UPDATE: This one turned out to be a winner!

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Let’s try this again with a modified spread. I fixed a conceptual flaw in the design to better align the offense and defense factors between the two teams; in the last reading everything I said about the superiority of the Bills’ defense should have been applied to the Texans. The one thing I could have have paid more attention to (or at least acknowledged) is that, while the reading agreed with the betting algorithms for the game, the anecdotal evidence told a different story. This reading seems to be on firmer ground given the past performance of the adversaries. As before, I gave the “Participant #1” position to the home-team and “Participant #2” to the visitors.

The “Weapon” card is once again titled “Strategies and Tactics.” The 5 of Swords (“Defeat”) suggests that neither team will be in top form; there is a subtle difference between “winning decisively” and “not losing” and it isn’t clear which of these mediocre teams will claim the lesser distinction when the more imposing one is out of reach.

The “Home Team” card represents the Ravens and the “Visitors” card stands for the Jets. The 7 of Swords (“Futility”) for the Ravens looks like frustration will torment them in their passing game while the Jets’ Knight of Disks will deliver a methodical but uninspired ground game (the image suggests “plodding”).

The Universe as the Ravens’ “Attack” card is a textbook example of all-around offensive domination, while the 2 of Swords as the Jet’s “Defense” card is tentative at best, and it is not a powerful match for the Knight of Disks. The Knight of Wands as the Jets “Attack” card has a spirited “dog in the fight,” but it looks like the Ravens’ “Defense” card (7 of Wands, “Valour”) is on the same page as the 7 of Swords and will be able to give as good as it receives while holding firm.

The “Upper Hand” card (“Adjustment”) is elementally friendly to the Ravens’ 7 of Swords/7 of Wands duo and hostile to the Jets’ Knight of Disks, so it appears to offer the Ravens an opportunity to beat back the Jets’ aerial attack while leveraging their own. The two Sevens for the Ravens on the “Defense” side of the ledger relate to the principle of “Victory,” which is a good omen.

The betting odds appear to overwhelmingly favor the Ravens by two touchdowns in this contest, but the Jets can’t be counted out since both teams have been rising to the occasion off-and-on over the season. The cards I pulled agree quite well with the professional odds-makers, but then they did for the losing Bills on Thursday as well (maybe I should get a day job).