WEEK 9 NFL RESULTS & RECAPS
Week 9 predictions had fantastic results and turned into money, money, money!! Teasers went a combined 3-0, bringing my record to 5-1 on the year. Let’s see if we can keep this ball rolling and double down this weekend. Here is a recap of last weekends picks and their results.
WIN – DENVER BRONCOS (+9.5) VS ATLANTA FALCONS
To be honest, Denver had no business covering this +9.5 spread. They scored a grand total of 6-points in the first 3 quarters, while giving up 27-points to Atlanta. But really, isn’t blowing a huge 4th quarter lead part of the Atlanta Falcons playbook?
I don’t think the Falcons will ever wash off the stink from their SuperBowl loss versus the Patriots. In this game they allowed Drew Luck (whom I have zero faith in) to score 3 garbage time touchdowns, and gave Denver an actual chance to win the game in the final minutes. I’m gonna chalk this victory up to the Atlanta Falcons being the team that blows big leads, and a strong dose of lady luck.
WIN – HOUSTON TEXANS (-0.5) VS JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
This game was the perfect example of how betting just the point-spread in the NFL today can drive you crazy. While also proving that teasing down a touch-down favourite to win outright is one the smartest betting moves you can make.
Houston had this game on lock-down, holding a 8-point lead for nearly the entire forth quarter… until the Texans horrendous defense decided to rear its ugly head. With less than two minutes left they gave up a touchdown, but the Jags failed to convert 2-points to tie the game allowing Houston to win by 2. Which was just fine by me, with the tease all we needed was them to secure victory.
WIN – LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (+7.5) VS LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
This game proved to be nothing but a rocking chair winner for 4 quarters. The most Oakland ever trailed in the game was by 3-points, and eventually went on to win by 5. It was close in the end with Los Angeles scoring what looked like the go-ahead touchdown in the final seconds. It was ultimately called back, but not until the scoreboard on TV was updated to the Chargers winning with zeros on the clock. Anthony Lynn and his team are inventing new ways each week to cause pain and anguish to their loyal fans. Life as a chargers fan is difficult.
WEEK TEN – SIX POINT TEASERS
BUFFALO BILLS VS ARIZONA CARDINALS (-2.5)
6 POINT TEASE – BUFFALO BILLS (+8.5)
The Buffalo Bills travel south to take on the Arizona Cardinals in what could be the best matchup this weekend. Buffalo comes in winners of three straight, while Arizona just had a 3-game win streak snapped by Miami this past weekend. With the point total set currently at 56.5, oddsmakers are expecting a ton of points to be scored in this game. I’ll be sticking to teasing the road dog Bills from 2.5 up to 7.5-point underdogs, through the key numbers of 3, 3.5, 6, and 7.
Buffalo has gotten their defense back on track in the past few weeks. To start the season their secondary looked very questionable, but they have somewhat turned things around. In the last two weeks they have forced 5 turnovers, and held Seattle to their second lowest scoring total all season last weekend. They face a similar task this weekend with Kyler Murray and this Cardinals offense, and I believe they are up to the task. It would be surprising if Arizona completely blew the doors off Buffalo and won by more than a touchdown.
Josh Allen started the season on fire. He was immediately in MVP conversation, then fell off a cliff for a couple weeks. This past weekend against Seattle he got his mojo back, and I think that carries over against Arizona. The Cardinals are in the bottom 3rd of the NFL in both rushing and passing defense. It is no secret that the Bills have struggled to run the ball this season, and I think it will be important for them to establish that early. If they can get some yards on the ground it’ll open up play-action and allow Allen to find Diggs downfield. These two opponents match up perfectly, it’s hard to pick a side, for that reason teasing the Bills up to 7.5 is the best bet. I can already see this game being decided on the final drive of the game, with whomever preserves their time-outs best having the upper hand.
FINAL SCORE – BILLS 26 – CARDINALS 27
BALTIMORE RAVENS (-7) VS NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
6-POINT TEASE – BALTIMORE (-1)
Right about now Bill Belichick is wishing he kissed Tom Brady’s feet and showered him with dollar bills. New England is clearly not the same team without Brady, and I don’t think I could name a single offensive player outside of Cam Newton and Julian Edelman if you put a gun to my head. The Patriots are in a bad spot, and should have lost against the Jets on Monday night. Short rest and hosting a Ravens team that has yet to find stride – I’ll happily tease Baltimore down to 1-point favourites in this spot.
Baltimore has taken a step back this season. Last season Lamar Jackson won MVP by a landslide and looked unstoppable. This season? It seems like he would have a better chance at completing a rubik’s cube in less than 2 minutes, than a pass to his wide-receivers. A friend of mine and die-hard Ravens fan made a valid point, this offensive line is in shambles. 13-year vet Marshal Yanda retired in the offseason, and they lost Ronnie Stanley to a season ending injury a few weeks ago. Lamar is getting zero time in the pocket to go through progressions, but he should find some reprieve this weekend. New England has only 11 sacks on the season, 27th in the league. While Joe Flacco just tore apart the Patriots secondary, Lamar has to be licking his chops.
Two weeks ago Baltimore became the first team in the SuperBowl era to lose a football game after rushing for over 250 yards and holding their opponent to fewer than 50 yards (Pittsburgh). This team is well coached, and their defense is nasty as usual. They are #1 overall in points allowed per game, while allowing only 5.8 yards per pass (2nd). Cam Newton looks to be in trouble. In 7 games this season he has thrown only one touchdown. This game could get ugly early, and I think backing Baltimore by a touchdown in this spot isn’t a bad move, but teasing them down to 1-point seems like its already an in-the-pocket winner. Whichever way you look at, I don’t see a situation where the Patriots compete to win this game.
FINAL SCORE – BALTIMORE 34 – NEW ENGLAND 13
MINNESOTA VIKINGS (-3) VS CHICAGO BEARS
6-POINT TEASE – CHICAGO (+9)
Here I go again, fading my team. I can’t wait to see how I get burned this weekend. But in all honesty, being a Vikings fan, I know this is a situation they don’t show up and game they typically don’t win. The early lookahead line for this game a few weeks ago was Bears -3, it has completely flipped because Minnesota has played great the last few weeks and Chicago is stumbling. But that won’t fool me, Minnesota has played terrible in Chicago the last few years, I am in love with getting the Bears +9 at home in this spot.
When I originally saw this line I thought one thing, back up the brinks trunk because I’m gonna be unloading on the Bears. Kirk Cousins has been in the shadow of Dalvin Cook the last few weeks. Cook has been torching every defense in his way since coming back from injury, but he hasn’t performed well against the Bears in Chicago in his entire career. In two career games he has 25 carries for 48 yards, a total of 1.8 yards per carry. No way in hell you are going to convince me that Kirk Cousins IN PRIME-TIME is going to win this game for Minnesota. Everyone on this planet knows Cousins turns into a pinata during primetime. If Chicago bottles up Cook even a bit, they stand a great chance to win the game. Couple things I like about the Bears on Monday; they are the best defense in the league on third down conversions (31.01%) and red-zone scoring (41.94%).
My lean for this game is more directed towards the Vikings inability to solve the Bears defense, and less about me having faith in the Bears offense. Chicago has been one of the more difficult offensive teams to watch, but Nick Foles could shake that monkey off their back on Monday. Minnesota is allowing 7.8 yards per pass (27th) and an average of 287 passing yards per game (30th). If the Bears can put 20 up on the scoreboard, they should easily keep this game within 9-points.