On Top of the Covers

By Mark Coatney and Frank Pellegrini Friday, Dec. 05, 1997
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Okay, they admit it: The idea of vacation days got to L.I. Slim and the KC Line last weekend, and picks were left unmade. (Confidentially, they both would have taken a beating). L.I. Slim is still rather shaken after Week 13's debacle, and he's feeling like nerveless Robert Vaughn in "The Magnificent Seven." But here goes, with forced brio:

Fact: The STEELERS, favored by a slender one-and-a-half that feels like a pick 'em, will not disappoint L.I. Slim again. Down with Elway.
Fact: The EAGLES, 6-1 at home, are hothothot, at least for them. Face it: the Giants couldn't score a touchdown if the Eagles slept through the game.
Fact: The Raiders will sleep through the game. Take the CHIEFS at Arrowhead.

Short and sweet means Slim's back.

EAGLES -5 Giants
JETS -6.5 Colts
JAGUARS -4 Patriots
STEELERS -1.5 Broncos
BUCS +3.5 Packers
CHIEFS -9 Raiders
Bills -1
BEARS Seahawks + 1.5 RAVENS
Rams +2.5 SAINTS
NINERS -9 Vikings
CARDS -1.5 Redskins
CHARGERS +2 Falcons
Lions +3 DOLPHINS
Panthers +6.5 COWBOYS

Back from a bye week, the KC Line feels fresh and feisty going into this week's game. Which is why he feels extra confident with these picks:

Take the Raiders and nine points in Kansas City. Yes, these CHIEFS are the same team that bullied the Niners last week, and yes, these always-talented-but-perennially-disappointing Raiders are likely not to show up. On the other hand, these games are always close no matter how the rest of the season has gone for either team. And despite last week's aberration, the Chiefs are not the kind of club that blows teams out. The pick is a one-point KC win--on a safety with :03 remaining. Meanwhile, the NINERS are the kind club that blows teams out, and they've got plenty of issues, from that Chiefs debacle to the injury to Garrison Hearst to Fast Eddie DeBartolo's latest legal tussles, to work out on a Vikings team that's starting, believe it or not, Randall Cunningham. Finally, the STEELERS and phat back Jerome Bettis only giving one and a half to a Broncos team that has made every back look like Jim Brown -- bet the farm.

The list:


EAGLES -5 Giants
Colts +6.5 JETS
JAGUARS -4 Patriots
STEELERS -1.5 Broncos
Packers -3.5 BUCS
Raiders +9 CHIEFS
BEARS +1 Bills
Seahawks + 1.5 RAVENS
Rams +2.5 SAINTS NINERS -9 Vikings
CARDS -1.5 Redskins
CHARGERS +2 Falcons
DOLPHINS -3 Lions
COWBOYS -6.5 Panthers

THE STANDINGS (spread):

L.I. Slim: 50-33-3
K.C. Line: 40-43-3