Football Friday 11/21/25

I am at our weekend home in South Central Pennsylvania; we drove here on Tuesday in totally cloudy weather.  Since arrival, we have not come close to seeing the sun; this morning it is foggy and drizzly and – – well, yucky.  If I were prone to Seasonal Affect Disorder, I would curl up in a ball under some blankets and go to sleep for 12 more hours.  However, I have never had that particular malady, so I guess I need to get started on this week’s Football Friday.

As usual, I will begin with a review of last week’s “Betting Bundle”:

  • Spreads and Totals:              2-2-0
  • Season To Date:                    17-34-2

And …

  • Money Line Parlays:             2-1       Profit = $123
  • Season To Date:                    10-16   Loss = $31

The Linfield University Wildcats closed out their regular season in football with a resounding 65-19 win over the Willamette Bearcats.  The Wildcats did not win the Northwest Conference this year, so they do not get an automatic berth in the Division III Championship Tournament.  A look this morning at NCAA.com reveals that there are seven open slots that will be announced on Sunday.  The Wildcats’ offense came to life in the final two games of the regular season, scoring a total of 142 points in those two games.  I hope that convinces the selectors to allow the Wildcats to give it a go in the Championship Tournament.  Go Wildcats!

My “sleeper team” for 2025 – – Georgia Tech – – eked out a conference victory over Boston College last week by a 36-34 score.  BC has won only one game this year; and yet, it took a field goal with 11 seconds left in the game by Tech to pull this one out.  Perhaps you can attribute this performance to a “lookahead game”?  Tech was coming off a BYE Week; BC has not done well at all this year and after BC, Tech has Pitt and Georgia left to play.  Both Pitt and Tech have only one conference loss in the ACC; the loser of that game will probably be out of the picture for the ACC Championship Game.  After that, the game against Georgia is Tech’s biggest rivalry game every year.  May be that explains the lethargic performance last week …

 

College Football Commentary

 

            I mentioned in a previous rant the opposing positions taken by the SEC and the Big 10 when it comes to expanding the CFP and how slots would be allocated in the expanded version.  The SEC wants the champs of the Power 4 conferences as the only guaranteed entrants; the Big-10 wants four slots for itself, four slots for the SEC and a formulaic structure with only 3 at large entries.  I said I liked the SEC model better.

The CFP rankings for this week point out why I prefer the SEC model.

  • There are 6 SEC schools in the Top 16 and 9 SEC schools in the Top 25.
  • There are 4 Big-10 schools in the Top 16 and 6 Big-10 schools in the Top 25.

For this year, there is greater depth in the SEC than in the Big-10; that is not something that will be the case every year, but in those years where one conference is perceived to be deeper in quality teams, why should a formula be applied to the playoff entrants?

There are still 3 unbeaten college football teams out there – – Ohio St., Indiana and Texas A&M.  There is – – potentially – – an interesting trend that might develop related to those three teams:

  • Two weeks ago, Indiana was a huge favorite over Penn St., and it took a miraculous catch by Omar Cooper in the back of the end zone to with no time left to win the game 27-24.  The Hoosiers never came close to covering…
  • Last week, Texas A&M was a “three-score favorite” over South Carolina and the Aggies trailed at halftime 30-3.  Those Aggies rallied in the second half and pulled out a win 31-30.  Again, Texas A&M never came close to covering …
  • This week, Ohio St. is a 33-point favorite over Rutgers …

As I was grazing around earlier this week looking for college football “items”, I ran across a note in the Deseret News that Weber St had fired its head football coach.  I don’t devote a lot of time to Weber St. football or the Big Sky Conference so I cannot tell you why I clicked on that link and learned that the coach who was fired was named Mickey Mental.  And obviously, if he and his wife ever have triplets, they should name them:

  1. Funda
  2. Instru – – and – –
  3. Monu

BaDaBing!  BaDaBoom!!!

Here are comments on some of last week’s games starting in the Big-12:

BYU 44  TCU 13:  BYU is 9-1 this year; the Cougars’ only loss is a conference loss to Texas Tech.  The Big-12 Championship Game might be a rematch between those two teams.

K-State 14  Oklahoma St. 9:  The Cowboys are 1-9 this year and have not won a Big-12 conference game since 2023.

