NFL Picks Thanksgiving Day Special

Eric's Picks

Detroit 33- 27
Dallas 24- 20
Baltimore 17- 13

Minnesota +9
Cincinnatti -7
Carolina -3 *****LOCK
St. Louis -2.5
Bills +9***********LOCK
Houston -3.5
Washington +4
Tampa Bay +3
Chicago +3
New England -7
San Diego -6
Pittsburgh -10.5
Giants +7

Danny's Picks

Green Bay -4
Miami +7
Baltimore -3
Chicago +4.5****lock
New England -6
San Diego -6****lock
Tampa Bay +3.5
Jaguars +3.5
Cincinnati -7
St. Louis -3
Atlanta -9
Carolina -3
Jets -9
Seattle -3.5
Giants +7
Chiefs +10.5

3 Team Parlay to consider: Chicago +3, Carolina -3, San Diego -6 (4th best pick is New England -7)

WEEK 11 NFL PICKS

Lines according to BOOKMAKER.COM

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

Eric and Danny both had JETS -6

BUFFALO @ MIAMI -1.5

Reggie Bush came out of nowhere to redeem Miami'sacquisition and my
fantasy season. The Bills suffered a true beat down last week at the
hands ofDallas. Buffalo pulled the trigger a little early on the
Fitzpatrick, but at least he can show his face at alumni events now
that he's reached the median salary for a Harvard grad.

Eric: MIA 24 BUFF 27
Danny: MIA 26 BUFF 20*********Lock

Cincinnati @ Baltimore -6.5

Cincy showed a lot in their ability to hang with the Steelers. The
Jekyll and Hyde Ravens continue to confound everyone. They obviously
can hang with the best but can't seem to understand that games against
bad teams count too. Boumce back game for the Ravens in a nice win
over Cincy. The Bengals are a year away from making a playoff run. A
few more picks (thanks Oakland) and a key signing will put them on par
with Pittsburgh and Baltimore. I haven't been this excited about a
red headed quarterback since Jay Schroeder,and I think he was blonde.

Eric: CINCY 17 BAL 32*********Lock
Danny: Cincy 16 Balt 24

Jacksonville @ Cleveland -1

Who cares. Two offenses going nowhere, and two defenses that should
keep this game below 40 total points.

Danny & Eric: JAX 17 CLE 14

Oakland -1 @ Minnesota

The Raiders looked good last week against the reeling Chargers.
Michael Bush will get his chance as a lead back next season somewhere
else. He's played exquisitely in each opportunity given to him.
Perhaps Palmer isn't going to be the epic interception machine I'd
hoped. Even if he plays well enough to win this division, the trade
wasn't worth it. Whoever does come out of the AFC West is destined
for a first round playoff exit. I'm starting to really dig this
messyTebow thing. If he continues to win with this ugly but
entertaining brand of pro football resulting in an AFC West Crown for
the Broncos, what can the Broncos brass do? The fans will riot if
they go with a more conventional QB next year, and there's no way
teams cannot find a way to shut down this option style offense. I will
root for a Vikings win. However, the Viking secondary is depleted and
Palmer seemingly developed a nice rapport with these young Raiders
receivers. Unless Jared Allen can absolutely terrorize Palmer on just
about every pass play (a distinct possibility), the Vikings will give
up some big yards through the air and I cannot see Minnesota doing
enough to keep upaside from Peterson running rampant.

Eric: OAK 24 MINN 17************Lock
Danny: OAK 17 MINN 23 *************Lock

Dallas -7 @ Washington

Dallas is something else. You never know what to expect. The easy
choice is to take the Cowboys coming off the Bills blowout and the
Skins falling apart. It's difficult to ascertain why the Redskins
sturdy defense faltered. The Washington QB situation combined with a
few key injuries completely derailed their season. According to
reports,Grossman will start but does it really matter?

Dallas looked great last week and apparently DeMarco Murray is the
greatest thing since Emmett Smith. A running game makes the offense a
world better. Since Marion Barber circa 2009, the Cowboys have lacked
a run game. This offensive deficiency put too much pressure on Romo
to win the games through the air. He's a good piece of the puzzle but
he's not a Manning or Brady that over compensates for the lack of a
balanced offense. While I do not see Murray continuing his record
setting pace through the rest of the season, I feel this incarnation
of the Cowboys is more of a contender than any team since Wade's first
year when they finished 13-3.

