Before the season I went out on a (minor) limb to pick the Steelers to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. Since then they’ve had their ups and downs…most notably due to the ongoing holdout of star running back Le’Veon Bell. With the no-show of Bell on Tuesday, it’s locked in that James Conner is the man who’s going to carry Pittsburgh to and (hopefully) through the playoffs. A few years ago, while at the University of Pittsburgh, Conner successfully battled and beat Hodgkin’s lymphoma. What an incredible story then and now! And if you have Conner on your fantasy team with or without Bell, congratulations. Either way, I’m standing by my Pittsburgh Super Bowl representative pick. They have a fairly tough road test this week in Jacksonville first…

As for my picks, I’ve turned the corner against the spread and look forward to handing out many more winners over the next 7 regular season weeks and playoffs!

Continue reading “Cohen’s Corner Week 11 NFL Picks” →

One of my favorite expressions is that “every blind squirrel gets a nut.” Well, excluding the Thursday and Monday night games…I went 11-0 straight up and 10-1 against the spread last week. Not too shabby for a bunch of toss-up games as I saw them in this column at the time.

Among those correct picks was the Saints over the Rams. Was I surprised about the actual result? Not at all. Los Angeles was bound to lose at some point. But here’s a quick prediction…they won’t lose again…all year. It’s a team that, once healthy in the secondary, has absolutely no weaknesses. And with a remaining schedule of Seattle, Kansas City (in Mexico City), at Detroit, at Chicago, Philadelphia, at Arizona, San Francisco…I would be surprised if they slipped up once more.

In the playoffs anything can happen, but as I said a few weeks ago, fade Todd Gurley and company at your own risk. They’re the most talented team in pro football and there’s no team that I see comparable top-to-bottom at the moment, even New Orleans.

On to hopefully more winning picks in Week 10…

Continue reading “Cohen’s Corner Week 10 NFL Picks” →

I’m not starting this column off with NFL talk for once. Unfortunately this is my last column while a co-host of The Daily Blender. I’ve chosen to move back into behind-the-scenes TV work full-time and therefore have to give up the weekday radio gig. I’ve had a hell of a time these last nearly 13 months working with Jeffry O’Brien, Randy White, and the cast of characters around the station. I can’t thank Jeffry enough for giving me a shot on his show last October and based on the growth of our on-air texters, it seems fair to say that we’ve done more than a few things right. As many readers of this column know, I have never been afraid to make a bold prediction or two (or 100). I appreciate my co-hosts and the listeners dealing with my obnoxiousness on-air on the (few or many…depending on how you look at it) times I’ve been correct. It’s been a hell of a ride and one I hope continues in some capacity down the road.

Hopefully this column continues full steam ahead on both my website and 1580thefanatic.com…so I’ll do my best to continue picking NFL winners at a high rate as I’ve done this season. This week, however, I’m not nearly as confident. If I can achieve a 7-6 record with the tough slate of games, I might actually be content for once! On to the picks below…

Continue reading “Cohen’s Corner Week 9 NFL Picks” →

We’re almost halfway through the NFL’s regular season…so it seems fairly appropriate to update my NFL playoff predictions.

In the AFC, I’ll say New England, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Houston, Kansas City, and Los Angeles (Chargers) will make the playoffs. Of those six, I’ll fade the two favorites in NE and KC while sticking with the Pittsburgh Steelers to pull a road upset or two on their way to the Super Bowl.

In the NFC, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Chicago, New Orleans, Carolina, and Los Angeles (Rams) will advance to January. It’s hard to pick against the Rams right now so I’ll predict they beat the Saints in the NFC Championship Game to advance to the Super Bowl.

In Super Bowl LIII, a rematch of Super Bowl XIV, the Rams defeat the Steelers 38-24 and finish off an 18-1 season to win their first championship since 2000.

Let’s see how accurate I am with these picks come January.

In the meantime, I’m picking NFL games at a 68.5% rate…not too shabby if I may say so myself!

Continue reading “Cohen’s Corner Week 8 NFL Picks” →