Final Week

Let's face it, this is the most anti-climactic final week of football maybe ever. Both Washington and Tennessee must win but face teams that will be resting their players for a majority of the game. One of the "can't miss" sports days of the year has turned into a virtual preseason weekend of football. As a result, I'm headed down to Cali for New Year's and may catch the Giants-Pats and/or Titans/Colts, but that's definitely all. Even a team on the bubble like the Browns find themselves in a strange position. It does not matter whether they win or lose their final game against San Fran....it only matters if the Titans win or lose. I'm not sure I've ever seen a situation quite like it. I'm betting precisely 0 games this week due to the fact it's such a strange week of football. 31-23-1 is my final tally for games wagered this year. I'll certainly take it.

• NY Giants +13.5 New England-The Pats will rest their stars, but do just enough to win.
• Philly -9 Buffalo-Like the Cubs, Philadelphia sports teams know precisely when to start playing well....right after they've been mathematically eliminated.
• Tampa Bay +3 Carolina-I don't care who starts for Tampa, they're still better than the Panthers.
• Cincy -3 Miami-Too bad the Dolphins beat the Ravens, this could have been worth watching.
• Dallas +9 Washington-Maybe I'm being ridiculous, but isn't Washington in better hands with Todd Collins? The Skins play solid D, run the ball well, and thrive in games where they turn the ball over less than their opponents. Insert veteran backup Collins instead of high risk Campbell....now you have a team that will win the turnover battle and, like the Jags, have a QB that makes a couple of big plays a game to win a lot of games close. With the death of Taylor, this team has bonded and is now a serious contender in the NFC. Can they win in Seattle? Stay tuned....
• Detroit +4 Green Bay-The Pack rests and wins ugly at home.
• Houston -6.5 Jacksonville-The Texans finish strong in 07. With a couple of acquisitions, this is a playoff team in 08.
• Chicago +1 New Orleans-The Saints have proven they can't win the big games this year.
• Pittsburgh -3 Baltimore-People are trying to make a big deal about the #3 seed in the AFC as you can potentially avoid the Pats in the 2nd round. If the Pats ARE going to lose in the playoffs, wouldn't it be in their 1st game due to a little rust facing a team with some momentum? And are the Colts that much better of a draw in the 2nd round? Both the Jags and the Titans/Browns will not be an easy 1st round draw, so I don't see the big deal here.
• Seattle +1 Atlanta-If you wager on this game, you'd bet on handball....errr wait.
• San Fran +11 Cleveland-If by some stretch of the imagination I make a wager this week, it's on San Fran. Playing a little better, they are trying to gain momentum like they did at the end of last season. Again, this game means NOTHING to Cleveland's playoff scenario, so take the points.
• Indy +6 Tennessee-Here's my logic: Harrison is going to start. Since they want to get the rust off of him, Manning and the crew will play more of this game than will be expected. If this game is close, it's not beyond the realm of possibilities to see Manning and company either stay in or come back in the game to keep a division rival out of the playoffs.
• Denver +3 Minnesota-It was a fun run for the Vikes, good riddance.
• San Diego -9 Oakland-I'd take all backups of the Chargers outright on the road against this Raiders team.
• St. Louis +6 Arizona-Take the Rams and the over (48).
• Kansas City +6.5 NY Jets-Betting ON Brody Croyle this week, definitely a strange week!

Good luck!