2012 NFL Week 15 Picks – Football

Game picks for the 2012 NFL season Week 15.

NFL Week 15

Dueling Guns

One of the most important lessons I learned in school was how to “think in context.”

Obviously, an important commandment for writers, thinking in context simply means if you are writing a Western script, your hero cannot unholster a CIA Special ceramic Glock Nine during the high-noon showdown with the villain—who totes an 1880 Colt .45 known for misfires and inaccuracy, unless, of course, there is a time machine nearby or your hero is on some really awesome acid.

With that in mind, imagine the following scenario…

1775…Thick snowflakes fall into a New England forest. A fox bolts from behind a tree disappearing behind another. The fox watches two regiments of soldiers face each other fifty yards apart…

A series of commands are shouted and each army loads its weapons. Fifteen seconds later shots are fired. One man, maybe two, fall from the first volley… Meanwhile, due to the inaccuracy of the weaponry more tree branches lose their lives than soldiers—the fox, thirty feet to the right, lies dead from a musket wound to the face…

The process is repeated until one regiment is wiped out or retreats; it will probably take hours.

The above is an accurate and fair contextual example of what the Founders of this country were considering when, after months of debate, they adopted this amendment to the Constitution on December 15th 1791:

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

The Supreme Court ruled in the landmark 2008 Heller case, finding these words bear much different meanings than many people think they do.

It is a decision void of rational context.

The citizens of this country who are sportsmen or hunters, or who enjoy the history of weaponry, or the security that a gun or even a closet full of guns provides, are not the problem in this country.

I am a liberal on damn near every issue, but on guns…Until we limit the arsenals even Podunk cities and towns presently keep behind the too-often tainted badge of law enforcement, I’ll never passionately, resolutely favor banning guns from the vast majority of American citizens.

Just like I’ll never allow right-wing fanatical NRA lap dogs to forget who funds the gun lobby or who benefited most from Heller—the American arms industry.

It’s the dirty and not so little secret even liberals seldom bring up: The “Gun Culture”…Crime…Random Violence…Mass Murders Using Firearms…The War on Drugs…

American Big Business at its best.

The Culture of Fear—fed by the beast of the Gun lobby and personified by cops who justify murdering people because they reach for their wallet—along with the War on Drugs, and the Pseudo-War on Poverty, are intertwined into a grotesque tapestry of social injustice and shame—marketed to a manipulated populous, unwilling, unable, or too cowardly to think and demand their government respond to crisis rationally.

Ironically, our most pompous and reactionary Supreme Court justice—he wrote Heller’s majority opinion—Antonin Scalia added the following paragraph qualifying the scope of the 2nd amendment right the Heller decision reaffirmed and clarified…

…Nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.

What I want that set of words to mean is that even a pseudo-fascist like Scalia recognizes exceptions to the 2nd amendment regarding the mentally unbalanced and felons.

The Affordable Gun Care Act

We have to begin by clearly defining Scalia’s “qualification and conditions.”

How ‘bout the Congress of Idiots we elect write a law stating:

• Any gun not in a national registry will be considered illegal.
• Every current gun owner must register every gun they own—no questions asked, no exceptions allowed.

If you really believe in the right to bear arms and you have nothing to hide, registering every weapon you own should be a no-brainer.

• From the date of enaction, any asshole possessing an unregistered or unlicensed firearm for any purpose loses her 2nd amendment rights.
• From the date of enaction, the War on Drugs ends. The money saved will go into rehab programs and addicts will be allowed to free themselves of addiction.
• Every new gun owner must pass a psychological exam and a training class paid for by the American Gun industry.
• Law enforcement must return arsenals to the military.
• The registered user of a gun is responsible for its use—by anyone.

Yeah, yeah, I know; who am I fooling? None of this fantasy has a chance in hell of passing.

It’s just…I’m so sick of the staged hand-wringing when a Columbine or Aurora, and now, a Newtown, happen. So tired of the echoes of fools…”Guns don’t kill people…” Fed up with the equally insipid Bob Costa-isms from the left.

This is the America we have chosen.

Crime scenes like Aurora or Columbine—could they be a just Penance?

A country created by fanatical Puritans, outlaws, and slave-owners who risked their lives for freedom cannot evolve into a sensible, rational nation of people who care for their fellow man and who strive for peace and justice.

Such a nation can only be run by paid-for politicians, a corporate, fear-bating media; relentless war mongers, and fascists; steroid-laced law enforcement personnel, and merciless profiteers of human suffering.

We have as much chance at surviving as those children in Newtown.

