This is it! It always feels like the time flies when I look back and see that we are approaching the end of another regular season, but the irony with this year is that we have steadily and consistently performed with similar outcomes week-after-week.
Ultimately, that is the goal. I have written about this so many times, but it is worth repeating as we take one final look at what-has-been one of our best seasons on-record. That is, consistently avoiding crushing weeks — or rebounding quickly from them — is the key to stay in the race long enough to find wins. Big weeks are great. Regularly winning weeks are even better.
It has been a nice, quiet win for the entirety of the season, and I have truly enjoyed moving through it. I hope you have, as well!
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: 59-46-1 (Last Week: 3-4)
(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: 141-114-1 (Last Week: 8-8)
(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)
Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Let’s give the National Football League some credit. Where I originally thought the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were being pushed aside as the Saturday afternoon contest to close out the year, the reality is that the league ensured the most drama possible for us as fans.
Allow me to elaborate.
When the schedule for Week 18 was first announced, there was still one game to be played that had extreme importance to the NFC South race. The Monday night contest between the Rams and Falcons would decide if Saturday’s game was truly a ‘win-or-go-home’ setup. As it turns out, the Falcons pulled off the ‘upset’ and gave the Panthers an opening to sneak into the postseason even if it were to lose on Saturday.
Put another way, the game between Carolina and Tampa Bay could not be played after the upcoming game between Atlanta and New Orleans because the Panthers would clinch the division with a Falcons win, thus rendering this game meaningless.
So again, we have to give some credit to the league because we now have the most drama possible given the stakes.
And we can be thankful that