Every offseason, I look through the teams to find the ones that have shown consistency. The general assumption is that consistency is a good thing and, thus, we should reward those who have followed their plans for so long.
Sometimes, those plans are misleading.
As we are starting to see more regularly in 2022, certain franchises are leaning on outdated approaches that simply aren’t working. Others thought they were building off consistency, but made too many tweaks and can’t find the right match for their parts.
We, too, follow in the wake of consistency. As I mention later in one of the blurbs for this column, we have to remain consistent in how we approach the games. We are clearly hitting a stretch where our hot start needed to cool off, but we are still in an excellent position as we move toward the end of the first half of this 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. 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: 18-20-2 (Last Week: 2-3)
(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: 56-48-4 (Last Week: 5-9)
(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)
Baltimore Ravens at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I try to always be ahead of the ‘shock.’ That way, if something happens that sends the football-watching world into a tailspin, I — and, you, as the reader of this column — can see it coming as a possibility.
We saw the possibility of the Panthers competing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and, by extension, we saw the possibility of Tampa Bay actually losing the game. Still, when the final score was confirmed as the Buccaneers suffered a 21-3 loss, I have to admit that even I was a little shocked.
What’s more troubling for Tampa Bay is that it isn’t as shocking as it should have been.
It’s starting to come together now. The Buccaneers are nowhere near as good as most people expected. And, in an honest moment, they may not even be as good as average.