Moving to the SEC …

Texas A&M 31  S. Carolina 30:  The Gamecocks led 30-3 at halftime and lost.  The Aggies are looking like a team of destiny this year.

LSU 23  Arkansas 22:  LSU broke a 4-game losing streak here.  Arkansas has lost 6 games this year by 6 points or less.

Oklahoma 23  Alabama 21:  This certainly shook up the SEC standings and the CFP rankings.  Alabama now joins Georgia and Ole Miss as 1-loss teams in SEC Conference standings, and it dropped ‘Bama from #4 to #10 in the latest CFP rankings.  The Sooners are 8-2 overall (both losses are in conference games) but they finish the season with two home games against Mizzou and LSU.  They might squeeze into the CFP even as a “two-loss team”.

Ole Miss 34  Florida 24:  The Rebels are 10-1 and should be in the CFP.  The only game left on their schedule is next Friday at Mississippi St. in the annual Egg Bowl Game.  Yes, it is a rivalry game; but Ole Miss should be a solid favorite and a win there would virtually guarantee Ole Miss a CFP invitation.

Georgia 35  Texas 10:  Looks like the Longhorns will be in a minor bowl game this year; this result gives Texas their third loss of the year.  Recall back in August, Texas was the pre-season #1 team and Penn St. was #2.  How’s that working out …???

And in the ACC …

Florida St. 34  Va Tech 14:  The score at halftime was 10-7 favor of the Seminoles.  Then Florida St. posted 14 points in the third quarter to win going away.

Notre Dame 37  Pitt 15:  That is the third overall loss for Pitt this year.  However, with only one conference loss, the Panthers still have an avenue to the CFP by getting into the ACC Championship Game and then winning that game.

Virginia 34  Duke 17:  That is Duke’s second ACC loss and it all but eliminates the Blue Devils from the ACC Championship Game.  Meanwhile, Virginia continues to roll and has only one conference loss on its dance card.

Wake Forest 28  UNC 12:   The Tar Heels are 4-6 this year and need to win out against Duke and NC St. to become bowl eligible.

And in the Big-10:

Indiana 31  Wisconsin 7:  The Badgers’ offense registered only 168 yards on offense in this game.  At least, they were not shut out again.

Penn St. 28  Michigan St. 10:  Finally, one of these teams managed to win a conference game in 2025.

Washington 49  Purdue 13:  The Huskies posted 506 yards of offense in this game.  Freshman RB, Jordan Washington ran the ball 5 times for 108 yards and 1 TD in the game.

Ohio St. 48  UCLA 10:  The Buckeyes remain unbeaten and dominated this from the start.  The score was 27-0 at halftime.

And in a couple of other games …

UConn 26  Air Force 16:  That makes it 8 wins for UConn this year.

Nevada 55 San Jose St. 10:  Nevada had only won 1 game this year and then came out and demolished San Jose St. How did that happen?   The Spartans committed 5 turnovers in the game including a Pick Six and the Spartans’ special teams yielded a kickoff return for a TD.

Sam Houston 26  Delaware 23:  This was the second win in a row for Sam Houston.  Their record is now 2-8.

San Diego St. 17  Boise St. 7:  San Diego St. leads the Mountain West Conference with a 5-1 conference record.  Boise St. and four other MWC teams have two conference losses.  The race to see which teams will meet for the MWC Championship in December has chaos written all over it.

Northern Illinois 45  UMass 10:  UMass remains the only winless Division 1-A team for 2025.  This is only the third win of the year for Northern Illinois lest you think it is a powerhouse team just by looking at the score there.

I saved that last game score for last because the next item of business here is to identify the teams still in contention for the SHOE Tournament.  Obviously, UMass will get an embossed invitation.  I did get an email from the “reader in Houston” as a result of last week’s Football Friday with a SHOE Tournament suggestion; here is his note to me:

“UMass should get a SHOE Lifetime Achievement Award and an automatic entry into your SHOE Tournament each year, regardless of record/performance.

“Have a good weekend.”

I am of two minds on this one.  On one hand, I think each season presents us with 8-10 truly bad teams who need some sort of categorization identifying their ineptitude.  Should it ever happen that UMass presents a “bowl-eligible record” for a season, it would be wrong to deny some other fetid team the ignominy of being in the SHOE Tournament.

On the other hand, there is something essentially curmudgeonly about a “Lifetime Achievement Award” that recognizes a longstanding record of failure.

