Week 17 NFL Picks Against the Spread: Kyle Orton Won’t Be Saving Cowboys’ Season Against Eagles
Week 17 is a perfect primer for playoff football as postseason implications can be found in every nook and cranny in the final weekend of the NFL’s regular season.
Not only are playoff spots up for grabs, but the 2013 NFL Picks Blog title is up for grabs, too, and with Mike Cole in the lead by eight games, John Beattie is pulling his goalie (?) and putting a full-court press (?) on his counterpart and hoping Mr. Cole can slip up in the final go-around.
Check out their picks below.
All lines are from Bovada as of Thursday. If lines are off on Bovada Thursday, Yahoo! lines will be used for those games.
Panthers at FALCONS (+7)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Panthers
Why: My plan of picking against the Falcons and Texans at all costs will be put to the test in a big way this week. -MC
Texans at TITANS (-7)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Titans
Why: See above. -MC
Browns at STEELERS (-7)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Steelers
Why: The only thing worse than the Browns? That would be the Browns with nothing to play for. -MC
Redskins at GIANTS (-3 1/2)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Giants
Why: The Giants stink, but at least they’re not a clown show like the Redskins are. Washington gave it all they had last week trying to ruin Dallas’ season, and that probably means they’ll have little left against the Giants. -MC
Ravens at BENGALS (-6 1/2)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Bengals
Why: Really no good reason. This line flat-out sucks, and I’m now terrified that Beattie will catch me this week.
Jaguars at COLTS (-11)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Jaguars
Why: That’s a lot of points to cover for a team that’s already wrapped up its division. -MC
Jets at DOLPHINS (-6)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Jets
Why: I don’t expect this to be a very high-scoring game, and part of me thinks that Rex Ryan will be able to push the right buttons one last time. -MC
Lions at VIKINGS (-3)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Lions
Why: Week 17 is the worst. That is all.
Bills at PATRIOTS (-9 1/2)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Patriots
Why: Patriots jump out to a big lead early(ish), and end up getting a 10-point win, which is just enough to cover the spread. -MC
Buccaneers at SAINTS (-13)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Saints
Why: Get the same feeling I got with the Patriots pick here, although 13-point spreads in Week 17 are no fun. Really hoping the Bucs don’t even board the plane. -MC
Broncos at RAIDERS (+12)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Broncos
Why: Because Peyton Manning has records to break still. -MC
49ers at CARDINALS (PICK)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: 49ers
Why: Have I mentioned how much I hate this week? -MC
Chiefs at CHARGERS (-9 1/2)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Chiefs
Why: This line is just begging me to take the Chiefs, and despite the fact that they really don’t have anything to play for, I’ll take the bait anyway. -MC
Rams at SEAHAWKS (-11)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Seahawks
Why: This sure seems like one of those times where one of the league’s top contenders wants to prove they’re OK and bounce back after a bad loss before they go into the playoffs. -MC
Packers (-3) at Bears
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Packers
Why: Aaron Rodgers is back, and while that doesn’t exactly fix all of the other problems the Packers have, at least they’re not the Bears, right? Right? -MC
Eagles at COWBOYS (+7)
John: Against Mike’s pick
Mike: Eagles
Why: Because Kyle Orton is starting at quarterback for the Cowboys, and the Eagles put up a million points last week. -MC
Last week:
JB: 5-10
MC: 8-7
Overall:
MC: 109-121-8
JB: 101-129-8
