The Gambling Show: Week 16

Season Record: 24-18-3

Winners, winners, winners. That's what you get on this show. After our second straight winning week, with perfection only inhibited by a Chiefs team we refused to believe was as bad as they are, we've now notched nine winning weeks (60%) and are one great week away from our 60% season target. We've never missed the mark before, so I don't plan to now.

Let's get to work.

Gold Medal Game: Cowboys -2

We've read the Cowboys pretty well all year. They're the easiest fade team in the league, with books knowing the public backing they consistently get and seemingly making lines to lure those idiots in on a weekly basis. No team has more rat lines then them.

And they have another this week. While most of our success has come by virtue of fading the 'Boys, this week we're hopping on the saddle and going for a spin around the rodeo. Dallas has lost two straight after having a chance to make a playoff run, is all but eliminated from January football (and will be officially if Philly wins on Saturday), but are laying two points against a Chargers team that continues to find ways to win, and with a win Sunday officially clinches their own playoff berth. The masses are for once staying off the Cowboys, yet the line isn't moving.

We know what that means. Dallas is still an explosive offense with guys that have something to prove (looking at you Georgy). Dak is a guy I believe will treat every game like his last regardless of his team's position, and has the ability to make the guys around him feel/do the same. The Chargers are likely making the playoffs whether they win this game or not, and Vegas appears to be telling us they won't. So I'll listen to what they're telling me.

Silver Medal: Commanders +7

Remember when the Chiefs dismantled the Raiders 31-0 earlier this year, and all the concerns about the offense that wasn't clicking on all cylinders were temporarily wiped out?

How weirdly similar does that feel to the Eagles, who after months of offensive question marks took down the Raiders 31-0, appearing to have fixed all of their offensive woes?

I'm not buying it. The Raiders are the worst team in football by a mile (yes, including the Titans). They make everyone they play look like Super Bowl contenders, and beating them in convincing fashion means absolutely nothing to me.

I don't think the Eagles problems are fixed. I don't think they're firing on all cylinders because they had a couple of pre-snap motions and post-graduate play calls against one of the most embarrassing teams the sport has ever seen.

Washington and Philly always seem to play one-score games regardless of who is behind center for the Commanders/Redskins/Football Team. So in a divisional game, with the division technically at stake but also an inevitability, I'll take the home team getting a touchdown against the team I'm not convinced is fixed. This is a fade the Eagles more than a back the Commanders pick.

Bronze Medal: Giants +3

Is it crazy to say I don't feel like the Giants are as bad as their 2-12 record and losers of eight straight say?

I mean look at who they've played. Before last week against Washington, the G-Men played Philly, Denver, Philly, SF, Chicago, Green Bay, Detroit and New England in back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back games. A combined opponent record of 78-33-1. That's INSANE.

I just think they're due for a win. We know Jaxson Dart will throw his body around like a ragdoll and play like there's no tomorrow; he's made it abundantly clear that he doesn't care about prolonging his football career. And I like the fact that JJ McCarthy is for the first time having people believe he's a formidable quarterback.

I don't, so I like the G-men in this spot. I like that the line is pretty short, and because of that people will flock to Minnesota after a big Sunday Night win in Dallas.

Minnesota's defense is good against the pass, but susceptible to the run (24th in the league in rush defense). I think Dart and the Giants backfield can find enough success on the ground to make this a game, and I'm imagining at least one mistake from 9. That has upset written all over it, but we'll take the points for good measure.

Let’s go NFC East.