Football Friday 10/24/25

Time flies when you are having fun; it seems like only yesterday that I wrote a Football Friday but here we are again; time for more fun.  As is customary, I will begin with a review of last week’s “Betting Bundle” – – and for the first time in a while the review will be a positive experience:

  • Spreads and Totals:  4-1-1
  • Season To Date:        12-19-1

And …

  • Money Line Parlays:             2-1       Profit = $292
  • Season to Date:                     7-11     Profit = $164

The Linfield University Wildcats stumbled in their attempt at yet another winning football season last week.  The Wildcats lost at home to Whitworth by a score of 30-20.  The Wildcats record for the season now stands at 3-2 and they will seek to extend that record this weekend by visiting Puyallup, WA to take on the Lutes of Pacific Lutheran.  Go Wildcats!

My “sleeper team” for 2025 has been Georgia Tech and the Yellowjackets have been wide awake all season to date.  The record is 7-0; Tech is ranked in the Top 10 or Top 12 depending on the poll you choose to peruse.  Last week they defeated Duke in Durham, NC and I will have more to say about that game below.

 

College Football Commentary:

 

We are far enough into the 2025 season to step back and think about what we have seen on the field so far and to assess where observations appear to contradict various pre-season assumptions and projections.  The thing that stands out to me is this:

  • 2025 was seen as a year with significant depth at the QB position and that the 2026 NFL Draft would be heavily weighted toward QBs in the early rounds.
  • Based on what I have seen so far, I am not sure that is even close to accurate.

There were five QBs all of whom received accolades and assertions of excellence back in Jully and August and none have been overly impressive:

  1. Drew Allar – – Penn St. – – now injured and out for the season
  2. Cade Klubnik – – Clemson – – Tigers are 3-4 and Klubnik has looked ordinary
  3. Arch Manning – – Texas – – compared to expectations, he has been awful
  4. Garrett Nusmeier – – LSU – – looks good not great to me
  5. LaNorris Sellers – – S. Carolina – – Gamecocks are only 1-4 in conference games

Frankly, I have been more impressed with Diego Pavia (Vandy), Dante Moore (Oregon) and Fernando Mendoza (Indiana) than any of the “Pre-season 5”, but none of them jump off the screen to tell me they are the next John Elway.

I mentioned Cade Klubnik and LaNorris Sellers above; juxtaposing those two names and the schools they represent makes me wonder if fans in the State of South Carolina have been targeted for suffering by the football gods in 2025.

  • Clemson was ranked in the Top 5 back in August.  The Tigers are 3-4 overall; they have lost 3 conference games so far and are only 1-3 at home.
  • South Carolina was ranked in the Top 15 in August.  The Gamecocks are only 3-4 overall and are 1-4 in conference games.

            How many unbeaten teams are left in the 2025 season?  Just two weeks ago there were 15 undefeated teams; if I have counted correctly, there are only 6 remaining in that category this morning.

  1. BYU
  2. Georgia Tech
  3. Indiana
  4. Navy
  5. Ohio St.
  6. Texas A&M

Here are some comments on a few of last week’s games starting in the ACC:

Ga Tech 27  Duke 18:  Tech is still undefeated at 7-0 for the season.  This game was tied at 10-10 to start the 4th quarter and then all the action erupted.  Tech is one of three ACC teams without a conference loss; the others are Virginia and SMU.  None of those three teams play one another this season so tie-breaking for the pairing in the ACC Championship Game could be interesting.

Louisville 24  Miami 21:  That is the first loss for the Hurricanes in 2025; they were ranked at #2 in the country when the game began.  Both teams are now 5-1 for the season; and the only loss for both teams has been a conference game.  Louisville led 17-13 at the start of the 4th quarter and scored what was the game winner with 13:27 left to play.  Here are the Miami possessions in the 4th quarter:

  • INT
  • TD
  • INT

Those were only 2 of the 4 INTs thrown by Miami QB, Carson Beck in the game.

Cal 21  UNC 18:  The Bill Belichick experience rolls on in Chapel Hill.

