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NFL Week 17 Wrap Up

Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

If I thought I was terrible last week, I made up for it with a complete nosedive on the final week of the NFL season. I had a horrible straight up week and a complete disaster against the spread. Neither ruined my season, but the pressure is on for the playoffs.

Here’s how it went down.

This week

Straight up: 8-8

Against the spread: 2-14

Last week

Straight up: 10-6

Against the spread: 5-11

Season

Straight up: 157-99

Against the spread: 126-130

I went with far too many underdogs this week against the spread. I also, wrongly assumed some teams would show a little gumption (they didn’t) and others would just be hitting the sim button on the end of the season (they didn’t).

Pretty much the entire pick-o-sphere took losses with the Baltimore Ravens, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins, so I’m not alone there. In fact, I only went against the grain with three picks straight up, the Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs. I lost all three of those games.

The champ for the week is Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times who went 13-3 straight up. The big loser was ESPN’s Seth Wickersham who finished 6-10. On the season, Jeff Ratcliffe of Pro Football Focus is untouchable at 180-76. I’m right in the middle of the pack and will remain there. My only hope is to make a decisive playoff run.

Against the spread, this was just Farmer’s week. He was 13-2 and won the day along with Joe Manniello of Newsday who went 13-3. For the second week in a row I finished right on the bottom. With back to back terrible showings, I dropped out of the Top 10 for the first time this season. I’m currently tied at No. 23 with ESPN’s Mike Clary and the Boston Globe’s Christopher Gasper. With just 11 games left to gain any kind of ground, the best I can do now is try to get back into that Top 10. I’m currently four games out.

EARLY NFL WILD CARD WEEK LINES

Saturday

Tennessee Titans at Kansas City Chiefs (-8), O/U: 44.5

Atlanta Falcons at Los Angeles Rams (-5), O/U: 50.0

Sunday

Buffalo Bills at Jacksonville Jaguars (-8.5), 40.0

Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints (-6), 48.5

Here’s what’s interesting about all these lines, none of these games are seen as close. I can’t remember a Wild Card round where the books saw five points or more difference between every game, all favoring the home teams.

In fact, the Jaguars, who are easily the most beatable home team on the list, are favored by the most (-8.5). That has everything to do with LeSean McCoy’s injury, but it’s still catches your eye.

IT WAS BLACK MONDAY FOR SOME ASSISTANT COACHES TOO

Lost in some of the high profile head coaching firings Sunday night and Monday morning, some assistants were shown the door as well.

Dallas Cowboys wide receivers coach Derek Dooley was fired Monday, even if he appeared to not know it. Dooley told Yahoo Sports that he hadn’t met with head coach Jason Garrett and that “no decision had been made” on his job. That was news to everyone else, who received notice that Dooley had been shitcanned. The Cowboys went 9-7 this season and did not have a 1,000 yard receiver.

The Green Bay Packers have finally seen enough of defensive coordinator Dom Capers. Capers was loaded up into the ejector seat Monday after the team got embarrassed 35-11 in a loss to the Detroit Lions, who just saw their own head coach, Jim Caldwell, jettisoned from an airlock. Head coach Mike McCarthy is apparently safe. He shouldn’t be.

In addition to losing Capers, the Packers are moving general manager Ted Thompson to “another role” with the organization. They’re now openly searching for a new GM. Thompson has run the team since 2005.

While Vance Joseph is keeping his job with the Denver Broncos, six members of his hand-picked staff have been dismissed. Special teams coordinator Brock Olivo, running backs coach Eric Studesville, receivers coach Tyke Tolbert, outside linebackers coach Fred Pagac, offensive line coach Jeff Davidson and defensive backs coach Johnnie Lynn have all been blasted away from the team facility in one of those giant circus cannons. Defensive coordinator Joe Woods and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, who replaced fired OC Mike McCoy, will be retained.

OTHER NFL NEWS

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace won’t be joining head coach John Fox at the unemployment office. Pace received a four-year extension from the Bears that should keep him running the personnel office until 2021.

“What I want to tell you is when Ryan was hired three years ago, he told us that a plan to build a team for sustainable success would not be easy,” Bears President and CEO Ted Phillips said. “But his plan to build principally through the draft to lay that right foundation made sense to us. And it still does. So we’re still committed to that plan despite our disappointing win-loss record over the last three seasons.”

Pace was hired originally with Fox in 2015. He’ll now get a chance to pick his own head coach with an exciting young quarterback (Mitchell Trubisky) and running back (Jordan Howard) already in the house. Still, with Pace at GM, the Bears are 14-34.

“I have to do a better job,” Pace said. “But as I stand here today, and I look at where we’re heading, there’s sincere optimism. If you look back at this time last year, we had major questions. We had major questions at the most important position on our team: quarterback. We were aggressive in our approach to address that position, and we couldn’t be happier in the direction that it’s heading. It’s on us to continue to surround our young quarterback with the talent he needs to succeed.”

The Washington Redskins have signed cornerback Quinton Dunbar to a three-year, $10.5 million contract extension with $5.25 million in guaranteed cash. Dunbar recorded 35 tackles and eight passes defended in 2017.

The Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers will be forced to flip a coin to determine their official draft position in April 2018’s NFL Draft. Both teams finished 6-10 on the season. The loser of the coin flip with pick 10th. The winner will get the No. 9 pick.

To make a wager on any sport, go to the world famous Diamond Sportsbook by clicking here.

Written by Adam Greene

Adam Greene is a writer and photographer based out of East Tennessee. His work has appeared on Cracked.com, in USA Today, the Associated Press, the Chicago Cubs Vineline Magazine, AskMen.com and many other publications.

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