STONE COLD LOCKS WEEK 9

Stone Cold Locks 

By Bob Gaughan

2026 Record 20-19-1

2025 record 56-55

2024 record 67-44-1

2023 Record 82-71-3

2022 Record 68-41-2

2021 record 62-49

2020 record  52-52-4

2019 Record  62-41-2

2018 Record 72-50-3

Total: 541-422-16=56%

Man in Stripes: Saints -2.5 vs Browns

Hold your nose here!! We will go with a team that is 0-4 at home, and 2-5 overall.. This is strictly a situational pick.. The Browns have been a great story so far this NFL season.. However , in their loss in Pittsburgh last week, possible comeback player of the year, Deshaun Watson, left with a concussion, and is still in concussion protocol as of this writing.. It looks to be Shedeur Sanders under center for the Brownies.. Last year in 7 starts, 3-4, with 54% completion rate, and a 68 passer rating....THAT IS NOT GOOD!!!  With 5 comeback wins, which leads the league, Watson is the main reason the Browns are in a playoff spot now.. The Saints at 2-5, coming off a bye, have their #1 WR/ LT coming back..Tyler Shough has played better of late for the Saints, that would love to knock back the upstart Browns..AGAIN HOLD THAT NOSE TIGHT IN THIS ONE.. Enjoy the games!!

MONO: MINNESOTA +4.5 OVER UCLA

In hindsight, Baylor Friday night probably was a lock and instead we got smoked by 40.. you gotta be a goldfish when it comes to gambling. Short term memory. We move onto week 10 in college football and man did the 1st release of CFP rankings cause some drama. Good thing about this week, some of those teams play each other, and others have a chance to prove their for real. This UCLA team came out of nowhere led by former JMU coach Bob Chesney. He’s got the Bruins at #8 in the country, sporting a perfect 8-0 record. Their most impressive win of the season was at Oregon in a game they lost their starting QB for the season. They’ve done it behind a top 10 defense in terms of total yards allowed and travel to Minnesota for big noon kickoff. You flip to Minnesota and they’re right where they are every year with PJ Fleck at the helm. Competitive as hell, with limited offensive success. Anchored by the 22nd ranked defense in the country. The Gophers went toe to toe with the Hoosiers last week, falling just short as 22.5 point dogs. Now they go back home and have a chance to spoil the Bruins perfect record. If Nico were playing, I think the Bruins would be the pick here. The thing is, he’s not and this offense hasn’t look the same. On the road and against this defense, I’m fading the ranked, road favorite. This game reminds me a lot of the Iowa-Minnesota game from a couple weeks back. Defensive battle, decided by a field goal. These 2 teams in their current form will not light up the scoreboard, but they will get stops. Chesney has done a great job this year, but I think PJ Fleck has the upper hand and what better way to get the bad taste out from last week than a chance at another CFP contender. Give me the Gophers and the points in a game they very well have a chance to win outright. I think this is a race to 13-17 points, whoever gets there first, wins this one. Minnesota +4.5

Brutal:   Eastern CFL Final: @ MONTREAL ALOUETTES (-8.5)  Over WINNIPEG

  Just the thing, the conference finals in the oldest professional football league in the world.  In the CFL, Montreal has almost coasted all year.  They wrapped up the East Division about a month ago and are very healthy heading into their final home game of the year.  Montreal went 14-4 this year, 9-0 at home!  QB Davis Alexander (Portland State) has been dominant this year on the ground and in the air, and his two top receivers: Tyson Philpot ( Univ. of Calgary ) and Tyler Snead ( East Carolina ) were one-two in yardage gained in the CFL.  Montreal is stacked, their defense forces turnovers and they are quick, well coached and seldom play from behind.

  Often these playoff games are close, but Winnipeg (9-9) is clearly mediocre, old and a bit lucky.  Last week they beat Toronto in the Eastern semifinal, but the Argonauts lost their star quarterback Chad Kelly ( Jim Kelly's nephew ) early in the game and the Double Blue fell apart.  Kelly just signed a multi-million dollar extension just days before, but like last year he instantly got hurt in a playoff game.  The Blue Bombers are very old, QB Zach Collaros ( Univ. of Cincinnati ) is a wily veteran, but his numbers have declined and he is near the end. 

  I do not like big spreads in playoff games, but Montreal should roll here.  They are coming in off the bye, this should be a rout!  The Alouettes scored 170 more points than the Blue Bombers this year and I can only believe that their record will be a quick 10-0 at home on Saturday afternoon and they will be off to the 113th Grey Cup in Calgary.

Bonus:

British Columbia (-1) @ EDMONTON ELKS 

  The hottest team for the last two months in the CFL has been the B.C, Lions.  They head into Edmonton as a slight favorite which surprised many of us, but it reflects their momentum.  Canadian QB Nathan Rourke ( Ohio University ) has looked spectacular and leads the most exciting offense in the league this year.  I will be taking British Columbia as well on Saturday and I will also tease the Alouettes and Lions with a seven pointer just to make a little more! 

Bob: Buffalo -3 over Minnesota

Minnesota lost their first game last week and I expect them to lose two in a row this week on Monday night.  The key to playing that aggressive Minnesota defense is to not get in third and long.  Running the football is what needs to happen.  The Detroit Lions ran for 230 yards last week in winning.  The Bills have the same ability to run the ball with James Cook.  The Bills offense didn’t play their best football last week and they still put up 36 points.  The Minnesota offense has shown no signs this year to match the Bills offensively.  Carson Wentz will start at QB after Kyler Murray was designated out with a hamstring injury.  Justin Jefferson is not happy with how the offense is not getting him the ball.  Jefferson hasn’t had one game this year where he gained over 100 yards. He’s  averaged just 55 yards per game. Vegas doesn’t believe in the Vikings and nor do I.  Let’s take the Bills in a game where we just need to lay a field goal.