Week 17 NFL Bets

Week 17 in the NFL is usually a week to stay away from at all costs when wagering. Teams are locked into their playoff spots and star players find their way to the bench early in the games. With that said, I'll be putting down $100 on a 3-way parlay. Not super confident in it, but it could pay off nicely if it hits.

Colts +7

Way too big of a spread to not take action on. Chuck Pagano will be making his return so you know Indianapolis will come to play. Houston could potentially be playing for home field advantage (depending on New England's outcome), but with the Colts at home they will easily cover.

GB/MIN under 46

Minnesota's defense has really been turning it on as of late and with their playoff fate on the line, this game should be no different. The Packers come in with 2 new starting lineman including a new starting center in the very loud Metrodome. The Vikings offense hasn't been explosive at all this, I see this being a low scoring affair.

Cowboys +3

This is where things get tricky. Dallas has been on fire as of late and I can see them beating the Redskins in Washington, but it could very easily become the RGIII show. I feel confident in the line only because it is an NFC East battle and those games always seem to be close.

Total bet: $100

Potential win: $614

UPDATE: And there is a reason I wasn't very confident in it. The only bet that hit was the Colts, way off on the other two. Better luck next week.

Nowhere to go but up?

With Kevin Love coming out this week and questioning the personnel decisions and direction of the Minnesota Timberwolves, I took a step back and looked at all of the professional teams in MN. I never thought I'd be saying this, but Minnesota might currently be Loserville, USA.

Minnesota Vikings- Somehow have a winning record currently, but could very easily be sub-.500 when the season ends in 3 weeks. I do like the moves that GM Rick Spielman has done and appreciate his acknowledgement that the team needed to start from the bottom. A youth movement is the only way to do this and he appears to have the wheels starting to turn. With that said, there is still one glaring weakness on the team and it involves the most important position in the NFL. Christian Ponder is not and will not be a legitimate starting QB. With the season they have turned in, they won't be drafting in the top 10 and thus won't have a shot at a top QB prospect. This means they could have a great roster of players in a year or 2, but still no shot at the Lombardi trophy because of a lack of QB play. Hopefully Spielman has an answer for this very important question.

Minnesota Timberwolves- Yes, everyone is very excited that they are a legitimate team again and will possibly be able to make the playoffs this year. Ricky Rubio is cute and can play, Love is the top PF in the game and Nikola Pekovic is coming into his own. Besides those 3, what do the Wolves have to show for drafting in the NBA Lottery since 2006? Nothing. The NBA is a superstar driven league. The Wolves have someone in Love who is capable of playing at a superstar level and he has a trusty sidekick in Rubio. Beyond that, they have nothing but scrubs. They were desperately hoping that Brandon Roy's fake knees would last longer than 15 games and he could provide a spark, but that has shown to be nothing but disaster. GM David Kahn needs to get a proven commodity and a couple of firecrackers to come off the bench on this Wovles team in the next 2 years or KLove will be taking his talents to LA.

Minnesota Twins- Yet another MN team in the process of rebuilding. Recently traded their starting CF's away for pitching help and all but gave up any hope of contending for a playoff spot in 2013. And I'm nothing but excited! The Twins had no arms in the farm system and as evidenced lately, pitching goes a long way in determining success. They are hindered by Joe Mauer's huge contract and won't be spending big on any FA's in the near future (not that any of the top players would want to come to MN currently), but GM Terry Ryan is taking the correct approach and dealing from strength to make up for weakness. 2013 will be a long season, but the run that the Twins will be able to make from 2014-2017 will be well worth it.

Minnesota Wild- This is probably the only team that I truly had high hopes for coming into 2012 and the NHL Lockout has killed all hope. With that said, they are exactly what the Vikings and Twins are looking to create in the coming years. They have an elite farm system full of highly talented prospects and because of that, they were able to spend big on a couple of FA's to fill gaping holes. Hopefully Wild fans will get to see Zach Parise and Ryan Suter on the ice soon.