On the other side of the ball, inconsistency still pervades. Dallas
allowed over 100yards rushing in each of its last 3 games. The
secondary, however, is playing well over the past two games that
played a larger role in the victories given both the Seahawks and
Bills played most of the game from behind. I still see plays where
the defense looks confused- lots ofpointing and yelling with guys
moving into position just before the snap. The Bills lone touchdown
came when a confused Dallas D only put 10 men on the field, leading to
the most painfully contrived TD celebration ever witnessed. I think
Rob Ryan shuts down Washington but it will result from Washington's
dearth of talent. Dallas' second best defensive player, LB Sean Lee,
is playing with a club on his dislocated wrist. If his injury
worsens, or 33 year old CB Terrance Newman acts his age, the defense
will enter into a free fall.

Too much offense from Dallas, too much Grossman from Washington.
Cowboys win going away…but it doesn't mean anything aside from the
fact Dallas can pad their record on the dregs of the NFL.

Eric: DAL 35 WASH 17
Danny: DAL 34 WASH 20

Carolina +7 @ Detroit

Detroit needs a running game to get back into contender's status.

Eric: CAR 24 DET 28
Danny: CAR 30 DET 34

Tampa Bay +14 1/2 @ Green Bay

This is a trap game written all over it. Green Bay is due for a let
up and they face a big Detroit game on Thanksgiving. Tampa Bay always
seems to play well in this situation. Closer than expected here.

Eric: TB 20 GB 33
Danny: TB 24 GB 30

Arizona + 10 @ San Francisco

Alex Smith is playing some good football, and he will have to make
some plays in this game as the Cardinals will put a lot of people in
the box to stop the run. I expect Vernon Davis to have a big play and
the 49ers will get the win.

Eric: ARI 20 SF 24
Danny: ARI 10 SF 20

Seattle @ St Louis -3

Seattle is coming off a big home win, while St. Louis barely escaped
Cleveland with a W.

Eric: SEA 17 STL 21
Danny: SEA 27 STL 20

Tennessee +6 @ Atlanta

Matt Ryan is too good at home to lose back to back games. Tennessee
will force the run with Chris Johnson and look to open up the
play-action passing plays. Home teams sneaks it out here.

Eric: TENN 20 ATL 24
Danny: TENN 24 ATL 28

San Diego @ Chicago -3.5

Phil Rivers has to show up and play a clean football game in Chicago
in order to give his team hope that they can overcome the media and
the bad play of late, and take down the AFC West by week 17.

Eric: SD 21 CHI 28
Danny: SD 27 CHI 28

Philadelphia @ New York -5.5

Eric is leaning towards the Giants in a big win. Danny likes the road
underdogs to show up in a big way for Andy Reid and get a win to keep
a glimmer of hope for the playoffs in the Eagles locker room.

Eric: PHI 17 NYG 31
Danny: PHI 20 NYG 17

Kansas City @ New England -15

Kansas City is a big public underdog here. New England wins but look
for the Chiefs defense to get them a cover.

Eric: KC 10 NE 35
Danny: KC 17 NE 30

WEEK 9 NFL PICKS

LINES ACCORDING TO SCORESANDODDS.COM

Arizona at Philadelphia -14

Arizona traded away a good player and a nice pick for a mediocre QB.
Kolb's not likely to play leaving the Cardinals to the hands of John
Skelton. Larry Fitzgerald remains in wide receiver purgatory. I keep
betting on the Eagles and keep losing. This is it, if they lose this
one, call the season a failure and start over.

Eric: ARI 13 PHI 24
Danny: ARI 13 PHI 38 ***********Lock

Tennessee at Carolina -3 ½

Tennessee misses Kenny Britt in a terrible way. He freed up the
underneath passing game for Matt Hasselbeck. Chris Johnson play, or
lack thereof, puts even more pressure on a passing game without its
star. Newton's impressive play has yet to translate into very many
wins. He starts to change that this week.

Eric: TENN 24 CAR 30
Danny: TENN 20 CAR 27

Houston -3 1/2 at Tampa Bay

This is a big potential let down game for the Houston Texans. They
have the bye week approaching and they are coming off a few good wins.
On paper the Texans win this game, and that is what Eric thinks will
happen. However, the Bucs are not done in the NFC South and they will
show up in the second half to win this game outright. Freeman and
Blount have big second halves for the Bucs.

