Help Question: NFL "3 Strikes Contest" (Need Confirmation Of Top Team To Get A W)

I forgot (before just now) to think about the various more detailed playoff scenarios into the whole week #17 equation. If Pittsburgh sees San Diego pull out a victory on Saturday (see below- Steelers would be guaranteed a spot in first round of playoffs with a Chargers win), are they going to play all their starters like normal or would they just be happy with their playoff spot secure and give the key players some rest going into the first round of the playoffs the following week???

Tampa may be the better pick considering that factor with the Steelers playoff scenario being 100% settled by Saturday afternoon.
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Playoff scenarios -- Week 17


Here are the scenarios for teams that can clinch playoff berths in Week 17.

AFC EAST DIVISION
New England has clinched division title.

AFC NORTH DIVISION
Cincinnati has clinched division title.

Pittsburgh can clinch playoff berth with:
1) PIT win or tie, OR
2) KC loss or tie, OR
3) SD win


AFC SOUTH DIVISION
Indianapolis has clinched the division title and home-field advantage in the playoffs.

Jacksonville has clinched playoff spot.


AFC WEST DIVISION
Denver has clinched division title and a first-round bye.

Kansas City can clinch playoff berth with:
1) KC win + PIT loss + SD loss or tie


NFC EAST DIVISION
N.Y. Giants have clinched playoff spot

N.Y. Giants can clinch division title with:
1) NYG win or tie, OR
2) WAS loss or tie

Dallas can clinch playoff berth with:
1) DAL win + WAS loss or tie, OR
2) DAL win + CAR loss, OR
3) DAL win + TB loss + NYG loss + NYG and DAL clinch strength of victory tiebreaker over TB, OR
4) DAL tie + WAS loss

Washington can clinch division title with:
1) WAS win + NYG loss

Washington can clinch playoff berth with:
1) WAS win, OR
2) DAL loss, OR
3) WAS tie + DAL tie


NFC NORTH DIVISION
Chicago has clinched division title and a first-round bye

NFC SOUTH DIVISION
Carolina can clinch division with:
1) CAR win + TB loss or tie, OR
2) CAR tie + TB loss.

Carolina can clinch playoff berth with:
1) CAR win or tie, OR
2) DAL loss or tie, OR
3) WAS loss or tie.

Tampa Bay can clinch division title with:
1) TB win, OR
2) CAR loss, OR
3) TB tie + CAR tie.

Tampa Bay can clinch playoff berth with:
1) TB tie, OR
2) DAL loss or tie, OR
3) WAS loss or tie, OR
4) NYG win or tie, OR
5) TB clinches strength of victory tiebreaker over DAL or NYG.

NFC WEST DIVISION
Seattle has clinched division title and home-field advantage in the playoffs.



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Following Week 16: Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Green Bay, Houston, Miami, Minnesota, New Orleans, N.Y. Jets, Oakland, Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Diego, San Francisco and Tennessee have been eliminated from playoff contention.


http://nfl.com/news/story/9055604

 

Ok, time to pull out the spreads from Vegas on the 12 (Week #17) regular season finale games that are still on the board at a website that has the lines (I would never consider betting on these games ) :

I think Vegas oddsmakers may have taken the other 4 or so games off the board for one reason or another so here are the 12 that they must feel comfortable with. Let me know if you got any feedback cause I am still weighing my decision for this week.

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NFL FOOTBALL SATURDAY.(31-DEC-2005)

4:40 PM Denver Broncos @ San Diego Chargers (-10½)

8:10 PM New York Giants(-10) @ Oakland Raiders


NFL FOOTBALL SUNDAY.(01-JAN-2006)

1:10 PM Arizona Cardinals @ Indianapolis Colts (-8)

1:10 PM Baltimore Ravens (-3) @ Cleveland Browns

1:10 PM Carolina Panthers (-4) @ Atlanta Falcons

4:25 PM Chicago Bears @ Minnesota Vikings (-4)

1:10 PM Detroit Lions @ Pittsburgh Steelers ( -14)

1:10 PM New Orleans Saints @Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-14)

4:15 PM Houston Texans (-2) @San Francisco 49ers

4:15 PM Tennessee Titans @ Jacksonville Jaguars (-3½)

1:10 PM Seattle Seahawks @ Green Bay Packers (-4)

8:45 PM St Louis Rams @ Dallas Cowboys (-14)

 

Went ahead and followed Rocketman95's original selection of Tampa Bay & it was a winner
(even though the Saints made it a game until late in the 4th quarter )

Once again...Thanks for all the winning selections in the final 7 weeks of the regular season Clutchfans NFL Gurus.

Now it is on to "Wild Card Weekend", survive & advance is the goal...
Much fewer games to choose from obviously, and right now New England stands out, but I am looking for any opinions out there.


What is your top pick for a W for NFL Wild Card Weekend???

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Wild Card Weekend- 4 Games To Choose From

Saturday, Jan. 7
GAME TIME
Washington at Tampa Bay 4:30 p.m.
Jacksonville at New England 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 8
GAME TIME
Carolina at N.Y. Giants 1:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati 4:30 p.m.

 

Nevermind. I went ahead & officially chose the Patriots and just got it over with for this week because it is crazy busy on this short work week and I would have forgotten to submit my pick probably. Peace, Ron

 

What is your top pick for the Divisional Playoffs ???

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-Divisional Playoffs-

Saturday, Jan. 14

Washington at Seattle 4:30 p.m.
New England at Denver 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 15

Pittsburgh at Indianapolis 1:00 p.m.
Carolina at Chicago 4:30 p.m.

 

I like the Seattle game alot.

What about the Indy game against the Steelers?
The spread is up in the (-9) point ballpark just like the Seattle game...

 

For this past week I went ahead with Seattle (-10 point favorite) as the pick, so I still have 0 strikes with only the final 2 weeks of the NFL playoffs to go.

I am really hoping that all the other folks with zero strikes picked Indy

As always, I appreciate the advice ahead of time if you got any insight for this week's contest...

What is everyone's top pick for the Conference Championship match-ups ??? ( I CAN STILL PICK SEATTLE, NO RULES IN PLAYOFFS)

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Conference Championships
Sunday, January 22


3:00 p.m. on CBS -- AFC Championship Game
Pittsburgh (13-5) at Denver (14-3)



6:30 p.m. on FOX -- NFC Championship Game
Carolina (13-5) at Seattle (14-3)

 

Seattle impressed me with their perserverance... Carolina & Pittsburgh both kind of scared me as teams you usually should not bet against during their playoff runs

Anyhoo, Las Vegas has both of these games at the exact same spread. Home team is favored by 4 points in each Conference Championship match-up.

I probably will need to wait until Friday to get the full scoop/ team injury reports and not press the submit button too early for this important week.

 

Bump... I am doubting my pick this week because both games seem so evenly matched to me.

Any final advice on these two Conference Championship games, maybe you see a clear advantage for one team after reflecting on the games for a few more days?????? It is hard not to weed through the media coverage and possible bias one way or the other from the so-called expert sports analyst.

Right now I would say Denver is my personal choice. I have no real reason to say why this is an obvious choice or anything, HELP!!!!!!!!!!!! I am getting nervous because I have no clue what the prize will be but I know it is substantial $$$, maybe a couple of hundo's but who knows...

Appreciate all the responses so far, and any advice in the future...