What to do in blowouts and NFL Week 11 picks

Just what is appropriate for a team to do in the case of a blowout? Should you stop throwing deep? Pull your starters? Play “vanilla” when on defence?

Quite frankly, yes on all three of those statements. There’s no such thing as style points in NFL wins and the probability of tiebreaker for the playoffs or seeding is highly unlikely. So why embarrass a team just for the hell of it?
 
I absolutely hated when Bill Belichick had a hissy fit over being caught cheating a couple years and decided to run up scores. I hate the fact that college teams have to abuse inferior opponents to curry favour in the polls. Really, I just hate poor sportsmanship.
 
There’s no need to embarrass anybody when it’s unnecessary and there should be – while not a mercy rule, it’s similar – a running clock rule for the NFL. As soon as a team leads by 35, the clock wouldn’t stop and we could get these uninteresting contests over with.
 
The lines are from Vegas and the home teams are in CAPS

PITTSBURGH -7 over Oakland
West coast teams heading east rarely fare well. Plus, the Raiders are very run-based and the Steelers are stellar against the run.

NEW YORK JETS -7 over Houston
Matt Schaub is on an infected knee and the Jets are too stout on defence for the Texans to handle.

Baltimore -10.5 over CAROLINA
How little confidence could the Cats possibly have in Tony Pike when they sign Brian St. Pierre to start this week after he was a stay-at-home dad last week?

TENNESSEE -7 over Washington
The Redskins were killed on Monday night by a mobile QB, wouldn’t you take another mobile QB to cover?

DALLAS -6.5 over Detroit
With the way that the Cowboys played last week, it’s hard to imagine that they’ll give the Lions their first road win in 26 tries.

MINNESOTA +3 over Green Bay
Brett Favre has only lost one game at home since joining the Vikings. The Packers injuries should add up to bring them down here.

Buffalo +5.5 over CINCINNATI
Both of these teams are garbage time dynamos and this game is going to be 60 minutes of garbage time. It should be a close one at least.

Cleveland +1.5 over JACKSONVILLE
The Browns have done great against some contenders the past few weeks and the Jaguars aren’t contender quality.

KANSAS CITY -8 over Arizona
The Chiefs are one of the best home teams in the league and shouldn’t have any problem imposing their will on Arizona.

Seattle +12 over NEW ORLEANS
The Seahawks did pretty well on the road last week and while the Saints are much better than the Cards, 12 is a lot to give.

Atlanta -3 over ST. LOUIS
The Falcons are well rested and should be up for a tough challenge like visiting the Rams.

Tampa Bay +3.5 over SAN FRANCISCO
How is a really good team like the Bucs getting points? The Niners are nothing special either.

Indianapolis +4 over NEW ENGLAND
When these two rivals get together, it’s sure to be a close game and Peyton Manning is sure to have a great day against the Pats secondary.

PHILADELPHIA -3 over New York Giants
Mike Vick will never have a game like that again, but can you really bet against him here?

SAN DIEGO -10 over Denver
The Chargers are coming off a bye and the Broncos used up all their points last week against the Chiefs.

This week: 1-0-0
Last week: 8-6-0
This season: 78-63-5