Guessing The Lines

This will be the last one for the year because guessing four (or fewer) lines probably isn’t worth the effort for you to delete the email, and in any event, I only need this one to put a wrap on the regular season.

I went 2-3 last week to finish at 44-45-1, 43-46-1 and 42-48 on my three entries. It wasn’t all bad as I won $440 on my $60 worth of entries in the faux SuperContest, due to a 15-4-1 Q2, and I won $210 in my $130 entry home picking pool for winning three weeks. It’s odd to be profitable while having a losing season, but I won’t complain about it too much.

Here are my numbers for the Wild Card games:

I like the Texans getting poins at home. C.J. Stoud reminds me of Joe Montana — he has great feel in the pocket, can scramble around and find the open man. It’s as soul-crushing to a defense as when Patrick Mahomes scrambles out of trouble on 3rd-and-12 and runs for a first down.

I think the Dolphins will struggle on the road in a cold-weather game against an experienced playoff team with a good defense. The Super Bowl champs make for an odd sleeper, but they are.

The Steelers have played hard to get into the playoffs. Usually teams like this get blown out by the good teams. I’d probably lay the wood even though I root against the Bills for some reason.

The Cowboys-Packers is right on the number. This is as it should be, and I’d avoid taking a side.

I like the Rams in Detroit especially if Sam LaPorta, a key weapon, doesn’t play. The Rams are better defensively, and Sean McVay has experience getting ready for big games.

I expected the Eagles to bounce back last week, and I was wrong. Maybe they can turn it on and off at a whim, but usually teams can’t. The Bucs are just so-so though, the kind of team that loses in the first round.