MINNEAPOLIS — Bill Polian is either a very stupid man or a man who has trouble with the truth. The vice-president of the Indianapolis Colts told an NFL Network audience that he was surprised at the fans negative reaction to the Colts, throwing a football game last Sunday.
Surprised? Yeah, right.
Now I know Bill Polian from his days in Winnipeg and I know he’s not a stupid man. But I don’t believe he didn’t expect a backlash from fans after his coach dumped a perfect season and gave the New York Jets a ticket to the playoffs by benching the Colts starters in the third quarter of a game in which the club charged money for tickets. Sorry, don’t believe it.
Giving up is dishonorable. Coaching scared is an invitation to disaster. I’d be surprised if the Colts won another game this season.
The worst thing they did was dump on all the other teams in the AFC by giving up and then giving the Jets a ticket to the playoffs (OK, so the Jets do have beat Cincinnati at home this week). The Colts played hard and beat Jacksonville (twice), Houston (twice), Tennessee, Miami and Baltimore and then rolled over for the Jets. That’s unforgivable.
The NFL should force the Colts to refund every ticket they sold last Sunday. Those tickets were sold under false pretenses. With apologies to Herman Edwards, you play to win the game. The Colts didn’t do that. It’s called a fix. The game was thrown and Polian had better come to terms with the fact that he stole people’s money and cheated the rest of the AFC.
There is one week remaining in the 2009 NFL season ad the playoff picture is clearing up. In the AFC, Indianapolis, San Diego, Cincinnati and New England are all in the playoffs. Denver, the Jets, Pittsburgh, Houston, Jacksonville, Miami and Baltimore still have a chance.
In the NFC, it’s done: New Orleans, Minnesota, Arizona, Dallas, Green Bay and Philadelphia are all in. This week will determine who plays whom and when.
We’ll be in the Twin Towns for the Vikings-Giants game this weekend. We’ll also be on the road throughout the playoffs and in South Florida for the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl from Jan. 28 – Feb. 9.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
Indianapolis Colts 14-1 at Buffalo Bills 5-10 (OFF)
The Colts have no interest here. They are just 3-10 against the spread in Weeks 16 and 17 (i.e. when resting starters) since 2002. We just can’t see them game planning for the Bills at all. At post time, no line has been.
Dr. Sports: Bills to win.
The Coach: Bills to win.
New Orleans Saints 13-2 at Carolina Panthers 7-8 (OFF)
This is the Panthers’ Super Bowl. They won’t be going to the playoffs, but winning this game would give them some validation and would provide momentum for what seems like a great 2010 season.
Dr. Sports: Panthers to win.
The Coach: Panthers to win.
Jacksonville Jaguars 7-8 at Cleveland Browns 4-11 (-1.5)
Jacksonville, a team with a playoff shot, has to be pretty pissed that it’s giving points to the lowly Browns. The Browns should not be laying points to anyone. Despite their three-game winning streak, they’re not that good. They’ve only covered once when favoured in the past two seasons. That was last week against the lowly Raiders.
Dr. Sports: Jaguars to win.
The Coach: Browns to win and cover.
Philadelphia Eagles 11-4 at Dallas Cowboys 10-5 (-2.5)
The Eagles own the Cowboys in December. It could be Tony Aurora Snowmo’s time to reveal himself.
Dr. Sports: Eagles to win.
The Coach: Cowboys to win and cover.
Chicago Bears 6-9 at Detroit Lions 2-13 (+2.5)
The big question here is whether or not the Bears will be motivated to play the Lions. Chicago just won its Super Bowl by slaying the Vikings on Monday night as massive underdogs. Can they possibly get up for Detroit? I did some research. In 2007, the 5-9 Bears hosted a playoff-bound Packers team in Week 16. They were 7.5-point dogs. Sound familiar? Chicago won that game 35-7. The following week, they played the Saints, who were just 7-8 at the time. The Bears showed up and triumphed again, 33-25. If history repeats itself, the Bears will play hard in Detroit.
Dr. Sports: Bears to win and cover.
The Coach: Bears to win and cover.
New England Patriots 10-5 at Houston Texans 8-7 (-7.5)
This is the worst spread in NFL history. The assumption is that this game means nothing to the Patriots, which is dead wrong. That’s exactly why Belichick said his healthy starters would play. But what about the Texans? Don’t they need a victory more than New England? Of course they do. And that’s exactly why we love the Pats here. The Texans are the biggest choke artists in the NFL. How are they going to win this game, let alone cover a touchdown? We just don’t get it.
Dr. Sports: Patriots to win.
The Coach: Patriots to win.
Pittsburgh Steelers 8-7 at Miami Dolphins 7-8 (PK)
The big wild card here is Troy Polamalu. Polamalu hasn’t been ruled out this week, and he ran on Monday and Tuesday to see how his knee would respond. He’ll push to play, but ultimately could be a game-time decision, making this selection a pretty difficult one.
Dr. Sports: Dolphins to win (and cover if the line is in their favour).
The Coach: Steelers to win.
