Nice call on Oakland.
Question for you, what are your thoughts on capping the last couple weeks of the regular season?
There's so many angles that it's hard to balance them all:
-Teams fighting for better playoff seeding
-Teams that are already eliminated
-Teams that have already locked it up and may not be trying too hard
-Teams right in the thick of it for their playoff lives.
I rarely treat a team that's fighting for playoff contention at the end of the season any different than I would if they were playing in the middle of the regular season. The NFL is intense, and I just don't see how you can just start "trying harder" and winning all of the sudden just because the season is winding down. Look at the Cowboys last year with the Philly game.
But I do think teams that are out of it can pack it in. No matter what task it at hand. it's easier to fall off the wagon than to try to be extra focused at important times.
Just wanted to get your opinion on how much you factor in what teams are playing at the tail end of the regular season when you make your plays.
And oh yea, congrats on 25K page views.
Question for you, what are your thoughts on capping the last couple weeks of the regular season?
There's so many angles that it's hard to balance them all:
-Teams fighting for better playoff seeding
-Teams that are already eliminated
-Teams that have already locked it up and may not be trying too hard
-Teams right in the thick of it for their playoff lives.
I rarely treat a team that's fighting for playoff contention at the end of the season any different than I would if they were playing in the middle of the regular season. The NFL is intense, and I just don't see how you can just start "trying harder" and winning all of the sudden just because the season is winding down. Look at the Cowboys last year with the Philly game.
But I do think teams that are out of it can pack it in. No matter what task it at hand. it's easier to fall off the wagon than to try to be extra focused at important times.
Just wanted to get your opinion on how much you factor in what teams are playing at the tail end of the regular season when you make your plays.
And oh yea, congrats on 25K page views.
I would say it's worth taking into account. Motivation, and emotional situation of a team in general, can weigh in on the outcome. With that said, the motivation of a team is more obvious to people toward the end of the season, since everyone is aware of what a team "needs" in terms of playoff picture. So Oddsmakers adjust for this, imo. For this reason, contrarian approaches to the game are profitable. Something worth paying some attention to, though, is teams that have been eliminated but are stilling trying to accomplish something as a team. Many teams who fit the description, take the role of spoiler very very seriously, and so in terms of motivation, they have just as much to play for, as a team shooting for a specific seed. (at least in their minds) Some teams, however, pack it in and don't even show up. Just a matter of knowing which team is which and being able to identify them. For the most part, however, I find the last week, possibly the last 2, in the NFL to be a dead spot in the schedule because of all the uncertainties.
So, I am going to be shutting it down for the regular season...and will be back to hopefully do some damage in the playoffs..where I have been successful in years past...
Till then, Good Luck to everyone :toast:
