Lance's 2022 Week 18 Predictions

Every week I’ll be putting out my predictions, they will include my winner for each game with a brief explanation, and 1 start and 1 sit for each fantasy football position. As usual, I’ll start with my picks:

Overall Record: 139-99-2

Overall ATS: 27-33
Note: I'm using the spreads given by DraftKings, just to keep it uniform, though I would recommend if you're going to be betting on specific games to find the sportsbook that's giving half points so you can avoid pushes.

Kansas City over Las Vegas (ATS: Las Vegas +9)
And KC is back to winning but failing to cover the high spread against a bad team. I.e. my prediction for this week.

Jacksonville over Tennessee (ATS: Jacksonville -6.5)
The Jags dominate Tennessee again in route to their first division title in five years.

Atlanta over Tampa Bay (ATS: Altanta -4.5)
Tampa can't move up or down, so the expected behavior would be for them to bench their starters (especially with how banged up they are on the O-Line). That doesn't always mean easy win for the other team, but I think Atlanta gets the job done.

Buffalo over New England (ATS: Buffalo -7)
Buffalo comes in with all the emotion and torches the Patriots. Even if KC wins on Saturday Buffalo should still play their starters to try and force a neutral site game in the event they play the Chiefs in the AFC Championship.

Minnesota over Chicago (ATS: Minnesota -7)
Minnesota has had a hard time in Chicago in the past, but they still have the #2 seed to play for, and they gotta be mad after that embarrassment last week. Plus, Chicago still has a chance at the #1 pick if they lose and Houston wins, and they've already announced they're sitting Fields.

Cincinnati over Baltimore (ATS: Baltimore +7)
There are weird playoff implications here now that the NFL has announced the BUF-CIN game won't be made up. Cincy wins it in order to win the division title outright.

Indianapolis over Houston (ATS: Indianapolis -2.5)
Having said what I just said, I think Houston finds a way to lose this and guarantee their pick of the litter at 1.

NY Jets over Miami (ATS: NY Jets +2.5)
My numbers favor the Jets and I'm sure they'd love to make a division rival as miserable as they are after being eliminated from playoff contention last week. Plus, it looks like the Dolphins will be starting either Skylar Thompson or Mike Glennon at QB.

New Orleans over Carolina (ATS: New Orleans -3.5)
Despite being out of the playoff race both of these teams still have something to play for. Wilks may be coaching for the full-time head coaching position, and the Saints are aiming to make that first-round pick the Eagles have as bad as they possibly can. I'll take the Saints at home.

Cleveland over Pittsburgh (ATS: Cleveland +2.5)
All those years the Browns were Pitt's punching bag and they have a perfect opportunity to give them payback. In one full-swoop they can eliminate Pitt from the playoff race and hand them their first losing season in the Mike Tomlin era. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Philadelphia over NY Giants (ATS: Philadelphia -14)
The Giants should have their starters on the sidelines for this one opening up the door for the Eagles to cover that insane spread and lockdown the #1 seed.

Washington over Dallas (ATS: Washington +7)
Dallas has been balancing on the line of good and bad. They're record suggests legit threat, but their games don't (14 point win against Tennessee's backups, 6 point win over Philly's backup QB at home, loss to Jags, 4 point win over Houston). Washington catches them by surprise.

Denver over LA Chargers (ATS: Denver -2.5)
The Chargers and Ravens are competing for positioning. One will get the 5 seed and play Jacksonville while the other will get the 6 seed and play Cincinnati (I think). If Baltimore loses like I'm predicting, then the Chargers' starters should be on the bench for this game.

Seattle over LA Rams (ATS: LA Rams +6)
I really really really want the Rams to pull off the upset because I would love to see Detroit in the playoffs and in order for that to happen the Lions have to win and the Seahawks have to lose. However, I have to side with the numbers and they favor Seattle.

San Francisco over Arizona (ATS: San Francisco -14)
San Fran still has a shot at the #1 seed; they need to win and the Eagles need to lose. The Niners almost got caught looking last week against a bad Vegas team, but I don't think they'll fall into that trap again this week.

Detroit over Green Bay (ATS: Detroit +5)
The Lions won the game earlier in the year 15-9. I think this game will be the opposite of that in the points department, but the result will still be the same.

Four Game Parlay (0-3): Last week was a major bust. This week I'm suggesting you use DraftKings for a parlay and bet on NY Jets +2.5, Denver -2.5, San Francisco -14 and Indianapolis -2.5.