New York Giants 8-7 at Minnesota Vikings 11-4 (-8.5)
The Giants were just humiliated last week in what was the final home game in their stadium. They are pissed, and they’ll fight for a victory against a Vikings team that is playing like crap right now. Minnesota is favoured by way too much. The Vikings have been struggling against both the run and the pass ever since E.J. Henderson suffered a season-ending injury four weeks ago. In the four games without Henderson, Minnesota has surrendered at least 100 rushing yards to each opponent, and 258-plus passing yards to all but one foe. It’s been really bad, and even Jay Cutler was able to look like a Pro Bowler on Monday night.
Dr. Sports: Vikings to win, but not cover.
The Coach: Vikings to win and cover.
San Francisco 49ers 7-8 at St. Louis 1-14 (+6.5)
The 49ers are clearly the better team in this matchup. But that doesn’t mean that they’ll cover the spread. Laying a touchdown in a divisional road game is a bit too much for San Francisco. Think about it this way – the 49ers are just 1-6 straight up away from Candlestick, and that sole victory was by just four points. Could the 49ers cover seven on the road?
Dr. Sports: 49ers to win but not cover.
The Coach: 49ers to win and cover.
Atlanta Falcons 8-7 at Tampa Bay Buccaneeers 3-12 (+1.5)
Everyone expects the Falcons to win this game because of two assumptions: 1) They’re the better team. 2) They’re going to play harder than Tampa because a victory would give them the first back-to-back winning seasons in franchise history. Those assumptions are wrong. First of all, Tampa is a pretty solid squad as long as Freeman doesn’t turn the ball over. And it’s not like the Buccaneers won’t be motivated. They won’t idly stand by as the Falcons achieve history. Tampa just had a big victory over the Saints and will want to knock off another divisional rival.
Dr. Sports: Buccaneers to win.
The Coach: Buccaneers to win.
Green Bay Packers 10-5 at Arizona Cardinals 10-5 (-2.5)
If Minnesota loses, the Cardinals would have a legitimate chance at a bye and probably would go with Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. If I’m right in assuming that the Packers will rest their starters, Warner will easily slice through Green Bay’s backups.
Dr. Sports: Cardinals to win and cover
The Coach: Cardinals to win and cover.
Kansas City Chiefs 3-12 at Denver Broncos 8-7 (-12.5)
The Broncos are definitely not that good. Their once-great defence is leaky, while their offense can be completely stagnant at times. We can’t recommend laying 12.5 points with a team that has scored 19, 16, 3, 17, 10 and 7 in six of its previous nine contests.
Dr. Sports: Broncos to win, but not cover.
The Coach: Broncos to win but not cover.
Baltimore Ravens 8-7 at Oakland Raiders 5-10 (+10.5)
The Ravens obviously need to win this game, but that doesn’t mean much. We both like the Raiders to cover the spread here. They’ve already beaten the Eagles, Bengals, Steelers and Broncos, and almost knocked off the Chargers twice. Why can’t they give the Ravens a tough time?
Dr. Sports: Ravens to win but not cover.
The Coach: Ravens to win, but not cover.
Washington Redskins 4-11 at San Diego Chargers 12-3 (-3.5)
A quote from Norv Turner: “Playing and staying game-sharp, to me, is big. (But) it’s not only how you stay sharp, but how you get better. We’re going to play our players. They’re going to play and they want to play.” Expect a blow out.
Dr. Sports: Chargers to win and cover.
The Coach: Chargers to win and cover.
Tennessee Titans 7-8 at Seattle Seahawks 5-10 (+4.5)
Dr. Sports doesn’t think the Titans came all the way back from 0-6 to just quit in the final week to avoid a shot at 8-8. They’ll at least try hard enough for Chris Johnson to get his 2,000 yards. Meanwhile, the Seahawks have completely fallen apart, losing by a combined score of 106-24 in the past three weeks. Jim Mora Jr. is easily one of the worst head coaches of all time, and has a dubious history of teams that quit on him. That’s exactly what’s happening here. Seattle will continue to struggle and disappoint as long as Mora is patrolling the sidelines.
Dr. Sports: Titans to win and cover.
The Coach: Titans to win and cover.
SUNDAY NIGHT
Cincinnati Bengals 10-5 at New York Jets 8-7 (-9.5)
If that awful Browns-Steelers Thursday night affair taught us anything, it’s that in severe weather conditions, all bets are off. People tend to look at snow and rain as potential weather roadblocks, but wind is the greatest factor. Anything worse than 30 mph can ruin any football game. The deep passing game is completely eliminated, while any field goal longer than 35 yards out is virtually impossible. Winds blowing at a possible 35 mph are bad enough, so imagine how bad it’s going to be at the Meadowlands on Sunday. Also, remember who’s starting at quarterback for the Jets. There was a big deal about Sanchez playing in 45-degree weather back in October. That’s nothing compared to what he’ll see on Sunday night.
Dr. Sports: Jets to win but not cover.
The Coach: Jets to win and cover.
The Doc is 156-84 overall and 123-107 against the spread. The Coach is 146-94 straight up and 116-114 against the spread.