  • I shall keep this suggestion on my clipboard for further evaluation should UMass rise out of the muck and mire at the bottom of the football hierarchy one of these years – – or on the Twelfth of Never – – whichever comes first.

And with that as prelude, here is the Dirty Dozen – – the 12 teams still on the radar for the Shoe Tournament in 2025:

  1. BC                   1-10     That win was over Fordham back in August
  2. Charlotte         1-9       That win was over Monmouth by one score
  3. Georgia St.      1-9       They are in the running for the Brothel Defense Award
  4. Middle Tenn     1-9       They play Sam Houston this week
  5. Nevada            2-8       They lost to Middle Tenn
  6. New Mexico St 3-7   They play UTEP and then Middle Tenn – – don’t lose…
  7. No Illinois 3-8           Two wins over Holy Cross and UMass
  8. Oklahoma St.  1-9       That win was over Tenn-Martin
  9. Oregon St.      2-9       They lost to Sam Houston
  10. Sam Houston  2-8       They play Middle Tenn this week
  11. UMass             0-10     No comment necessary
  12. UTEP              2-8       Wins are over Tenn-Martin and Sam Houston

And just to keep you up to date in the race for the Brothel Defense Award:

  • UMass gives up 38.0 points per game
  • UAB gives up 38.7 points per game
  • Georgia St. gives up 39.6 points per game

 

Games of Interest This Week

 

There are two outrageous spreads – – greater than 5 TDs – – on the card this week:

  • Charlotte at Georgia – 43.5 (53.5)
  • Syracuse at Notre Dame – 37 (51.5):

 

Florida St. – 6 at NC St. (59):  Both teams are 5-5; the winner will be bowl-eligible.

Hawaii at UNLV – 3 (64):  Both teams have 2 conference losses in the MWC; the loser will be eliminated from contention for the Championship Game.

Tulane – 9 at Temple (55):  As of this week, Tulane is the only team outside the Power 4 listed by the CFP selectors in the Top 25.

BYU – 2.5 at Cincy (55.5):  An important game for the Big-12 standings.

Tennessee – 4 at Florida (57):  The Gators have only won 3 games this year but all of them have been at home.

Pitt at Ga Tech – 2.5 (61.5):  Both teams have only one conference loss this year…

Duke – 7 at UNC (52):  This is a huge rivalry game and Duke can eliminate Carolina’s bowl aspirations with a win here.

Mizzou at Oklahoma – 6.5 (43):  The Sooners should be in the CFP if they win out; and if the win out, it will be due to the Sooners’ defense more than anything else.  I have no faith in the Oklahoma offense and Mizzou’s defense is not shabby at all; I like this game to stay UNDER; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

Arizona St. – 7 at Colorado (47):  Colorado is 3-7 overall this year and 1-6 in conference.  Is the bloom off the rose in Boulder for Coach Prime?  I like the Sun Devils to win and cover here; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

Nevada at Wyoming – 7 (40):  It’s a border war game …

Cal – 3.5 at Stanford (47):  This is the Northern California version of “The Game”.  Cal is bowl eligible; Stanford will be home for the Holidays.

New Mexico St at UTEP – 3 (45):  Two SHOE Tournament possibilities here …

Sam Houston at Middle Tenn – 6.5 (53.5):  This is almost like a “play-out game” for the SHOE Tournament; the winner need not participate.

USC at Oregon – 9 (59):  This is my Game of the Week.  Oregon is solidly in place for a CFP invitation and USC is just on the periphery, but the Trojans have been playing well since losing to Notre Dame a month ago.  I think Oregon is the better team and I think they can control the game by running the ball against an average USC defense.  I’ll take Oregon to win and cover here; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

 

NFL Commentary

 

Joe Burrow began practicing with the Bengals last week as he continues to rehab from toe surgery earlier this season.  The team opened the 21-day window for Burrow meaning that he could become eligible to come off the injured list in December.  If the Bengals are to have any chance at the playoffs, it would seem that a healthy and effective Joe Burrow is a critical element there.  Here is the problem:

  • The Bengals record today is 3-7-0.
  • If it takes 10 wins to get a wild card slot in the playoffs – – or possibly 10 wins to be the AFC North champion – – the Bengals will have to win out.
  • This week, the Bengals will have to play the surging Pats without Ja/Mar chase who was suspended for a game by the league for spitting on Jalen Ramsey last week.
  • After that, the Bengals draw the Ravens, Bills and Ravens again…

Burrow should be ready by the Bills game – – but should he be on the field in a relatively recently repaired toe when his efforts will likely be welcomed but late?  Joe Burrow is an extraordinarily valuable asset that may need some protection from himself because if he thinks he can play, he is going to want to play.  Zac Taylor may need a 5-gallon drum of Maalox pondering that one.

