It feels like only a few short weeks ago that I was typing about us leaving the first quarter of the season. Now, we’re about to enter the last one.
As we see on a yearly basis, there is always some shuffling in the standings that will be done between now and when the league finalizes its playoff field. Still, it feels like we have a good sense of where the two conferences are probably heading over the next month.
It feels like that. But it likely isn’t true.
There is still plenty to be decided, and that’s exactly why we want to stay sharp as we close out another regular 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 Fanatics Sportsbook (formerly 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 – 2024 Season: 46-45 (Last Week: 3-3)
(2023 Season: 63-61-4) (2022 Season: 54-54-5) (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) (10-Year Total: 581-504-30)
All Picks Against Spread – 2024 Season: 110-97-1 (Last Week: 7-6)
(2023 Season: 142-135-8) (2022 Season: 143-132-9) (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) (10-Year Total: 1406-1243-75)
Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers
It suddenly feels different, but we had to know that would happen.
For most of the season, I have written about how the San Francisco 49ers were being carried by old perceptions and reputations and, in one of the rare weeks where it seemed like they were undervalued, they delivered a statement performance by obliterating the Bears. In doing so, we could easily argue that San Francisco is back and ready to make a run.
The problem? We can make the same case for the Los Angeles Rams, who just knocked off one of the league’s powerhouses in the Bills.
Therein lies one of the first keys to this week’s game.