TRG: Week 17 Recap

Week 17 turned out to be a great week to end the regular season and start the new year. The only loss was the Niners after they packed it in early against St. Louis, allowing them to steal an ATS win. Seattle nearly had the game in OT (Jackson just missed a long bomb to an open WR), but given they were down 20-10, I can take a push. I will be making playoff picks for every round, so be sure to check in later today for my Wildcard picks. Here's the rest of the Week 17 recap, and my final standings for my picks are included at the end of the post.

LOSSES


SF -10 over St. Louis: The Rams were never really in this game, despite the look of the score. The Niners were up 34-13 in the 4th quarter, when the defense seemingly stopped trying, as they've been prone to do late in games throughout the year. After surrendering a touchdown drive, the Niners couldn't recover an onside kick, and allowed the Rams to score again. Not a good loss, but that's the sort of thing that happens in week 17. Not really much to say about the Rams at this point, other than they should be in for a nice rebound next season.

PUSHES


Seattle +3 over Arizona: My late season streak of pushes continues. I wasn't really surprised by the flow of the game, with the biggest lead being 10 points for the Cardinals. Seattle rallied late and just missed connecting on a big pass in OT. Arizona then cashed in for a field goal, and that was the ball game. At least I picked Seattle on the road and they didn't lose.

WINS


Atlanta -11 over Tampa Bay: I don't think I've ever seen a team give up like the Bucs did in that game. Atlanta had a 42-0 lead IN THE FIRST HALF. They could have put up 80 if they wanted to. I'm not sure what happened there, but you can't blame ownership for firing a coach after ending the season on a streak of blowouts. The Atlanta-NYG matchup should be one of the best games this weekend.

Chicago +1.5 over Minnesota: How's that for going out on a limb? The Bears came through with their first win after losing Cutler. Minnesota's offense is desperate for weapons other than AP and Percy Harvin. AP being out with injury certainly made things easier for the Bears defense. The coaching changes in Chicago will hopefully help resolve protection issues on the offensive line next season. The Bears should be in contention again next season. Minnesota may be due for another year of rebuilding.

NE -10 over Buffalo: So in the last two weeks going into the playoffs, New England has come back from deficits of 17-0 and 21-0 to win both games. That may show how impressive the offense is, but I'm concerned about their defense holding up against an offense that can sustain a good performance for an entire game. However, being in the AFC, they may luck out in that regard; none of the other AFC playoff teams have had consistently dominant offenses. If they make it to the Superbowl, I can't see them competing with offenses like GB, NO, or Detroit.

Baltimore -2 over Cincy: This was a tough game, but two huge runs from Ray Rice saved the day for the Ravens. Still, I'm not sure how much I like either teams chances in the playoffs. Baltimore really needs to figure out how to keep its offense from stalling so frequently. The Bengals still haven't proven they can beat a winning team.

2011 Stats


Total Record: 52-44-6 (54.2%)


Games: 43-35-6 (55.13%)
Over/Under: 9-9-0 (50%)
Home Teams: 19-11-1 (63.3%)
Road Teams: 23-23-5 (50%)
Favorites: 29-23-5 (55.7%)
Dogs: 12-11-1 (52.2%)
No Spread/Pick: 2-0-0 (100%)

(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)