Week 17.........

Most handicappers steer clear of week 17 games because of all the uncertainty that surrounds them. The biggest concern is over which teams choose to play their starters and for how long. After all why would a team with a guaranteed first round bye risk injury to one of their star players? The analogy to preseason games is a common man favorite. Remember this, true gamers can make money in any environment. Show me the Joe nobody who takes a weekend off from gaming and I will show you a quitter! Anyone who calls themself a gamer is by definition obliged to participate in the last week of the season. In fact, the gamer who takes a week off is no different from a team who benches their starters and plays it safe. If anyone reading this blog is "holding off" until the playoffs- do me a favor and get off this site immediately.

Week 17 picks. Atlanta -1.5 over Tampa Bay. Granted this is a game of absolutely no significance with both teams out of the playoff race. However, Atlanta coaches and players realize that this franchise has never had back to back winning seasons in the teams' history. Given that the Bucs are terrible (despite their recent winning streak) and the quarterback matchup is a laugher, I absolutely love the Falcons in this game.
Redskins +4 over the Chargers. This game is an absolute crackhead special. There is absolutely no logical reason to take a Redskins team that has mailed it in during the past two weeks. That being said, the Chargers have absolutely nothing to play for. Furthermore, even Norv Turner realizes the Chargers cannot afford to suffer serious injuries when they have the #2 seed locked up. At +4 I am hoping the Redskins starters keep this game close against the Chargers backups.