It didn’t take long for me to get back to riding the middle. Last week my predictions finished a combined 3-3. Jacksonville, Miami and Pittsburgh all failed to cover. While the Panthers, Bills and Falcons earned me my three correct predictions. Entering week thirteen I’m 34-35-2, with five weeks left there is still plenty of room for improvement. I’ve got a fantastic feeling about this weekend, here is who I’ll be backing.
SILVER PREDICTIONS
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (-3) VS NEW YORK JETS
What happened to Kareem Hunt? In the first five games of the season the guy was a clear cut favourite for rookie of the year. He posted 775 yards from scrimmage and 6 touchdowns and the Chiefs were 5-0. Since then Hunt has been less than impressive and the Chiefs has slid to 6-5. I think this game we see the Chiefs snap their poor second half and dominate the Jets. New York has exceeded expectations all season and welcome Kansas City at the wrong time. The Chiefs have much more talent on both sides of the football and are due for a bounce back game. Lay the 3-points and ride Kansas City in New York on Sunday.
FINAL SCORE – CHIEFS 24 – JETS 19
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS VS BUFFALO BILLS (+9)
Second week in a row I’ll be riding the Patriots opponent. Buffalo looked like a different team behind Tyrod Taylor last weekend and overall everyone on both sides of the ball played better. Expect the crowd in this game to be bonkers and the weather to become a factor. New England has won seven straight and has to slip up eventually. They might not lose this game, but I love the nine points oddsmakers are giving the Bills at home. I’m expecting this game become a low scoring gritty contest. Buffalo has been sneaky in several situations this season and have only been blown out once all year. The Bills defense should step up to the task while the Patriots defense has not faired well against mobile quarterbacks all year. They are 1-1 versus quarterbacks that operate best outside the pocket this season (Cam Newton, DeShaun Watson). Expect a close matchup in northern New York.
FINAL SCORE – NEW ENGLAND 23 – BUFFALO 19
GOLD PREDICTIONS
NEW YORK GIANTS (+9) VS OAKLAND RAIDERS
Its a joke that the Giants decided to bench Eli Manning this weekend for Geno Smith, it snaps his 210 regular season consecutive start streak. Only Brett Farve has started more consecutive games. This, and the fact New York has been a dumpster fire this season is clearly the reason Oakland is 9-point home favourites, but that is way-way to many points. Michael Crabtree is suspended for his fist fight with Aqib Talib last week and Amari Cooper has officially been ruled out with a concussion and sprained ankle. How is Derek Carr supposed to dice up the Giants secondary with nobody to target? The Giants have had a few impressive defensive performances this season while the Raiders defense hasn’t been able to stop anyone all season. Take the points with New York and Geno..
FINAL SCORE – GIANTS 19 – RAIDERS 16
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (+3) VS CHICAGO BEARS
Jimmy Garoppolo will make his start under centre this weekend and that has me sold on the 49ers actually showing up for this game. Neither of this teams are playoff bound this year, and while Chicago has been surprising; I’m looking for Garoppolo to earn the 49ers only their 2nd win of the year. In only three career starts he has a 66.9% completion percentage and is 2-1. This might be a giant leap with only briefly seeing Garoppolo last weekend but I think the offense is going to look completely different with him calling the shots. He has had time to learn the playbook while Chicago is coming off one of their worst losses of the year against Philadelphia. Take the points and Jimmy G this weekend.
FINAL SCORE – 49ERS 20 – BEARS 17
PLATINUM PREDICTIONS
MINNESOTA VIKINGS (+3) VS ATLANTA FALCONS
I have been high on Atlanta the last few weeks, but this is their toughest task yet all year. Minnesota has won seven straight and have one of the best all around defensive teams in the league. With Atlanta stumbling to find their offensive prowess this year and Julio Jones being more than coverable I think Minnesota should emerge victorious in this game. Consider this, why is Minnesota 3-point underdog in this situation? Oddsmakers say home field advantage is worth 3-points to the spread, which means if these two were meeting on a neutral field it would be a pick’em? I have a hard time believing that. Minnesota is clearly the more well rounded team and the Falcons secondary is still very dicey. I’m looking to see another strong performance from Keenum this weekend. Take the 3-points and Minnesota, there is some great value here.
FINAL SCORE – VIKINGS 26 – FALCONS 20
CAROLINA PANTHERS (+5.5) VS NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
New Orleans came back to earth last week losing their first game in eight contests. They have been nearly unstoppable on offense but the Rams showed us last weekend they can be contained. I think Carolina has the right pieces in place to slow down the Saints offense for a second consecutive weekend. The Panthers enter 2nd in the league giving up an average of 288 total yards per game, and 3rd allowing only 83 rushing yards per game. If the Panthers slow down the Saints running game then this game will definitely end within six points. The Saints have found success this season because of a strong running game. Alvin Kamara is clearly the rookie of the year favourite while Mark Ingram is their workhorse. With that being said, I think the Panthers can bottle these guys up and keep this divisional game much closer than expected. Cam Newton has been playing much better and as a team they are aiming to revenge their week three blowout earlier this season. Discounting this year, the last three meetings between these rivals ended in 3-points or less. The value sits with Carolina this weekend, don’t miss out on it.