Eric: HOU 31 TB 27
Danny: HOU 20 TB 24

Washington +4 at Miami

John Beck courageously marches back into Miami to face the team that
drafted him but saw fit to give up after only a handful on win less
starts. Can he keep his win less starter streak alive? I sure hope
so. Sure Rex was wildly inconsistent and prone to making handfuls of
awful mistakes, but at least he could make a great throw now and
again. That said, I (Eric) think the Skins D shuts the Dolphins down
completely.

Eric: WASH 17 MIA 10*******Lock
Danny: WASH 13 MIA 20

Jacksonville at Indianapolis +3

If they're going to win one, this is probably it. If not, they will
find themselves in the cat bird seat for Andrew Luck leading to a
number of interesting story lines in the months prior to the draft.
Don't lose sight of the Jaguars defense, coming off a bye, should put
up a very stingy fight.

Eric: JAX 17 IND 20
Danny: JAX 24 IND 16

Denver at Kansas City -3 ½

I hear Denver's putting in the option for Tebow. That ought to win a
few championships.

Eric: DEN 17 KC 21
Danny: DEN 16 KC 27

Buffalo +5 1/2 at Dallas

The Cowboys were the top running defense in the league 3 weeks ago.
Since then, they gave up back to back 100 yard performances and
appeared to have no answers. Fred Jackson plays a lot like McCoy and
looks poised to have a nice game. Dallas will get some pressure on
Fitzpatrick, but will have to play more conservatively due to Jackson.
They have the fire power to keep pace with the Bills yet something
about their red zone play calling terrifies me.

Eric: BUFF 27 DAL 28 **********Lock
Danny: BUFF 31 DAL 27

New Orleans -1 at Atlanta

Matt Ryan at home is always solid, but can he step up in this HUGE
divisional matchup and outplay a superbowl MVP?

Eric: NO 35 ATL 33
Danny: NO 27 ATL 31

St. Louis +3 at Cleveland

A boring low scoring game here, or maybe this will turn in to an
explosive high scoring affair! Doubtful, we like the Rams regardless.

Eric & Danny: STL 21 CLE 10

Pittsburgh -3 at Cincinnati

It's a well known fact, James Harrison has no respect for red-heads.
Put up or shut up for the Bengals, Big Ben shows his game in this one.

Eric: PITT 28 CIN 21
Danny: PITT 20 CIN 10**************LOCK

Baltimore -7 at Seattle

Classic trap game but I have zero faith in Seattle.

Eric: BAL 24 SEA 9
Danny: BAL 20 SEA 10

NY Giants at San Francisco -3.5

How does Eli Manning respond after a huge win against New England?
Can he fly across the country and perform against a superb defense? I
say he struggles, but the Giants defense should keep the game close.

Eric: NYG 24 SF 27
Danny: NYG 17 SF 23

Detroit +3 at Chicago

Eric loves the Lions in this matchup. He looks at this as a tough
game for the Bears to win after the MNF performance against the
Eagles. I see this game differently. The Bears get great pass rush
from the defensive line which allows them to keep their safeties 20
yards deep. This will allow the Bears to limit the big plays from
the Lions and really pressure them to have very successful drives. I
think the Lions score a lot of 3's not 7's and this allows Cutler to
have a big 4th quarter comeback win.

Eric: DET 31 CHI 24
Danny: DET 24 CHI 27

New England +1 at NY Jets

If Welker is shut down, and the Jets limit the big plays to Hernandez
and Gronkowski how can the Patriots win? I say Mark Sanchez costs the
Jets this game, and once again I will come out and say "How good would
the Jets be with a top tier quarterback?"

Eric: NE 31 NYJ 28
Danny: NE 27 NYJ 23

Minnesota +14 at Green Bay

Green Bay will win this game, I think it will be lower scoring than most think.

