When I made my picks the Week 9 of the NFL season last Friday, I warned you all, saying, "I decided to jump back into the prediction game, if only to make a fool of myself one more time." I proved myself right, picking only five of 13 games correctly. Here is a look back at Sunday's NFL scores, along with my misguided picks, with odds:
New York Jets 27, Buffalo Bills 11: I picked Buffalo (-1) at home. Oops. 0-1.
Dallas Cowboys 23, Seattle Seahawks 13: I picked Dallas (-12½), who won but didn't quite cover. 0-2.
Houston Texans 30, Cleveland Browns 12: Finally, a home team covered a big spread (-12)! 1-2.
Atlanta Falcons 31, Indianapolis Colts 7: Thank God for the Colts (+8), who have yet to win a game. 2-2.
Miami Dolphins 31, Kansas City Chiefs 3: Probably the most shocking result of the day, with Miami picking up their first win, on the road in Kansas City against the four-point favorites, whom I picked. 2-3.
New Orleans Saints 27, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16: I took Tampa Bay and the 10 points, to my peril. 2-4.
San Francisco 49ers 19, Washington Redskins 11: My pick, San Francisco, easily covered the 3½-point spread. 3-4.
Denver Broncos 38, Oakland Raiders 24: My dumbest pick of the day was taking Oakland and laying nine points. 3-5.
Cincinnati Bengals 24, Tennessee Titans 17: The road dog Cincy (+2) came through for me here. 4-5.
Arizona Cardinals 19, St. Louis Rams 13 (OT): The Rams (+1) had a chance to win at the horn in regulation but had their 42-yard field goal blocked. Patrick Peterson took care of them in overtime with an amazing 99-yard punt return. 4-6.
New York Giants 24, New England Patriots 20: This was a great game, back and forth in the final quarter, but the Giants has the gambling win thanks to getting 10½ points. 5-6.
Green Bay Packers 45, San Diego Chargers 38: Was there any defense in this game? I thought San Diego could stay within 5½ points, but I was wrong, barely. 5-7.
Baltimore Ravens 23, Pittsburgh Steelers 20: Another good game with late lead changes. The final touchdown by Baltimore ruined by pick of Pittsburgh (-3½). 5-8.
Favorites were 6-7 in Week 9 against the spread. The lesson, as always: if you want to make money, pick the opposite of what I do.