Look, the Bengals record since Burrow had to leave the game in Week 3 is 1-7-0, but the losses cannot be hung around the neck of the offensive unit.  Consider:

  • The Bengals are last in the NFL in Total Defense allowing 418.2 yards per game
  • The Bengals are 31st in the NFL in Pass Defense allowing 257.3 yards per game
  • The Bengals are last in the NFL in Run Defense allowing 160.9 yards per game
  • The Bengals are last in the NFL in Scoring Defense allowing 33.4 points per game
  • Joe Burrow does not play defense …

The league announced that it has flexed two games for Week 14 of the season.  Originally, the Packers/Bears game was scheduled to be in the 1:00 PM (ET) time slot but the Bears are leading the division as of today and the Packers are in second place there.  So, the league has decided to move that game to a 4:30 start to give it greater visibility nationally.  And to make room for that move, the Bengals/Bills game originally scheduled for the later time slot will be moved back to a 1:00 PM kickoff time.

Let me do some projecting for the playoffs at the end of this season.  I will take the 7 teams in each conference who would be in the playoffs if the regular season were over now and project them into January.  I’ll start in the AFC:

  • Broncos:  They have 9 wins on the books and should be solid favorites in their next two games even though they are on the road (Commanders and Raiders).  The last 4 games will be much tougher but 3 of them are in Denver.  I think the Broncos will win 13 games and be in the playoffs.
  • Pats:  They have 9 wins on the books with 6 games to play.  All 6 are winnable but only two should see the Pats as solid favorites.  I think the Pats will also win 13 games and be in the playoffs.
  • Colts:  They have 8 wins in the bank with 7 games left to play.  There are zero soft spots left for the Colts with the rest of the schedule looking like:
      • At Chiefs,
      • Vs. Texans,
      • At Jaguars,
      • At Seahawks,
      • Vs. 49ers,
      • Vs. Jaguars,
      • At Texans
  • I’ll project the Colts to win 11 games and make the playoffs
  • Steelers:  They only have 6 wins, but they lead the AFC North this morning.  Aaron Rodgers has a wrist injury that may or may not see him limited or out of games for the rest of the season.  In their final 7 games only the Dolphins and Browns look like surefire “Ws”.  I think the Steelers will wind up 9-8 and miss the playoffs because the Ravens will be the AFC North champs.
  • Bills:  They have 7 wins in the bank, but they have not been playing well for the last month.  They have 3 games they should win (Bengals, Browns, Jets) but the other three games will be difficult.  I think the Bills win 11 games and get a wild card slot in the playoffs.
  • Chargers:  They have 7 wins, and they are very injured.  Looking at their final 6 opponents, I don’t see any games where the Chargers will be solid favorites to win the game.  I think the Chargers will win 9 games this season and miss the playoffs
  • Jags:  They only have 6 wins, but they are winning with a strong and opportunistic defense and that sort of play sticks around.  Tey have the Cards, the Jets and the Titans twice in the remaining schedule.  They also get the Colts twice.  I think the Jags will win 10 games and make the playoffs this year.

And over in the NFC:

