This is it, folks. The end of a long and successful season for Doc and Del is in sight. Currently sitting at eight games over .500, it would take a miserable week 17 for Del to finish below .500 for the season on picks against the spread. That means if you took the picks to the bank all season long, you would have come out making some money — especially if you focused on the Top 3. Week 17 is always a tough week for picks since we don’t know who will play and who will rest, but we’ve done our best to sort through the nonsense and pick some good ones for those of you hoping to end on a solid note.
Selecting three locks was obviously a little tougher this week, but Del thinks the playoff picture can help you in certain situations. Todd Haley said he plans to play his starters this weekend against the Raiders, but he wouldn’t say how much. The Chiefs are locked into the No. 3 seed and can gain absolutely nothing from beating the Raiders on Sunday. It’s tough not to love the opponent of a team who has nothing to play for, so I love the Raiders getting 3.5 this weekend.
The second game Del likes this week is the Chargers -3.5 at Denver. San Diego is out of the playoff picture, but they have a quarterback who hates to lose in Philip Rivers. The Broncos will start Tim Tebow again and while he looked great last weekend against the Texans, he’s bound to experience some growing pains. The Chargers should be able to keep him in check and should cover the spread here if they have any pride.
For the third and final Top 3 selection, Del is taking the Giants -3.5 at Washington. The Giants looked completely gutless in back-to-back losses the past two weeks, yet they somehow remain in the playoff hunt. If the Giants beat the Redskins and the Bears beat the Packers, New York would get in. There are enough Super Bowl champions on the Giants roster that they should be able to appreciate the urgency of Sunday’s game. If they can’t pull out a big win in Washington, Coughlin could be out of a job.
(ATS = Against the Spread, SU = Straight Up)
