A 6-1 Free NFL Picks Encore (85% YTD)

Now that's how things are supposed to go around here. Following an impressive 5-1 (83%) start to the NFL season, our Free NFL Picks had an even better encore in Week 2, going 6-1 (86%), bringing them to 11-2 and 85% in 2010.

Now would be a good time to continue our running joke of asking you greedy degenerates for a finder's fee on our picks, via the Paypal donation button on the lefthand side of the page.

It was a winning day, so we don't mind going through a little recap. First, the lone loss. The Panthers failed to beat the lowly Buccaneers, meaning they didn't cover the -3 1/2 point spread and that they might even be more lowly than the Bucs. Our system still takes last year's numbers into account this early in the season, and we were confident that the Panthers defense could overcome the, well, lowly offense. Not the case. We wouldn't be surprised to see the Bucs finish 2-14 after a 2-0 start, and for that matter, an 0-16 Panthers squad is possible, too.

As for the winners, there was much to like today. After slow first halves, the Packers and Falcons did what good teams do to bad teams, kicking the crap out of their lesser opponents. The Packers took care of the college-like -14 spread against the Bills while the Falcons easily handled a -7 spread against the Cardinals.

The Bears and Dolphins, at +7 1/2 against Dallas and +6 against Minnesota, respectively, did much more than cover, both winning their games. Great value picks in both cases, as the much hyped Cowboys and Vikings were the sexier public plays.

We don't think the Broncos are a very good team, but better than the team that lost to the Jags last week. Likewise, we don't think the Seahawks are a very good team, period. A Week 1 win over the 49ers will prove to be a fluke, as it did today, with the Broncos flipping the tables on Seattle and easily covering a -7 spread.

And then there were the Chargers. Like the Packers and Falcons, this was just a good team easily covering a paltry spread (-7) against a not-so-good team. As Kendra Wilkinson, wife of NFLer Hank Baskett, demonstrates in our Lemmy-censored image above, the Chargers were a thing of beauty today.

And that's how we arrive at a 6-1 day and 11-2 start to the 2010 NFL season. Our accurate NFL picks have lived up to the hype so far, and we certainly hope that continues for 19 more weeks (counting playoffs, duh).

And the records update:

2010 Free NFL Picks

Week 1: 5-1

Week 2: 6-1

Overall: 11-2... 85%

2009 NFL Mock Draft: Picks 13-16

Everybody's mocking for the weekend! Or at least, we are, continuing our 2009 NFL Mock Draft. Not only are we working for the weekend, but we're putting in overtime. Instead of giving out the regular three picks, we're giving you our next four selections in this special Saturday edition of our mock draft. 

13. Redskins: Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU

The run on defensive ends continues with the Redskins scooping up Jackson, making him the third DE/OLB (depending on the formation) selected in-a-row. Don't tell Jackson he's the third best of the three, though. He's climbing the boards for teams that use a 3-4, but he's been playing in the 4-3 and will be a beast in either system. 

14. Saints: Chris Wells, RB, Ohio State

The first reach of the draft comes when the Saints take Beanie as the first running back off the board, though he isn't the best one in the draft. New Orleans really likes him to shore up the backfield, and Wells does fit the Saints offense very... well. Still, the Saints will try to trade down to get him if Beanie really is their guy, otherwise they might be inclined to improve on their terrible defense for once. 

15. Texans: Malcolm Jenkins, CB, Ohio State

Back-t0-back picks for THE Ohio State University, with Jenkins too talented for the Texans to pass on. He's not the fastest corner, but he's certainly one of the more physical and is always willing to make the tackle. Jenkins could easily be off the board by now, as early on with the ninth pick, but the Texans won't mind if he's still available when they're on the clock. 

16. Chargers: Rey Maualuga, LB, USC

We like the Chargers keeping Maualuga in state and bolstering an already solid defense in the process. Plain and simple: Maualuga causes headaches--and not just to the people trying to spell his name. The California native can make an immediate impact for the Bolts, who will be healthy and playing in a suddenly much easier division. We're expecting good things out of the Chargers this year, and this pick is the first of many more to come. 