Stanford 20  Florida St. 13:  That is 4 losses in a row for the Seminoles and all 4 of the losses were to conference foes.  The natives are restless tonight in Tallahassee …

Moving to the SEC – – where there were some interesting results from last week:

Vandy 31  LSU 24:  Diego Pavia threw for 160 yards and a TD.  He was also the leading rusher for Vandy with 86 yards and 2 more TDs.  Vandy’s only loss in 2025 was to Alabama; LSU has two conference losses so far meaning they need some miraculous outcomes to be pertinent relative to the SEC Championship Game

Oklahoma 26  South Carolina 7:  The Sooners remain relevant in the SEC; they are 6-1 overall and 2-1 in the conference.  Their defense held South Carolina to 225 yards Total Offense and only 55 yards rushing in this game.

Georgia 43  Ole Miss 35:  The Rebels led 35-26 at the start of the 4th quarter; then, the Bulldogs scored 17 points in the final frame.  Here are the three Ole Miss possessions in the fourth quarter:

  • 3 plays             0 yards            19 seconds      PUNT
  • 3 plays             1 yard              56 seconds      PUNT
  • 5 plays             12 yards          38 seconds      DOWNS

Texas A&M 45  Arkansas 42:  The Aggies remain unbeaten for the season, but Arkansas looked competitive in its first game under Bobby Petrino.

Texas 16  Kentucky 13 (OT):  Texas had 179 yards Total Offense and recorded only 8 first downs in the game and still came out the winner.  The Longhorns have only one loss in SEC play this year.

Alabama 37  Tennessee 20:  Alabama and Texas A&M are the only SEC teams with perfect conference records so far in 2025.  This was Tennessee’s second conference game loss.

Mizzou 23  Auburn 17:  Mizzou is 6-1 and relevant in the SEC with only 1 conference loss.  Auburn is 0-4 against SEC competition.

Next up will be the Big-10:

Indiana 38  Michigan St. 13:  The Hoosiers continue to roll and are unbeaten in 7 games.  Indiana extended Coach Cignetti’s contract through the 2033 season with $93.25M in new money.  The contract reportedly has an unusual wrinkle as explained here by CBSSports.com:

“If Indiana reaches the College Football Playoff Semifinal, the university has 120 days to negotiate a new contract that would put him in the top three earners nationally. If they fail to come to terms, the buyout Cignetti would have to pay to leave will drop to zero. “

Ohio St. 34  Wisconsin 0:  The Badgers have failed to score in both of their last two games.  The last time Wisconsin was shut out twice in a row was in 1977.

Iowa 25  Penn St. 24:  Not a lot of offense here; the teams combined for 579 yards Total Offense.  The Iowa ground game was dominant rushing for 245 yards and averaging 7.4 yards per carry.

The Big-12 is next up …

Ariz St. 26  Texas Tech 22:  This is the first loss for Tech in 2025, and it is a conference loss.  Both Arizona St. and Texas Tech now have one conference loss – – as does Houston – – and they are looking up at BYU and Cincy who remain undefeated in Big-12 competition.

BYU 24  Utah 21:  They call this game “The Holy War”.  It is usually a hard-fought game with a tight score.  This game fits that description perfectly.  This was Utah’s second conference loss in 2025.

And now for some games with things that interested me …

Buffalo 28 UMass 21:  UMass remains winless in 2025. The Minutemen led 21-20 late in the game – – to no avail.  Here is how to invent ways to lose a game:

  • UMass led 21-20 and intercepted a Buffalo pass with 59 seconds remaining.
  • However, the Minutemen were flagged for celebrating the pick, forcing them to start their drive at their 10 yardline instead of the 25.
  • Two running plays created a third-and-15 situation.  Then an incomplete pass forced a punt from the end zone giving Buffalo the ball at the 50-yardline.  The UMass possession only took 18 seconds off the clock.
  • From there, Buffalo completed three quick passes resulting in a TD – – and a meaningless 2-point conversion – – with 20 seconds left in the game.
  • UMass loses again …

UTEP 35  Sam Houston 17:  Sam Houston remains winless.  This was only the second win in 2025 for the Miners.

