Guess who's back. Back again. Bowe's back. Tell a friend.

NFL picks went 6-4 for +7.20 units in the last 14 days.  Really glad I didn’t go with my gut and post a Saints pick for tonight’s embarrassment.  All lines and odds published are from matchbook.com and current as of the time of writing.  Home teams are capitalized.

KANSAS CITY -2 over Cleveland -113  (1 unit)

Green Bay +2 over PITTSBURGH +108  (3 units)

TENNESSEE -4.5 over Miami -111  (1 unit)

PHILADELPHIA -7.5 over San Francisco +109  (2 units)

SEATTLE -6.5 over Tampa Bay -106  (1 unit)

Atlanta +6 over NEW YORK JETS -102  (3 units)

Minnesota -7.5 over CAROLINA -107  (1 unit)

Alex Smith at halftime getting into the San Francisco city theme song Y-M-C-A

NFL picks went 4-0 for +8.12 units yesterday bringing NFL picks on the season up to 14-20 for +1.62 units.  Winner, winner, chicken dinner.  We’re heating up as the record for the last 14 days in NFL is up to 7-5 for +9.92 units.  All lines and odds published are from matchbook.com and current as of the time of writing.  Home teams are capitalized.

The Cardinals have been monsters on the road this year posting a record of 5-1 and are 4-1 against the spread in their last 5 games overall.  The 49ers are getting better on offense under Smith, but that’s not saying a lot since before they probably couldn’t have won the Motor City Bowl.  I wish I could have gotten this number at -1, but I still see value at just over a FG favorites.

Arizona -3.5 over SAN FRANCISCO +104  (2 units)

Can the Falcons run the ball without the Burner? God I hope so.

Colts -1 over Ravens -102  (4 units)

I really think everyone is over analyzing this one.  Sure, some lines stink like traps.  But do you really think that Vegas is going to put that line out to lure the public into betting EVEN MORE money on an undefeated team to beat a 5-4 squad?  Sometimes you just have to take the pity lay from your ex-girlfriend.

49ers +6.5 over Green Bay -106  (4 units)

San Francisco is 3-0-1 against the spread as road underdogs.  They have played all their games close except the one 35 point blowout.  Green Bay seems to be in safe mode on offense and have liked protecting the ball and letting their defense carry some weight.  All the signs are pointing towards a close game, so I’m betting on it.

Falcons over Giants ML +298  (2 units)

The Falcons may have lost Michael Turner, but this line seems like a pretty big over reaction to me.  It’s not like the Giants have been setting the world on fire during their 4 game losing streak.  If the Falcons can get anything going on the ground against the questionable New York defense then they have a chance to win this game.  Definitely better than the 25% chance that this line is giving them.

Lions -3.5 over Browns +107  (2 units)

I’m continuing my streak of betting on some of the worst games in football.  We don’t need to watch the games to gamble on them, right?  The Browns looked like a bad high school squad on Monday night and I have no reason to believe that they will improve.  The Lions at least have shown some glimpses of hope this year on their way to 1-8.

Eagles -3 over Bears -104  (2 units)

The Bears are not good.

All lines are current odds on matchbook.com as of the time of this article.

Bill preparing for his NBA picks column.

Since Bill Simmons is the new king of the sports media world we here at Statleague have decided to honor him by running a Retroactive Running Diary of the first half of tonight’s Bears/Niners tilt. Here goes….

7:22 PM – until present: Horrible football was played by each team.  I started drinking whiskey.

Nobody accused me of being as wordy as the Sports Guy. Sorry for not mentioning Ted Knight, The Karate Kid or Teen Wolf. Seriously though this was a mind-numbing display of football. The only other highlight was my wife looking up from her copy of Elle to ask if Matt Millen has a dirt ’stache. Hopefully Singletary drops his pants soon.

What do you mean I talk like that cartoon Cleveland guy?

The Bears travel to San Francisco this week for the first Thursday night NFL Network game of the year.  Millions of Chicago meatball fans are eagerly anticipating this no lose situation because they either A) get a Bears victory or B) get to rip into Lovie Smith for getting out coached by the hometown hero Mike Singletary.

Singletary is a lightening rod for the idiot fans who think that yelling at players, getting them injured in the preseason by over practicing, and dropping your pants is the only real football way to coach in the NFL.  In reality this game is really just 2 very mediocre teams battling it out to see who might get to be a wild card sacrificial lamb in the playoffs.

The game comes down to Frank Gore vs. Alex Smith.  On the one hand Gore is a stud who should run all over the overrated Bears defense.  On the other hand, Alex Smith is their QB.  This is a man who couldn’t beat out Shaun Hill to be the starting QB from the beginning of the season.  And the Bears have a tendency to win games against bad QB situations.

Cutler should keep it close like he always does, but I see the game overall as a tossup.  49ers are favored by about 3.5 right now, most of that being home field advantage, so Vegas is seeing it also as a pickem.  Over under is 43.5 and I have a slight lean towards the under with the short week to prepare on both sides.

My play is going to be the Bears money line, basically because it is currently at +182 and those are some odds too good to pass up.  Rule of thumb:  Never turn down a coin flip at +182 odds.

Chicago ML  +182  (2 units)