[bigboydan]

We have some very fine canidates right now in the NFL.

1.) The Detroit Lions.

This team has completely packed it in for the season, and are making that push for that #1 overall pick next year. The only question is how will Matt Millen screw up that pick.

2.) We have the Oakland Raiders (aka "faiders")

This team was doomed from the start. Art Shell lost control of this team before the season even started thanks to that Joey Porter incident, not to mention the Randy Moss problem with him admiting dropping balls unpurpose.

3.) The Cleveland Browns (aka the Clowns aka the mistake by the lake)

This team really makes it look obvious with there poor play on both sides of the ball. Romeo Crennel needs to clean house and get rid of the quitters he has on this team, and til then they will never have success.

4.) The ST.Louis Rams (aka the lambs)

This team has completely packed it in, and Bulger even made comments towards that fact. This team started the season out at 4-1 and went into a free fall beyond belief.


Personally, I don't think I could bet on any of these teams above. However the team I absolutely would not bet on the rest of the season is the ST.Louis Rams. There is just way too much termoil in there locker room at this point.

[sjelveh]

the dam panthers had them ml when they played the bengals and had them -3 at philly same result interception with less then a min on 3rd and goal and then one on 1st and goal

[Aces]

The Colts - Run D exposed to the league. Unless Manning can get his team such a big lead that the other team has to go to the air its going to be a bumpy ride for the Colts from here on out.

[Mudcat]

A philosophy that has served me well over the years: teams are never as good or as bad as the hype.

For example, with all the hype surrounding San Diego and all the dark clouds over the Raiders (and rightly so in both cases, I might add) it was the Raiders who covered in their most recent match-up.

I'll bet on anyone if I see the right numeral.

[bigboydan]

The Colts - Run D exposed to the league. Unless Manning can get his team such a big lead that the other team has to go to the air its going to be a bumpy ride for the Colts from here on out.

I don't feel I would go to that extent yet with the Colts bro. They have had a bit of a rough road as of late, but by no means would I put them on this list.

[Aces]

I'm still pissed about last week: lets just say I'll be a bit more careful with my colts plays.

[TLD]

As someone who plays about 90% underdogs, I’ll likely bet all of the teams mentioned in bigboydan’s opening post at least once the rest of the season.

My bets typically have a contrarian element to them in that I look at things like overall talent level and put little or no weight on recent performances, thus as perceptions zig and zag (this team’s really hot, that team has quit, this team is in disarray, that team is gaining in confidence, etc.) and the lines go with them, I’m typically plugging along down the middle, betting against the teams people have bumped up due to recent performance, and betting on the teams people have bumped down due to recent performance.

For one thing, I think a lot of these short term psychological factors are too ambiguous for me to feel confident I can assess. For example, I think it’s too easy to say a team that lost big or has lost multiple games in a row has “quit.” I thought the Rams on Monday night played hard the whole game, were especially effective on offense, and would have probably covered and possibly won straight up but for big plays on special teams. I didn’t see a team that came in flat, didn’t care about the game because their season’s over or they’re more concerned with bickering with each other, and got pushed around all night.

But maybe I’m dead wrong on that. In any case, since I’m not confident that I can assess such things accurately, I usually don’t incorporate them into my handicapping. Like I say, I let other people do so, and that usually puts me on the opposite side from them.

[gummo]

I won't bet on or against Green Bay. They've screwed me more than any team.

[Illusion]

Cleveland Browns in the NFL and Golden State in the NBA. These two teams have killed me.

[dave11486]

The Browns have played good every other week as of late, so this would be an UP week I guess.

But the Raiders are no longer a team I would give a shot. After last week when they had plenty of chances to keep it close early, and just failed on every level.