Oh, how time flies. It didn’t feel so long ago that I embarked on a season-long sojourn to bring you these scheduled pieces. Now, we’re down to our final “Opening Line” piece of the NFL regular season. We’re going to continue pumping these babies out for the playoffs, but that’s not nearly as fun as trying to handicap the entire schedule of games.

So for one last time, here are the opening lines of the Week 17 games I like the most. It was fun, but like Arnie used to say, “I’ll be back.”

The NFC South

So it’s come down to the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers. Who would’ve thought that a team that lost five straight games in the season is playing a team that lost six straight games in the season for a chance to win the NFC South. The Falcons opened as -3 favorites, but that number has already moved on both sides with some bookies now posting -3.5 lines while others have it as -2.5. Either way, I’m not confident about betting on this game, knowing full well that both of these teams could stink up the joint and one wins only because they screwed up less than the other.

The NFC North

Now this is how an all-or-nothing game is supposed to be like. Both the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers have already clinched playoff spots. The winner of this game, though, wins the NFC North, and a first-round bye. So stakes are still high for this one, which is why Green Bay opening as -7.5 favorites is a little tricky. Ok, maybe not that tricky since Green Bay pummels their opponents by 20 points at home this season. Add a little revenge factor and this game could very well be another one of those Packers blowouts.

Colts to rest starters?