EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – There’s no place like home for the holidays is how the old Xmas carol goes, but the Thanksgiving slate of NFL games had two of the three hosts choking on turkey bones – including my Dallas Cowboys. Thankfully, I was stuffing my face and washing the food down with wine and missed the Eagles dismantling Tony Romo and DeMarco Murray. The local area football turkeys travel to Florida for what should be riveting displays, as the pair have a combined five victories heading into the last quarter of the season. Building on last week’s 3-1 mark are these gems:
New York Giants -3 (45) over JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
As frustrating a year the Giants have had the one-win cats of northern Florida have been painfully worse. Jaguars rookie QB Blake Bortles is struggling in his apprenticeship and looks lost at long stretches of games. Eli Manning, on the other hand, seems to have swallowed a Tony Romo pill where the side effects include interceptions at inopportune times.
The bottom line for the Giants has been an inability to make plays during winning-time late in games while Jacksonville seems interested in playing football for the first half until the wheels fall off completely. Tom Coughlin returns to the site of his first head coaching gig during a time in which some people in the NFL know contend this season will be his curtain call. Jags HC Gus Bradley has proven to be nothing like Omar Bradley in stirring the troops as management has hoped he would. Here’s hoping there’s enough leftovers in the fridge to make viewing this contest palatable but I doubt it.
Score: Giants 30, JAGUARS 13
Picks: Giants -3 and UNDER 45
MIAMI DOLPHINS -7 over New York Jets
Only Mother Nature and the schedule maker can be blamed for the moribund Jets appearing in back-to-back Monday Nighters as last week’s game was every bit the barn-burner I expected it to be. Is there an NFL team that looks more disinterested, unprepared, and out of sync than the New York Jets? I’ll be watching hockey while this game is going on and will wait for morning to watch the low-lights. The Jets are that bad and their games unbearable and unwatchable. Lame ducks are the only thing taking flight around the Jets these days–Rex Ryan is one and Geno Smith and Mike Vick throw them. Avoid the in-store madness that holiday sales bring and opt for Cyber Monday to do some gift-shopping while occupying enough of your time while to miss this game entirely. Sometimes the Jets surprise by keeping a game close and this might be the occasion in order to save the embarrassment of consecutive prime time stinkers.
Score: DOLPHINS 21, Jets 16
Picks: Jets +7 and UNDER 42
That’s it for now. Please feel free to opine below and come back manana for a piece on gambling addictions.
