Can someone help me WIN my office Weekly NFL Picks? I am a complete novice but want to learn.. really - I just can't bare reading every article about every team. Thanks.. dennis

Do you pick against the spread or straight up? We've got our Pick 'Em game here, so you could "pracice" with us. Otherwise, ESPN.com posts predictions by a group of experts. You could simply go with their consensus. As a group, they do pretty well picking winners straight up.

Another basic rule I use is if you're really in a hurry and can't base your choices on stats, standings, injuries, etc., Pick more teams playing at home than on the road.

If you really don't care to watch the games or read about the teams, I'd advise just watching here for George's picks every week and using his.

Theo you should rethink that second career as a comedian! LOL!!!

Thank you all, I appreciate your help. Sadly, I don't know what a "spread" or "straight up" is - I told you I was learning! But some of your suggestions are pretty good, I thought that OutSports would have a group of "experts" but I guess not. I actually did better this week than last.. up from 5 to 7 correct. hehehe.. thx

Essentially, the "spread" is when a certain team is 'handicapped' or something like that. Basically, you have to choose a team to win by a certain number of points, called the spread. If the spread is 10 points in favor of team A, you pick team A, then they have to win by at least 10 points or you lose. "Straight up" is much easier, there you just choose winners so just picking the vavorite would be good enough. Good luck, hopefully that makes sense.

By spread, I mean point spread. Spreads are printed in the daily papers. For example, Denver is playing Buffalo this week. Denver is favored by 9 points. That means if you pick Denver they must win by more than 9 points and if you pick Buffalo, they can lose by less than 9 points or win outright.

Straight up just means you are only required to pick which team you think will win, regardless of the spread.

Actually, you both made sense, I appreciate it. I actually went to ESPN.com and got 12 of the 14 teams right last week. I guess now I have to watch a few games.

Thank you guys I really do appreciate your input. I will let you all know if I ever win.