Be sure to check out the first 12 picks on the upper right-hand side of this page. We'll continue to work through the weekend to hammer out the next few picks of our mock draft tomorrow. Keep checking back for the updates and we'll keep 'em coming!

Technical Difficulties at Stock Lemon

Well, evidently our Free NFL Picks for Sunday did not get posted. It isn't a huge deal, since the picks went 1-1 (we stuck with the favorites again and had the Steelers over the Chargers and Giants over the Eagles).

Unfortunately for us, this didn't happen a day sooner, when our picks made us worthy of a Vegas Watch fade.

Also, we've noticed our blogroll was a little depleted. We have added a couple of new sites, but please check to make sure your site is still in the Lemmy's Friends section on the right-hand side of the page.

Of course, if your site isn't and you would like it to be, e-mail us at stocklemonblog@gmail.com and we'll arrange a link exchange.

Hopefully we can sort out our issues here in the coming days, but bear with us if updates are sporadic for the time being.

It's Playoff Time!

Amidst all these meaningless college football games, it's refreshing that we'll finally be able to enjoy a playoff system tomorrow.

The NFL playoffs are underway, and as promised, we've got a couple of Free NFL Picks for you.

Colts -1 over the Chargers

We're riding Peyton Manning the rest of the way, just like the Colts have been doing for the past nine weeks.

Falcons PICK over the Cardinals

It's nice that the Cardinals get to play an extra game this year. Nice for the Falcons and our wallets, that is. The Matt Ryan/Michael Turner combo will just be too much for the Cards to handle.

Good luck and enjoy the wonders of a simple playoff format.

Lemmy Squeezes More Juice For Free NFL Picks

Things have been pretty average around here lately. It seems like every post we're writing about going .500 for the day, be it 1-1-, 2-2-1, 1-1, 1-1, 1-1, or 1-1.

Well, guess what? Our Free NFL Picks went 1-1 today.

The Patriots covered the -1 spread with a 48-28 pounding over the Dolphins, but the Chargers choked in the final minute--again--and lost to the Colts 23-20, losing against the -2 1/2 spread in the process.

So, once again, we had a .500 day, and Lemmy lost some more juice, or lemonade as we say here at Stock Lemon.

The bad news is that the 1-1 day drags our Free NFL Picks record under the 60% mark that looks so good on resumes. We are now 22-15-2 on the year, which is 59.4%.

The good news is that we will have a play coming for the Packers/Saints Monday Nighter tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Just Two Free NFL Picks This Week

Our Free NFL Picks only like two games this week, both in the AFC.

Chargers -2 1/2 over the Colts

Patriots -1 over Dolphins

Our system is hitting 60% thus far with a record of 21-14-2, but we're optimistic that these two picks will put us above the 60% benchmark.

Good luck!

If the NFL Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

While we didn't have a wager on the game between the Chargers and Steelers, in a way, everyone lost.

Especially the NFL. Well, them, and the people who bet on the Steelers.

With the Steelers ahead of the Chargers 11-10, San Diego had time for one last desperation play. It went just about how you'd expect a dump-off-and-lateral-from-inside-the-20 play to go, with Philip Rivers throwing a short pass to Ladainian Tomlinson, Tomlinson flipping it back to Chris Chambers, and Chambers lateralling it to nobody in particular.

Chambers' heave was knocked down and scooped up by Troy Polamalu, who ran it in for a touchdown, giving the Steelers a 17-10 lead. Unfortunately, due to an illegal forward lateral by Tomlinson, the touchdown was wiped off of the scoreboard. Still, the Steelers won, so no harm done, right?

Wrong.

The Steelers may have won, but anyone who took the Steelers at anywhere from -3 1/2 to -5 didn't share the victory. Okay, so Steelers bettors caught a bad break, happens all the time, right?