James Madison 63  Old Dominion 27:  At halftime, the score was JMU 28 and ODU 27.  Then came the deluge …

Temple 49  UNC-Charlotte 14:  I said last week that it was embarrassing for a team to be a 12-point home underdog to the likes of Temple.  It is even more embarrassing to lose by 35 at home to Temple.

Boise St. 56  UNLV 31:  This was the first loss for UNLV this season, and it was a convincing one.  Not a lot of defense here; the two teams combined for 1034 yards of offense.  Boise St. RB, Dylan Riley, ran for 253 yards and 4 TDs on 15 carries.  Wow!  Boise St. will be leaving the MWC this year to join the reincarnated PAC-12; UNLV is probably glad to know that.

UAB 31  Memphis 24:  This was the first loss for Memphis this season, and it was also the first win for UAB after firing Trent Dilfer as the head coach earlier in the week.

Notre Dame 34  USC 24:  Notre Dame ran the ball 42 times and gained 306 yards.  USC ran the ball 29 times and gained 68 yards.  ‘Nuff said.

Oregon St. 45  Lafayette 13:  Oregon St. has its first win for 2025 – – but it needs an asterisk.  It came at the expense of a Division 1-AA team that traveled more than 2000 miles and crossed 3 time zones to play the game.  Even so, Lafayette led 13-10 at halftime.

Here are the latest numbers for those teams contending for the Brothel Defense Award for 2025:

  • Sam Houston gives up 38.9 points per game
  • UAB gives up 38.9 points per game
  • Georgia St. gives up 40.8 points per game

With Halloween just around the corner, there is enough evidence to begin to focus on the miserable teams that should be in my imaginary SHOE Tournament once the season is over.  That tournament is an on-field way to crown the worst team in the country; eight teams will enter, and the losing team must play on until there is an ultimate loser in the tournament – – the SHOE Team where SHOE is an acronym for Steaming Heap Of Excrement.  Here are 16 contenders for that tournament; I will winnow them down over the next several weeks.  I present them here in alphabetical order not any sort of ranking:

  1. Akron
  2. Ball St.
  3. BC
  4. Georgia St.
  5. Kent St.
  6. Middle Tennessee St.
  7. Nevada
  8. Oklahoma St.
  9. Oregon St.
  10. Purdue
  11. Sam Houston
  12. South Alabama
  13. UMass
  14. UNC-Charlotte
  15. UTEP
  16. Wisconsin

 

NCAA Games of Interest this Week:

 

Looking for outrageous spreads – – 5TDs or more – – I found only one game:

  • Oklahoma St at Texas Tech – 38.5 (56.5)

Baylor at Cincy – 4 (67.5):  Cincy has won 6 in a row and is undefeated in Big-12 games.

UMass at C. Michigan – 16 (47):  Can UMass lose any more embarrassingly this week?  (See above)

Syracuse at Georgia Tech – 17 (53):  My “sleeper team” has been more than merely alert so far this year.

UCLA at Indiana – 26 (53.5):  The Bruins have won 3 games in a row and have only one conference loss.  Nevertheless, they are huge road underdogs this week.

Virginia – 10.5 at UNC:  Do not rule out the possibility of UNC making an appearance on the SHOE list …

Rutgers – 1 at Purdue (59):  Rutgers is a road favorite in a conference game?  Note that Purdue is on my radar as a SHOE team…

Ole Miss at Oklahoma – 4.5 (53): This is a big game.  Oklahoma’s schedule for the rest of the season is entirely against teams currently ranked in the Top 25:

  • Ole Miss
  • Tennessee
  • Alabama
  • Missouri
  • LSU

The Sooners’ season could skyrocket or spiral into an abyss over the next month or so.  Meanwhile, Ole Miss has seemingly a much easier schedule and a win here would make them very attractive to the CFP Selection Committee.  I think the Oklahoma defense will contain the Rebels’ here; give me the Sooners at home to win and cover; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

Auburn at Arkansas – 2.5 (56):  Arkansas has already fired its coach, and I think Auburn is seriously considering a similar move …

Texas – 7 at Mississippi St. (46.5):  Texas has only 1 SEC loss and is still relevant in the conference standings.  Mississippi St. has already lost 3 SEC games, but the Bulldogs are 4-3 for the season and back in August, their projected win total was only 3 games.  Mississippi St. is an over-achieving team; they lost close games to both Tennessee and Florida.

