denver (-4.0)
Houston at Miami                                       Miami (+3.0)
San Diego at New England                       New England (-7.0)
Philadelphia at Atlanta                               Atlanta (+2.5)
St. Louis at New York Giants                     New York Giants (-6.0)

Ace's NFL Picks: Week 1

By: Ace, LeRoy Senior Handicapper

Game:                                                                        My Pick (with spread):

New Orleans at Green Bay                                            Green Bay (-4.5)
Atlanta at Chicago                                                          Chicago (+3.0)
Cincinnati at Cleveland                                                  Cincinnati (+6.5)
Buffalo at Kansas City                                                    Kansas City (-6.0)
Philadelphia at St. Louis                                                Philadelphia (-5.0)
Detroit at Tampa Bay                                                     Tampa Bay (-2.0)
Tennessee at Jacksonville                                            Jacksonville (-3.0)
Pittsburgh at Baltimore                                                  Baltimore (-2.5)
Indianapolis at Houston                                                 Houston (-8.5)
Carolina at Arizona                                                        Arizona (-7.0)
Minnesota at San Diego                                               San Diego (-8.5)
Seattle at San Francisco                                              Seattle (+5.5)
New York (NYG) at Washington                                   New York (NYG) (-3.0)
Dallas at New York (NYJ)                                              New York (NYJ) (-4.5)
New England at Miami                                                  Miami (+7.0)
Oakland at Denver                                                        Denver (-3.0)

Obama Won't Ruin NFL Opener

By: Ace, Senior NFL Analyst

President Barack (Hussein) Obama made one of the smartest political decisions of his presidency on Friday by deciding to reschedule his Sept. 8th address to the nation to avoid conflict with the NFL season opener. Obama's speech on the nation's unemployment crisis was originally slated to air at 8pm Thursday night. The NFL's season opener between the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints is scheduled to kickoff at 8:30pm on NBC. Blacking out the beginning of the season opener (which should be one of the highest rated games all season) would have be devastating for both football fans and Obama's dwindling approval rating. In the end the White House made the right decision moving to speech to avoid pissing off a large portion of the country, because it's not likely the speech will have any effect on restoring economic confidence or creating jobs.

Syracuse-Wake Forest: Comeback Victory or Something Else?

By: Pete, Conspiracy Columnist

After watching the Syracuse-Wake Forest game I found myself jumping up for joy, I was elated that my college football team came from 15 points behind to defeat the Demon Deacons in overtime and begin the season 1-0.  I remember during the Greg Robinson era that a 29-14 deficit with over 11 minutes to go in the game would ultimately lead to 43-17 final score and be considered a close loss.  This victory seemed different, after coming off a 7-5 regular season with a win at the Pinstripe Bowl the Orange seem poised to continue their transition from Big East cellar dweller into a potential Top 25 program.  It’s not unreasonable, from 1987-2001 Syracuse went to 12 bowl games going 9-2-1(The Tie came during the Sugar Bowl when the Orange faced Auburn) in the process.  Once the game was over I listened to the analysis and read the box score something changed my mood from excited to surprise and eventually to suspicious, Syracuse did not deserved to win this game. This goes beyond Wake Forest making dumb penalties and not capitalizing on opportunities they certainly did, but what if I were to tell you that the Demon Deacons knew before kickoff that they were destined to lose? Sounds crazy?  After this review that statement will make much more sense.

The thing you have to realize about a conspiracy is how convenient the outcome is toward the beneficiaries. The announcers made this perfectly clear Syracuse was 0-8 against the ACC at home and 1-17 overall since 1996. If the Orange were going to take a step into being a Big East championship contender they need to beat some decent out of conference opponents. While Wake Forest had a terrible year in 2010 they seemed like a bowl caliber squad going into 2011. When the second quarter began the Demon Deacons had a 6-0 lead, their drives in the first quarter made me nervous but since no touchdowns were scored I still felt confident Syracuse was going to make a run. Ryan Nassib delivered on my wishes and drove the Orange to a touchdown taking a 7-6 lead. Everything was going fine but Wake Forest scored on their next drive and then scored again at the end of the half to take a 20-7 lead. Of course the second half would prove to be different as the Demon Deacons took a 29-14 lead into the forth, but Syracuse didn’t quit and eventually pulled off the comeback. Sounds like a typical come from behind game but the stats show that this was destined to happen.

Now from first glance there seems to be no way Syracuse should have won the game by the numbers. Wake Forest gained 406 total yards, completing 23 first downs, went 7-19 in third down conversions, and had a 33:44 time of possession win. The Orange’s numbers were 299 total yards, 15 first downs, 3-11 in third down conversions, and controlled the clock for 26:16 minutes. The typical explanation would be well the Demon Deacons made terrible penalties throughout the game, they should have scored touchdowns instead of field goals in the first quarter, and they missed kicks that would prove to be critical by the end of the game. All of these are true but, it’s how they occurred that makes me question the outcome. For starters it seemed very strange that the announcers kept mentioning Syracuse’s futile record against ACC opponents but almost every time they mentioned that stat, it seemed a critical moment would happen. When Wake Forest recovered a Syracuse fumble it was 26-14 the announcers make the statement, “it’s third down, the Demon Deacons convert and get inside the goal”, but wait a minute, a phantom holding penalty is called. This would force Wake Forest to kick a field goal and extend their lead to 15 points. The important thing to remember is that Tanner Price quarterback of the Demon Deacons would sit out the rest of the game with an ankle injury. Now obviously you want to protect your player and not cause any more harm, but Price was lighting the Syracuse defense up. They could not stop his passing attack and from the looks of him on the sidelines he could have gone back in the game, he was not taken to the locker room and was able to walk on his own power.

This may sound typical but if your stud quarterback has an injury and is able to walk around on the sidelines you don’t keep him on the bench, you send him in the game. Much like a wrestler or an old-time heavyweight boxer, Wake Forest took a dive and allowed Syracuse to win because, one it makes for an interesting game, and two it allows the Orange to have that stepping stone in its quest for national prominence. This was not the only thing that was staged my friends. When Krautman of Syracuse was about to kick a field goal with 2:14 left the announcers kept saying repeatedly how was about to break the Orange’s record for most field goals made. The lead announcer gave away the outcome at about the 3 minute mark when he told his colleague “Ready for Overtime?”, the second announcer quickly told him to quiet down (if you watch the repeat of the game you can clearly hear it).  Of course Krautman misses the kick and the game is then sent into overtime. The scores by Bailey and Chew each should not have been ruled a touchdown but because they were first ruled and the reply “proved” that “no evidence” could overturn the call. During Chew’s catch you can actually see the ball rolling under his arm which makes it incomplete.

While I am happy that my team won, I would rather they win on their own merit than at the hands of a third party. The thing to remember is that Syracuse is a big time broadcasting and communications school. Many graduates have gone on into quality news and sports networks like CNN and ESPN. Just a reminder, what network broadcasted tonight’s game even though Time Warner picked up the feed? Oh yeah, it was ESPN…