Macca

The Colts/Titans game to decide the winner in the tipping comp ... so after all that it is Clintosaurus vs DeeSpencer for the outright victory. Leaderboard in the Comp (dark italics indicates final score) 8 - Clintosaurus 7 - Gorgoroth 6 - DeeSpencer (Colts), JV7, layzie, Dr.Gonzo, titan_uranus 5 - Dappa Dan (Colts) 4 - Dee Zephyr (Colts), Macca (Colts) Go the Biff 3 - Demon Dave

50/50 then for Foles? What is the actual issue with the Wentz injury Dappa?

So if Wentz is unlikely to play again this year how can he play next week?

Those chest injuries can be tricky especially with regards to throwing Wentz ok to play next week yeah? Bears 21 Vikes 10 with under 8 minutes to go at Minnesota ... A TD with a 2 point conversion makes it 11 points the difference.

Rams to win you'd reckon leading the 49ers 38 - 10 and the Vikes have closed the gap on the Bears ... Vikes 10 Bears 13. Eagles leading Washington 17 - 0. Browns making a game of it at Baltimore ... Ravens 23 Cleveland 14

49ers get a late TD in the first half to keep the Rams honest. When to rest starters and when not to rest them hey Dappa? Great viewing - 'Redzone' in its element right now

The NFC North rivalry means no prisoners ... all the teams hate each other no end. There's a chance that the Bears will rest of few of their starters but they will still not want to lose the game. Their defense probably stays intact?

The Bears/Vikes game is the big watch Dappa - Matt Nagy has stated that he will keep an eye on the Rams scoreline but I reckon they are enjoying winning too much to back off. I could be wrong though. Rams lead the 49ers 21 - 3 Bears lead the Vikes 13 - 0 Eagles lead Washington 10 - 0

Gonzo & layz didn't get their tips in but here's the rest of the tips from those participating DeeSpencer (6) Eagles Chargers Colts JV7 (6) Miami Eagles Chargers layzie (6) Dr. Gonzo (6) Clintosaurus (5) Eagles FALCONS Chargers Dappa Dan (5) Eagles FALCONS Colts Go the Biff (4) Miami FALCONS Eagles Dee Zephyr (4) Eagles DETROIT Colts Macca (4) Eagles Bears Colts Gorgoroth (4) Eagles FALCONS Chargers titan_uranus (3) Eagles Chargers Bears DemonDave (3) Miami Eagles Chargers

Cowboys going all out to win was a surprise ... not resting starters. Atlanta & Detroit winning will have pleased a few tipsters here By contrast Miami losing was very costly for a few ? Saints do rest their starters meaning Carolina romp to victory We're all on the Eagles winning and they should win but a variety of others need either the Colts, Bears and/or the Chargers to win. From a playoff point of view the next 3 or 4 hours could produce quite a bit of drama whilst the SNF Colts/Titans game will decide a wild-card spot. Pittsburgh need to win which they should do but they also need the Browns to defeat the Ravens to make the playoffs.

Eagles, Colts, Bears

Paging @DemonDave @titan_uranus @Dr. Gonzo @DeeSpencer @layzie @Dappa Dan Remembering that we play for 3 points in this, the final week. Good luck! Leaderboard in the Comp 6 - JV7, Dr. Gonzo, DeeSpencer, layzie 5 - Dappa Dan, Clintosaurus 4 - Go the Biff, Dee Zephyr, Gorgoroth, Macca 3 - titan_uranus, DemonDave

Sunday Morning Special EPL Sunday 2.00am Tottenham Win/Over 2.5 Goals $2.15 vs Wolves Coupled with your 2 picks that amounts to 13 - 1 (boosted) DZ ... I'm on!

You go with 2 selections DZ and I'll go with 1 this week. When Wadda returns we can try 1 each? Worth changing things up sometimes to get that collect.

