That was a good week.
If we compare it to what we had experienced over the prior two weeks, then it was probably a bit of a disappointment. The reality is that the prior two weeks were both extraordinary and unsustainable. If anything, they were unsustainable because they were extraordinary.
The good news? With a week that was much more ‘ordinary,’ we were able to land on a reasonable outcome.
We need that. We cannot always have ridiculously great results, so the times that we step backward need to be less dramatic than the ones that helped us get ahead.
I write the same thing about teams, too. Sometimes they need a ‘reset period’ before continuing their ascent up the standings. Thankfully, we have plenty of solid reads ahead of us where we can dive back in and keep pushing ourselves up the standings.
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. Spread is listed as advertised number and odds at either DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, or Fanatics Sportsbook (formerly PointsBet). All efforts were made to provide picks at -110 or better, with some stretching to a -125 if no reasonable advertised spread was found.
*Confidence Picks – 2025 Season: 37-23 (Last Week: 4-2)
(2024 Season: 65-57) (2023 Season: 63-61-4) (2022 Season: 54-54-5) (2021 Season: 55-50) (2020 Season: 53-42-3) (2019 Season: 57-43-3) (2018 Season: 63-48-4) (2017 Season: 53-48-4) (2016 Season: 53-67-3) (2015 Season: 69-45-2) (2014 Season: 61-46-2) (11-Year Total: 646-561-30)
All Picks Against Spread – 2025 Season: 81-68 (Last Week: 8-6)
(2024 Season: 148-136-1) (2023 Season: 142-135-8) (2022 Season: 143-132-9) (2021 Season: 158-126-2) (2020 Season: 132-128-7) (2019 Season: 142-118-7) (2018 Season: 137-118-12) (2017 Season: 137-119-11) (2016 Season: 123-136-8) (2015 Season: 143-117-7) (2014 Season: 149-114-4) (11-Year Total: 1554-1379-76)
New York Jets at New England Patriots
There’s just no way we were going to see a reasonable number for this game. The New England Patriots continue to win and look like one of the best teams in the league in doing so — and, since New England is tied for the best record in the sport, that’s an easy claim to make — and the New York Jets just won a game they had no business winning. That’s not a positive sign for them, and the football-watching world knows it.
There is not a single reason to believe that beating a pitiful opponent in one of the ugliest games of the year is going to spark an effort worthy of even playing a close game.