NFL SpreadSHREDDER, Week 16: Pointspreading The Holiday Cheer
__________________________________________________________________________Celebrity SpreadSHREDDER Week 15 ATS (not included in total): 1-2
SpreadSHREDDER Overall ATS: 23-20-1
SpreadSHREDDER Overall vs. The Total: 2-1-1
Special thanks to Bob Mantz Jr. of Bob’s Blitz and The New York Post for appearing as our celebrity handicapper in last week’s SpreadSHREDDER. Bob took 3 tough games last week, and is one of the best in the business. Now that we’re back, we hope to continue to stake that claim as well.
Philadelphia (-7) over Denver
Each year, The Denver Broncos seem to play a schedule fine tuned for them to fizzle out at some point in the season. A unique location and time zone for The Broncos makes it so they are up against travel dilemmas within their own division!
This week, The Broncos will be making a dreaded trip to the Eastern time zone to play their third road game in four weeks. Denver will be playing this game against a negative body clock as they will be matched against a team that has to win to better its position in the NFC playoff race.
Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders help us pointspread The Holiday Cheer.
During the offseason, The Denver Broncos signed free agent Strong Safety Brian Dawkins, who played the same position for The Philadelphia Eagles for 13 seasons. The Eagles coaching staff and quarterback Donovan McNabb, who practiced against Dawkins for 10 seasons, will have no problem developing a game plan tailored to his weaknesses (See Favre vs. The Packers).
The Bronco’s stregnth is their running game. Last week, Frank Gore was the first runningback to amass over 100 yards against The Eagles run defense in over one year. This is a statistic that screams EXCEPTION, not RULE, and with The Broncos unable to run the ball effectively against Philadelphia, this game should result in the dismantling of The 2009 Denver Broncos team and season. PHILADELPHIA, 38-13.
Cleveland (-3) over Oakland
The Raiders have been cashing as dogs against double-digit spreads all season (two of these instances were prognosticated right here in The SpreadSHREDDER) including an improbable road win against Denver (+13.5) last week.
This week, The Raiders will be the dog against a smaller spread as they travel across two time zones to play their fourth road game in five weeks and will be kicking off three hours before the regularly scheduled Raider game which starts at around 1:15 PM PT.
Cleveland is coming off back-to-back wins for the first time all season, and The Browns coaching staff will look to impress in order to save their jobs with the Holmgren administration set to take over and lead Cleveland into its next 10 seasons of mediocrity (honestly, who made the rule that Holmgren is a great GM?).
A key component of that above-mentioned Browns coaching staff includes defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, who assumed the same positions with The Oakland Raiders for five seasons.
Cleveland’s revived running game, behind RB Jerome Harrison, should have ample opportunities to run over the league’s 5th-worst rushing defense as The Browns continue their unlikely roll to end the season. CLEVELAND, 27-10.
Cincinnati (-13.5) over Kansas City
Cincinnati has been a terrible ‘chalk’ pick all season as they have failed to cash a single double-digit point spread for the entire year, something we took note of as we have never picked The Bengals as a favorite in The SpreadSHREDDER.
If there was any week to pick The Bengals as a favorite, this would be it. Cincinnati will be playing at home, for the first time since the tragic death of teammate Chris Brown, against The 3-11 Kansas City Chiefs. This will be an emotional game for a team that matches up extremely well against The hapless Chiefs.
Kansas City’s 31st ranked run defense will be no match for Cedric Benson and The Cincinnati Bengals, who have the 3rd most rushing attempts in the league and the 6th most yards.
Playing with heavy hearts, The Bengals should have no problem finding the motivation that has evaded them in past contests against big underdogs, thus making them a lousy favorite. CINCINNATI, 44-7.
**SpreadSHREDDER HOLIDAY BONUS**
St. Louis (+14) over Arizona
The Rams have been noticeably coached up since their bye week, and they now get set to seek revenge against a division opponent who beat them five weeks ago.
The Arizona Cardinals have absolutely nothing to play for, and will look to rest key starters including WR Larry Fitzgerald who will has been battling a knee injury. The Cardinals will also be without talented tackle Mike Gandy, who is out with a pelvis injury.
Laugh all you want about Ram’s quarterback Keith Null, but nothing says cash like an underdog utilizing a relatively new quarterback with a very limited film library, thus giving the underdog the edge in preparation.
It is usually this point in the season where the huge underdog with nothing to play for pulls trick plays out of the back of its playbook and gives the favorite all it can handle and more. This Cardinals team still has maturity issues, including failing to put away teams they are ‘supposed to beat’, and has done most of its damage on the road this season (6-2). Quick! Who has the second most rushing yards in the league? Stephen Jackson of The Rams (no, really, look it up!) ST. LOUIS, 21-14.
[SpreadSHREDDER Point Spreads and wagering totals brought to you by Sportsbook.com by way of Vegasinsider.com. Lines and totals subject to change.]
It’s December 25th, so have a very Nasty Christmas.
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Tags: 100 yard rushing against The Eagles, Chris Henry Death, Mike Holmgren Browns, NFL, NFL Against The Spread, NFL betting lines, NFL Week 16 2009, SpreadSHREDDER
