Week 18 Who has nothing to play for?

Teams that have nothing to play for: Playoff seeding/future draft pick locked

SF, Baltimore, KC, Cleveland, Detroit, Carolina, Cincinnati, Chargers, Denver, Philly, Dallas, Arizona, Rams, Minnesota, Tennessee, NYG 

Teams that have something to play for:Playoffs/save coach's job/save player's job

Chicago, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Jets, NE, Atlanta, TB, NO, Washington, Buffalo, Miami, Seattle, Houston, Indy, Jax, Green Bay

I can see Baltimore playing Pittsburgh tough and Cleveland giving Cincinnati fits.  Which teams are candidates to mail it in this weekend.

I see SF, KC, Detroit, Denver, Philly, NE, Washington, and Chargers not putting much effort in winning or covering this weekend.  What am I missing with this thought going into the last week?  

Raiders sure look like a great pick to me. Denver fan here. Raiders playing for AP’s job makes me think they hang one on a Broncos team out of the playoffs and is going to have a lot of turnover on the roster. 

All nfl players are trying to win/ show out.  Coaching staff? Thats a different story if they believe its over for them. 

@NONEED4LUCK

 That's what scares me about the line in that game.  Vegas -2.5 has everything to play for and Denver hates Sean Payton and have already embarrassed him multiple times. Scary because that is one of my big plays.

@proguy747

 Chicago, Raiders, Falcons coach and Salah are trying to keep their jobs.  Bad showings could cost them their jobs.

@Sea007EX

 
… of those 3, I’d take LVR. GB/NO will take care of business at home on Sunday

The Lions last year had nothing to play for at Green Bay, having been eliminated a couple of hours earlier. We all remember what happened.

Teams that have been eliminated against teams that are playing for something are a 60% play ATS in the season's last two weeks.

@garbagetime

 Last year that would have been an eliminated Lions' team last game.  This year they have nothing to play for BUT they have a playoff game to look forward to playing/winning afterwards.  You still think they lay if all out on the line against Minnesota versus GB last year?  

@JoseAlonso787

 I can see Chicago and Atlanta winning those games.  GB and NO are not that much better than Chicago and Atlanta.

According to Walter Football, teams that have nothing to play for versus teams that need the win to make it to the playoffs cover 75% of the time. 
Two of those teams are the Titans and Panthers. 

@Buffalobob89074

 That’s one of the highest percentages Ive seen in trends. So that favors Baltimore, falcons, panthers, dolphins, titans, Arizona, and Bears. 

Break it down, and it's less the teams like Baltimore that are in the playoffs but resting starters than it is teams that are eliminated but still motivated to ruin someone else's party. So Panthers, Titans, Cards, Bears. Personally I prefer home dogs. Panthers, Titans, Cards.

I bet them last week at home. KC was playing at the same time and KC was in a somewhat close game. Last week was a must win for the Broncos. This week I seriously doubt the Broncos players that know they will not be there will show out for Payton. These guys do not play for a contract for only one week, let alone them not wanting to get injured going into free agency. 

Raiders on the other hand have everything to play for. Antonio Pierce has won the locker room and Mark Davis seems like a guy who might keep him, unless Bill wants to go there and hook back up with TB if he can secure some ownership. I just think the Raiders have everything to play for the Broncos have nothing to play for, on the road in Vegas. Come on these guys are getting hookers sent up to their rooms and staying up all night. What a great home Fields advantage. 

If I were Vegas players, I’d be sending the hottest person in town to “my friends” visiting for the night. 

@NONEED4LUCK

 Saw this earlier today and makes some sense:

Rule 3: Avoid betting teams with interim coaches.

Having an interim coach is like having a substitute teacher running the class, especially if the owner isn’t willing to publicly back the coach. Pierce has lobbied hard for the job and won four games, but his lack of aggressiveness in Indy last week makes everyone unsure how owner Mark Davis will react. Pierce spent a long time meeting with Davis after the game before his press conference, which isn’t a good sign for his future. We know Giff Smith isn’t coming back for the Chargers, and we also know they will rest their players, so even though the Chiefs have nothing to play for and won’t play Mahomes, can you count on the Chargers as a slight favorite? 

A perfect example of not betting interim coaches with no chance of returning happened in Jacksonville last week when the Panthers laid a big goose egg. Owner David Tepper was furious, throwing a drink at a Jaguars fan, which looked bad for him and even worse for every member of their organization. Yes, the Panthers seem to play better at home, but this week is the last week of school. Do you think Chris Tabor, the interim coach, can get his players to focus on the Bucs and not what will happen? I highly doubt it, but it doesn’t make me want to run to the window and bet the Bucs at -5. This leads me to rule number four.

what is rule #4?

How can you trust the Chargers even if Andy Reid is taking the snaps for KC?  Andy Reid lives for designing plays and will dial up new stuff for the second and third teamers to have fun on offense. 

Cowboys have something to play for. They need to win to get the 2 seed.

@Kadejax

@Kadejax

 Not really. Dallas was entrenched in the playoffs last year and still lost to Washington. They are in the playoffs already win or lose. I don’t think teams are motivated by seeds. Its all psychological. Win you are number 2. Lose and you still have to win 3 games and still have to go through SF. I don’t think its a big deal for Dallas as poorly as Philly is playing. Dallas doesn’t want anyone to get hurt most importantly. 

@Sea007EX

 You could not be more wrong. The two seed gets you home games and a division title. You are crazy if you do not think this game means something lol

@Kadejax

 Dallas won 12 games last year, played on the road and won. The year before they played a home game and lost to SF. It really doesn’t make a difference to Dallas because they don’t have any choice but to go through SF. They can beat everyone else home or away. Win this game and Cee Dee Lamb gets hurt then what do you have with those two home games. 

@Sea007EX

 Have you seen Dallas on the road this year?? They have not lost at home. To say they dont care about home field advantage and the 2 seed is flat out wrong. 

Interesting info