The San Francisco 49ers are into their bye week, which means we get to relax tomorrow and not think too hard about football. Of course, that doesn’t stop me from picking all the games against the spread. After a bad start I’ve had some decent weeks lately. I’m not holding my breath for that to continue, but you never know.
For the fourth straight season, I am back for the Westgate SuperContest. SB Nation's partners over at Odds Shark are sponsoring my entry again. The contest requires selecting 5 games each week and picking them against the spread. This year's contest is expected to have over 2,700 participants, which is a new record for the SuperContest. SB Nation is represented by myself, Matt Ufford, and Jason Kirk, and there are folks from all over the blogosphere involved. I went 3-2 last week, so we’ll see if I can stick over .500 this week. There is a running leaderboard here, but you can check how I’m doing against my Odds Shark teammates here. You can follow my standings under the name "Fooch.”
Here are my Week 11 SuperContest picks:
TEXANS (Pick ‘em) over Cardinals
SAINTS (-7.5) over Washington
Raiders (+6.5) over Patriots (Mexico City)
CHARGERS (-5.5) over Bills
Falcons (+2.5) over SEAHAWKS
I don’t have the 49ers to consider, but I’m intrigued elsewhere around the NFC West. You bet your butt I’m going to take advantage of Blaine Gabbert starting for the Arizona Cardinals. If this was in Arizona, I might be a little more hesitant, but even with Tom Savage opposing him, you only get so many chances to pick against Gabbert.
That Falcons-Seahawks game is looking interesting. The Seahawks will be without Richard Sherman, and it sounds like they’ll be without Kam Chancellor. I think the Falcons can take advantage of those absences and spring the road upset.
That Patriots-Raiders game is an interesting one given the neutral site in the high altitude of Mexico City. Virtually everyone is laying the points with New England, so why not go against the grain?
Here are all my picks for Week 11. I finished last week 7-6-1. That brings my season total to to 65-78-4. Once again, could have been worse.
STEELERS vs. Titans (+7): Steelers - WIN
BEARS vs. Lions (-2.5): Bears
GIANTS vs. Chiefs (-10.5): Giants
DOLPHINS vs. Buccaneers (Pick ‘em): Bucs
PACKERS vs. Ravens (-2): Packers
VIKINGS vs. Rams (+2): Rams
TEXANS vs. Cardinals (Pick ‘em): Texans
BROWNS vs. Jaguars (-7.5): Jaguars
SAINTS vs. Washington (+7.5): Saints
CHARGERS vs. Bills (+5.5): Chargers
BRONCOS vs. Bengals (+2.5): Bengals
Patriots vs. Raiders, Mexico City (+6.5): Raiders
COWBOYS vs. Eagles (-3.5): Eagles
SEAHAWKS vs. Falcons (+2.5): Falcons