While it wasn’t overly spectacular, securing a winning week was important after the prior losing effort. The expectation is obviously to continue riding the momentum forward, but the bigger message is that nothing can change.
Because nothing did change.
Weeks will go against us over the course of the season and weeks will go in our favor. It’s the nature of the game we play. The key is in remaining stable and focused on how the spread tells the story of the matchups ahead of us.
Even with the comparatively smaller schedule, Week 14 has plenty of stories for us to read.
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, Caesars Sportsbook, or PointsBet. 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 – 2022 Season: 34-40-4 (Last Week: 4-2)
(2021 Season: 55-50) (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) (8-Year Total: 464-389-21)
All Picks Against Spread – 2022 Season: 96-91-8 (Last Week: 8-7)
(2021 Season: 158-126-2) (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) (8-Year Total: 1121-976-58)
Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Rams
The Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Rams will meet on Thursday Night Football with a combined record of 8-16 on the year. Lucky us. On top of that, we don’t even have the luxury of watching two of the best wide receivers battling against each other since Cooper Kupp remains sidelined for the Rams.
Other than entertainment value, what is the hook of this game? The Rams are not only going to miss the playoffs, but they won’t reap the rewards of a terrible record. Their incentive to win is just to avoid embarrassment, but that clearly hasn’t helped yet.
The Raiders actually might have something on-the-line. They could, if all things go in the right direction, make a push for the playoffs. And what better way to keep that hope alive better than visiting the Rams who have lost six consecutive games?