This is it. The final week of the NBC Sports Boston family contest and we have four contestants still in the mix.
After going 1-5 over the last two weeks, John Tomase's commanding lead is down to just one game over Amina Smith. Ted Johnson remains in the mix as well as Michael Holley, who has had a tremendous run in the second half of the season.
The biggest surprise of Week 18 is John Tomase, in a bit of gamesmanship, bucking the trend that has worked so well for him and taking the New England Patriots!
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For 16 weeks, he has taken the Patriots' opponent and it has resulted in an 11-5 record. FWIW, the Patriots have actually covered in three of the last four.
However, no one else in contention is touching the NE vs. NYJ game this weekend, so for Tomase's sake, let's hope the Patriots pick doesn't come back to bite him.
Here's a look at the current standings for our 2023 NFL picks contest:
Let's get to this week's picks:
Week 18 Trends
It all comes down to Dolphins-Bills?!
It's quite possible that the final game of the regular season will decide the winner of this contest. Tomase, Ted and Holley are all on the Dolphins at +2.5 while Amina is taking the Bills on the road at -2.5.
Less notably, this game will also determine the winner of the AFC East.
Everyone loves the Texans
Well except for me. But five other contestants, including Ted and Holley, are on Houston at -1 this weekend.
It's a must-win game for both the Texans and Colts. They haven't met since Week 2 when Indianapolis won 31-20. But that was a lifetime ago for C.J. Stroud. The Colts also had Anthony Richardson for part of that game.
*If we still have a tie at the top of the board after Week 18, there will be a 3-game playoff for Wild Card Weekend.