NFL Week 15 Picks

Pretty bad week with my picks, managing just five wins and a push; I just had a feeling something was off last week—or maybe it was just a self-fulfilling prophecy of incompetence.

I picked the Over in the Steeler/Charger affair—and that was as good as my Specials would get.

Last Week: 5 – 10 – 1 = .333
Specials: 1 – 3
Overall Tally: 104 – 99 – 5 = .512
Specials: 31 – 24 – 1 = .563

GAME OF THE WEEK (7 – 7)

San Francisco 49ers @ New England Patriots -4

No doubt in my mind on this one; although San Francisco could cover, I just don’t see them beating a Tom Brady at home at the peak of his game.

The Niners enjoy no glaring advantage on special teams and their vaunted defense hasn’t seen an offense this potent in the Harbaugh era.

The wildcard in this contest is constant in any game involving Brady—he can be rattled by a disciplined pass rush, but it must be done from the start and must be relentless. Then when Belichick adjusts to the three-step drop, opposing linemen must consistently get their hands up and obstruct Brady’s passing lanes.

The conventional wisdom is the Pats defense is vulnerable, but people forget Belichick has never been a defensive stat freak—except in the turnover differential category.

For much of the new century the Pats have been the league leader in that department.

PATRIOTS 31, NINERS 22

LOCK OF THE WEEK (7 – 7)

Seattle Seahawks @ Buffalo Bills -5.5

The Seattle Seahawks have the look of a team finding itself and Pete Carroll has translated his acumen on the college level into a solid start in Seattle.

It used to be a handicapper’s nightmare picking against the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium, but that mystique has disappeared.

This game is in Toronto anyway.

The Seahawks’ defense is a force, the Bills are hurting and C.J. Spiller can’t win the day by himself.

SEAHAWKS 34, BUFFALO 16

UPSET SPECIAL (8 – 6)

Indianapolis Colts @ Houston Texans –10

A lot of the punditocracy sees the Texans storming back with their “A” game after the “Boston Bitch-Slap” the Patriots hit them with last week.

I’m not so sure. That thorough a beating on that big a stage can alter a team’s soul. The Colts and Andrew Luck can’t match New England’s talent, but they can score a lot of points and the Pats showed them how.

Houston wins and the Colts cover.

TEXANS 27, COLTS 23

OVER/UNDER OF THE WEEK (9 – 4 – 1)

Denver Broncos @ Baltimore Ravens +3 (48)

Denver’s defense may be the most underrated group in the league and I’m betting they will show Joe Flacco exactly why.

Peyton Manning has all he needs to beat the Rat Birds soundly—an offensive line to protect him, a defense to keep the Ravens off the scoreboard, and receivers who have bought into to Manning’s preparation and approach to the game.

Joe Flacco has been this year’s most disappointing quarterback.

The Ravens, with Terrell Suggs and Ed Reed are still capable of playing stout defense and they know the formula for beating Manning—pressure. (It is no secret how to beat great QBs—it’s more a matter of doing it for 60 minutes.)

We think defenses will dictate who wins this baby—and we believe scoring will be at a relative premium.

Take the under.

BRONCOS 23, RAVENS 14

As usual, my picks are in italic below…

NFL Lines For Week 15 – NFL Line 12/16 – 12/17, 2012

Date & Time

Favorite	Line	Underdog	Total
12/16 1:00 ET	Green Bay	-3	At Chicago	43
12/16 1:00 ET	At Atlanta	-1.5	NY Giants	50.5
12/16 1:00 ET	At New Orleans	-3.5	Tampa Bay	54
12/16 1:00 ET	At St. Louis	-3	Minnesota	38.5
12/16 1:00 ET	Washington	-1.5	At Cleveland	37
12/16 1:00 ET	At Miami	-7.5	Jacksonville	37.5
12/16 1:00 ET	Denver O/U	-3	At Baltimore	48
12/16 1:00 ET	At Houston	-10 US	Indianapolis	47.5
12/16 4:05 ET	At San Diego	-3	Carolina	45
12/16 4:05 ET	Seattle LW	-5.5	At Buffalo	43
12/16 4:05 ET	Detroit	-6.5	At Arizona	43.5
12/16 4:25 ET	Pittsburgh	-2	At Dallas	45
12/16 4:25 ET	At Oakland	-3	Kansas City	44
12/16 8:30 ET	At New England	-4 GW	San Francisco	46.5

Monday Night Football Line

12/17 8:40 ET

At Tennessee

-1.5

NY Jets

41.5

• December 13, 2012 -- 2012 NFL Week 15 Thursday Night Pick – Football (1)