Well here we are; week 17, the last coup de grace for a few of you, and for others, the Holy Grail of eternal survival and a suicide championship belt. For many of us (me included), the year ended early with a bucket full of shame. Again, how in the world has Arizona gone from a strong contender early on to the weakest of pretenders later on? For some of you, the loss came in the middle of the season, raising your hopes just enough to curse your losing choice for a few weeks thereafter. And for another select few, the season has boiled down to these last two weeks, creating stress levels beyond the reading ability of the stress test machine. No matter what category you fall in, all we can hope for is that we don’t need too much therapy and rehabilitation at season’s end. However, as always, it’s been a fun ride on the rollercoaster that is the National Football League.
Teams Already Used – Houston, New England, Chicago, Green Bay, San Francisco, Atlanta, Minnesota, San Diego, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Denver
Buffalo, My Week 17 Pick – I know, I’m going to need a lot of counselling after making the Bills my pick of the week. They have been in this space over the last 17 weeks as a team whom I’ve bet against. WGR 550 will be proud of this selection. This pick isn’t so much in confidence of Buffalo, but my confidence in how bad the New York Jets are. There are some bad quarterbacks in football and Mark Sanchez can stand shoulder to weak arm with all of them. If you are picking from scraps here in week 17, then the Bills may not be too bad of a choice. Trust me, your stress levels will reset quickly once this game starts, as the Bills will put some bills in your pocket with a green light from kickoff to ground the Jets.
San Diego – Terrelle Pryor, who has a career high of eight offensive snaps, will be the starting quarterback for Oakland in this match between state rivals. This will be the second straight road game for the Raiders, who have a laundry list of injuries to deal with. The Chargers have come off one of their most disappointing seasons to date, and without much doubt,it will put an end to the Norv Turner era in San Diego. The players will play hard to get one last victory for their coach of the last six years. Surprisingly, this will be the first year during his six-year reign that the Bolts finish below 500. They have blown many a game in 2012, but have managed to stay fairly competitive throughout. The Chargers beat Oakland to start the year off and will bolt them to close out the season.
New York Giants – Just like the Bills and Chargers above, the Giants have a good chance at being a possible selection in week 17. I have yet to use them all year and I still would consider them as a top selection despite their lack of football knowledge over their last few games. They are third on my list because Michael Vick is back at quarterback and brings a strong unknown to the equation; he could blow up or he could really blow up. The Giants must win this game to give themselves any chance at a playoff spot – they will throw bombs on offense and defuse the defense to win this war.
Tennessee, Potential Suicide – Really, seven percent of people are putting their trust in the Titans in week 17?! Did they watch last week’s game, both in Green Bay and Jacksonville? The Jaguars played the Patriots like a man while the Titans played the Packers like a boy. Jacksonville beat this team a month ago and brings in the same Chad Henne lead team into this tilt. Whomever takes the Titans in week 17 of a suicide pool are insane, and no amount of therapy in the off-season can change them from taking Tennessee in week 1 next year as well. Stay sane, listen to your ego and not your id, and let your superego guide you to a sane victory.
