Tweet
Randall the Handle
THE REST
Chargers (0-4) at Giants (0-4)
LINE: NY GIANTS by 3
One of these two is going to 0-5. Ouch. Hard to endorse either of these clubs as both have had a difficult time finding ways to win games while producing interesting ways to lose them. Not anxious to be giving away points with the home club but the Bolts have been money guzzlers with an 0-7-1 against the spread (ATS) mark in their previous eight games overall and 1-3-1 ATS in their past five road games. The Giants are home for just second time this season after road games in Dallas, Philly and Tampa Bay. This will be New York’s first matchup against a losing club. The Giants have failed to protect fourth-quarter leads each of the past two weeks with both games ending on walk-off field goals. Situation is right for a change of fortune.
TAKING: GIANTS -3
Bills (3-1) at Bengals (1-3)
LINE: CINCINNATI by 3
Mr. Oddsmaker doesn’t quite believe in first-place Buffalo, sending it out as a field-goal underdog to a 1-3 Cincinnati club whose only win was against sad sack Browns. Hmmmm, what does that tell you? It reminds us that you rarely get what you see or see what you get in the zany NFL. That philosophy has us leaning to the home team after witnessing a recent upgrade in play since canning an embarrassing offensive co-ordinator and also knowing that the Bills are a different animal when leaving upstate New York, with just 11 covers in past 29 tries as a road underdog. Cincy feeling better about themselves after horrific start. They return home after two away which included a tough overtime loss at Lambeau and a lopsided victory at Cleveland. Strong indicators point to the home fave.
TAKING: BENGALS -3
Jets (2-2) at Browns (0-4)
LINE: CLEVELAND by 1
One website defines ‘glutton for punishment’ as “a person who is eager to get involved with a situation that have unpleasant results. And another one. And another one. And then another one”. So please forgive us for backing the Browns here. We just don’t see Cleveland or any other club for that matter going 0-16 this season. If the Browns are to pick up a win, it has to be against a visiting foe such as this one. Granted, the Jets are on a two-game win streak but both of those victories occurred at home where the Jets were host underdogs. Two road games have produced a 0-2 mark with Gang Green being outscored 66-32. The Browns employ some talented players. Stop laughing, they really do. The Jets have a shabby roster that is difficult to get behind when not receiving points.
TAKING: BROWNS -1
Jaguars (2-2) at Steelers (3-1)
LINE: PITTSBURGH by 8½
Handicapping the NFL is not as simple as just going against bad quarterbacks. If that were the case, Blake Bortles led teams would never have a wager placed upon them. Bortles simply can’t play the position. Take last week for example. In the final 36 minutes in loss to the Jets, Bortles was 8 of 23 for 59 yards and an interception. His last nine passes were all incomplete. Having that guy at the helm is very demoralizing. It might explain the extreme highs and lows that the Jags have experienced, winning two games by combined 73-14 while losing two by a combined 60-36. While this pointspread may seem a bit steep with Steelers not quite right, Pittsburgh does excel on its own field (averaging 29 points scored past 14 games here) and will be at home after playing three of four away.
TAKING: STEELERS –8½
49ers (0-4) at Colts (1-3)
LINE: INDIANAPOLIS by 1½
This isn’t the cereal aisle at the supermarket. There are only two choices here. Our selection is more of a condemnation than anything else as we simply cannot give away any points with this Indianapolis team. If we did it with Cleveland (see above), why can’t we do it here? Simple. Indy’s defence is a marshmallow group that has allowed a league-high 136 points in four games. San Francisco has been knocking at the door with past three games being decided by three points or less, all being winnable (vs. Seahawks, Rams and Cardinals). Those defeats all provided covers with Niners now a money making five of past six versus spread. Five games in to Kyle Shanahan’s offensive schemes, the 49ers should be ready to crack the win column.
