By Dalton Del Don
Last week I went a horrific 3-13, bringing my season total to 121-112-7. At least the Giants luckily covered, bringing my best bet record to 10-4-2. A season ATS I could be proud of all of a sudden looks less impressive, so I really need to bounce back in a big way during the final week. As if picking ATS isn’t tough enough, Week 17 gives us the added challenge of trying to predict playing time, giving more uncertainty than ever. As a result, I went with more dogs (11) than usual. As much as the Chargers easily beating the Broncos seems like a foregone conclusion, that’s a lot of points to give by a mediocre San Diego team. Also, while Sunday’s game means more to the Bears, they are traveling during a short week, and Houston is tough at home and will be focused to finish the season strong after laying an egg last week. Back the Texans.
Rams +14.5 at Falcons
Patriots -7 at Bills
Chiefs +3 at Bengals
Lions +10 at Packers
Bears +2.5 at Texans (best bet)
Titans -3 at Colts
Giants +6.5 at Vikings
Panthers -3 at Saints
Browns +10.5 at Steelers
Raiders +14 at Buccaneers
Jaguars +12.5 at Ravens
Dolphins +2.5 at Jets
Cowboys +1.5 at Eagles
Seahawks +6 at Cardinals
Redskins +3 at 49ers
Broncos +9 at Chargers
Differences this week:
Texans – Bears
Bengals – Chiefs
Jags – Ravens
Stone Cold Locks
Broncos
Dolphins
Saints
Steelers
Raiders
Rams
I have some confidence this week. We’ll see how it pans out.
That C. Michigan loss had to hurt you last night Dalton.
B. Wright – Not many differences at all this week (although one is my “best bet”). I hope you’re right with your stone cold locks. Ya I had C. Michigan at 31 points – way high. I was doing really well before that – had Zona and N. Dame pretty high. Some big games today…
Dalton- My pool comes down to this week. We’re tied. Need a best bet. I like Houston but not confident enough to make it my best bet. Who would you have considered otherwise?
Wright- Care to go out on a limb and name a team or two as the surest lock?
Probably the Broncos, but I’d go with the Texans.
Just realized my pool (spreads set on Wed morning) has it HOU +3.5. In that case, I’ll take that.
Anonymous-
Most confident locks:
Steelers
Raiders
Looks like I aimed a little low with my forecast of an 18-point Philly beatdown of the Cowclowns this week. Wow, this is about as bad as that last Marino playoff game against the Jaguars.
8-5-1 going into tonight
5-1 with stone cold locks. 9-6-1 overall.
I had 11 wins (13 pts with my 3 pt best bet) and winded up with 157 for the season to win the pool. Thanks guys.
Dreamweapon – Good call bro. That was beyond pathetic. No excuses here – Dallas is as soft as they come, and I’m ashamed of myself for not recognizing it. Coaching is a pretty big deal in football. That was hilarious, really.
Brian Wright – I got you this week, but just barely. Impressive man. You should have been on here earlier this year. You got to keep it up next year – 5-1 on the “stone cold locks” – baller. Keep picking through the playoffs.
I can’t explain my college picks – all luck. I swear.
Anonymous – Glad to hear it. Told you Texans were the way to go. The fact you got them as 3.5 dogs made it a no-brainer.