Texas A&M – 2.5 at LSU (49):  The Aggies are unbeaten in 2025; the Tigers are undefeated at home in 2025.  Something has to give here, and I think what will give is the LSU offense; the Aggies defense will rise up and halt the Tigers.  I like the Aggies on the road to win and cover; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

Mizzou at Vandy – 2.5 (52.5):  Both teams are 6-1; both teams are ranked.  The winner here could sneak into the expanded CFP …

BYU at Iowa St. – 3 (49):  BYU is one of the 6 unbeaten teams left in 2025, and they are an underdog here …  Many thanks to the oddsmakers; I’ll take that helping of points along with BYU; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

Alabama – 11 at S. Carolina (47.5):  Remember back after Week 1 when everyone abandoned ship regarding Alabama?  Well, the Tide is undefeated since then and appears to be on track to play in the SEC Championship Game and to get a lot of love from the CFP selectors.

Wisconsin at Oregon – 31.5 (45):  The mystery here is very simple.  Will Wisconsin score this week or not?

Florida Atlantic at Navy – 14 (62):  Navy has not lost in 2025 …

 

NFL Commentary

 

The NY Jets are sort of a punching bag for football commentators – – but they earned that distinction.  The Jets have been a hot mess for at least the last 10 years and after sweeping changes in the offseason with lots of fanfare, they continue to be a hot mess in 2025.  I will not fault the team for moving on from Aaron Rodgers at QB; that had to be done under any and all circumstances.  But to start the season with Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor driving the bus makes me think there is some flawed decision-making upstairs in the Jets’ organization.

Justin Fields was a gamble; he is freakishly athletic from the same mold as Jayden Daniels and/or Caleb Williams. But on-field he has been prone to gaffes much more than he has been prone to winning.  In the event that “a gamble” turns out to go against you, it is a good idea to have a “Plan B”.  Tyrod Taylor is not Plan B.

Look, this is Taylor’s 15th season in the NFL; the Jets are his 7th team.  Those two numbers tell a story:

  • Tyrod Taylor is not good enough during games to keep around.
  • Tyrod Taylor must be a great teammate to be able to stick around all over the league.

The Jets pulled Justin Fields at halftime of their game last week against the Panthers.  His play has been erratic – – that is about as polite as I can be here – – since Week 1 when he looked as if he might take his career on a new vector heading.  I don’t know if the Jets can or will give up on him as their starter – – he has about $29M guaranteed on his contract with the Jets – – but as far as I am concerned, the jury has returned its verdict; Justin Fields is not ever going to be a “franchise QB”.

And on another note … I have heard enough about “team culture”.  When a team is winning, “culture” is always identified as a critical element; when a team is losing, they lack “culture”.

  • Buncombe!  (H/T to H.L. Mencken)

The Las Vegas Raiders cleaned house in the coaching and front office ranks over the spring and summer and set out to establish a “winning culture” with Pete Carroll who supposedly did that in Seattle.  Tom Brady was whispering in the ear of owner, Mark Davis, and was supposedly instrumental in the Raiders trading for Geno Smith to reunite him with Pete Carroll.

  • Well, if “culture” is so damned important, how come the Raiders are 2-5-0 with a point differential of minus-77?
  • Last week, the Raiders threw up on their shoes against the Chiefs.  Is that part of their “culture”?

