Top NFL picks against the Spread: Handicapping Week 2: Thursday Night
By Bart
Well, we all have to make adjustments in life. The life of a NFL gambler gets thrown a little out of whack with Thursday Night Football games in September. To be quite honest, some confidence pool and fantasy guys don’t like Thursday Night games, but I love it. It is just one more NFL game that you can watch in the week that you ordinarily may not get to see unless you have access to all games on Sunday. Well, due to the new schedule of the NFL, I too will be on a new schedule. You can look for a Wednesday Night post from me for the Thursday game. I will summarize my previous week as well as give a prediction for the Thursday game. On Saturdays, I will be giving my pick 3, upset special, and Bears game (if on Sunday).
SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK:
Well, off to a good start. It’s nice to come out of the gates at 4-1. As I wrote last week, Houston would be covering the spread by halftime and they were (up 21 pts at half). I shared that Baltimore would win by 10-13 points and they won by 31 – so, sorry, I was a little off. My goof was the Detroit game, but when I saw that Stafford had 3 picks, I knew that I was going to be in trouble. It was nice to see the 49ers take care of business for many reasons. Obviously, the Packers going 0-1 in the Conference is great! I predicted that the Packers would have a battle in week 1 which would also impact them in Week 2 vs the Bears – let’s hope that plays out. The last reason is I predicted them as my Upset Special. The Beloved pulled through as expected and they were able to rest starters. Read on, you’ll see I’m taking them again.
LAST WEEK: Pick “3 ” – 2-1 Upset Special: 1-0 Beloved: 1-0
SEASON: Pick “3 ” – 2-1 Upset Special: 1-0 Beloved: 1-0
THURSDAY NIGHT GAME/BELOVED PICK OF THE WEEK
Bears +6 vs. Green Bay – the line has moved a little, showing most $ is going towards the Packers. Gamblers across the country cannot fathom the Packers losing 2 in a row at home to start the season. It wouldn’t have mattered if the Bears won by 50 last week, the Bears would never be favored in this game. Therefore, if you think a team is going to win, it stands to reason that you’ll likely bet on that team and give the points. However, I predicted it before the season and I’m sticking to my guns. The Bears have game-planned for this week despite the short week. The Packers needed to focus on the 49ers last week and now have a short time to worry about the Bears and their new look. This is going to be a terrific game, one in which I predict the Bears will win outright, so I’ll surely take the 6 points. Talk radio is going to light up after this one, both in Chicago and in Green Bay. The callers in Green Bay will be expressing the frustration regarding their team’s 3 straight losses.