Sportsman of the Week Ending 11/26/2023

Thanksgiving in the United States is synonymous with football.  And in the NFL, that includes America's Team, the Dallas Cowboys.  Since the early 1960s the Cowboys always play the late afternoon time slot as families settle into their dinner routine.  This year, they were delivered an extra side of sweetness by DaRon Bland.  As the Cowboys completely outclassed their primary historic rival Washington (nee) Redskins, Bland set an all-time NFL record for interceptions for a touchdown.  Talking history.  Deion.  Hayes.  Woodson.  Revis.  Green.  Bland (ironic name) was not that in his FIFTH return for a TD with just under 5 minutes left in the game.  With six more games, he could extend his record.  Is this the Cowboys year?  It's been a couple of decades.  They wuill need their defense to be shut down and score and it just might be so.  DeRon Bland is the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 12/27/2015

The NFL playoff picture is shaping up, and the NFC East was decided last weekend.  The Washington Redskins seized the division title behind once-criticized, now hailed quarterback Kirk Cousins.  Cousins sealed the division for the upstart Redskins with a near-flawless performance on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday night.  Cousins finished the game 31-46, with 4 TD passes and no interceptions, picking apart the Eagles defense.  Cousins has now notched 300 or more yards in 3 straight contests (all wins) with nine TD and just one INT.  Not may pundits give the Redskins a chance to win their playoff game, but if Cousins keeps up this consistency, our Sportsman of the Week might surprise yet again.

Sportsman of the Week Ending 9/15/2013

Another week, another NFL QB puts up video game stats in a game in which they needed to win.  Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers went all Madden on the Washington Redskins, a team that is reeling but still looked like scout league talent against Rodgers.  He put up 480 yards (a career high) and 4 TD, while only misfiring on 8 passes in 42 attempts (81% completion percentage).  Rumors of the Packers demise were greatly exaggerated after the Week 1 dud against the San Francisco 49ers, Rodgers and the Pack will contend all year.

2012 NFL Week One Playoff Preview

Betting information courtesy of 5dimes.com at the time of post (this blog has no affiliation with that site).

JR Ewing is back for more gambling.  Took a bath in the College Football regular season, but recouped some in the Bowl Season.   It's time for every sports fans favorite time of year, the NFL Playoffs!  Each week (hopefully earlier than Saturday) I'll preview the games, predict final scores (and oh, by the way, see how the straight up, ATS, and O/U bets go).

Without further ado!

January 5, 2013: 16:30 EST
Cincinnati Bengals (+4, +183) vs. Houston Texans (-4, -198) O/U 42.5
A rematch of this exact time slot last year, with the same points spread roughly.  This time, Matt Schaub is healthy, but certainly not hitting on all cylinders.  The Bengals are somewhat of a hot team now (winning 7 of their last 8, but only one of those wins over a playoff team).  The Texans are ice cold, blowing home field advantage in the last two weeks and losing 3 of their last 4.  I think the collapse completes as the Bengals use last years loss as motivation to upset the reeling Texans. Final Prediction: Bengals 23 Texans 14.

January 5, 2013: 20:00 EST
Minnesota Vikings (+7.5, +330) vs. Green Bay Packers (-7.5, -370) O/U 45.5
The Packers didn't figure to lose that much fire power from last year, but a few injuries and some ineffectiveness have rendered this team a little more ordinary than usual.  Another team that blew home field last week might weigh on their minds as they could be sitting at home watching the 49ers have to play this game.  Meanwhile, the Vikings had to play their way in winning 4 in a row, the last two over playoff teams on the road.  And Adrian Peterson is good and on a mission and Green Bay has struggled to stop him.  It's hard enough to win in Green Bay, but to do it twice in 7 days is near impossible.  This one is close, but Green Bay pulls it out. Final Prediction: Packers 27 Vikings 24.

January 6, 2013: 13:00 EST
Indianapolis Colts (+7, +265) vs. Baltimore Ravens (-7, -295) O/U 47
Following the theme above, the road team underdog (Indianapolis) won 5 of 6 to secure the Wild Card easily.  The Ravens, injured on defense and struggling on offense, have lost 4 of 5.  And, note, have a worse record than the Colts.  The Colts got an emotional lift from the return of Chuck Pagano last week (#chuckstrong) while the Ravens will get a boost from Ray Lewis and his retirement announcement.  I'm just not feeling the Ravens in this one, the Colts look like a team that is peaking and are probably the 3rd best AFC team. Final Prediction: Colts 24, Ravens 14.

January 6, 2013: 16:30 EST
Seattle Seahawks (-2.5, -143) vs. Washington Redskins (+2.5, +133) O/U 46.5
Two red hot teams here, Seahawks have won 5 straight and 7 of 8, the Redskins have won 7 straight since their bye week.  There are some questions about RGIII's health and ability to run, but other than that, not much to not like about either of these teams.  Both have rookie QB's so no advantage there.  Very tough to call, I like the Redskins to eek one out at home behind a hungry crowd.  Final Prediction: Redskins 27, Seahawks 24.

For fake gambling purposes, I'll assume $1,000 on S/U, $1,100 on ATS + O/U on the above bets (3 per game, 12 total).  If I had to pick the three "best bets" it would be:
Bengals: Money Line
Colts: ATS
Vikings vs. Packers: Over

Sportsman of the Week Ending 12/30/2012

In setting the Washington Redskins single season record for rushing yards, this week's Sportsman of the Week led his team to the playoffs on the NFL's biggest stage.  Alfred Morris ran for 200 yards on 33 carries (6 YPC) and three TD's as Washington punched their playoff ticket in a 28-18 victory over the rival Dallas Cowboys in a "winner moves on, loser goes home" game.  The relatively unheralded rookie (6th round pick among leftovers) broke Clinton Portis' single season Redskins rushing record in logging 1,613 yards for the season.  The blog loves breakthrough athletes, and Morris more than fits the bill in capturing this week's Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!