Friday Picks

The year was 1977........

Thirty-one years to the day.....Chicago Bears running back, Walter Payton ran for an NFL record 275 yards against the Minnesota Vikings.

"Sweetness" as he was known to football fans will go down in history as on of the most prolific backs in the game.

Payton passed away in 1999 with complications of a rare liver disease at the age of 45.

His incredible stats, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Career highlights and awards

• 9x Pro Bowl selection (1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986)
• 9x All-Pro selection (1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986)
• 1977 NFL MVP
• 1977 PFWA NFL MVP
• 1977 NEA NFL MVP
• 1985 UPI NFC Player of the Year
• 1977 UPI NFC Player of the Year
• 1977 Bert Bell Award
• 1978 Pro Bowl MVP
• Super Bowl XX Champion
• 
  

Now........on with this weeks picks....

Last week's winners? Notre Dame and Clemson covered........Losers? Mississippi (+21 1/2) could not get close to Alabama... The St Louis Rams (+6) got blown out by San Francisco....and Carolina (-14) won the game, but failed to cover against Detroit.

We're still above water........still with a winning record.

Last Week: 2-3-0

Season: 29-25-1

Cincinnati (-5) over Pittsburgh .........

The Bear Cats of Cincinnati (8-2) have won all of their home games and the Pitt Panthers (7-2) have won all of their away games.....But Pitt has lost to Bowling Green and Rutgers....Lay the points.

LSU (-4) over Mississippi.....

The Tigers had a wake up call last week in their narrow escape against Troy..........while the Rebels enjoyed a 59-0 scrimmage against Louisiana-Monroe. The Rebs four losses have been by 2, 6, 7, and 4 points. In a close game.....LSU will win by a touchdown.


Texas Tech (+7) over Oklahoma....

In the biggest game of the week.......We ask, "When is the last time the Sooners won a "big" game?" Been a while.....Sure , Bob Stoops team can score.....but their defense has holes.....and this is arguably the best offense in the nation. Take the points.....in a high scoring thriller.

New England (+1) over Miami.......

Hard to beat a team twice in the same season. In week 3, Miami surprised the Patriots 38-13. These are not the same Pats.....New England wins straight up.

Dallas (-10) over San Francisco.......

Sure, the 49ners won last week, 35-16 against the 2-8 Rams....but.....this is on the road.....against a desperate Dallas team trying to keep pace in the NFC east. Lay the points.

So there........see you in a week.....or sooner...