I'm down in Las Vegas for a week (visiting brother, ringing in the New Year, etc...), which means I get to roll out some parlay bets for the coming weekend. I don't do online gambling, but when I'm in Las Vegas during football season, I'm a fan of throwing down the parlays. I rarely win, but it makes many of the games a bit more interesting. The NFL is playing all 16 games on Sunday, meaning I get a nice assortment of options to choose from.
Of course, week 17 is also a bit of a bizarre week for many teams that will be rolling over in some form or fashion. The Colts will likely be resting players against the Bills, so I'm thinking I don't want to touch that game. Thanks to the Vikings blowing it on Monday Night, the Saints have clinched home field, meaning they'll likely rest starters against the Panthers. That hurts our chances of a Panthers loss, and also takes them off the board for gambling purposes in my mind.
Given their loss, the Vikings were unable to lock up a first round bye, so they'll need a win when they face the Giants this Sunday at the Metrodome. The Giants are out of the playoffs and playing for pride, which should be interesting given their embarrassing home blowout at the hands of the Panthers. The Patriot and Bengals have clinched their divisions and cannot get a first round bye, so they might plan on resting some of their starters.
So the question becomes, who can I parlay? Based on the early lines (and with several games off the board at Scores and Odds), if I were to go with a straight 4-team parlay, I might go with something along the lines of:
49ers (-7 at Rams)
Under in 49ers/Rams (40.5)
Titans (-4.5 at Seahawks)
Jets (-10 versus Bengals at Meadowlands)
Some other options include the Patriots/Texans over (-46, although NE might be sitting players), Cowboys and the over against the Eagles (-3, 47.5). It's a tough week for picks given several teams resting players, but I suppose that makes it more fun (or just worse when I lose money). We'll just have to see what's on the board when I get down to Las Vegas, but if anybody has any suggestions in the meantime, I'm all ears.