***THE 2014 CLOSING MUCK 5 FROM THE SWAMP***

It has been another great season ladies and gents, let's close it out on a good note shall we?! It has been fun everybody, be sure to come back for some merky playoff specials next week! The last Muck 5 of 2014 goes as follows:

***TENNESEE TITANS +7.5***

The Colts have no interest in this game. Their goal is to stay healthy for next weekend meanwhile the Titans are way overdue for a win/cover. I like their chances at home today in some sloppy and rainy conditions against an unmotivated Colts team to at least keep this one fairly close. Pride check here for the Titans and I am willing to say they make an valiant effort.

***TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS +5.5***

This is a situation of a completely emotionally broken team in the New Orleans Saints traveling to Tampa Bay to take on a rival who has known their season was over for a few weeks now. The Saints hopes and dreams however were just recently crushed last week as the Falcons came into their house to serve them another consectutive embarassing home loss. This must be deflating and as a result I would imagine makes it hard to find motivation for the game today. The Bucs on the other hand are home and hungry for a win and would love nothing more than to beat up on the enemy and kick them while they are down. Head Coach Lovie Smith will have his talented team ready to end the season on a good note here. Pirate points!

***ATLANTA FALCONS -3***

I have personally picked this team out of the terrible handful that is the NFC South Division to unfortuantely be the one that inevitably advances into the playoff picture. I think the Falcons have been the team to improve the most on both sides of the ball the past few weeks and also have the best homefield advantage out of the four, all of which will help them to possibly be a dangerous team in the first round of the playoffs. However before any of that can happen they need to get a win at home today against their divisonal opponent, the Carolina Panthers. While the Panthers have been playing better as of late also, I don't think they will be able to keep up on the scoreboard in this one. Carolina struggles to score at times and Matt Ryan and Julio Jones are on another level lately and will pull ahead early. Birds go to the show today!

***SAN DIEGO CHARGERS +3***

I said it last week and I will say it again, in the Bolo Tie I trust, AKA Chargers QB Phillip Rivers. The man is a warrior, simply put. Only he pulls the kind of comeback that took place last weekend against the Niners with their season on the line. Today he heads into Kansas City where he is no stranger to that tough enviornment. Although injured, I think he plays his best football today despite facing a strong defense and having limited weapons in his aresenal. This guy will find a way to advance his team into the playoffs when it is all said and done. KC QB Alex Smith is ruled out with a late scratch and young QB Chase Daniels will take his place. This could actually bode well for the Chiefs as they have struggled to score any offense TDs through the air all season. A Change in signal caller could shake things up just right as their playoff dreams are not completely dead yet either. It is a win or go home situation for both teams and I like my chances with the never say die gunslinger in this situation, Mr. Rivers.

***DETROIT LIONS +7.5***

The Lions haven't won in Green Bay since 1991. That is impressive. I am always one to go against streaks and root for the underdog but that is not the only reason I like the cats in this one. I honestly think this team is for real and has the right recipe to face the mighty Aaron Rodgers and his Green Bay Packers. As they Lions have shown early in the year, they can get to him and disrupt his play enough to limit the Packer points. They will need to stick to the same recipe that they had early in the season, stopping RB Eddie Lacy and the run and getting to Rodgers by flushing him out of the pocket. Easier said than done, no doubt about it. Even if you get Rodgers moving he is deadly and amazingly accurate when throwing on the run. However I like Detroit to keep up with them and have success on offense as well. With the addition of RB Reggie Bush finally back in the lineup, it gives them a whole other dimension for their gameplan and another thing GB has to prepare for. QB Matthew Stafford has suprisingly played fairly well in Green Bay despite never winning there and I think today he comes close, if not wins and gets the bye week for the Lions which nobody is expecting. As we know when talking about the NFL, it is usually what we least expect to happen that actually ends up happening. Should be a close and exciting game either way! Take the points.