NFL Betting: Week 17 Roundup
The NFL regular season ended yesterday – but not exactly in style. We saw a slew of meaningless games, backup quarterbacks and, worst of all, a sub-.500 team make the playoffs. I just threw up all over my keyboard.
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Patriots 38, Dolphins 7
Some Pats fans likely criticized Bell Belichick for playing Tom Brady at all with the bye and home-field advantage locked up not to mention Wes Welker and Deion Branch both sitting. But I like the decision; good to give Brady some reps when he won’t play for two weeks.
Lions 20, Vikings 13
And so the Brett Favre era ends with him watching from the sidelines. 2010 could not have been any less of a storybook season for No. 4. More like a Stephen King novel.
Falcons 31, Panthers 10
Here’s hoping you had fun betting against Carolina this season. These guys weren’t one of those bad teams who plays hard and beats spreads, a-la-Detroit. The Panthers were 4-12 ATS on the year. Even 14.5 points wasn’t too daunting for Atlanta yesterday.
Raiders 31, Chiefs 10
An 8-8 season is nothing to sneeze at for the Raiders, who weren’t a joke this season – probably for the first time since the Rich Gannon era. It’ll be very interesting to see what Al Davis does with Tom Cable and Jason Campbell this offseason.
Steelers 41, Browns 9
It was one thing for the Browns to fall down 31-3 by halftime; the Steelers were playing for the AFC North crown and Ben Roethlisberger was on a mission. But letting Antwaan Randle El burn them for a passing TD in the second half was probably the straw that broke Eric Mangini’s back. They fired him this morning.
Jets 38, Bills 7
Expected more from the Bills in this one. Two touchdowns from Mark Brunell against them? 150-plus rushing yards from rookie and third-string running back Joe McKnight? Ugh. Bring on another offseason of misery in Buffalo.
Buccaneers 23, Saints 13 
It sure does sting to see the Bucs (and Giants) miss the playoffs with 10 wins and Seattle get in with a 7-9 record. Tampa should hold its head high, however. The future is bright with Josh Freeman, LeGarrette Blount, Gerald McCoy, Mike Williams and Aqib Talib leading the youth movement.
Ravens 13, Bengals 7
As a 12-win team, Baltimore still has to be considered a playoff contender, but its decision to abandon the passing game down the stretch is curious. Joe Flacco failed to throw more than 20 passes and top 200 yards in each of his final three games.
Packers 10, Bears 3
The football gods kicked Chicago in the rear on Sunday. Playing all your starters to spite a division rival even though you have a first-round bye locked up? Karma pays you back. Jay Cutler gets sacked half a dozen times and the offense fails to score a touchdown.
Giants 17, Redskins 14
New York held on for the win, with Mario Manningham catching yet another long bomb for a score, but it was too little, too late. DeSean Jackson sealed New York’s fate two weeks prior.
Texans 34, Jaguars 17
Supposedly, Houston’s only missing piece was a dominant running back. They got it this season; Arian Fosters 180-yard, two-touchdown effort against Jacksonville clinched the NFL rushing title. Too bad a whole new problem arose this year: the Texans’ woeful pass defense. How badly do the Texans need to draft Patrick Peterson?
Cowboys 14, Eagles 13
Were there actually whispers that Andy Reid planned to bench Mike Vick in the playoffs if he didn’t start reading blitzes better? Kevin Kolb’s line yesterday (18 of 26, 162 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT) should squash that idea.
Colts 23, Titans 20
After stumbling through perhaps the worst patch of his career, Peyton Manning brought it home with nine touchdown passes and just two picks over his last four games. That bodes well for Indy entering a home game to start the 2010 playoffs.
Chargers 33, Broncos 28
The Chargers and Broncos treated us to a rookie coming-out party to end the season. San Diego really could’ve used Ryan Mathews’ 120-yard, three-touchdown explosion last week. Denver’s Tim Tebow is a work in progress but dazzled as much as he struggled yesterday. Throwing two touchdown passes and running for 94 yards and a score against the league’s top-ranked defense is impressive stuff.
49ers 38, Cardinals 7
The Niners won the Nobody Cares Bowl and – you guessed it – nobody cared. That Larry Fitzgerald still managed 11 catches for 125 yards and a score in a blowout loss shows that Arizona was feeding him the ball to keep him happy.
Seahawks 16, Rams 6
Sigh. At least we can take solace in the fact that the lowly Seahawks winning the NFC West could be enough to make the NFL change its ruling on playoff berths next season. Fingers crossed.