Last night, the Chargers manhandled the Vikes 37-10.  With JJ McCarthy still on the shelf – – he has spent more time there than any Christmas Elf – – the Vikes once again trotted out Carson Wentz, and it just did not work.  The Vikes won 15 games last season with Sam Darnold and let him go in favor of JJ McCarthy with Carson Wentz as the stopgap.  So, you make the call here; which decision was worse:

  • The Vikes letting Sam Darnold walk – – OR – –
  • The Jets handing the reins to Justin Fields?

Here are comments on last week’s games:

Rams 35  Jags 7:  The stat sheet was not nearly as lopsided as the score.  In fact, the Jags ran 12 more plays than the Rams, gained more yards per play and out gained the Rams by 87 yards in the game.  However, the Jags also were 2 of 6 on fourth down tries and committed 13 penalties for 119 yards in the game.

Panthers 13  Jets 6:  Justin Fields was benched at halftime; Tyrod Taylor finished the game.  Fields produced 46 yards passing and 22 yards rushing; Taylor produced 126 yards passing and threw 2 INTs.  Bottom Line:

  • The Jets do not have a competent NFL QB. 
  • So, what’s new?

Don’t look now, but the Panthers have a 3-game winning streak – – however, Bryce Young left this game in the third quarter with an ankle injury.  He was reportedly in a walking boot after the game.

Pats 31  Titans 13:  The Pats held the ball for more than 37 minutes in that game; they outgained the Titans by 132 yards; they forced two Titans’ turnovers.  The Titans led 10-3 at the end of the first quarter and from then on this was an ass-kicking.

Chiefs 31  Raiders 0:  Rumors of the Chiefs’ demise may have been premature …  Declarations that the Raiders are not a good football team are entirely accurate.  It’s one thing to lose in the NFL.  It’s another thing to be embarrassed. The Raiders lost a game that was totally lopsided.  Patrick Mahomes simply sat out the 4th quarter here because he was not needed.  Here are the results of the five Chiefs’ possessions in the first 3 quarters of the game:

  • 9 plays             92 yards          5:46     TD
  • 17 plays           84 yards          8:40     TD
  • 16 plays           94 yards          6:22     TD
  • 11 plays           66 yards          6:00     TD
  • 9 plays             66 yards          4:26     Field Goal

Some more embarrassing stats from the game:

  • Total Offense mustered by the Raiders = 95 yards.  That is NOT a typo…
  • Raiders’ first downs = 3  That is NOT a typo either …
  • Chiefs’ first downs = 30  – – Raiders’ Offensive Plays = 30.
  • Chiefs’ time of possession = 42:08
  • Raiders third-down conversions = 0 for 7

Colts 38  Chargers 24:  The Colts are 6-1 for the season; I did not see that coming.  The Colts lead the NFL in scoring (232 total points or 33.1 points per game).  Daniel Jones threw for 288 yards here along with 2 TDs and Jonathan Taylor ran for 94 yards and 3 TDs.  The Colts lead the AFC South by 2 full games this morning.

Browns 31  Dolphins 6:  The Browns’ defense is very good; so, one might just look at the score there and say it was dominant showing by that unit.  But there is another aspect to that score:

  • At the kickoff, the Browns were averaging only 13.6 points scored per game.
  • The Browns had not scored more than 17 points in a game all season.
  • They scored 31 points in this game.

So, what does that say about the Dolphins’ defense?  The Dolphins are 1-6 – – and that win came over the hapless Jets.

Bears 26  Saints 14:  The Bears have now won 4 in a row.  I think the most telling stats from the game are:

  • Bears rushing offense = 222 yards
  • Saints rushing offense = 44 yards

Spencer Rattler also had a bad day at the office throwing 3 INTs and losing a fumble.

