Archived interview on 1/7/11 with The Guru of New England (Blanchette) and The King of Vegas (Root) found at http://belforti.libsyn.com/01-07-2011-wayne-allyn-root-blanchette-belforti-nfl-gurus-predict-wildcard-weekend-mp3

Mark’s email to Dan unedited: Dan says, “I agree 100%, it’s as if we are Brothers!”

Green Bay +3 at Philly Eagles – This is a rematch of an earlier meeting between the two clubs that saw GB win 27-20 in Philly Week 1. Philly has a 4-4 record at home which is the worst home record of all the playoff teams. GB lost its 6 games by a TOTAL of 20 pts while their 10 wins have been by an average of nearly 17! GB comes in boasting a defense that finished 2nd in pts allowed per game (15.0) and finished 5th in total defense (309.1) yards per game. After at hot start, Philly has tailed off lately having to rally late to beat Giants and losing last 2 to Minn and Dallas.

Baltimore Ravens –3 at KC Chiefs – KC has had a good year but if you look at their schedule, they really have not beaten anybody. Baltimore, on the other hand, has played Pitt twice, the Pats, Jets, Atlanta, TB and New Orleans and went 4-3 against those teams with close losses.
Baltimore finished the season with 4 straight wins and only give up 17pt in last 2 games. Ravens D finished 3rd in pts allowed with 270 and were fifth against the rush giving up 93.9 yards per game which they will need vs KC top ranked rushing offense.
KC won 3 of their last 5 but only scored 10 or fewer points three times.

Belforti Bros Top 2 NFL Picks YTD vs spread: 18 wins vs 16 losses 52.9%
Lost both top 2 picks last week (Giants & Packers)
Action Point Picks 1-3 (Falcons easy winner, Giants & Packers & Colts all won but didn’t cover, C’Mon Mannings!) 26 wins vs 21 losses = 55.3% for Bel40stars Action Picks of Year.

Final Weekend for NFL Guru Contest between Blanchette and Belforti. Who will be #1 ?? Tied at 12 wins and 5 losses vs spread. Hear their picks released on Friday 12.31.10 in studio on Portsmouth Community Radio, 106.1 FM at http://traffic.libsyn.com/belforti/Blanchette_Guru_vs_Guru_12.31.10_unedited.mp3

Belforti Bros Top 2 NFL Picks YTD vs spread: 18 wins vs 14 losses 56.2%.
Lost both top 2 picks last week (Philly,SD).

Action point picks: 3 wins on Pitts, Balt and KC; Losses on Chargers and Eagles.
25 wins vs 18 losses = 58.1% for Bel40stars Action Picks of Year.

Week 17 Top2: (Belforti Bros and Blanchette agree for once on all top 4 selections - is that good??)
Green Bay -10 vs Chicago Bears - GB needs win to clinch Wildcard
NY Giants -3.5 at Washington - GMen motivated to return to playoffs if they beat Skins and Packers lose to Bears to take final Wildcard

Also Love:
Indy Colts -9.5 vs Tennessee Titans & Atlanta Falcons -14 vs Carolina Panthers. Indy clinches division with win, Atlanta clinches bye with win.

Blanchette Picks: GB-10, Falcons-14, Ravens-9.5 vs Dan’s GB-10,Colts-9.5 and Giants-4 for $500 and Title “NFL Guru of New England”

Belforti Bros Top 2 NFL Picks YTD vs spread: 18 wins vs 12 losses 60%. Won both top 2 picks last week (Indy,Atlanta). Bel40% Incorrect.
Action point picks: 5 wins on Chargers, Colts, Falcons, Raiders and Bears; Losses on Pats & Cowboys. 22 wins vs 16 losses = 57.9% for Bel40stars Action Picks of Year.

Top 2: Philly Eagles -14 vs Minn Vikings
San Diego Chargers -7.5 at Cincinnati Bengals

Top 2: Indy –4.5 vs Jax – Colts desperately fighting for a playoff spot. Indy lost the first game to Jax 31-28. Catching a Jags team that has Maurice Jones Drew with a bum knee and David Garrard with a tweaked hamstring. If Colts lose, Jax wins division.

Atlanta Falcons -6 at Seattle – Although Falcons not great on road and Seahawks awesome at home, still going with superior Atlanta team.

Dan also likes: Pittsburgh -5.5 vs Jets and St Louis Rams -2.5 vs KC Chiefs

Mark also likes: TB –5 vs Detroit – This is an absolute must win for the Bucs. Although the Lions are improved, they have dropped and NFL record 26 straight road games.
Chicago Bears -7.5 at Minn – Look for Bears to rebound vs Vikings QB Joe Webb.

Belforti Bros Top 2 NFL Picks YTD vs spread: 16 wins vs 12 losses 57.1%. Lost both last week: Action picks were 1 and 3 with wins on Chargers and losses on Denver, Indy and Green Bay. 17 wins vs 14 losses = 54.8% for Bel40stars Action Picks of Year

Fantasy Update: In Jon Murray’s “Tom Is My God” Yahoo Fantasy Football league, repeated as #1 seed with 1st round bye last week. In Jacques/Mitchell Bros league did not make playoffs byt 1st round bye consolation round and 2nd place so far in NFL picks vs spread.
In Brad Letourneau’s Yahoo Pro Football Pickem League, trying to repeat as champ of the Gridiron Gang in 1st place of 26 with 114-89 vs spread, 56.2%. Will not 3-peat as Champ of Dan Forbes’ AGITH ESPN Fantasy League with a pedestrian 7-7 record.

Denver -4 at Arizona Cardinals - Often a team responds well after a head coach firing, and my observations are that Denver’s former coach Josh McDaniels was not well liked by his team. Arizona is down to its 3rd string QB, a rookie from a division 1AA team. (analysis by Dan)

GB –6.5 at Detroit – This is a big game for the Pack who trail Chicago by a game in their division and also trail Saints and Giants in wild-card standings. If that is not bad enough, Pack have to face Pats next week. We look for them to beat Detroit who they have beaten 10 straight times. GB has won five of their last 6 and have outscored their opponents by and ave of 19.4 pts in their five victories. (analysis by Mark)

We also like San Diego-9 Action vs Kansas City with Brodie Croyle at QB.

Belforti Bros Top 2 NFL Picks YTD vs spread: 16 wins vs 10 losses 61.5%. Won both last week: Pats 45-3 (I WAS CLOSE WITH 45-10 PREDICTION ON SHOW) and Falcons. For archived interview, click here
Action picks were 3 and 2 with wins on Pats, Falcons (actually replaced my documented Atl pick with GB last minute and won more) & Rams and Losses on Bears & Chargers. 16 wins vs 11 losses = 59.3% for Bel40stars Action Picks of Year