BetDash NFL picks – week 14

BetDash NFL tipster Mac takes a look at the week fourteen Gridiron action, focusing on four games in particular.

NFL Week 14

A promising looking week ahead for us NFL punters. The legitimate contenders are starting to separate themselves from the pack. The dross are falling to the way side. The fog is basically clearing. As we march on through week 14, those teams that ‘need’ the win generally administer serious beat downs to the teams that basically are already considering their trips down to their favourite Florida golf courses. Motivation is a powerful factor in the NFL, and that’s why we will see the handicap lines start to increase exponentially in the next couple of weeks. Sometimes, however, Vegas leaves a little wriggle room in those lines. Take tonight for example, Denver are highly motivated, requiring the win to keep in touch with the leading lights of the AFC, and ensure as high a playoff seeding as possible. Oakland, their hosts, have basically nothing to play for. In other sports, that can sometimes work in favour of the underdog. In the NFL, perhaps thanks to the essential violence and ferocity of the game, that’s just not the case. A highly motivated Denver -10 against a completely under motivated Oakland looks pretty juicy right now.

Clever things we said last week
‘’ Meanwhile, Andrew Luck and his merry gang can march into Detroit and grab a win amongst the confusion.”

Not so clever things we said last week
”If Newton wants this one, it’s his to take. In style.”

This column loves nothing more than a good giggle at the Jets, and last week was no exception. Anyone who took Arizona +4.5 laughed all the way to the bank as Jets incumbent QB Mark Sanchez threw 3 horrible first half interceptions, and then faced the ignominy of being replaced by a rookie, Greg Mcllroy in the second half. The Jets ‘won’ the game 7-6, we use those inverted commas as beating a seriously wobbling ‘Zona at home 7-6 is basically a loss in most teams books. The final Jets joke of the week? Looks like Rex Ryan is going to name Sanchez as their starter again this week. It just goes on and on!  Good luck to all, and enjoy the games

Season to date
Last week against the spread: 7-5-1
Overall record against the spread: 91-91-5
Finest Four against the spread last week: 1-2-1
Finest Four against the spread overall: 27-24-1
Winning percentage: 50%
The finest four percentage: 52.9%

The finest four. 
Four picks to boost your bankroll

The Game: Chicago Bears At Minnesota Vikings
Current line: Chicago Bears -3
The Science: After a promising start to the season the Vikings have basically collapsed, losing 4 out of their last 5 games, and fading out of contention. Their collapse came with the season ending injury to Percy Harvin, their multi-talented receiver\return man, whom they have been lost without. The Bears need this win to purge the taste of last week’s stomach punch loss to Seattle, and to stay in touch with Green Bay also. The Bears know they just have to bottle Adrian Peterson up and force the Vikings to throw the ball. Meanwhile, Cutler and his selection box of backs and wide-outs are more than enough to put up points against a Vikings D that’s going to be on the field too long. Chicago, confidently.
The Pick: Chicago Bears -3

The Game: Denver Broncos At Oakland Raiders
Current line: Denver -10
The Science: 10 may seem daunting at first, however once you take a look at Oakland’s results lately, it doesn’t appear much of an obstacle at all. 4 of their last 5 losses have come by 10 points or more (often many, many more) and in those 5 losses they have conceded a whopping 189 points, or 37.8 points per game. The Raiders are, in short, abysmal. The Broncos are on a terrific 7 game winning streak and have scored 30 or more points in an incredible 6 of those games. The Broncos should run riot on the terrible Raiders.
The Pick: Denver -10

The Game: Miami Dolphins At San Francisco 49ers 
Current line: San Francisco 49ers  -10
The Science: The Dolphins are like that nasty bit of whatever you can’t scrape off your shoe. They stick to you like a bad smell, and hang around longer than you would expect. Worst of all, it is largely perplexing how they do this. The Patriots beat them but not by much in the end. They beat Seattle and lost narrowly to the Colts and Bills, on the road, no less. They are your NFL coupon buster, that little cockroach of a team that gets in there and screws up punter’s accumulators. They may not beat the 49ers, but they should hang around and stay within 10.
The Pick: Miami Dolphins +10

The Game: Houston Texans At New England Patriots 
Current line: New England Patriots -3.5
The Science: You either believe in Houston or you don’t. This column doesn’t. Among their 11 wins, this column counts 3 as quality. The rest, they were supposed to win those games. Plus, they were absolutely battered by one of the few good teams they have faced in 2012 (Green Bay). The Texans D hasn’t seen anything like this Patriots offence, and New England always puts on a good show on MNF. Finally, Brady v Schuab, who have you got? Yeah, I thought so!
The Pick: New England Patriots -3.5

The rest. 
Definitely. Probably. Maybe.

Baltimore Ravens At Washington Redskins -2.5
Dallas Cowboys +3 At Cincinnati Bengals
St Louis Rams +4.5 At Buffalo Bills
Philadelphia Eagles At Tampa Bay Buccaneers -7.5
Atlanta Falcons -3 At Carolina Panthers
New York Jets At Jacksonville Jaguars +2.5
Tennessee Titans At Indianapolis Colts -5
Kansas City Chiefs  At Cleveland Browns -6.5
New Orleans Saints +4.5 At New York Giants
Arizona Cardinals  At Seattle Seahawks -10
Detroit Lions  At Green Bay Packers -6.5