Eagles 28  Vikes 22:  The Eagles are 5-2 but none of their wins have been “leisurely” or “comfortable”.  In this game, it was Jalen Hurts to the rescue.  Here are his stats:

  • 19 of 23 for 326 yards with 3 TDs and 0 INTs

The Vikes were in the Red Zone 6 times in the game and scored only 1 TD.  That is not a winning formula …

Broncos 33  Giants 32:  As the 4th quarter began, the score was Giants 19 Broncos 0.  The Giants managed to score 13 more points in that 4th quarter and yet lost the game.  Somehow, the Giants’ defense allowed the Broncos to gain 291 yards in the 4th quarter and score 4 TDs and a field goal.  With 40 seconds on the clock, the Giants scored a TD to put them ahead 32-30 and then proceeded to miss the extra point.  [Aside: That was the second missed PAT of the day.]  The Broncos took the kickoff and got down to the Giants 22 yardline where they kicked the game winning field goal at the 0:02 mark.   I ran across this stat which I have certainly not even tried to verify:

  • NFL teams had won 1602 consecutive games when leading by 18+ points with six minutes or less in the 4th quarter until last week’s Broncos/Giants game.

Packers 27  Cards 23:  The Cards outgained the Packers by 68 yards in this game and the Cards controlled the ball for more than 34 minutes.  The Packers tried to give the game away by committing 10 penalties for 94 yards and Cards’ backup QB, Jacoby Brisset threw for 279 yards and 2 TDs.  The Packers took the lead with less than 2 minutes left to play; the Cards rallied but the final play saw the Packers defense knock down a pass in the end zone to preserve a win.

Cowboys 44  Commanders 22:  Yes, this game was as big a rout as it would appear.  You might be tempted to excuse the Commanders’ defense for giving up 44 points and 409 yards of offense to the Cowboys because the Cowboys have a potent offense.  That would not be a good idea, but you might shrug it off if you are a Commanders’ fan.  In reality, there are three major issues about the Commanders that were fully exposed in this game:

  • The defense cannot or will not tackle effectively
  • The DBs cannot cover a mattress with a blanket.
  • How did the offense not score more against the 31st ranked defense in the NFL?

Jayden Daniels had to leave the game in the second half with a hamstring injury.  This was not to the same leg that had him miss two games earlier in the season; now he has both legs “compromised”.

Niners 20  Falcons 10:  This was the Christian McCaffrey show:

  • Rushing:  24 carries for 129 yards and 2 TDs
  • Receiving:  7 catches for 72 yards

Michael Penix, Jr. played like a young QB who still has much to learn …

Bengals 33  Steelers 31:  The Bengals produced 470 yards of offense in the game.  The stat line that stands out here is for Ja’Marr Chase:

  • 23 targets … 16 receptions … 161 yards and 1 TD

Lions 24  Bucs 9:  The Lions limited the Bucs to 41 yards rushing; meanwhile the Lions gained 164 yards on the ground and ran for two TDs in the game.  Other than that glaring disparity, the stat sheet for this game would make you think this was a game destined for OT.

Seahawks 27  Texans 19:  CJ Stroud was the Texans’ leading rusher – – two carries for 25 yards – – and that reflects the dominance at the line of scrimmage for the Seahawks defensive front seven.

 

Games this Week:

 

We have six teams taking their BYE Week now:

  1. Cards:  Frankly, Jacoby Brissett has played at least as well as Kyler Murray has for the Cards to date.
  2. Jags:  They look great one week and truly mediocre the next.
  3. Lions:  The Lions are 5-2-0 with a point differential of +64 which is the biggest positive point differential in the NFC.
  4. Raiders:  Maybe a week off will allow them to “find themselves”.  Here’s a hint; go look in a mirror; there you are.
  5. Rams:  Anything that keeps Matthew Stafford hale and hearty is a good thing for this team.
  6. Seahawks:  Do not sleep on this team; that defense is good; it only allows an average of 305.8 yards per game.

Jets at Bengals – 6 (44):  This is the first game on the card this week and it is the Dog-Breath Game of the Week.  The Jets were supposed to have a top-shelf defense; right now they rank 17th in total defense, 22nd in run defense and 26th in points allowed per game.  However, in this game, there is a more important question to ponder:

  • Is the Jets’ offense worse than the Bengals’ defense?