Eric: GB 35 MIN 24
Danny: GB 28 MIN 13

WEEK 9 - THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL PICK

San Diego -7 @ Oakland

Palmer and Rivers have 20 interceptions between them this season. Of
course, Palmer's 6 have come in just a game and a half. The Chargers
proved they have a lot of fight left in them after the hanging tough
with the Packers last week. Conversely, the Raiders have appeared
lost since losing Campbell and making the knee-jerk acquisition of
Palmer. The Norv Turner era Chargers continuously underperform in the
early part of the season, only to make a late surge. Fortunately for
San Diego, they play in the AFC West. They're essentially the hottest
waitress at Denny's. It appeared early on that Oakland could take
this dubious distinction from Norv's boys, but Jason Campbell's
shoulder dashed those hopes. San Diego does a lot of things fairly
well…decent run game, above average pass defense, middling run
defense. However, the team always relied upon Rivers efficient play
and their tall, fast, and sure handed receiving corps to keep them
among the league's top teams. Rivers, for whatever reason, now finds
himself in a slump. His struggles combined with injuries to Antonio
Gates and Malcolm Floyd appears to have bought the team back into the
middle of the pack. Even so, they remain a superior team to the
Raiders. Palmer isn't a good quarterback. Without the injured
McFadden, the Raiders lose their edge. Michael Bush is an adequate
replacement. However, McFadden gave the Raiders an edge in that he's
usually the best athlete on the field thus forcing defenses to account
for him at all times. You're never quite safe as a defense with
McFadden on the field. San Diego's journey to a first round home
playoff loss begins tonight.

DANNY & ERIC LOCK***

****SD 31 OAK 17*****

WEEK 9 NFL PICKS

LINES ACCORDING TO (SCORESANDODDS.com)

Miami at Kansas City -4

The Dolphins put a little scare into the Giants last week. The
Dolphins look to have their sights clearly set on Andrew Luck, why
else would Sparano still be the head coach? The Dolphins have a few
pieces in place, if they could somehow get Luck and a defensive back
or two we could see a return to mediocrity in no time.

Kansas City continues to defy reason. The team continues to play
better without their best players. Thomas Jones is officially washed
up but Jackie Battle came out of nowhere to give KC a running threat.
Battle is a blessing for the Chiefs. Once Jamal Charles returns, he
will need a guy like Battle to spell him and take more of the load.
Charles, much like a Charlie Garner, isn't built to handle the
workload for a team's running game for a full season. This feels like
a letdown game from KC but I refuse to bet on Matt Moore under any
circumstances.

Eric - MIA 20 KC 27
Danny- MIA 20 - KC 21

Atlanta at Indianapolis +7.5

Herm Edwards feels the Colts should trade Manning and grab Andrew Luck
should the opportunity arise. There's a reason he's a (relatively)
young man without a coaching job. If the Colts find themselves
holding the number 1 pick, they could garner a King's ransom for it.
Now that rookie salaries have a reasonable cap, the pick holds a ton
of value. Why would you trade Manning and re-tool with a rookie when
you could trade the rookie and re-tool with one of the best QBs to
ever play the game?

Eric - ATL 23 IND 17
************Danny - ATL 31 - IND 16*********lock

Tampa Bay at New Orleans +8 1/2

Mr. Blount will be back in uniform for the Bucs and he will help keep
Drew Brees and the Saints offense off the field. Time of possession
will be huge for Tampa to pull off the upset here, but neither of us
see Brees losing two straight.

Eric - TB 17 NO 28
Danny - TB 24 - NO 30

NY Jets at Buffalo -2

I feel the Jets lack an identity. They certainly aren't as an
intimidating defense as they once were and Santonio Holmes and Sanchez
can't seem to get on the same page which likely stems from the lack of
a consistent ground game.

The Bills on the other hand are a solid offensive team with stars like
Fred Jackson and Stevie (Pro football players should not be named
"Stevie") Johnson. Last week the Bills killed John Beck more than
doubling their season sack total. However, that's not who they are.
They will play a little defense and out score you. They seem to play
up against good teams. The Jets aren't exactly good but they're an
AFC East rival who had their way with Buffalo for years. The Bills
will be up for this game and the Jets will find themselves on the
outside looking in on the wildcard race.

