NFL Podcast Picks 12/31 – Any Christmas Hangovers?
Wannamakeabettors,
Happy New Year! We hope you all survived what some are calling the Christmas Massacre at Wannamakeabet.com. last week. It’s never easy to try and concentrate on loved ones, family members, or vacations and do your handicapping at the same time. If you survived Week #16 and the bowl games, congrats, there’s a lot more action where that came from. There’s still time to get into the annual Bowl Bonanza when you login to the site. Everyone just got another 50K today. Enjoy the extra cash for the New Year’s Day final four. Winner gets $50 cash and entry is free!
Podcast Picks:
Podcast hosts Jack and Cello were no exception to the Christmas beating and posted a disappointing 1-4 last week. That brings the season record to 46-33-1 (58%). This week’s podcast is live so tune in and get our breakdown of every single game on the card. Here’s our top five this week. All lines are from Wannamakeabet.com at the time of this newsletter.
- Indianapolis Colts -3.5 over Last Vegas Raiders
- When coach Pierce beat the Chiefs last week the Raiders won their Super Bowl. And he cried tears of joy and relief in what must have been the most emotionally draining moment of the season. Meanwhile, back in Indy, a healthy team with a QB who plays much better at home is waiting with a chance to win the division and go to the playoffs. It’s hard to imagine the Raiders getting up for this one in back to back travel weeks with Christmas and the big win against the Chiefs in the same week.
- Chicago Bears – 3 over Atlanta Falcons
- These poorly coached and hard to watch Falcons play much better at home. And even though Heinike had a solid performance last week agaisnt the Colts, we don’t see the same thing playing out in Soldier field this week against a Bears team with a much improved defense and Justin Fields playing very solid over the past month. And even though they’re playoff hops are all but dead, tomorrow, they knock the Falcons out of the picture.
- Washington Commanders +13.5 over San Francisco 49ers
- Fresh off the ass whopping the niners took from the Ravens, they have to get on a plane in a short week and fly all the way to the east coast to play the lowly Commanders. Unfortunately for the 9ers, Washington would rather play for Jacoby Brissett, who is getting the start this week. This is just too much wood to chop in a short week that included Christmas.
- LA Rams -6 over New York Giants
- Tyrod Taylor is certainly an upgrade over Cutlets, but he holds the ball too long. These Rams are clicking on all cylinders and won’t lose focus with their playoff hops on the line every week. The Giants played a spirited game against the hated Eagles last week but we still give them a weighted rank of 30th in the league and don’t think their defense will be able to contain the four headed monster that is Stafford, Kupp, Nacua, and Williams.
- Miami Dolphins +3.5 over Baltimore Ravens
- We’re selling high on Baltimore on this short week after the impressive win on the road and the media knighting them as the Super Bowl favorite. Yes, the Baltimore defense is impressive, but the offense (outside of Lamar) still seems to struggle to do basic things like catch the football. Meanwhile, Miami had an impressive win against Dallas, got a little extra rest, and seems ready to prove to all of us that they can either win or be very competitive in a game of this magnitude. This is a possible preview of the AFC Championship game this year, and we see it coming down to a field goal and will gladly take the 3 and a hook.
Honorable Mentions – We also agreed on the following games but did not include them in our top five: Cleveland Browns -3.5, Tampa Bay -2.5,.
Good luck with your selections. And take a look at this deep dive on the Lions/Cowboys game from analyst Thomas Quaynor.
Good luck with your selections and Happy New Year!
Jack and Josh!
NFL Podcast Picks 12/31 – Any Christmas Hangovers?