The 2016 NFL regular season only has two more weeks remaining, but the final set of games played during this calendar year ends now. While we all like to count our statistics on a season-by-season basis, we are somewhat alone in this endeavor.
The industry of picking games against the spread – namely, those who set the spreads – has been torn apart in 2016 due to the inexplicable success of the easy and ‘obvious’ teams. The tide never did turn, and it is clear that the industry, as a whole, will have suffered mightily by the lack of ‘traps’ failing to trigger.
Certainly, the future is not so dim. Things will correct. They always do. But not everyone would be in agreement. Because not everyone believes we are in the middle of an outlier.
On a holiday weekend that has forced the entire Sunday schedule of games – with the exception of two – onto Saturday, absolutely nothing is normal in Week 16. And, since the ‘new normal’ has been accepted 15 weeks into the season, this presents the perfect time for a covert strike by the spreads.
Such an event also coincides perfectly with one last attempt to salvage the 2016 success rate – again, since the industry often operates year-by-year, not season-by-season. If there were ever the opportunity to make a move, it would be now, not January 1st.
We always look for ‘traps,’ and found that an abnormally high number are present, this week, from both favorites and underdogs. We are not surprised. We have been waiting for this, all season.
Below are predictions for each game against the spread. Spreads have been taken from various websites and are subject to change. The spread in parenthesis denotes the selected team. An asterisk denotes a confidence pick.
*Confidence Picks – 2016 Season: 46-53-3 (Last Week: 4-4)
(2015 Season: 69-45-2) (2014 Season: 61-46-2)
All Picks Against Spread – 2016 Season: 103-113-8 (Last Week: 8-7-1)
(2015 Season: 143-117-7) (2014 Season: 149-114-4)
New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles
While we are still one week away from officially concluding the 2016 regular season, we are about to begin our last week with a game on Thursday night. Not surprisingly, one final, standalone game scheduled to kick off a week’s action is also one final time for the numbers to balance out.