*****Eric - NYJ 17 BUF 24******LOCK
Danny - NYJ 20 - BUF 27

Seattle +12 at Dallas

I haven't turned a game off in a long time. Last week I went to bed
at half time of the Dallas Philly game. Exhausted and too tired to
punch things and yell, too hungover to start drinking again, I just
shut the TV off ate some Ambien and went to bed. Dallas looked like a
college kid who stumbles into his 8AM to find out there's a test.
Unprepared, soft and inferior. Each of the team's losses to that
point was a product of their shooting themselves in the foot. In this
game, they looked like the team from a year ago under Phillips. Can
they rebound against a terrible Seattle team? Losing this game would
relegate them to a fight with the Skins for the cellar of the NFC
East.

Romo continues to regress. My esteemed colleague holds a very low
opinion of Mr. Romo's ability. Granted, the evidence of Romo's
patchiness continues to mount. However, the man has all the tools
and ability. The question is, and I suppose always has been, is he
wired right? Marriage and burgeoning fatherhood appear to have made
Romo even less intense (and not to mention chubbier) than he was. I
wrote many of his early career follies off to his being callow and raw
but it appears he's hit the turning point. The turning point where
Romo would either become Danny White or Troy Aikman (from a career
standpoint not playing style) and he's gone down the road of the
former. Danny White was a fine player, my first jersey (one of those
little kid full fake uniforms) was that of Danny White. Danny never
won much more than a few playoff games, which might just be more than
we can expect from Romo.

****Eric - SEA 13 DAL 24*******Lock
Danny - SEA 20 - DAL 34

Cleveland +10 1/2 at Houston

Peyton Hillis will be MIA once again, no shot the Browns pull off an
upset, they may not get 10 points on the board against Wade Phillips'
Texans defense.

Eric - CLE 10 HOU 17
Danny - CLE 9 - HOU 24

San Francisco -3 at Washington

I hope Jimmy Harbaugh has another vicious hand shake up his sleeve,
because this will be a nice hard fought win in our nations capital.
No shot John Beck, Ryan Torain, and Anthony Armstrong take down the
49ers. This line is odd, but don't let it "tell you anything".

Eric - SF 28 WASH 10
******Danny - SF 24 - WASH 13**********LOCK

Cincinnati +3 at Tennessee

We both agree that the Bengals defensive line, and the 8 man rotation
they use on it, will eat up Chris Johnson and put pressure on Matt
Hasselbeck. Are the Bengals over hyped? Or is the defense under
hyped?

Eric - Cincy 24 TENN 17
Danny - Cincy 27 - TENN 17

Denver +7 ½ at Oakland

I will be wearing my Tim Tebow jersey on Sunday but I do not expect to
see anything different. This is all Tebow's fault; the BRONCOS STINK.
The offensive line is horrible, and they are not getting any ground
game from McGahee or Moreno. Tebow is passing to Eric Decker???
Palmer looks better in this game, but Michael 70's Bush will get it
done for Oakland.2422

Eric - DEN 17 OAK 24
Danny - DEN 13 - OAK 24

NY Giants +9 at New England

This will be a high scoring affair as both teams will be passing early
and often. Patriots secondary stinks, Giants is so-so but Brady is
due.

Eric - NYG 24 NE 27
Danny - NYG 30 - NE 37

St. Louis at Arizona -3

Anyone actually care about this game?

Eric - STL 13 ARI 17
Danny - STL 24 - ARI 16

Green Bay at San Diego +5.5

Will the real Philip Rivers please stand up? Eric doesn't think he
will, but I do. I think this is a true statement game for the
Chargers and I think Rivers will outperform Rodgers on this stage.
Curtis Brinkley will get some touches for the Chargers, a player I
think has potential as this season progresses, and I just think the
Chargers will step it up at home.

Eric - GB 35 SD 27
Danny - GB 31 - SD 34

Baltimore +3 ½ at Pittsburgh

Eric likes Baltimore, Danny likes the Steelers. Take the team that
has the better quarterback (PITT), the better coach (PITT), and the
consistency from the past two weeks (PITT). If Baltimore sputters
out of the gate again, don't expect them to come back on the Steelers.
This game is going to be physical and hard nosed for the entire 60
minutes.

Eric - BAL 24 PITT 23
Danny - BAL 20 - PITT 27

Chicago at Philadelphia -8

The Eagles finally got the unconfident mess they needed to get their
ship right in the Dallas Cowboys. Let's sit back and watch them reel
off about 5 wins in a row.

Eric - CHI 23 PHI 34
Danny - CHI 24 - PHI 38