I rarely make a pick in the Dog-Breath Game of the Week, but I have a hunch that the Bengals are going to win big here.  I’ll take the Bengals to win and cover at home; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

Niners at Texans – 2.5 (42):  The oddsmakers must be relying on the Texans’ defense to stifle Mac Jones and/or Brock Purdy because the Texans’ offense has not been anything to rely on in 2025.  At some point, the number and burden of injuries for the Niners will have to catch up with them, no?  I think the wrong team is favored here; I like the Niners to prevail; so, I’ll take them plus the points; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

Bears at Ravens – 6.5 (49.5):  That spread indicates to me that the oddsmakers sense that Lamar Jackson will be back this week.  The Bears have a 4-game winning streak, and a victory here would be a major positive boost for them and their season.  However, let me give some context to that streak; here are the victims:

  • Cowboys:  Marginal defensive unit and no CeeDee Lamb on offense
  • Raiders:  Bad team
  • Commanders:  Marginal defensive unit
  • Saints:  Bad Team

Yes, the Ravens look like a “Bad team” at 1-5-0 and yes, the Ravens’ defensive unit would love to be considered merely “marginal”.  I am tempted to play the game OVER but will resist the temptation.

Dolphins at Falcons – 7.5 (44.5):  The Falcons are an up-and-down team; the Dolphins just stink.  If the Falcons want to be taken seriously as a playoff team, they need to dominate here.

Bills – 8 at Panthers (46):  Here is a very simple question at the heart of game analysis here:

  • Can Bryce Young play this week?

If not, it will be the Red Rifle – – Andy Dalton – – at the helm for the Panthers.  Another question with longer implications here:

  • Did the Bills find a way to improve their defense over their BYE Week?

Giants at Eagles – 7.5 (44):  I think this is the Game of the Week because:

  • It is one of the few Division games this week.
  • It should be a revenge game for the Eagles
  • The Jaxson Dart story is an interesting one.

Browns at Pats – 7 (41):  Two strong defenses here.  The Pats’ offense is the better of the two outgaining the Browns’ offense by almost 75 yards per game.

Bucs – 4 at Saints (47):  The Bucs are 5-2-0 with a point differential of minus-1.  The Saints are 1-6-0 with a point differential of minus-61 – – worst in the NFC.  The Bucs are on the road for the second week in a row and they played on Monday night last week.  Nonetheless …

Titans at Colts – 14 (47):  Unless the Colts show up hungover, this game should be in the bag before the start of the 4th quarter.

Cowboys at Broncos – 3.5 (51):  I gave this game serious consideration as the Game of the Week.  The Brocos defense against the Cowboys offense will make this game fun to watch.  I think the team that has the ball last wins the game; I think that will be the Cowboys and their monster kicker; give me the Cowboys plus the points here; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

(Sun Nite) Packers – 3 at Steelers (45.5):  For all the folks on Football Night In America, PRETTY PLEASE, do not lean into this as an “Aaron Rodgers Revenge Game”.  The Steelers are at home after their 10-day mini-BYE and the Packers are on the road for the second straight week.  Should be a good game …

(Mon Nite) Commanders at Chiefs – 13 (48):  No Jayden Daniels for the Commanders here explains why the line opened at 5 points and then rocketed to this level on Wednesday.  If the Commanders’ defenders continue to tackle and cover the way they have over the last couple of weeks, this game could become embarrassing.

So let me review the “Betting Bundle”:

  • Oklahoma – 4.5 over Ole Miss
  • Texas A&M – 2.5 over LSU
  • BYU +3 against Iowa St.
  • Niners +2.5 against Texans
  • Bengals – 6 over Jets
  • Cowboys +3.5 against Broncos

And here are some Money Line Parlays for fun:

  • Niners @ +120
  • Bills 2 minus-380                  $100 wager to win $178

And …

  • Cowboys @ +150
  • Falcons @ minus-400                       $100 wager to win $213

And …

  • Texas @ minus-280
  • BYU @ +120                           $100 wager to win $200

Finally, let us hear from Duffy Daugherty:

“My only feeling about superstition is that it’s unlucky to be behind at the end of the game.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *