Several more upsets dropped three of us to 9-7 and one to 8-8 heading into the regular season’s final weekend. So, like most NFL teams, we hope to be hitting our stride as the playoffs hit, but like many, we are sort of limping to the finish line.
Regardless, it’s overall been a solid season for our straight-up picks. Here are the standings heading into week 17.
Week 16
Season
Andy
9-7
153-86-1
Tony
9-7
153-86-1
Maggio
8-8
144-95-1
Rich
9-7
142-97-1
There are still playoff positions up for grabs and several head-to-head games with win-or-go-home ramifications. Some, such as the Packers/Bears and Eagles/Cowboys tilts, feel as though they’re mostly determining who gets to lose to the wild card participants in the first round of the playoffs, but others will determine division champions and bye weeks.
Two weeks left—last week saw Andy make a small impact at getting back to positivity with a 2-2 week, while my tailspin to the gutter continued. At this point, the only thing I can say positive about my year at the fake sportsbook is that I’ve gotten game right than Andy—and with the way things have been going, even that might not be the case after this week…
Week 15
Season
Week +/-
Bankroll
Season +/-
Tony
1-3
25-35
– $1,824
$5,548
– $4,452
Andy
2-2
23-34-3
+ $290
$7,123
– $2,877
Without any further adieu, here are this week’s bets:
Fantasy Editor Anthony Maggio has been offering fantasy football players advice since July when his first pre-season rankings hit. He’s continued right on through this Week 16 Championship Weekend.
Congratulations to those who are still fighting for league titles. He’ll be available for last minute lineup advice throughout this weekend. You can find him in a number of places.
He’s also doing a one-hour fantasy show at 1500 ESPN on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. You can stream that audio here. Following the show, he’ll be conducting a live chat at the website 1500espn.com.
And he’s a regular on Twitter. You can follow him at @MplsMaggio or tweet questions to #1500blitz.
Two weeks ago in New Orleans, the Saints put a whoopin’ on Carolina, ending the Panthers’ eight-game win streak. The victory reestablished the Saints as the favorite in the NFC South and gave them control of their own destiny.
That changed last week, when Drew Brees and Co. laid an egg in St. Louis.
So the Saints/Panthers rematch this weekend, once again, has huge stakes. And this time it’s in Charlotte.
The 10-4 Panthers are 6-1 at home. And New Orleans is not the same team away from the Superdome. So does Carolina capitalize on its second chance at division dominance? Or do the Saints rise up against them again and reclaim supremacy?
Brandon Becker, editor at Cat Crave, and Bill Stephens, a writer with SaintsGab return to share their thoughts.
Minnesota dominating against Philadelphia? Dallas blowing a 147 point halftime lead against Green Bay? Cincinnati laying an egg in its opportunity to claim the AFC’s second seed after New England laid an egg in its opportunity to claim the number one seed from Denver after the Broncos laid an egg against San Diego?
A lot of teams had chances to provide some clarity to the playoff situation in week 15 and a lot of teams dropped the ball. And it showed in our picks for the week. Rich capitalized. The rest of us put up pretty bad weeks.
Here are the standings heading into week 16:
Week15
Season
Andy
7-9
144-79-1
Tony
8-8
144-79-1
Maggio
7-9
136-87-1
Rich
10-6
133-90-1
Well, there aren’t a ton of great games on the schedule for the second to last week of the season, but there are a couple solid tilts. And there are a lot of match-ups that, once again, could shed some light on who we will be watching as the calendar turns.
The plain and simple fact of the matter is this. If Garrett wanted a run called, he could go to Callahan and say “I want a run called.” Or he could go to Romo and say “I want a run called. No frickin’ dumbass audibles, Tony.” He is the head coach. The buck stops with him on game day. (Shoot, I did a Google search to confirm whether play calling was one word or two and the second item that came up was a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel headline calling the Cowboys’ play calling “bizarre.”)
But instead, the team has now twice in a row come out of the gates on fire, establishing the run with a healthy dose of DeMarco Murray. And twice the team has then largely abandoned the run, once snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the final minutes and once getting shellacked. And once again, the Cowboys are 7-7, on their way to another .500 season – which is right around where this team has been most seasons since Jones installed himself as general manager.
Loading ...
First let’s start with how the cutdown might go Cut from 15 to 10 Eric Allen Eli Manning Steve Smith…
yea hence my cautious note about potential first ballot eligible for class of 2030 as we really don't know about…
The Class Of 2030 will be interesting Paul but other than maybe, Miller, I see all those players coming back…
From a source and I don’t know the exact date (suspect Hall and voters prefer not to disclose) - might…
Paul where did you find this out and what’s the date