Fireman Mike’s Fab Five Football Bets
ByI liked a couple of the games Colin picked today but I had a little bit of a different idea for the last few weeks of the season. Since we’re going to give you our picks for every Bowl game against the spread, we’ve been relegated to 
picking NFL games for our Fab Five and Sizzlin’ Seven. I’m not going to handicap any game that Colin does, this way we’ll give you 12 out of the 16 games on the NFL schedule. That’s why it took me a little longer to get these out to you this week. After a putrid 1-4 record last weekend I dropped to 36-30-2, still respectable but far from what I’m shooting for. We’ve got some good ones on the docket this weekend and the Bowl season ahead of us so there is momentum to be gained. Here we go!…..-Fireman Mike
Minnesota -9 @ Carolina
Carolina’s best chance to win any game this season is by running the ball effectively and playing great defense. I don’t like their chances of doing either on Sunday night.
The Vikings enter this game thinking they still have a shot at home field advantage - with a Dallas win - or at the very least the ability to clinch a home game in the first round of the playoffs. Either way, this is a game in which the Vikings will be looking to make a statement on national television going into the playoffs. Their stout run defense, led by the Williams Bros, hasn’t given up more than 129 yards on the ground to any opponent yet this season and the Panthers will have to rack up much more than that to stay competitive.
The key to Minnesota’s success has been turnovers this season. With Brett Favre protecting the ball as well as he has thus far, the Vikings are winning the turnover battle on a dominating basis. Look for that trend to continue as well.
The Vikings get out to a great start and feed Adrian Peterson in the first half before giving way to fresh-legged Chester Taylor in the second half, who is dying for the opportunity to punish some people. He will take out some anger and so will the Vikings, 31-13, in a game that isn’t as close as the score indicates.
San Diego -7 vs. Cincinnati
The Bengals are dealing with the tragic loss of Chris Henry and this huge game couldn’t happen at a work time. The Chargers aren’t going to feel sorry for the overachieving Bengals and will make them their next December victim.
The Chargers are 16-4 ATS when playing during a winning streak of two games or more over their last 20 games and have won 15 straight December games over the last four seasons. This game should have a double digit spread attached to it but for some reason Vegas is giving Cincinnati a lot more respect than they deserve.
San Diego wins this game big, 40-17, but their playoff hopes are still bright.
Giants -3 @ Washington
Better days are ahead in our nation’s capital in every walk of life but we’re all going to have to wait for them. The Redskins, along with our wallets, are going to take a little bit more of hit before things turn around.
The Giants enter this game desperate for a win and the Redskins bring the perfect style of play in order to clear them out of their funk. Offensively they Giants have been fine but the defensive side of the ball has taken a beating for most of the year.
The Giants will get to Jason Campbell early and often, not allowing the Redskins to get in a necessary flow. Once they get a lead, the Skins will be forced to throw the ball, something they are not too comfortable with. They only average 18 points a game and aren’t an offensive dynamo by any means, making playing from behind tougher than being Tiger Woods’ publicist right now.
The Giants will keep their offensive mojo going and win 23-17 in a really good Monday Night game.
Kansas City -1 vs. Cleveland
In order to stay away from the games Colin picked this weekend, I had to break down some truly horrendous matchups. This is the ugliest of them all. If you exclude Cleveland’s 37-point outburst against the Lions, they have averaged 10 points per game this season. Kansas City isn’t much better, averaging a dismal 16ppg on the year.
Matt Cassel will throw for 250 yards, Jamal Charles will run for 100 yards and the Chiefs will break out for a whopping 20 points against a Cleveland defense that has a tough time stopping the run. Kansas Coty’s defense isn’t much better but the difference is that they are facing an atrocious Browns offense that finally got their first 
touchdown of the season from a running back last season.
Kansas City wins this game, 20-12, and earns their fourth victory of the season.
Denver -14 vs. Oakland
The Raiders are so low on JaMarcus Russell that they are willing to give Charlie Frye, a third stringer all season, the start in place of Bruce Gradkowski this weekend in Denver. If that isn’t a sign that the Raiders are going to cut ties with one of the worst first round picks in NFL history, I don’t know what is.
Denver’s Brandon Marshall comes off a 21-rececption game last weekend and will be fired up to go heads up against Nnamdi Asomugha, assuming he plays through an arm injury this weekend. He’ll have something to prove, as will the rest of the Broncos as they enter this game with a sense of urgency that true playoff teams have. A win would put them in great position for a fifth seed but a loss would put them in the middle of the clusterbang that is the AFC playoff race.
Denver unleashes hell on the Raiders, the way Pittsburgh failed to and wins this game, 33-16, to cover and pad our wallets.
Hey Mike it says you are going to pick every bowl game, when are those picks going to be posted since the bowl mania starts today?
Thanks
Kyle
Colin and I went over most of them last night and finished them this morning……. They will be up in about an hour. We’re going week by week so the first group will be from the Fresno St-Wyoming game to Nevada-Southern Miss game. Here we go!—-Fireman Mike
Do you know who am I?Do you want more interesting?
The NFL Draft is creating a partnership with researchers at Boston University who are studying the long-term effects of brain injuries on players, the Associated Press reported.
“It’s huge that the NFL Draft actively gets behind this research,” Robert Cantu, the co-director of the school’s research program, told the AP. “It forwards the research. It allows players to realize the NFL Draft is concerned about the possibility that they could have this problem and that the NFL Draft is doing everything it can to find out about the risks and the preventive strategies that can be implemented.”
No, I don’t know who ivysmith is, but i do want more interesting.
Hey Fireman Mike,
Every time I check out your picks they totally suck….Do you watch football?? Or do you randomly select teams out of a hat?? Colin you need to fire this guy….My dog could pick football games at a more impressive rate!
Dustin, put your picks up against mine this week. I notice you didn’t comment when I go 5-0, 4-1, or 3-2. I had a tough week, it happens. You should spnd more time talking to your dog than reading my picks if that’s the case. - Fireman Mike
Come on Fireman, let’s prove idiots like Dustin wrong. I too have had a bad stretch winning 1 wager out of my last 10. Certainly not a good way to head into the Holidays but I have the metality that I’m going to rattle off 5 winners in a row. Problem is I tend to struggle picking bowl games so could use some sound advice from you and the Herd. When are you guys posting more bowl games? Keep fighting Fireman!!
Muck - you’ve been with me since day one. We’ve had our great weeks and our tough weeks. And for you, Mucktard, I will guarantee you a Herd’s Word hat if I do not finish over 60% the rest of the season on my NFL picks, including playoffs!!! -Fireman Mike
Fireman - I’m sure it’s a SWEET hat (and I’ll take you up on it) but I’d rather fatten my pockets by being on board with you when the winners come!
you’ll get both buddy
Mike, I enjoy reading your thoughts and picks, but i’ve got to be honest with you man; You play WAY too many favorites. I could of told you that you were going to have a .500 week or worse when I saw nothing but chalk. I mean taking 3 road underdogs, and 3 underdogs of a touchdown or more this late in the season is bankroll suicide. Your bookies’ eyes must of lit up when he saw those plays come in. Anyway, I love Herd’s angles on college football games, and I expect him to have a solid bowl season. Good Luck to you too Mike.
Check the season bro, I’ll take my fair share of dogs. There’s weeks when I won’t even touch a chalk. I though it was going to be one of those weeks when teams rolled over because they realized they had nothing to play for.