These are my current season stats for the NFL and NBA-
Chargers vs. Falcons – LA -2.5 – A pair of former Oregon QB’s face off as the Chargers come in off a bye week and the Falcons come in off a gift from the Panthers leading to a win in overtime. The Chargers here will be getting the early 10 AM west coast start, but coming off the bye week you would expect them to not end up like the Raiders did last week. The Chargers have a chance to make the Falcons pass defense show as weakness they are 4th in the league in passing, Atlanta dead last in the NFL in pass defense giving up over 300 a game. Falcons do get Hawkins back at safety but are still missing Terrell. The flip side to that coin is the Falcons heavy on the run and the Chargers 27th in the league in run defense. The Chargers are down their two starting receivers for this one and the Falcons get back Patterson their leading rusher. The Chargers are averaging an INT per game. This is a tough game to determine but you can expect to see a lot of Ekeler as he leads the team in targets and rush attempts. How much do the receivers hurt being out? Everett(TE), Palmer(WR) and Carter(WR) all have more targets than Allen. 60% consensus on the home dog Falcons here but my prediction 31-25 Chargers. LA -2.5
Miami vs. Chicago – Dolphins -4.5 – Looks like weather may not be a factor unless those 17 MPH winds make things change as the wind blows. The Bears have a decent pass defense 5th in the league but the Miami 3rd best passing offense has stats that are skewed due to Tua being out a few weeks and stats not being what he can do. Miami stout against the run giving up 100 a game on the ground, 85 the past 3 weeks. They face a Bears attack that is mostly run to a tune of 188 per game, 240 the past 3 games. The Dolphins have had trouble with running QBs this year so Fields could have a big day no matter how things turn out. The Dolphins Points Per Game stat is hard to read also because for the season they are 22.3 but in games with Tua starting they are at 26. This is a game where most people aren’t giving the Bears a realistic chance to win, is Vegas giving out free money or are the Bears better than we think? My prediction 23-20 Miami – Chicago +4.5
Carolina vs. Cincinnati – Bengals -7 – After a game like they had on Halloween the Bengals will want to just forget that and get a win against a team they are supposed to beat. The Bengals do have some starters out in the secondary but they get Apple back this week. The Panthers at some point have to have some setback from having starters out and those guys were supposed to be the back ups originally before trades and injuries. While 7 is a lot to cover I’m more comfortable with the Bengals -7 then the Panthers. With the number this big you usually would want to wait down with live bet. My prediction 30-20 Bengals. Cincinnati -7
Green Bay vs. Detroit – Packers -3.5 – Well prior to the season I thought to myself… why don’t the Packers just fall back and get a wild card because that’s how they were when Rodgers won his ring as a 6 seed, and the past few years even they haven’t looked like they wanted to play at Lambeau in the winter. Then came a string of uncharacteristic play starting at half time of the Giants game in London. Snap back to reality and they are 3-5, the Vikings are 6-1 and after looking like they got back the want to compete and quit muffing punts and allowing punt blocks they at least competed and covered against Buffalo. Familiar as have beat them 4 of the last 5 times but the Lions won the last meeting but Rodgers sat the 2nd half. A bad run defense vs. two healthy running backs. 34.5 the past 4 times vs. the Lions for the Packers, the Lions giving up 32 a game. Maybe the Lions win or cover here but I think the Packers end up with the win, my prediction 30-24 Packers. Green Bay -3.5
Las Vegas vs. Jacksonville – Raiders -2.5 – It’s another early start for the Raiders, after the performance last week they will want to just forget that and move on. They are a playoff team from last year at 2-5, 0-4 on the road, and they have had some game they were so close to winning and still managed to lose. The Jaguars are on a five game losing streak of their own. Here I’m gonna go with the Raiders because I feel they have the better team and would probably be 4.5 to 5.5 point favorites if they were at home. The Raiders have put up 30 or more in their wins but the Jaguars have only been putting up 17 the past two games and lost to to a Texans team the Raiders beat. My prediction 23-20 Raiders. Las Vegas -2.5
Indianapolis vs. New England – Patriots -6 – The Colts come in with Taylor out as well. The thing is the Patriots have two blowout wins and they are only scoring 22 a game. Are they able to stop the Colts enough to cover the number here. 71% consensus on the Patriots and maybe they cover here but my prediction is 24-20 Patriots. Indianapolis +6
Buffalo vs. New York Jets – Bills -11 – So the Bills are that good where they are just getting -11.5 point spreads to cover. Last year things went 27-10 and 45-17 the Bills way, the year before an 8 point and 10 point Bills win. The Bills putting up 29 a game but giving up 14 per game, they are averaging 29 per game vs. the Jets the last 4 meetings. With Wilson you would expect he may improve from the last time they played he went 7-20 for only 87 yards. You would expect he will have to do better than that for the Jets to cover. Even with the Bills being so good no one is giving the Jets a chance they may be able to cover its a lot of points so I’ll take the Jets, my prediction 30-22 Bills – New York +11
Minnesota vs. Washington – Vikings -3 The number here what I would call curiously low as I would honestly think the Vikings would be favored by 4.5 at least. Washington hasn’t been very impressive in the 3 game win streak only 17 a game for the year. The Vikings put up a full touchdown more at 24 a game. This is Cousins return to the team that drafted him. Maybe Washington plays better than I thought but from what I’ve seen they probably should’ve really lost to Chicago and Indianapolis but they found a way to win. The Vikings are looking like a team doing the things right and winning whereas last year those little things were costing them games. I know with 55% of the consensus money on the underdog at +145 and 59% of the consensus on Washington +3 it seems like Washington is a popular upset pick. After what I’ve seen from these teams I’m not yet sold on the Commanders and maybe they know something I don’t, my prediction is 22-17 Vikings – Minnesota -3
Seattle vs. Arizona – Cardinals -1 – These two met up a few weeks ago in Seattle and the Cardinals just couldn’t move the ball. They have Hopkins back now and that may be enough. My prediction 24-16 Cardinals. Arizona -1
LA Rams vs. Tampa Bay – Buccaneers -3 – The head to head record since Brady has been in Tampa is Rams 3 Bucs 0. The thing with Tampa is they are just going through the motions until an event happens like Evans getting in a fight and getting ejected, once they get that fight in them they are a different team. Tampa has to have the playoff game in the back of their mind where they came back and made it look close 30-27 but they were getting blown out. The numbers indicate this may be a different game completely.. 16.9 per game LA and 18.3 for Tampa Bay, the total for what may end up being two Hall of Fame QB’s 42.5 as its been 30-27, 34-24 and 27-24 the 3 LA wins vs. Tampa since Brady came to town. How about these teams are 2-6 and 2-5 over/under. These teams appear to have high powered offenses but Tampa’s only time scoring a lot was when KC put up 41. The Rams also coming in off the bye week and are looking to do better as SF has now beat them twice but that has historically been the 49ers matchup in recent history and this has been their matchup in recent history. I know with the total where it is I had to give the over a look but I also see neither team scoring over 20 a game. I’ve been waiting for Brady to show us why he unretired or is father time creeping up? My prediction 20-19 Tampa Bay – LA +3
NO PLAY —–Tennessee vs. Kansas City – Chiefs -12.5 – **** IF Tannehill starts **** Tennessee has won 4 of 5 vs. KC and when they did get blown out in the playoffs it was an 11 point victory. My prediction 31-22 Chiefs. —– NO PLAY