VT - Stands for Vick's Team

Type/Last Week/Season
NCAA/2-2/11-8
NFL/1-5/18-23-1
Invest/-2.2*/-5.9*

INVEST
*9:00 ABC HD New Orleans (+10 ½) 20 Atlanta 26. What was ABC thinking scheduling the Saints for a MNF game after November 15th? They have been an entertaining team under HC Jim Haslett and QB Aaron Brooks, but they’ve only had one 10-win season in their 6 year tenure in New Orleans. Atlanta QB Michael Vick makes this game worth watching, and the Falcons need to win this one to stay in the playoff hunt in the NFC, where it’s looking like 10 wins might not be enough to earn a playoff berth. The Falcons will earn the win, but are too inconsistent to be giving any team besides San Francisco 10 ½ points.

The Colts are 13-0 and have wrapped up home field throughout the AFC playoffs. I think their toughest game will be this coming Sunday vs. the Chargers. San Diego sleepwalked through the second and third quarters and wound up losing to Miami. The Chargers are a desperate team and have the offensive balance and players to run with the Colts. Indy can take a huge step by knocking out the team they don’t want to play in the playoffs (after the Patriots, of course) in the regular season.

SF Bay Area NFL coverage on network television stinks. Two weeks ago we were subjected to San Francisco v. Tennessee early and Jacksonville v. Arizona late (the Raiders didn’t sell out as usual). I should have checked the local ratings for the late game. Outdoor Life probably outdrew it with an NHL game. The NFL should establish a new rule for two-market teams (SF, NY). If each franchise wins less than 6 games the previous season, they should have to play at the same time at least 4 times the next season. Yesterday it was a little better. Oakland v. N.Y. Jets early followed by San Francisco v. Seattle and Miami v. San Diego (non-HD) late. The doubleheader game (Mia-SD) was entertaining, but it wasn’t in HD, and Kansas City v. Dallas was on in the same time slot and wasn’t picked by the CBS affiliate in SF. I painfully tune into the NFL Network’s Sunday Drive telecast of a radio show for cut-ins to red zone coverage of other games. I’ve yet to hear any cut-ins to 49er or Raider games. Hmm.