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Hot & Not Report
Who's Hot
AFC South teams not named Jacksonville (8-0-1 ATS last three games)
Coming into the year it was not hard to argue with the notion that the Jacksonville Jaguars should have been the favorites to win the AFC South for the second straight year. Jacksonville had just gone to the AFC Championship game last January and outside of some suspect QB play from Blake Bortles, many figured the Jags defense would be able to erase many of those mistakes.
However, it's been quite the opposite in that division of late, as the other three teams in the AFC South have been padding bankrolls rather significantly. Houston was off this past week, but the Texans have gone 3-0 ATS in their most recent three contests and are currently riding a six-game SU winning streak. Indianapolis is now 3-0 SU (2-0-1 ATS) in their last three games, while the Tennessee Titans are a two-point conversion in London away from being on a three-game SU winning streak themselves (3-0 ATS last three).
Those results – combined with Jacksonville's declining play – have made the Jags nothing more than an afterthought for 2018, as this division is a three-horse race now between the Texans, Titans, and Colts. Indianapolis has got arguably the most favorable schedule of the bunch with games against Miami, Dallas, and the Giants left as their only non-division games, so everything is in front of the resurgent Andrew Luck and the Colts. Take care of business within their divisional games, and the Colts could end up making that “worst-to-first” jump when all is said and done.
This week one of those three teams will see their strong runs come to an end as Tennessee and the Colts square off in Indy, but that may be the only thing that can cool off this group. All three of them have very winnable games left outside of division play, and until the point spreads start to catch up with the quality football we've seen from Houston, Tennessee, and Indy of late, they should probably be teams you should only consider betting ON when not playing one another.
Who's Not
AFC North teams not named Pittsburgh (1-8 ATS last three games)
The year started with the Pittsburgh Steelers being the team from the AFC North that had to deal with all sorts of issues, but after Pittsburgh has rung off five straight wins (5-0 ATS), all that talk about their play on the field is long forgotten. Instead, it's the other three teams in Pittsburgh's division that have taken major steps backwards, culminating in the Cincinnati Bengals for some absurd reason protecting Marvin Lewis yet again by firing their DC instead.
Cincinnati's blowout loss at home to the Saints on Sunday was utterly embarrassing, but it's not like it was a one-off either. The Bengals are on a 0-4 ATS run in their last four games as the 4-1 SU start they had this year looks like nothing but a mirage now.
Cleveland managed to right the ship a bit by beating Atlanta on Sunday after they dealt with some tumultuous weeks and coaching changes as well, but the Browns are still on a 1-4 SU run in their past five games, going 1-2 ATS in their last three. Cleveland wasn't expected to do a whole lot this year, so there is some wiggle room with their results, but as just another AFC North squad that is seemingly bowing down to the Steelers this year, the Browns are a tough team to back right now.
And then there is Baltimore. A team like the Bengals who got off to a hot start – especially defensively – but has since fallen off the map. Baltimore was spared any criticism this weekend thanks to being on a bye, but a 0-3 SU and ATS run (1-4 SU and ATS last five) has not been pretty. The Ravens will hope to get back on track by getting some revenge against the dysfunctional “Bungels” this weekend as one of those two teams will snap a losing streak.
Who's Hot
AFC South teams not named Jacksonville (8-0-1 ATS last three games)
Coming into the year it was not hard to argue with the notion that the Jacksonville Jaguars should have been the favorites to win the AFC South for the second straight year. Jacksonville had just gone to the AFC Championship game last January and outside of some suspect QB play from Blake Bortles, many figured the Jags defense would be able to erase many of those mistakes.
However, it's been quite the opposite in that division of late, as the other three teams in the AFC South have been padding bankrolls rather significantly. Houston was off this past week, but the Texans have gone 3-0 ATS in their most recent three contests and are currently riding a six-game SU winning streak. Indianapolis is now 3-0 SU (2-0-1 ATS) in their last three games, while the Tennessee Titans are a two-point conversion in London away from being on a three-game SU winning streak themselves (3-0 ATS last three).
Those results – combined with Jacksonville's declining play – have made the Jags nothing more than an afterthought for 2018, as this division is a three-horse race now between the Texans, Titans, and Colts. Indianapolis has got arguably the most favorable schedule of the bunch with games against Miami, Dallas, and the Giants left as their only non-division games, so everything is in front of the resurgent Andrew Luck and the Colts. Take care of business within their divisional games, and the Colts could end up making that “worst-to-first” jump when all is said and done.
This week one of those three teams will see their strong runs come to an end as Tennessee and the Colts square off in Indy, but that may be the only thing that can cool off this group. All three of them have very winnable games left outside of division play, and until the point spreads start to catch up with the quality football we've seen from Houston, Tennessee, and Indy of late, they should probably be teams you should only consider betting ON when not playing one another.
Who's Not
AFC North teams not named Pittsburgh (1-8 ATS last three games)
The year started with the Pittsburgh Steelers being the team from the AFC North that had to deal with all sorts of issues, but after Pittsburgh has rung off five straight wins (5-0 ATS), all that talk about their play on the field is long forgotten. Instead, it's the other three teams in Pittsburgh's division that have taken major steps backwards, culminating in the Cincinnati Bengals for some absurd reason protecting Marvin Lewis yet again by firing their DC instead.
Cincinnati's blowout loss at home to the Saints on Sunday was utterly embarrassing, but it's not like it was a one-off either. The Bengals are on a 0-4 ATS run in their last four games as the 4-1 SU start they had this year looks like nothing but a mirage now.
Cleveland managed to right the ship a bit by beating Atlanta on Sunday after they dealt with some tumultuous weeks and coaching changes as well, but the Browns are still on a 1-4 SU run in their past five games, going 1-2 ATS in their last three. Cleveland wasn't expected to do a whole lot this year, so there is some wiggle room with their results, but as just another AFC North squad that is seemingly bowing down to the Steelers this year, the Browns are a tough team to back right now.
And then there is Baltimore. A team like the Bengals who got off to a hot start – especially defensively – but has since fallen off the map. Baltimore was spared any criticism this weekend thanks to being on a bye, but a 0-3 SU and ATS run (1-4 SU and ATS last five) has not been pretty. The Ravens will hope to get back on track by getting some revenge against the dysfunctional “Bungels” this weekend as one of those two teams will snap a losing streak.
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