Sure, but does it usually happen when 66% of the action is on the Steelers as opposed to 34% for the Chargers, with bookies looking at a huge profit if the Chargers win? Does it also usually happen when the Steelers are penalized 13 times for 115 yards as opposed to two times for five yards for San Diego? And does it usually happen on a call so clearly wrong? Take a look at a couple of screenshots of Tomlinson's pitch back to Chambers. Notice the arm going behind Tomlinson, followed by the ball.

As you can see, Tomlinson tosses the ball backwards to Chambers, and pretty obviously at that. Could this have anything to do with the fact that, as RJ Bell of Pregame.com points out, Vegas was on the receiving end of a $64 million swing as a result of this lateral? From the looks of it, the referees did everything in their power to make sure the Steelers didn't cover. The zebras even admitted to making the wrong call at the end of the game.

So, was this just a huge mix up, or are we just scratching the surface of an NFL betting scandal bigger than the Chicago Black Sox of the MLB (White Sox players rigging the World Series in 1919 for the youngsters out there) or Tim Donaghy in the NBA?

We might not even want to know the answer to that.

Chargers Make It a 3-0 Sunday

The Chargers crushed the Patriots tonight, 30-10, easily covering the -4 1/2 point spread and giving us a perfect 3-0 sweep in the NFL today.

Like in our previous games today, the quarterback play led to an easy cover. Philip Rivers was exceptional for San Diego, making sure that we didn't sweat this one out at all.

All three teams we picked to cover today now move from 2-3 to 3-3. Meanwhile are Free NFL Picks move from 9-5-1 to 12-5-1. Not a bad day.

We'll give a full update of our records momentarily.

Eagles and Packers Both Cover

We told you to go with the 2-3 teams today, and so far if you took our advice, you'd be 2-0.

The Eagles came back to beat the 49ers by a count of 40-26, covering a -4 1/2 point spread, while the Packers covered a +1 1/2 point spread with a 27-17 victory over the Seahawks.

The quarterbacks were key in both of these victories, with Donovan McNabb and Aaron Rodgers putting together great performances to get us a couple of covers.

Our Free NFL Picks are 2-0 so far today, and we're hoping the Chargers can make it 3-0 with a cover against the Patriots tonight. Overall, our Free NFL Pick record is now 11-5-1, which is 69%.

We hope you played these games with us today and made some extra cash for yourself.

Take the 2-3 Teams in the NFL Today

We had just one Free NFL Pick last week... and it pushed. This week, though, we are back with multiple picks, as our computer system shows three strong sides.

Eagles -4 1/2 over the 49ers

Packers +1 1/2 over the Seahawks

Chargers -4 1/2 over the Patriots

Donovan McNabb and the Eagles shouldn't feel embarrased after a date with the 49ers. In addition to Philly, we like two other 2-3 teams desperate for a win on Sunday.

If you're new to the site, we've faired pretty well in the NFL so far this season. Here are our weekly results to date:

Week 1: 3-2
Week 2: 2-1
Week 3: 2-1
Week 4: 2-1

Week 5: 0-0-1
Total: 9-5-1... 64%

A 64% record speaks for itself, but we're hoping our record speaks even louder after Week 6.

Good luck!

Lean Toward the Under Tonight

With the Jets and Chargers facing off on Monday Night Football tonight, a lot of the talk is on the offensive weapons of both teams. But let's take a look at those "weapons."

Philip Rivers has been hot for the Chargers, but we don't expect him to keep it up. Ladainian Tomlinson is injured, and might not even play. As for the Jets, their only offensive weapon is Brett Favre, who has been restricted by the play-calling of Jets coach Eric Mangini and plays in a struggling offense. All of that said, we like the under tonight.

New York Jets/San Diego Chargers UNDER 47

That said, we are still debating whether or not to make this a Free NFL Pick. We need to look at a few more numbers to see if this play qualifies, so far now it is simply a strong lean. Remember, our Free NFL Picks are 7-4 so far, which is 64%.

Stay tuned, as we'll officially announce whether or not it is a Free NFL Pick prior to kickoff. UPDATE: With Ladainian Tomlinson in the starting lineup, we aren't going to make this a Free NFL Pick, as it no longer fits our computer system. We still are leaning this way and might put a small amount on it, though.