friday nfl column

Between the loyal readers and writer of this site, we root for the Bears, Lions, and Chiefs. After losing to the 49ers, Chicago now has a losing record of 4-5. Certainly that is a better record than the 1-7 of Detroit and Kansas City. Or is it?

And no, I'm not talking about draft picks. I've long since wised up about rooting for losing for draft picks in the NFL. (In the NBA, even with the lottery it makes sense, because of the salary structure and the impact that a James or Howard can provide. But it in the NFL, where you take on such a huge salary for a player with no guarantee of success, top picks are arguably a detriment.)

No, I'm wondering if rooting for the 4-5 2009 Bears is worse than rooting for than 1-7 Kansas City Chiefs?

The only argument is pretty simple: The Chiefs don't get your hopes up. Any meager hopes we did have were lost in week 2, losing to the Raiders at home, due to the absolute worst clock management and stupid penalties and giving up big plays. To the Raiders.

From that point on, I've still been rooting for the Chiefs every week. And sure it stings when they lose, but I know what to expect. When we took the Cowboys to overtime, it hurt. And to come just short in a comeback vs. the Jaguars sucks. But we really didn't have any business winning those games. And when we did win a game, even though we didn't necessarily deserve to win that one either, it felt amazing.

Mostly, I'm not even thinking about trying to make the playoffs. So when we lose, it's not soul crushing. I'm rooting for wins to try and win the Burger Bet, which as important as it is, is only $10 bucks out of my wallet (or $19) and I'll be able to move on easily. (For the record, only the AFC North is as close as the Burger Standings, and since there are only two teams in the Burger Standings it's amazing that it is close. )

On the other hand, if you were rooting for the Bears this year, I don't think you could help but be hopeful. Chicago was 3-1, after beating the Steelers and the Seahawks at Qwest Field. Newly-acquired star quarterback Jay Cutler seemed to be settling in, it was just a matter of time before Forte found his groove, and the playoffs seemed within reach.

But since the bye week, they've gone 1-4 with their only win being an ugly victory over the Browns. They've been blown out by Arizona and Cincinnati, and then last night in a 10-6 loss to the Curse of Crabtrees, Cutler throws 5 picks. With 5 good opponents left on their schedule, a disappointing 7-9 finish seems quite likely.

Meanwhile, in the nation's barbecue capital, if the Chiefs could get wins against the Raiders, the Bills, the Browns, and maybe one against the Broncos, that would put them at 5-11, and a better than expected 4-4 down the stretch.

Hell, even if the Chiefs and Lions both get to 3-13 and the Chiefs win on tiebreaker point differential, I'll be okay with this season. It's not great, but I never allowed myself to get sucked in.

Then again, maybe this is all just sour grapes from a guy who's watching a team with one win.

And on that note, let's get to the Week 10 picks…

In week 8, I picked the Colts, and against the Titans and Rams. While picking against the Rams sounds like a good idea, it's not a sound strategy when that means you're picking the Lions.

I'm still up $30 on the year.

Invested: $200
Currently: $230

Whenever I have a terrible week, I take a week off because I feel stupid. But now that pesky humility has worn off and I'm back for more, $20 on each:

Saints -13.5 over Rams

That's a lot of points in the NFL. Fortunately, St. Louis is more of a CFL team.

Bengals +6.5 over Steelers

I feel like this game is a toss-up. Divisional game, two great teams, should come down to the wire. The only thing I'm afraid of is Pittsburgh breaking a 17-17 tie with a touchdown in the final two minutes to win and cover.

Chiefs +1.5 over Raiders.

Not confident on this one. But in the first game since we cut Larry Johnson, I feel like the karma gods should help us out. Plus, it's the Raiders.

Chargers -2.5 over Eagles

I feel like the Eagles are due for another "we didn't show up" game.

Ravens -10.5 over Browns

I think Cleveland is actually the worst team in the league. They beat Buffalo 6-3 in week 5. I think the Ravens unleash some frustration.

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Obviously, this was following the Simmons formula of friday NFL columns. It is not unnoticed that I wrote this for free, and Simmons wrote his for an enormous sum of money. Being perfectly objective, I think this is about the same as an average Sports Guy column. Obnoxiously focused on only the team I care about and stupid personal gambling notes of little interest to anyone else. Of course, mine is 800 words and his is 4500.