NFL Contest: The wins keep coming as we look to close strong

Of course, it goes without saying that sports and sports betting is trivial compared to life and death. The response to the events of Monday night showed that as much passion as we have for our "games," we have even more compassion for our fellow men and women who play them. Like everyone else, I wish Damar Hamlin a speedy recovery.

It is impossible to smoothly transition from that so I am just going to dive in here. It is the final week of the season and even though we got off to a rocky start I think I can safely say we are finishing strong — 13 wins in a row to date. Yes, I acknowledge that losses at the beginning kind of crushed it, but following the same rules and rattling off wins the way we have, has been valuable.

Of course, there are no byes this week and only some of the games truly matter this week. I think it is fair to say that all of the good teams have been used.  This week is truly the hardest week to pick. 

Survivor Pool Teams Used So Far:  Tennessee Titans, Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Chargers, Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Rams, Las Vegas Raiders, Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Commanders, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Record: 13-4

Week 18 Survivor Pool Recommendation

There are only three big spreads this week and those games are irrelevant to us because all of those teams have been used. I was looking at the must-win games and teams like Jacksonville or even Tennessee have already been used, ditto for most of the other must wins too. 

Motivation is definitely a hard one to measure this week, as some teams actually want to lose. Or at least would be helped in the future by doing so. Some have even benched their starting quarterbacks with that in mind. 

The Pick: New Orleans Saints

The Saints were a nice sleeper coming into the season. I thought Tampa Bay would be down this year, and they were, but so was the whole division as it turns out. New Orleans is the play because they are closing strong, and they are available. Being at home does not hurt either. 

New Orleans has won its last three games and covered the spread in a couple of them as the season winds down. The defense has been especially stingy, not giving up more than 20 points in any of the last seven games. When you play defense like that you have a great chance to win and even though this week might be more of a vanilla game plan due to circumstances it is not like they are taking on an elite offense. 

Carolina had a chance to extend its season last week but lost against Tampa, guaranteeing the Bucs the division. Hitting the road after a disappointing outing like that is a hard situation to play your best in. Their best is only so good too. 

Normally I end with a scheduling note/look ahead but this is the end of the line. I hope you enjoyed the ride.