There haven’t been too many two-touchdown spreads this season. It’s just not all that common in the NFL for teams to be so mismatched. Remember that whole parity thing?
NFL picks against the spread, Week 16: The Jets are huge underdogs, but don’t bet on them
The Patriots are 17-point favorites over the Jets. Surely, New York can cover a spread like that, right?
Parity doesn’t apply to the Patriots. It’s one thing they have in common with the Browns; they’re both immune to it, albeit on opposite ends of the spectrum.
New England is a 17-point favorite over the Jets this week. It’s the biggest point spread of the season. It seems like a slam dunk. The Jets get worse every week. They needed overtime to beat a pitiful 49ers team two weeks ago.
But 17 points?? The Jets aren’t so bad that they can’t cover that, right? And the Patriots are sputtering enough that it might even be difficult for them to cover that big of a gap, no?
If there’s any hope for the Jets, they’re 6-0-1 against spread in their last seven games against the Patriots.
However, if you’re betting on the Jets, you’re betting against their own incompetency. That’s a mistake. This is a great week for Bill Belichick to crush a teetering opponent, just to prove he can do it.
PATRIOTS (-17) over Jets
Reminders! All odds are courtesy of OddsShark. Home team is in all caps. Check back, because we’ll update as the odds change.
Chargers (-4) over BROWNS
The two saddest teams in the NFL ... how is this not in primetime? The Browns are at least trying to build something. They just had to burn everything down and start over to do it, and they’ll probably go 0-16 in the process.
Who’s in and who’s out in the playoff picture?
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Which teams will join the Cowboys in the postseason? Check out the complete standings.
The Chargers are owned the Spanos family, who’s only extracting as much cash as they can out of their team, even if it comes at the expense of the fans who have supported them for decades. They sacrificed at least a win or two just because they didn’t want to pay Joey Bosa at the start of the season.
Think about that. There’s an NFL owner seedier and with more contempt for the average person than Browns owner Jimmy Haslam.
JAGUARS (+5) over Titans
Sometimes teams get a nice little bump in their first game under an interim head coach. Sometimes. I’m a little intrigued to see if Doug Marrone can coax a win out of the Jaguars, but I’m not confident in it.
A win is too much to ask, but the Jaguars are 7-7 against the spread this year. They’re a good bet to cover again this week too.
Dolphins (+4.5) over BILLS
Miami is vying for a playoff bid. The only motivation the Bills have is for Rex Ryan not to get fired, and I doubt the entire roster feels the same.
PACKERS (-6.5) over Vikings
Who knew that Ty Montgomery was the missing piece for the Packers offense? It makes you wonder where they’d be if Mike McCarthy had figured that out sooner.
Minnesota is actually 8-6 against the spread. How that happened with that offense, I’m not sure. They’re averaging less than 19 points a game for the season and less than 15 points per game in their last four outings. Roll in the fact that they’re 2-5 in their last seven trips to Green Bay and you can forget it.
BEARS (+3) over Washington
Washington looked like they could cruise to the playoffs this year. Hell, at one time they looked like they could give the Cowboys a run for their money in the NFC East race. Not anymore!
Can’t wait for another week of Matt Barkley talk when the Bears win this one straight up.
Falcons (-3) over PANTHERS
RAIDERS (-3.5) over Colts
The Colts have been playing some pretty terrible opponents since Thanksgiving, so you can’t put too much in their recent results. Oakland’s offense shouldn’t have any problems against Indianapolis’ defense.
SEAHAWKS (-7.5) over Cardinals
I’m never sure which Seahawks team were going to get from week to week, unless they’re playing at home. They are. The Seahawks are undefeated at the Clink this season. They’re also 19-5 against the spread in their last 24 home games in December.
Buccaneers (+3.5) over SAINTS
Tampa Bay’s defense has been doing most of the heavy lifting lately. Four quarters against the Saints defense ought to balance things out a bit.
49ers (+4.5) over RAMS
In their last 18 games, going back to last season, the 49ers are 2-16. Those two wins came against, you guessed it, the Rams.
TEXANS (-1) over Bengals
Despite being a favorite of #DraftTwitter, Tom Savage probably isn’t the long-term answer the Texans are STILL looking for, the one they thought they had when they signed Brock Osweiler to a $72 million deal in the spring.
But Savage does at least get the ball to Nuk Hopkins. That should be enough to beat the Bengals.
Ravens (+6) over STEELERS
I think the Steelers won’t have any real problem beating the Ravens, not the offense anyway. But it’s a close enough matchup and the rivalry with the division title on the line means the Ravens should put up a fight. Also, they’re 3-0-1 against the spread in their last four against the Steelers.
CHIEFS (-3) over Broncos
I’m not sure what to think about a world where Alex Smith and the Chiefs offense is making big plays. I just hope we get another doink!
COWBOYS (-6.5) over Lions
Most of the action so far is on the Lions, which is understandable. They’ve been underrated all season. And with Dallas having home-field locked up in the playoffs, there’s no reason to run the starters into the ground. But what if we get Romo????
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