TAKING: 49ERS +1½
Cardinals (2-2) at Eagles (3-1)
LINE: PHILADELPHIA by 6½
The demise of the Cardinals is happening before our eyes while the Eagles have replaced Arizona as a legitimate NFC contender. Philadelphia is receiving strong line play on both sides of the ball and that has led to a good start for this well balanced team. Meanwhile, Arizona can’t get out of its own way. Losing RB David Johnson has immobilized the offence and adding to its woes is a banged up offensive line, leaving statue-like Carson Palmer exposed to danger. Bruce Arians’ club sits at .500 with pair of equal wins and losses but the victories required overtime games against both weak sister Colts and 49ers. Facing two non-losing teams (Detroit and Dallas) resulted in double-digit losses on both occasions. With a strong pass rush and Arizona’s inability to stop it, it wouldn’t surprise to see Philadelphia hand its visitors another one-sided loss.
TAKING: EAGLES –6½
Seahawks (2-2) at Rams (3-1)
LINE: Even
The Rams have been a thorn in Seattle’s side even during the Seahawks’ recent heydays. The Rams have won three of past four in this series, including the past two as hosts and have covered five straight as home team. Will be interesting to see if the same holds true with Rams seemingly on the rise and Seattle in some turmoil. The Seabirds have never been the best travellers and that is holding true again this year as they are 0-2 away from CenturyLink. Of more concern is Seattle’s offensive front line, a unit that has had trouble protecting QB Russell Wilson and now must create holes for a committee of running backs. The Seahawks might be able to make that work against the Colts of this world but against any decent defence, there will be struggles. New coach has Rams offence producing wins. This one will be most satisfying yet.
TAKING: RAMS at Pick’em
Ravens (2-2) at Raiders (2-2)
LINE: OAKLAND by 2½
With QB Derek Carr sidelined with a back injury, EJ ‘I need a’ Manuel will start under centre for the Raiders. While Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has not been very productive this season, still have to lean his way here as there Manuel should not be spotting points to too many teams. Perhaps Manuel was OK in relief last week but his history hardly resonates with success. The fifth year pro will make just his second start since the end of the 2015 season and he hasn’t had a win since the opening month of 2014. We saw what happened when MVP candidate Carr was hurt at the end of last year when his team lost two games by a combined 51-20 including a loss to Brock Osweiler led Texans. Ravens in a scoring funk but shouldn’t need much here to offset damaged host.
TAKING: RAVENS +2½
Titans (2-2) at Dolphins (1-2)
THE REST
Chargers (0-4) at Giants (0-4)
LINE: NY GIANTS by 3
One of these two is going to 0-5. Ouch. Hard to endorse either of these clubs as both have had a difficult time finding ways to win games while producing interesting ways to lose them. Not anxious to be giving away points with the home club but the Bolts have been money guzzlers with an 0-7-1 against the spread (ATS) mark in their previous eight games overall and 1-3-1 ATS in their past five road games. The Giants are home for just second time this season after road games in Dallas, Philly and Tampa Bay. This will be New York’s first matchup against a losing club. The Giants have failed to protect fourth-quarter leads each of the past two weeks with both games ending on walk-off field goals. Situation is right for a change of fortune.
TAKING: GIANTS -3
Bills (3-1) at Bengals (1-3)
LINE: CINCINNATI by 3
Mr. Oddsmaker doesn’t quite believe in first-place Buffalo, sending it out as a field-goal underdog to a 1-3 Cincinnati club whose only win was against sad sack Browns. Hmmmm, what does that tell you? It reminds us that you rarely get what you see or see what you get in the zany NFL. That philosophy has us leaning to the home team after witnessing a recent upgrade in play since canning an embarrassing offensive co-ordinator and also knowing that the Bills are a different animal when leaving upstate New York, with just 11 covers in past 29 tries as a road underdog. Cincy feeling better about themselves after horrific start. They return home after two away which included a tough overtime loss at Lambeau and a lopsided victory at Cleveland. Strong indicators point to the home fave.
TAKING: BENGALS -3
Jets (2-2) at Browns (0-4)
LINE: CLEVELAND by 1
One website defines ‘glutton for punishment’ as “a person who is eager to get involved with a situation that have unpleasant results. And another one. And another one. And then another one”. So please forgive us for backing the Browns here. We just don’t see Cleveland or any other club for that matter going 0-16 this season. If the Browns are to pick up a win, it has to be against a visiting foe such as this one. Granted, the Jets are on a two-game win streak but both of those victories occurred at home where the Jets were host underdogs. Two road games have produced a 0-2 mark with Gang Green being outscored 66-32. The Browns employ some talented players. Stop laughing, they really do. The Jets have a shabby roster that is difficult to get behind when not receiving points.
