10 HOUSTON over *Jacksonville Late Score Forecast: HOUSTON 25 - *Jacksonville 14
True, Houston has “conspired” to lose games in a variety of maddening ways this season, with last week’s surrender of a 17-0 lead vs. Indy merely the latest in a string of galling setbacks that also includes first meeting vs. Jags back on Sept. 27, when Chris Brown fumbled away the apparent game-tying TD at the goal line in the final moments. But it’s worth noting that the Texans have been playing much better “D” since September (allowing roughly 150 ypg less since), coinciding with contributions of key rookies at LB (Brian Cushing) and CB (Glover Quin). Meanwhile, Jax’s recurring OL issues resurfaced in last week’s loss vs. 49ers when David Garrard was sacked 6 times, and the potential absence of star Jag CB Rashean Mathis (strained groin) is bad news vs. Andre Johnson. Not too late for Houston (only 1 game out of last AFC wild card slot) to get back in playoff mix, and note JV a subpar 2-11 vs. line last 13 as host.
TOTALS: UNDER (45) in the Dallas-New York Giant Game——Forget the 33-31 outburst between this pair in Week Two meeting, both offenses struggling more now...OVER (44) in the Baltimore-Green Bay Game (Monday Night)——Ravens defense is down a notch from 2008, but both these stop units help generate points for their offenses.
NINE-RATED GAMES:SEATTLE (Pick ‘em) vs. San Francisco——Seattle offense got a big boost (130 YR) from a little man (5-8 Justin Forsett) last week in St. Louis; do the Seahawks now run better than the 49ers (only 52 YR last week vs. Jacksonville!)?
*L.A. LAKERS over Phoenix (NBA)...The Lakers are looking every bit the part of defending champions the last two weeks. The return to action of C Pau Gasol is a major positive, but L.A. was starting to gather momentum before he came back, recovering from 0-5 pointspread start to cover 8 of last 11 games to close out November. L.A. is 7-2 against the number in its last 9 games at the Staples Center prior to facing New Orleans on Tuesday and Miami on Friday. The Lakers have handled the Suns, winning 4 of the last 5 meetings. See more of the same. *L.A. LAKERS 129 - Phoenix 110
RATING - 10
CKO Newsletter 12/6
Reply With Quote