Intro by Sam
They are who we thought they were, and we let ‘em off the hook! I was channeling Dennis Green energy after we lost both bets yesterday. The Raiders were arguably one fewer hold or one actually correct call from the refs away from tying/winning that game, but ultimately they couldn’t get out of their own way. Yank was right: Bisaccia stinks. Note to self: *Remember how bad Zac Taylor was down the stretch for next weekend.* In the night game, the Pats never stood a chance, of course, and despite us losing money on them, it does make me feel better that we were both right in thinking that the Pats were never as good as the hype they got. Alas, a new day is upon us, and we won’t let one bad day stir us. We’re running it back with the strategies today and planning for a comeback.
Playoff Power Rankings
| Sam | Yank |
| 1. Chiefs 2. Packers 3. Titans 4. Buccaneers 5. Cowboys 6. Cardinals 7. Bills 8. Rams 9. 10. Bengals 11. Eagles 12. 49ers 13. 14. Steelers | 1. Packers 2. Chiefs 3. Titans 4. Bills 5. Bucs 6. Cardinals 7. 49ers 8. Bengals 9. Cowboys 10. Rams 11. 12. 13. Eagles 14. Steelers |
| Super Bowl Matchup: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Green Bay Packers | Super Bowl Matchup: Green Bay Packers vs. Tennessee Titans |
| Winner: Green Bay Packers | Winner: Tennessee Titans |
Wild Card Picks
The Philadelphia Eagles @ the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Sunday at 1:00 PM)
Sam: Why turn too far away from what got us here in the first place? You’ll see a lot of underdogs on our tickets this weekend and the Eagles are no different. Does anyone really believe the Eagles have a chance on Sunday? Not really. The Bucs have Tom Brady, off of an MVP–caliber season, a blitz-happy defense, and are yearning for a repeat. And yet, they really haven’t been full-proof this year. They’ve had a number of let-down performances and are missing some key contributors on offense (see Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown). The Eagles on the other hand have been overlooked. It feels like they stink with a bad start to the season, but have found surprising success running the ball and playing good defense. This one should be closer than most expect and I actually wouldn’t be surprised if the Eagles are the “Nobody Believes In Us” once again.
Yank: We are definitely in agreement that it could be the week of the dog. For whatever reason this year the favorites do not feel like they deserve as much respect to me and this Bucs team is no exception. It’s hard for me to envision the Eagles winning, but it’s actually pretty easy to imagine them running the ball a lot, limiting possessions, and scoring 17-24 points. I’m just not sure the Bucs have to horses to blow them out in a performance like that. There will definitely be at least one blowout this weekend, but rather than try to find it, I think it makes sense to take the big dogs and the points.
Yank’s Pick: $5.50 on the Eagles+8.5 (-110)
Sam’s Pick: $3.00 on the Eagles+8.5 (-110) and $1.50 on the Eagles ML (+310)
The San Francisco 49ers @ the Dallas Cowboys (Sunday at 4:30 PM)
Yank: This classic matchup of 90s NFC Titans makes me want to throw up in my mouth a little. I hate both these teams and would love them both to lose. Everybody seems to be on the Niners as a potential upset special, which should be a glaring warning sign. That being said I don’t believe in this Cowboys team at all, they’ve fattened up their record against hapless opponents and folded against playoff teams over and over. Mike McCarthy seems liable to vomit all over himself in the 4th Quarter at some point. In games like this sometimes the logic is as simple as: if I can get 3.5 points to go against the clearly inferior coach, I’ll take them.
Sam: I’ve managed to lose money on the Cowboys this season, despite them being the best team ATS this season (13-4, if you were wondering). But that’s not going to change my opinion here. I’ll be taking the Cowboys as my lone favorite this weekend. As a Giants fan, Yank is obliged to hate everything Cowboys – and honestly, as a non-Cowboys fan myself, I dislike most things Cowboys too – but they’ve been undeniably good this year. Sure, the fear here is that Dak has been playing poorly as of late and Mike McCarthy is a sucker, but I’m not so sure Yank’s claim about McCarthy being the inferior coach is as clear as he indicates. McCarthy is 144-92-2 in the regular season and 10-8 in the post-season. Kyle Shanahan on the other hand is 39-42 and 2-1 in the post-season. Of course, the majority of those wins for McCarthy came with Aaron Rodgers as QB, but there’s reason to believe he’s not as terrible as he seems and Shanahan isn’t as much of a genius as everyone says he is. Finally, I don’t love this bet. I think the 49ers can easily win this game now that they’re finding their stride, but not loving a bet has worked well for me, so I’m leaning into it.
Yank’s Pick: $5.50 on the 49ers+3.5 (-120)
Sam’s Pick: $5.50 on the Cowboys-3 (-110)
The Pittsburgh Steelers @ the Kansas City Chiefs (Sunday at 8:15 PM)
Sam: Betting on the Steelers is disgusting. Yuck. Watching Big Ben wind up these days looks like it hurts so much, I feel sympathy pain in my arm. Nonetheless, this line is too high. The Chiefs have truly struggled up to expectation all season hence being 8-9 ATS, and haven’t shown they can blow teams out the way we are accustomed to them doing. With that said, this might be the sucker bet of the century. You’d think everyone and their mother would put the Steelers in this one, and according to Caesars Sportsbook, most of the tickets are on the Steelers while the majority of the money is on the Chiefs *gulp*. Hopefully, TJ Watt can channel some of his frustration about not having his last sack counted and get a few more on Mahomes.
Yank: This is more or less an impossible game to bet on. The Chiefs are way better than the Steelers, they killed them at arrowhead just a few weeks ago. On the other hand, the Chiefs have not been consistent in their dominance throughout this year and have let lesser teams hang in games at a surprising clip. This take is probably a little bit based on how bad they looked when I backed them last week against the broncos (and it’s always a mistake to carry over those feelings as Sam loves to point out) but between inconsistency and injuries to pass catchers, this just seems like too many points to me. Similar to the Bucs game I’m just going to grab the points in what I think will be a (somewhat) close contest.
Yank’s Pick: $5.50 on the Steelers+13.5 (-120)
Sam’s Pick: $5.50 on the Steelers+12.5 (-110)
| Yank | Sam | |
| Risk | $16.50 | $15.50 |
| Potential Earnings | $14.16 | $17.38 |
One Last Line 