Football season is rapidly reaching its conclusion, sadly.
With it, so is my weekly betting column. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing considering my poor record this season.
Last week, I went 2-2. Chicago (+4.5) lost on an overtime field goal 20-17 and Seattle (-7) destroyed San Francisco 41-6. Houston (+3.5) lost 28-16 in New England and my Buffalo Bills (+1) lost 33-30 in OT to Denver.
Now, we are looking ahead to Sunday’s conference championship games. Both feature the No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences proving that earning a first-round bye is extremely important.
• New England -4: The Patriots are road favorites in Denver with Broncos starting quarterback Bo Nix out because of a broken bone in his ankle. Jarrett Stidham is in line to start against his former team. Nothing against Stidham, but turning to the backup in the biggest game of their season doesn’t inspire confidence in the Broncos.
New England’s defense is playing lights out and forced five turnovers in last week’s win against Houston. The offense didn’t do too much, but they didn’t need to. If the Patriots can force a couple turnovers the Broncos could be in trouble.
• Seattle (-2.5): Seattle hosts NFC West rival L.A. Sunday afternoon as a home favorite. The Seahawks slaughtered the 49ers last week and look the strongest of the remaining four teams. This season, Seattle and L.A. split their regular season series. The games were decided by one and two points, one of which went to overtime. This game will likely be similar and go down to the wire.
I think the Seahawks will win on a field goal in overtime or the waning seconds of the fourth quarter. Seattle looks well-rounded and the Rams needed late-game heroics to get by each of their playoff games.