How Bookies get paid...

It's weeks like last week that keep the bookmakers in business and those Vegas Hotels booming. The normally reliable home-dogs went 1-3, teams that had been left for dead, like the Eagles and Rams got off the mat to defeat their favored opponents on the road. For the Entire Pick'em Universe the average number of correct picks was 6.1. Only two themes remained immutable:

The Packers inexorable run to the Super Bowl continued with their 34-0 thrashing of the Vikings (bad to the point that Fox sent those viewers over to watch the Redskins second 4th quarter collapse against a divisional opponent on the season). And strange things continue to happen in the desert as the Cardinals squashed the, admittedly overrated, Lions.

For the week, Norm, Hyman James and Jeff finished in a four-way tie for first with seven correct picks. The extra win narrowed my lead in the overall standings to Two games.

This week offers another exhibit in the NFLs mediocrity as their is, yet again, few games worth watching. The Cowboys-Redskins matchup in Texas is essentially Must-Win for Joe Gibbs racing, and the Jags-Chargers has potential. But when Giants-Lions and Pats-Bills are the only three games featuring both teams with a winning record and when there are 4 games with double-digit spreads and two more with 9.5 spreads, well it might not be such a bad week to get the garage cleaned up or the house winterized. Or bank some quality time with family so you can watch the important games later on.

Lock of the Week will try to get back on track with the Seahwaks over the Bears.

Make it a good week.