What a weird week. At the end of the day, that’s the only word that can be used to describe what just happened: weird.
Weird in the movement of games due to COVID. Weird in how the scheduling was handled. Weird in the players and teams that stepped up and delivered. Weird in how the Bears didn’t get a chance to kick an extra point after failing repeatedly in the Red Zone. Weird in basically every aspect.
It’s even weird in how I had to prepare and write this column.
Most of the time, I start my analysis on Monday. Sometimes, I’ll write about a game-or-two. Once Monday Night Football is over, I don’t think about anything but next week’s games until I click the “publish” button.
So again, this is weird. I’m writing about a good portion of the league before four teams have taken the field. Naturally, those four teams don’t overlap in Week 16, so it forces a patient approach.
There’s good news here. With so many standalone games and delays, we have a great picture of the expectations for each team. Those expectations will certainly shift based on the results that are now spread out from Saturday through Tuesday.
As I finalize those picks, it’s nice to know that we watched the action and reaction in real-time.
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. Spread is listed as advertised number and odds at either DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook, Caesar’s Sportsbook, or SugarHouse Sportsbook. All efforts were made to provide picks at -110 or better, with some stretching to a -125 if no reasonable advertised spread was found.
*Confidence Picks – 2021 Season: 45-38 (Last Week: 3-4)
(2020 Season: 53-42-3) (2019 Season: 57-43-3) (2018 Season: 63-48-4) (2017 Season: 53-48-4) (2016 Season: 53-67-3) (2015 Season: 69-45-2) (2014 Season: 61-46-2)
(7-Year Total: 409-339-21)
All Picks Against Spread – 2021 Season: 129-93-2 (Last Week: 8-8)
(2020 Season: 132-128-7) (2019 Season: 142-118-7) (2018 Season: 137-118-12) (2017 Season: 137-119-11) (2016 Season: 123-136-8) (2015 Season: 143-117-7) (2014 Season: 149-114-4)
(7-Year Total: 963-850-56)
San Francisco 49ers at Tennessee Titans
With the number of postponements and oddities that we just saw in Week 15, it’s a pleasant surprise that we will kick off this week’s games with one of the most predictable setups we could imagine. The San Francisco 49ers beat the Falcons handily and further solidified their future as a probable playoff team, while the Tennessee Titans lost to the Steelers, thus continuing their downward spiral that began when running back Derrick Henry was injured — and, more importantly, took a few weeks to fully come to fruition.
There’s no secret or surprise as to why the 49ers are favored in the game. It’s clear-cut, and it’s a direct result of how I opened this contest’s writeup.
Why, then, do I also call it a “predictable setup”?
Because