Every season, we make note of the final week of the year. We know that, because of the uncertainty around teams resting players and incentives, there is an added layer of difficulty.
That doesn’t necessarily make it the only tricky week to navigate.
Because of how a few playoff races are likely to be decided and because the final week of the season is designed to allow for divisional games with postseason implications, many of this week’s games actually mean less than next week’s. For example, the Titans and Jaguars can do whatever they want in Week 17 because the AFC South will be determined in their head-to-head matchup the following week. The Jets and Dolphins have a little more at-stake right now, but it’s still likely to come down to the Week 18 matchup.
We’re entering a weird territory because we know what lies ahead. This is the calm before the storm, and we have to approach it with a unique perspective.
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: 43-48-5 (Last Week: 3-3)
(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: 117-114-9 (Last Week: 8-8)
(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)
Dallas Cowboys at Tennessee Titans
There are some truly excellent matchups to watch over the weekend but, as it tends to be the case too often, the Thursday Night Football game appears to be a dud. That’s not because of the quality of the teams. It’s because the Tennessee Titans are playing for nothing this week, but have a division-deciding game next week. With the incredible number of injuries for Tennessee, it simply doesn’t make sense for the Titans to push the metaphorical envelope.
So they won’t. But, what does that mean for the spread? Surely, it is accounting for a noncompetitive effort, but will that actually happen? And will the Dallas Cowboys, again, easily cruise past a team?
There are a lot of different elements