TAKING: BROWNS -1
Jaguars (2-2) at Steelers (3-1)
LINE: PITTSBURGH by 8½
Handicapping the NFL is not as simple as just going against bad quarterbacks. If that were the case, Blake Bortles led teams would never have a wager placed upon them. Bortles simply can’t play the position. Take last week for example. In the final 36 minutes in loss to the Jets, Bortles was 8 of 23 for 59 yards and an interception. His last nine passes were all incomplete. Having that guy at the helm is very demoralizing. It might explain the extreme highs and lows that the Jags have experienced, winning two games by combined 73-14 while losing two by a combined 60-36. While this pointspread may seem a bit steep with Steelers not quite right, Pittsburgh does excel on its own field (averaging 29 points scored past 14 games here) and will be at home after playing three of four away.
TAKING: STEELERS –8½
49ers (0-4) at Colts (1-3)
LINE: INDIANAPOLIS by 1½
This isn’t the cereal aisle at the supermarket. There are only two choices here. Our selection is more of a condemnation than anything else as we simply cannot give away any points with this Indianapolis team. If we did it with Cleveland (see above), why can’t we do it here? Simple. Indy’s defence is a marshmallow group that has allowed a league-high 136 points in four games. San Francisco has been knocking at the door with past three games being decided by three points or less, all being winnable (vs. Seahawks, Rams and Cardinals). Those defeats all provided covers with Niners now a money making five of past six versus spread. Five games in to Kyle Shanahan’s offensive schemes, the 49ers should be ready to crack the win column.
TAKING: 49ERS +1½
Cardinals (2-2) at Eagles (3-1)
LINE: PHILADELPHIA by 6½
The demise of the Cardinals is happening before our eyes while the Eagles have replaced Arizona as a legitimate NFC contender. Philadelphia is receiving strong line play on both sides of the ball and that has led to a good start for this well balanced team. Meanwhile, Arizona can’t get out of its own way. Losing RB David Johnson has immobilized the offence and adding to its woes is a banged up offensive line, leaving statue-like Carson Palmer exposed to danger. Bruce Arians’ club sits at .500 with pair of equal wins and losses but the victories required overtime games against both weak sister Colts and 49ers. Facing two non-losing teams (Detroit and Dallas) resulted in double-digit losses on both occasions. With a strong pass rush and Arizona’s inability to stop it, it wouldn’t surprise to see Philadelphia hand its visitors another one-sided loss.
TAKING: EAGLES –6½
Seahawks (2-2) at Rams (3-1)
LINE: Even
The Rams have been a thorn in Seattle’s side even during the Seahawks’ recent heydays. The Rams have won three of past four in this series, including the past two as hosts and have covered five straight as home team. Will be interesting to see if the same holds true with Rams seemingly on the rise and Seattle in some turmoil. The Seabirds have never been the best travellers and that is holding true again this year as they are 0-2 away from CenturyLink. Of more concern is Seattle’s offensive front line, a unit that has had trouble protecting QB Russell Wilson and now must create holes for a committee of running backs. The Seahawks might be able to make that work against the Colts of this world but against any decent defence, there will be struggles. New coach has Rams offence producing wins. This one will be most satisfying yet.
TAKING: RAMS at Pick’em
Ravens (2-2) at Raiders (2-2)
LINE: OAKLAND by 2½
With QB Derek Carr sidelined with a back injury, EJ ‘I need a’ Manuel will start under centre for the Raiders. While Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has not been very productive this season, still have to lean his way here as there Manuel should not be spotting points to too many teams. Perhaps Manuel was OK in relief last week but his history hardly resonates with success. The fifth year pro will make just his second start since the end of the 2015 season and he hasn’t had a win since the opening month of 2014. We saw what happened when MVP candidate Carr was hurt at the end of last year when his team lost two games by a combined 51-20 including a loss to Brock Osweiler led Texans. Ravens in a scoring funk but shouldn’t need much here to offset damaged host.
TAKING: RAVENS +2½
Titans (2-2) at Dolphins (1-2)
Comment