  • Eagles:  They have 8 wins so far this season and their schedule ahead is still difficult including three division games still to go.  I think the Eagles will have 12 wins at the end of the regular season and will be in the NFC playoffs.
  • Rams:  They also have 8 wins to date.  Their schedule from here on is a bit softer than the one for the Eagles.  The Rams should be solid favorites over the Cards (twice) and the Falcons.  I think the Rams win 13 games when all is done and will own home field for the NFC playoffs.
  • Bears:  They have 7 wins in this regular season.  Their #3 playoff position at this stage of the season is certainly a surprise to most prognosticators and even though their record is 7-3-0, the Bears sport a point differential of minus-6 points. The Bears have six remaining games; five of those games are against potential playoff teams (Eagles, Packers, Packers again, Niners, Lions).  I think the Bears wind up with 10 wins in 2025 and make the playoffs as a wild card.
  • Bucs:  They only have 6 wins on the books, but they lead their division.  Their remaining schedule looks pretty soft as of today and the Bucs should win 11 or 12 games and win their division thereby making the playoffs.
  • Seahawks:  They have 7 wins as of this morning.  Their defense will keep them in just about every game; what the team needs to avoid is a Sam Darnold melt-down.  I suspect the Seahawks will be solid favorites in three of their remaining seven games and wind up winning 12 games making them the top seeded wild card team in the playoffs.
  • Packers:  They have 6 wins – – and 1 tie – – on their ledger.  Their offense has not been a smooth operation of late, and the Packers need to fix that promptly.  The remaining schedule has the Packers playing 5 division games plus the Ravens and the Broncos.  They will need to win 4 of the last 7 to make the playoffs and I don’t think they are going to do that.
  • Niners:  They have 7 wins in 2025.  The next 3 opponents are Panthers, Browns, Titans; those are games the Niners cannot afford to lose because the final three games are Colts, Bears, Seahawks.  I think the Niners win 11 games and make the playoffs

So, look over that foreshadowing and check it out come January to see if I was akin to Nostradamus here  – – or – – Nostra-dumbass.

Here are some comments on games from last weekend:

Dolphins 16  Commanders 13:  Lots of errors in this game.  Both teams were stopped after reaching the opponent’s 1 yardline in the game.  The Commanders lost because they turned the ball over twice in the game and because they scored no TDs in three trips to the Red Zone.  The Commanders absolutely shut down the Dolphins in the red zone, holding them to just one TD on five trips inside the 20-yard line. Washington had two crucial goal line stands, including one in the final minute that forced overtime – – to no avail.

Panthers 30  Falcons 27 (OT):  The Falcons’ defense was supposed to be a cornerstone of the team.  Bryce Young had been in a whole bunch of games recently where he struggled and could not amass 200 yards passing.  So, here is Young’s stat line against the nominally stout Falcons’ defense:

  • 31 of 45 for 448 yards with 3 TDs and 0 INTs

Say what?  Michael Penix, Jr. suffered a knee injury here and the Falcons put him on IR, and he will miss the remaining games in 2025.  The Falcons defense went AWOL in the second half giving up 345 yards of offense to the Panthers in those 30 minutes of play.

Bears 19  Vikes 17:  This win puts the Bears in first place in the NFC North by half a game over the Packers and a full game over the Lions.  Raise your hand if you saw that happening around Thanksgiving.  JJ McCarthy threw 2 INTs in this game.  Here is a stat I ran across relative to this game:

  • The Bears are 5-3 this season when trailing in the final two minutes.

Texans 16  Titans 13:   The Texans prevailed by converting a last second field goal in this game.  The win keeps the Texans’ hopes for a division title alive and puts them squarely in the wild card chase in the AFC..  The Titans are 1-9 and currently have the inside track on the overall #1 pick in the Draft next Spring – – it would be for the second year in a row.

Jags 35 Chargers 6:  The Chargers managed only 135 yards on offense for the day including only 42 yards rushing on 16 carries.  The Chargers scored their last points about half-way through the second quarter.  Here are their possessions after that:

  • 6 plays             33 yards          PUNT
  • 3 plays             2 yards            PUNT
  • 1 play                0 yards            INT
  • 4 plays             2 yards            TURNOVER ON DOWNS
  • 9 plays             31 yards          SACKED – TURNOVER ON DOWNS

The Jags are now 6-4 and can see THEIR way to the playoffs; the Chargers are now 7-4 and they are two full games behind the Broncos in the AFC West.   The Jags’ defense dominated here by sacking Justin Herbert 3 times and tacking him for a loss 5 times and intercepting him once.

Steelers 34  Bengals 12:  The score was 20-12 midway through the 4th quarter of this game and then the Steelers got two TDs – – one a scoop and score – – to make it look like a blowout.

Packers 27  Giants 20:  The Packers’ offense has been stagnant for the last several weeks; they were outgained by the Giants in this game by 40 yards even with Jameis Winston under center for the Giants.  Christian Watson caught two TD passes for the Packers here.

