Before Week 17 of the NFL kicks off, I thought we'd have some fun by looking at the spreads for this week's round of games. Here are my suggestions when trying to beat Vegas. You can find all of today's NFL betting lines and more at the SB Nation odds page. My record last week: 9-5-2. Carolina Panthers (-6) at Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons showed signs of life in their loss to the 49ers last week but the Panthers defense will give ATL's offense problems. Pick: Panthers -6 Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans (-7): The Texans are just so horrible. They beat Tennessee earlier in the year (one of their two wins) but needed a comeback to do so. The Titans aren't good but they're not horrible. Pick: Titans -7 Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers (-7): The Steelers still have an outside shot at a playoff spot. This could be an ugly, low scoring game so I'm tempted to take the points. Yeah, let's go with that. Pick: Browns +7 Washington Redskins at New York Giants (-3.5): Yuck. Both of these teams are pretty bad, but the Giants are the lesser of two sucks. Pick: Giants -3.5 Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals (-7): The Ravens are the more desperate team, but the Bengals have homefield advantage (7-0). Baltimore struggles on the road. Give me Cincy. Pick: Bengals -7 Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts (-11) The Jags probably don't win here but they can find a way to cover. Pick: Jaguars +11 New York Jets at Miami Dolphins (-6): The Jets aren't as good as their record indicates, and Miami is fighting for the 6th seed in the AFC playoffs. NYJ only has one road win on the year. Give me the 'phins. Pick: Dolphins -6 Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings (-3): How far the Lions have fallen. From being able to control their destiny to an NFC North lead to three-point underdogs on the road in Minny. I really don't like this one. It's the Vikings' last game at the MetroDome, and what better way to close it out with a win over a mightily struggling Detroit team? Pick: Vikings -3 Green Bay Packers (-3) at Chicago Bears: Aaron Rodgers is back so it's hard to bet against the Pack. The Bears defense is just abysmal. I don't see how Chi-town handles Eddie Lacy. The Packers are your NFC North champions. Pick: Packers -3 Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots (-9): The Bills are starting Thaddeus Lewis. Buffalo is 2-7 against the spread in their last nine road games. Give me the Pats. Pick: Patriots -9 Denver Broncos (-11.5) at Oakland Raiders: The Raiders have lost five straight games in a row. Denver will be playing their starters in order to secure the #1 seed in the AFC. Pick: Broncos -11.5 San Francisco 49ers (-1) at Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals have only lost one game at home all year. They're playing desperate and I can't bet against them at this point. Pick: Cardinals +1 Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego Chargers (-10): Old friend Andy Reid is going to "mix and match" starters, but I doubt they play much since KC doesn't have much to play for. The Chargers can still make the playoffs and they're at home. They could put up a big performance but I think the Chiefs cover. Pick: Chiefs +10 St. Louis Rams at Seattle Seahawks (-12): The 'hawks need to win this one in order to retain their top spot, so they're going to win this game. The Rams aren't as good as they are at home, but that spread is too big. Pick: Rams +12 Philadelphia Eagles (-7) at Dallas Cowboys: Brent Cohen already previewed this pick yesterday and he took the Eagles -7. I'm feeling confident about this one too. Tony Romo and Sean Lee are out. The Cowboys just aren't a good team. The Eagles win this easy. Pick: Eagles -7 More from Bleeding Green Nation Follow @BleedingGreen Follow @SBNationNFL 2014 Pro Bowl Roster: Eagles Sending LeSean McCoy and Jason Peters to Hawaii The Enduring Mystery of Nick Foles' Sucky Game vs. Dallas Cowboys LeSean McCoy named FedEx Ground Player of the Week Eagles-Cowboys Final Injury Report: DeMarcus Ware Ruled Questionable Eagles vs. Cowboys 2013 Odds Source: Continue reading...
