LAS VEGAS -- Happy New Year!
And happy NFL playoffs, which is also known as "the second season," so basically a new year.
I finished a disappointing five games below .500 in my weekly "Tuley's Take" column for the regular season, but it was basically a break-even NFL season. I know some people will scoff at that looking at the record below, but I was 10-5 in Thursday night game picks, which weren't included in my overall total, plus I had some minor contest winnings that made up for my contest entries and then some.
That 10-5 mark actually included a 6-0 record with over/unders, which I usually don't do in this column, but I'll use those during the postseason so I don't hear the complaints that I'm passing half the games!
However, in this opening wild-card round -- before we get the elite teams involved and we have favorites that have enough flaws that they weren't able to get first-round byes -- I like three underdogs against the number.
Last week: 4-6 ATS | 2014 season record: 58-63-1 ATS (47.9 percent)
Note: The listed spread for each game is from the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, as of Wednesday night. The public consensus pick percentages are from ESPN PickCenter, also as of late Wednesday night.
Matchup: Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts
Spread: Colts minus-3.5 (even)
Public consensus pick: 67 percent picked Colts
Public perception: The public is always more likely to be on the Colts more than the Bengals, and Andrew Luck & Co. have rewarded their backers for the most part this season at 10-5-1 ATS (second only to Arizona's 11-5 ATS mark). It doesn't hurt that the Colts won 27-0 in the earlier meeting between these two teams.