Brandon’s Best Bets took a little hiatus as the titular author was battling the flu. Ailments seem to be everywhere as we’ve seen a number of prominent players go down with injury like Joe Flacco and Zach Miller. The big one though was the rookie phenom Deshaun Watson going down for the season with a torn ACL suffered in training camp. Navigating these injuries and still making money is the goal this week as we look at what the spreads are. All lines from Bovada. Philadelphia Eagles (-8) vs. Denver Broncos The eagles are piping hot and seem to have everything working for them, including a new RB that helps make their offense more diverse. What really makes this bet though is the fact the Eagles shut down the run game, and I could easily see Osweiler throwing more picks than TDs when asked to bring the broncos back from a deficit.
New Orleans Saints (-7) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Saints are a notoriously better team at home in the dome and the Buccaneers have been awful no matter where they are. The Saints have a robust multi-dimensional offense and the rise of Marshon Lattimore (has more INT return yards than yards he’s given up in man coverage) has done wonders for their defense. I think New Orleans will cover the spread
Oakland Raiders (-3) at Miami Dolphins The Dolphins aren’t very good. With Jay Ajayi gone it will be even more difficult for them to sustain the kind of offense needed to beat the Raiders. On the flipside it feels like Carr is finally getting back on track. I’ll take the favorite here and swallow the 3 points.