Week 11 Recap/Week 12 Thursday Night:

For The Week:
vs. W/L: (13-2-1)
vs. Spread: (9-7)
vs. Aggregate: (6-10)

For The Season:
Vs. W/L: (107-52-1)
Vs. Spread: (86-74)
Vs. Aggregate: (78-81-1)

Vs. “The CBSSportsline Experts”:

Richard: 87-72-0
PFN: 86-74-0
Harmon: 84-75-0
Judge: 83-76-0
Madden: 79-80-0
Prisco: 76-83-0
“SpiN”: 75-84-0

One of the reasons why we publish this page “for fun and amusement only” is because of what happened in Pittsburgh on Sunday, where a blown touchdown call as time expired resulted in the Vegas Boys reaping a $64MM windfall.

There were a lot of “investors” who feel “cheated” after the referee rescinded the touchdown call that would’ve given the Steelers a 17-10 win. Are NFL officials above reproach? While there’s been an abundance of evidence of honest ineptitude, so far the League has been as clean as a whistle regarding propriety. It’s in everyone’s interest that games are honestly officiated as even the hint of impropriety would erode public trust in this de facto monopoly and would cause the faucets in Vegas to run dry. Cowards that they are, the national media (ESPN, FOX, NBC) appeared like the emperor with no clothes by failing to even mention the economic impact of the referee’s bad call, as if the notoriety of what occurred didn’t exist. Wagering on the outcome of football games is a multibillion dollar proposition, both legally and illegally, and outcomes are intensely scrutinized by the intelligence services the NFL employs. The NFL has a duty to the teams, players, fans and the sport that all calls are made as correctly as possible. That’s why instant replay was instituted years ago. The NFL has no duty of care to sportsbooks or those who wager on the outcome of games—caveat emptor.

At Pittsburgh -9.0 Cincinnati 35

Who would’ve thought that the Bungles put more points on the board last week than Pittsburgh? To their credit, Cincinnati has played some inspired football in the past couple of weeks and will come to Heinz Field playing as if there’s nothing to lose. Unfortunately, they’ve suffered so many injuries to the O-Line that they’ll be hard pressed to play a competitive football game. This is the week where Coach Tomlin ought to limit Big Ben’s reps and give Leftwich a chance to allow Rothlisberger to heal, but that’s not the Steeler Way and they’ll pay for their stubbornness coming down the stretch.
That won’t be a concern tonight, as the cold weather and the crazy crowd will enable Pittsburgh to have a fairly easy time of things.

Projected Final score: Pittsburgh 23, Cincinnati 10