NFL week 1: Honest Wags pick them

VIS SPRD HOME Rowdy Scoop Bones
ind 03.5 NWE ...ind ind ind

ten -3.5 MIA ...ten* ten ten

sea -2.5 NWO ...NWO sea NWO
cin 04.5 NYJ ...NYJ cin NYJ
arz 10.5 STL ...STL arz STL
oak 03.5 PIT ...PIT* oak PIT*
snd 04.5 HOU ...HOU snd snd
jax 02.5 BUF ...jax jax* BUF
det 02.5 CHI ...det det det
bal -2.5 CLE ...bal bal* CLE
tab 01.5 WAS ...WAS tab WAS

atl -3.5 SNF ...atl SNF SNF
dal 04.5 MIN ...dal MIN MIN*
nyg 09.5 PHL ...PHL nyg nyg

ksc 02.5 DEN ...DEN DEN DEN

gnb 02.5 CAR ...gnb* CAR* CAR*

Asterisk (*) indicates best bet.

I take it easy in the first week of the season, which is usually pretty straightforward. The weeks get progressively harder as the season advances for a whole lot of reasons. The hardest thing about week 1, I've found, is resisting the temptation to make "smart" picks based on you getting ahead of everything and everyone to pick only the teams that will be there toward the end.

Raiders, Scoop? I'll quote Hunter S. Thompson, who's something of an authority on the team and wrote two weeks ago:

"You can teach a kid everything else in the game," said Al Davis on one wet afternoon in Oakland when he was bitching about Ken Stabler and "Fast Freddie" Biletnikoff, both famously slow on foot. "But you can't teach speed."

Al was weird in those days, and he still is. But the Oakland Raiders will suck this year, and so will the Denver Broncos. They both suffer from a lack of team speed, and they both have dysfunctional quarterbacks. No playoffs for these poor bastards. They will struggle. Do not bet on them.

Mahalo indeed. I don't remember why I'm betting on Denver but that's no reason to change my mind. Perhaps Scoop can explain.