We had another good week last week going 3-2 and pulling our season record to 11-12-2. With us preciously close to being back at .500 we have another lineup of best bets to make some money.
Minnesota Vikings (-5.0) vs. Detroit Lions The Vikings have two elite recievers and a damn good QB who have been hampered all season by a porous offensive line and on existent run game. Slowly the Vikings have made their offense more balanced by getting Latavius Murray going and forcing defenses to give Thielen and Diggs space to work. That makes the Lions awful run defense a perfect matchup, where the Vikings will be able to do what they want on offense and force Matt Stafford to keep up. Throw in that the Vikings defense is slowly improving and finally getting Everson Griffen back and this should be a comfortable win for Minnesota.
Washington Redskins (-2.0) vs Atlanta Falcons It’s time we start showing this Redskins team some respect. They’re huge on the offensive and defensive line and bully other teams off the line of scrimmage. They have a power run game that should get production against Atlanta’s banged up defense and maybe the best defensive coordinator in the league in Greg Manusky. Look for the Redskins to cover at home.
Carolina Panthers (-6.5) vs. Tampa Bay Bucaneers The Panthers should absolutely cruise against the Buccaneer’s defense and their reliance on zone coverage matches up well with the Bucaneers offense that loves getting its two wideouts in one on one situations. Throw in that Mike Evans is banged up and this could be a coming out party for the Panthers who get a truly dominating win.
Kansas City Chiefs (-9.0) at Cleveland Browns The Browns have been dealing with turmoil all week after firing their Head coach and offensive coordinator. They now have to prepare for the best team in the AFC and the point spread isn’t THAT prohibitive, though I’d suggest buying half a point if you can. The Chiefs defense isn’t as bad as they seem, as most games they get so far ahead they take their foot off the gas. The Browns defense, on the other hand, is overrated and have been carried thus far by them getting turnovers at an unsustainable (and league leading) rate. I don’t know what sort of offensive scheme the Browns will have installed in a week losing both of its top offensive coaches, and its not hard to see this being a blowout.
Buffalo Bills (+10) vs Chicago Bears Sean Mcdermott has done a hell of a job keeping his team competitive in almost every game they play. His defense is dominating and is only held back by a pathetic offense. That offense is lead once again by Nathan Peterman who’s known for tossing picks and putting games out of reach. There are some positives though: one Khalil Mack is a ghost right now dealing with his high ankle sprain, he desperately needs to sit a few games and let it heal because he’s contributing nothing to this defense. Two the Bears offense and especially Trubisky are nothing special and will struggle to turn this into a blowout versus a Bills defense that had the clamps on Brady for 3 quarters. Put simply the Patriots were a lucky pick-6 in the 4th quarter away from not covering versus this Bills team and I don’t see Nathan Peterman being allowed to sling it after all the damage he’s done. The Bears will win, but it will be a field goal fest.
Los Angeles Chargers at Seattle Seahawks (EVEN) The Seahawks have found new identity as a running team that lets Russel Wilson create off of play-action passes. The Chargers though, have only allowed two +50 yard rushers all year and Chris Carson is banged up for Seattle. That adds up to a game where Russel and his O-line are forced to pass on long downs and the Chargers pass rushers can go to work. I expect this to be close but the Chargers will pull away after a few punts by the Seahawks.