SportsInsights

An NFL Sunday like we had last weekend comes along once, maybe twice a season.  We were hitting on all cylinders.  We were cruising around town in a custom 2004 Range Rover with 22-inch rims, booming sound system and a DVD player on the dash.  Unfortunately, this weekend, we were doing 45 mph on the LA Freeway in a ’94 Jetta with a busted spoiler and rusted out trunk.  Sure, we were getting around, but we were not doing it in style.

Since we limped across the finish line last night, we needed a few big decisions to start the day and set the mood.  Luckily, the public had the same idea, so we were off and running.  Predictably, most folks liked Miami at Jacksonville, New Orleans at home and  Tampa on the road.  Unpredictably, they liked these games big.  Unfortunately, we came down on the wrong side of these decisions as the Dolphins, Saints and Bucs all covered, putting us on the defensive early.

All was not lost, however, as the biggest decision of the afternoon came in our favor, as folks insisted on betting against the Patriots at home.  But New England put away New York with less effort than it takes to put away Don Zimmer.  This, coupled with wins by Dallas, Cleveland, Tennessee and Carolina, all but erased the massive gains that the public received at the hands of the aforementioned favorites. 

Because Cincinatti enjoyed a bye week, Arizona shouldered the responsibility of being our improbable spoiler in the late afternoon action.  If any other team was getting 6.5 points at home, we would have been hot.  But this is Arizona, and it’s a dry heat.  While the Cardinals did not disappoint their public and delivered a big decision in their favor, the Jets broke up teasers and the Steelers covered on the road to give us a bit of a cushion going into the night game.

But as they say, “coffee is for closers,” and everything came down to the day’s final play.  As the ESPN Sunday night matchup rolled around, winner’s looked to pile it on and the losers looked to even it up in one of the season’s biggest decisions.  If  San Fran covered, we would duplicate last week’s payday.  If Seattle failed to close the spread, we would start hoping our mutual funds would take off.

If you read your morning paper, you know that no one around here has checked the NASDAQ today.