Pilfo's Picks: Week 17   
December 23th 2008              

OK folks, those who have the guts usually get the glory. With a few exceptions of course, i.e. Plaxico, O.J., etc., etc. Enough of that. Let's get back to football. It is the last week of the regular season and all the point-spreads go bonkers in the NFL. I have found that if you play all the underdogs who are not going to the playoffs vs. the teams fighting for their lives or for a better seed, you will win. It's that simple. The people that balk at this suggestion are the same people that have tried this on a small scale and tried to pick one or two dogs and have fallen on their faces. No good. You have to go all the way and play all the teams in this situation because undoubtedly one or two will give up midway through the 3rd quarter or not show up at all. There appear to be 6 games that fit the bill this week. I will only list the dogs because that's all you need to know:

        •  Jacksonville
        •  St. Louis
        •  Oakland
        •  New Orleans
        •  Houston
        •  Buffalo

The key here is to wait as long as you can before betting these teams because as the games grow closer the betting public just can't bear to bet on a team that has nothing to play for so the already high spreads become even bigger. The edge goes to those who have the guts to take all 6 of the above teams and march to the windows to collect their 5-1 or 4-2 winnings with pride while hearing others say things like: "how did the Raiders do that?" and "Rams???, come on Rams?? who woulda thunk it?" You get to say to them things like: "you laid 15 points in the NFL?" and "Playoffs?, Playoffs?, we're just trying to win a game."

Oh what a glorious day it will be come Sunday. Oh, what a glorious day it will be.
This is my gift to you people with guts.

Happy Holidays all.
Pilfo