Underdogs didn’t end up barking nearly as much as I expected them to last week in tallying a 6-8 mark against the linemakers. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons did, however, prove to be excellent selections by going into Baltimore and Washington and coming out with outright wins.
If not for Matt Stafford’s unconscionable lateral that was scooped and scored by the Vikings and the Packers doing squat in the fourth quarter in New England, we would’ve churned out another winning card. Fitzmagic nearly got us into the winner’s circle as well, while the Browns were the lone terrible call of the week.
With NJ sportsbooks getting bent over each of the last three weeks, it’s been tough to find much of any traction betting underdogs. Hopefully that changes in Week 10!
Detroit Lions +7, +260 @ Chicago Bears
Though Patricia’s Lions did us dirty in a poor effort at Minnesota last week, I’m going back to the well. Detroit has proven to be a solid investment in the past off a loss in going 5-2 ATS, and it covered its two previous road dog spots at Dallas and San Francisco earlier this season. On top of that, the Bears have had all kinds of issues in this division rivalry dropping each of the last five matchups.
The Bears offense is way to hit or miss for my liking, and its passing attack should have issues with Darius Slay and company. If Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen rush their way to a win by margin, so be it. I’m betting against it!
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Cleveland Browns +6, +226 vs. Atlanta Falcons
We swung and missed with the Browns last week who ended up getting thumped by the Chiefs 37-21 to drop their fourth straight game. Still, there were some nice things to take away from the defeat. Duke Johnson Jr. erupted for 86 total yards and 2 TD after getting the shackles taken off, while Baker Mayfield nearly hit 300 passing yards and threw 2 TD for the third straight game.
While injuries to the Browns secondary are concerning in a matchup against the Falcons potent passing attack, Atlanta’s defense is ripe to get taken advantage of after putting forth a rare dominant performance out of the bye. Cleveland’s going into theirs next week, so I expect all hands to be on deck in hopes of protecting their house.
Cincinnati Bengals +6, +222 vs. New Orleans Saints
This is more a fade of New Orleans than anything else with it proving to be one of the best teams in the NFC let alone the NFL. Brees and company have expended tons of energy and emotion the last two weeks in avenging their playoff defeat to the Vikings and following it up with a shootout win at home over the Rams last week.
It remains to be seen what they’ll have left in the tank to match wits with a win-hungry Bengals team coming in refreshed and energized off a bye.
Buffalo Bills +7, +263 @ NY Jets
I don’t care who’s under center for the Bills, the Jets shouldn’t be touchdown favorites against anyone in this league! Especially with veteran backup Josh McCown filling in for the injured Sam Darnold to make his first start of the season. Though Buffalo got its doors blown off by the Bears last week, I came away extremely impressed with the team’s play on the defensive side of the ball. It limited Trubisky and company to a grand total of 190 yards and picked him off once. The unit also forced a couple of fumbles but failed to recover them.
Neither offense has shown much in the way of scoring punch all season. With that, I’m taking the points and sprinkling some beer money on the moneyline.
Jacksonville Jaguars +3, +12 @ Indy Colts
It’s time the Jaguars either took a crap or got off the pot at this juncture. Looking more like a one year winder than a bonafide Super Bowl contender, opportunities like this Week 10 tilt against the Colts must be taken advantage of if they’re to ultimately challenge Tennessee and Houston for AFC South supremacy. This team lost all four of its October tilts to currently check in tied with the Colts on the futures odds to win the division.
A far cry from the +180 favorite it entered the regular season as. Jacksonville has dominated the recent rivalry with Indy taking four of the last five meetings and covering each of the last six. Now the healthiest it’s been all season, this is a must-have win.
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- NFL Upset Alerts: Will The Bengals End The Browns Playoff Hopes? - December 21, 2018
- NFL Upset Alerts: Can the Panthers Save Their Season With A Win Over The Saints? - December 14, 2018
- NFL Week 14 Upset Alerts: Ravens +250 ML vs. KC Chiefs - December 7, 2018