Australian Group & Listed Races Best Bet Strike Rate 73: 26 - 10 - 10

2 from 2 today thanks to your tip getting up with Deprive. Well done DZ and the horse was way too good for that lot. Got the exacta with 'After All That' flashing home for 2nd. Hands and heels for the final furlong too. A progressive horse that looks the goods

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that Gorg. So much to remember! In any event, you are still playing for the 2 seed and that is all important. It might mean either playing at Chicago or hosting the Bears at your house (in week 2)

Wasn't it ever DZ - very impressive! And Bowman rode the horse a treat. Not sure what they do with the Alizee now before the Autumn campaign. Maybe the 'Carrington Stakes' over the 1400m at Randwick towards the end of January? There's not much else going on apart from the Magic Millions in mid January.

Apart from anything else the Rams have to win to ensure the securing of the 2 seed. It's hard to see the Saints slipping up against Carolina especially with Cam Newton not playing so the 1 seed is almost certainly out of reach. But you never know. And divisional games are often close so you can't take the game against the Niners lightly at all. I'm tipping we're going to see some sort of drama!

As we discussed earlier in the year Dappa, the whole Wentz/Foles/Pederson/Team & team success/chemistry thing going on at the Eagles is highly unusual. The thing about Foles is that he is a big occasion player who is otherwise often quite average - and that's the red-herring that is hard to evaluate & quantify. Could it be that Foles is always going to be a good player with Pederson as the head coach? If so, what to do? And I reckon that the Eagles can do ok during the playoffs if you do make it ... but I reckon it's so wide open that any of the wild-card teams could do ok. For instance; Seattle & the Chargers are not to be underestimated. Both games (Eagles @ Washington & Niners @ Rams) are to played in the late afternoon Gorg. And the Rams will probably be assuming that the Bears win so they have to go all-out at least until the game is safe. But divisional games can often throw up close tussles so both games could be close anyway. Who knows?

You'll need the Bears to win obviously as well as take care of business against Washington. If you do beat Washington then it could be assumed that the Bears go all out against the Vikes in search of the 2 seed just in case the Rams slip up. There again, the Bears could pull a few of their starters at half time or earlier if it looks like the Rams are going to win their game against the Niners. If you just miss it will be a big case of 'What if' ... and this great chemistry that happens with the team, Foles & Pederson will still be hovering about. For others reading this post, here are the playoff standings in the NFC

Best Bet Randwick Race 6 No.1 Alizee $2.40

Yeah, fair enough Wadda and welcome back. I am like that with footy most years ... I switch off almost immediately after the GF and then tune back in for the 1st game of the season proper. I take a mild interest in the draft and the practice games but only if there are any standout stories. Hogan leaving kept me interested but as soon as the trade was done, that was it. I am the same with the NFL, Rugby League and a few other sports. I need a break from those sports. By contrast, the Horses, cricket, soccer and a few other sports can get my interest at any time of the year ... the Horses is almost every Saturday but the only races I really want to watch are the Group races from here in Oz or from overseas. And sometimes that might only be 1 or 2 feature races. But the interest remains. For instance: The summer carnival of racing from Queensland culminates with the Magic Millions meeting on the 12th of January ... and 2 weeks after that we get the Blue Diamond prelude's at Caulfield. So there's no escape for me! ?

The Asian Cup kicks off in just over a week and here's the schedule (below) for Australia. The Socceroos play on Sunday 6th Jan (10.00pm), Friday 11th Jan (10.00pm) & Wednesday 16th Jan (12.30am) at the Group stage and we should be able to advance out of Group B without too much trouble. There are 6 Groups but a total of 16 teams advance from the Group stage to the round of 16 matches. The UAE will host the tournament and upon checking the average temperature for the coming week, I was pleasantly surprised to see the maximum temperature being about 26° on most days. 'VAR' is to be used at the tournament as well. Here's the Wiki link to the tournament n.b. The times listed below are local times. Add 7 hours for AEDT.

What on Earth has happened to Man City? 3 PL losses out of their last 4 with Liverpool scooting clear and City have been passed by Spurs as well. Liverpool don't look like losing points and have still only conceded 7 goals for the entire season. The Title is now the Reds to lose. Just had a quick look at Liverpool's fixture and their next 6 PL games are vs Gunners, @ Man City, @ Wolves, @ Brighton, vs Palace, vs Leicester. Obviously the next 2 are all important but if they can beat Arsenal and then get a point at City they'll be well on their way to securing the Title.