There is no better place to start this column than by giving thanks. Thanks to you readers for the opportunity to write about my football picks. Thanks for positive results. And thanks for the gift that is football and how it helps us all form this bond.
Seriously.
Because you could not have watched last week’s action – especially Monday Night Football – and not felt tied to every other fan across the world. We are seeing some outstanding games, top-notch levels-of-play, and pure entertainment. What’s best is that we really do get to share it with a community. And for that, I am thankful.
The sport continues to give and, as usual, we have a trio of games on Thanksgiving Thursday, followed by a large set of matchups on Sunday and Monday. But, because of the nature of this week, there is some added uncertainty to the mix.
At least three teams have injuries to their starting quarterbacks and, at the time of this writing, no announcements have been made. I do, however, frequently argue that the eventual news about an injured quarterback is irrelevant, and I stand by that claim. Which is also why I was able to write about each game without concern for which player will line up under center.
Still, despite my approach, this week is undoubtedly different from the rest. This makes it no better and no worse. Just different. But, as we have seen throughout this season, the trends we love to follow are alive-and-well and have generally produced at an excellent rate.
And for this, we are definitely thankful.
Below are predictions for each game against the spread. Spreads have been taken from various websites and are subject to change. The spread in parenthesis denotes the selected team. An asterisk denotes a confidence pick.
*Confidence Picks – 2018 Season: 39-30-3 (Last Week: 3-3)
(2017 Season: 53-48-4) (2016 Season: 53-67-3) (2015 Season: 69-45-2) (2014 Season: 61-46-2) (4-Year Total: 236-206-11)
All Picks Against Spread – 2018 Season: 84-69-8 (Last Week: 7-6)
(2017 Season: 137-119-11) (2016 Season: 123-136-8) (2015 Season: 143-117-7) (2014 Season: 149-114-4) (4-Year Total: 552-486-30)
Listen to Episode 7 of our free podcast here:
Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions
Perhaps the Chicago Bears were ready to take the next step in the division.
On Sunday Night Football, in a game that was moved into Primetime because of the two competitors, the Bears shut down the visiting Vikings. Indeed, there were moments in which Chicago did not play its best, but it allowed itself some wiggle-room after forcing Minnesota into a mode of desperation. If, nothing else, the Bears deserve credit for not allowing the moment to get to them. They did not, however, alleviate all questions about the team’s lasting power.
As we saw featured prominently on Monday Night Football – and as I will write in my breakdown of the game between the Jaguars and Bills – today’s sport is largely centered around offense. And, as much as the Bears have thrived offensively – top-six in scoring – they are still a defensive team at heart – top-four in yards and points allowed-per-game. We need to see more before we can justify a deep playoff run for Chicago.