NFL 2024 Season - Week 17
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Articles published multiple times per week, offering insights and picks on upcoming games.
 
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Article Archive

Week 17
Pleading for the Fifth
Need over Nothing
Christmas Grinch
Week 16
Numbers, Numbers, Numbers
Vintage 2018
Penix Debut
Dog Day
Playoff Position
Rest of the Story
Different Sundays
Run Some Tests
Without and With
Week 15
Two Tonight
Playoff Chances
Wild Card Challenge
Best of the Best
Next
Dire Straits
And It's Good
Bloated Lines
Week 14
Running up the Score
Challenge Me
Finding Reasons to Win
Crab Feed
Week Off
Good Enough
Buyers Regret
Pulled the Rug
Week 13
Mile High Hopes
Top and Bottom
Fourth Time the Charm
Bounce Back
Engage Spark
Line Up
Out in the Cold
Thanksgiving Visitors
Good Enough
Motivation on Steroids
Week 12
Second Best
Heavyweight Bout
QB's Ins and Outs
Everybody In
Too Easy
Walk the Plank
Hot to Trot
Try, Try, Try, Try, Try Again
Week 11
Mouse Trap
Must Game
Malfunction
Easy Does It
Old Foes
Falcons Fly into Mile High
Matter of Time
Improv
To the Brink
Week 10
Odd Man Out
Lions come Calling
Rookie versus Veteran
Call to Action
Full Reverse
When 8-0 is 4-4
Game of Contradictions
NFC West Bunch
Early Boarding
Week 9
Not Enough, Too Much
Real or Imposters
Groin Shot
Best Show
Saddle Up
Dull Edges
Telling Actions
Annihilation Formula
Week 8
No and No
Old Glory
Rookie Face Off
Adding it Up
Holding On
Jets Down
Unload and Reload
No Surprise
Career Paths
It Hurts
Week 7
Harbaugh Monday
Kids Camp
Barkley Back
Bird Battle
Mouse Time
Too Many?
Gone Shopping
Not Bad
40 for 3
Week 6
Try New
Night Vision
Trap Door
Looking Up
Wake Up Call
All Good Things
Bad Idea
Unexpected
Fire One
Week 5
Yes & Yes
Old Rivals
Rookie Sensation
So Close
Lunch in Seattle
Wake the Roosters
No Respect
Too Sweet
Turtle Flip
Week 4
Landmine
Bottoms Up
Winners and Losers
Call Me
Short Line
Reality Bites
Like Tonight
Uptick
Challenge Generates Performance
Week 3
Two Times
Reduced Value
Stars Down
The Other 21
Opportunity Knocks
Lots of Questions
Move Along People
Times Up
Week 2
Confidence Game
First and Second Picked QB's
Avoiding the Donut
Do or Die
One for the Road
Likewise
Adjustment Bureau
Down ... Not Out
Week 1
Time Marches On
Cashing the Trade
Start Here
Say What
Quick Up, Quick Down
Brazil Play Date
Top Two Open
Super Bowl Pick
Season Win Totals
Moving on Up
Breakout to Breakdown
Preseason 4
Preseason Wrap
Rookie Playoff Run
Preseason 3
Short Memory
Two In, One Up
Eagles Hunt
Winning Formula
Preseason 2
Quarterback Shuffle
One Two, or Two One
Starters Sit
Remote Control
Money be Damned
Preseason 1
One Season to the Next
Public Shift
Comets in the Night
Offseason
Mahomes Chasing History
All's Well that Ends Well
Ups and Downs
     
 
Arrival Day
by Dennis Ranahan

It is Sunday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 Pacific Time.

How do we know that?

Because you are reading a Game Day feature, which only appears on this site between those times. During the regular season this column offers wagering patterns in regards to the most teams bet and which are the top three teams wagered by the public.

In most years, the public picks more losers than winners, this year they had a rare winning season, just as we had a rare losing season. It was our sixth losing campaign while applying the Basic Money Management strategy … we have delivered 37 winning seasons using that money management strategy and never a losing year on Top Picks. Forty-three consecutive winning Top Pick campaigns.

While it has been a disappointing year for us, including a postseason record of only six wins and five losses, we view this year’s Super Bowl as an excellent opportunity to end the 2023 season on a winning note. That selection will be released next Sunday beginning at 8:00 a.m. through this column.

The two competitors this year are the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. The Chiefs, since Patrick Mahomes was named their starting quarterback in 2018, have been to six straight American Football Conference Championship Games, winning four and twice capturing Super Bowl triumphs.

The San Francisco 49ers advanced to Super Bowl LXIII in a season in which they defeated all six of the NFC postseason participants. They beat the Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys in the regular season, and won the NFC Title with playoff victories over the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.

The two quarterbacks have sterling credentials coming into this Super Bowl that will be played at Allegiant Stadium next Sunday. Mahomes has two Super Bowl wins along with his 14-3 postseason record. San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy is 4-1 in postseason play during two professional campaigns with his only loss the NFC Championship Game in Philadelphia last year when he was injured in the first quarter.

The Chiefs and 49ers arrive in Las Vegas today, and while we have a very good idea who will be our Super Bowl pick, we will first post that selection next Sunday to assure all factors are in order leading up to the Sunday 3:30 p.m. kickoff. On occasion, events can occur during the week that can tip the edge. That was the case when players melted down leading up to the kickoff between the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII, and when the Oakland Raiders played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVIII.

During the week, we will release daily Headline Plays that will identify factors from historical, motivational and talent perspectives that will contribute to which team wins next week. By Sunday, you will know who we favor in Super Bowl LVIII and why.