I always exhale at the end of a regular season, and this year is no different. It’s a marathon, and I can’t help but collapse into my chair when it is over and just breathe.
That’s what I’m doing right now.
Maybe I’m not slouched, but I am finally relaxing. We just had the best regular season on record in terms of against-the-spread picks, and I am proud.
Really, what meant the most to me this year was that it followed the same format as every other one and helped you, dear reader, see steady wins and gains over time. That’s the way this works. It’s fun to have big winning weeks, but we mainly just avoided big losing weeks and marched along, collecting wins along the way.
It feels good to look back at the numbers now, but it feels better knowing that I wasn’t worried about how my readers were doing on a weekly basis. “Fine” was the baseline, and it only grew from there.
Indeed, I am relaxed and proud after this past season, but there is more fun ahead. And “fun” is a word carefully chosen.
Over the past few years, a few teams have snuck into the playoffs that didn’t have totally realistic chances to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. In addition, there were usually clear favorites that were poised to stand in the way and prevent anyone else from rising to the top. It’s definitely this year. We could probably argue against a few teams being true contenders, but it’s “few,” at most.
The regular season was fantastic. The playoff field is excellent. And the fun is set to continue.
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: 54-47 (Last Week: 5-2)
(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: 154-116-2 (Last Week: 10-6)
(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)
Las Vegas Raiders at Cincinnati Benglas
I always write about storylines and narratives and, in the process, I try to not buy into them. Still, I am human, and I can’t help but fawn over the regular season conclusion between the Las Vegas Raiders and Chargers. Was that not one of the best games in the history of the league? Was that not incredibly tense and exciting throughout? Besides the constant battle that raged, the drama that included a third team was palpable from start to finish.
Now what? Now, what are the Raiders going to do? Is this a springboard for a deep playoff run or the end of an unprecedented run?
What about the Cincinnati Bengals? They are finally returning to the postseason, and doing so after clinching the division with a week to spare. They now get to host a playoff game and show their worth. Actually, they