Bills 44  Bucs 32:  Josh Allen put on his super-hero costume for this game:

  • 19 of 30 for 317 yards with 3 TDs and 2 INTs
  • 6 rushes for 40 yards with 3 TDs.

That’s right; Allen accounted for 6 TDs in the game.     It was just the third time in NFL history that a player had three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in a game Allen in 2024 vs. Rams and Otto Graham in the 1954 NFL Championship Game were the two previous instances.

Rams 21  Seahawks 19:  The Seahawks outgained the Rams significantly, 414 yards to 249 yards.  Four turnovers by the Seahawks and scoring only 1 TD in four Red Zone incursions let the Rams win this one and take sole possession of first place in the NFC West.  These two teams will meet again next month in Seattle.    Sam Darnold threw 4 INTs here; those are the “four turnovers above”.  And yet, this was a 2-point game where the Seahawks could have won had a last second 60-yard field goal been good…

Niners 41  Cards 22:  Brock Purdy returned to the field for the Niners, but the team’s offensive performance was meager – – only 281 yards on offense.  The Cards Jacoby Brissett had an amazing stat line for this game:

  • 47 of 57 for 452 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs

Those two INTs along with another turnover by the Cards provided a lot of scoring opportunities for the Niners.   The 47 completed passes by Jacoby Brissett set an all-time NFL record.  Previously, the most passes completed in a game was 45 and that was held by Jared Goff and Drew Bladsoe; Brissett’s possession of that record will make a great trivia question in about 10 years.    The Cardinals got called for a franchise-record 17 penalties for 130 yards in the game and the Cards’ special teams surrendered a 98-yard kick return for a TD to start the game.

Ravens 23  Browns 16:  Be careful what you wish for.  Browns’ fans were booing QB, Dillon Garbriel for every play that was not a first down; lots of them had signs begging for Shedeur Sanders to play QB.  And they got their wish in the entire second half as Gabriel was being evaluated for a concussion.  Here is Sanders’ stat line:

  • 4 of 16 for 47 yards with 0 TDs and 1 INT.

Oh, yes; he was sacked twice in addition to completing 25% of his pass attempts.  Maybe Kevin Stefanski knew what he was doing playing Gabriel ahead of Sanders?  The bright spot for the Browns in the game was Myles Garrett who sacked Lamar Jackson 4 times.

Eagles 16  Lions 9:  Another win for the Eagles’ defense here – – and for an offense that did not turn the ball over in the game.  The Eagles controlled the clock with a solid running game that gave the Eagles 35:48 in time of possession.  The Lions went for it on 4th down 5 times and the game and failed each time.

  • Question:  Did Coach Dan Campbell forget that football should involve punting where one’s foot contacts the ball?

Here is a stat I ran across – – and one that I have not even tried to verify:

  • The Eagles are the second NFL team since 2000 to hold their opponent to zero conversions on five or more 4th down attempts.

Pats 27  Jets 14:  The Jets opened the game with an 8-minute drive covering 72 yards in 14 plays and resulting in a TD.  After that there were 4 straight punts.  At the start of the 4th quarter, the score was 21-14 in favor of the Pats; here are the Jets’ possessions in the 4th quarter:

  • 6 plays            8 yards                        PUNT
  • 1 play              – 4 yards                      FUMBLE
  • 12 plays           50 yards                      TURNOVER ON DOWNS

Broncos 22 Chiefs 19:  The Broncos have a 2-game lead over the Chargers and a 3.5-game lead over the Chiefs this morning.  This was yet another last second win by the Broncos this season; this one split the uprights as time expired.  That is 8 wins in a row for the Broncos.

Cowboys 33  Raiders 16:  This game was not nearly this close.  After a three-and-out on their first possession of the game, the Cowboys’ offense did what it needed to do for the balance of the game.  The Cowboys’ OL dominated, and the Cowboys’ DL dominated; this outcome was never really in doubt.

 

Games This Week:

 

We have four teams on their BYE Week:

  1. Broncos:  With 8 straight wins in their pocket, the Broncos probably wish they did not have to take a week off so they could just keep rolling.
  2. Chargers:  This team is dealing with loads of injuries and needs the time off.
  3. Commanders:  Yes, this team has injuries too – – but what they really need more than anything else would be practice at tackling ball carriers.  They do that very poorly.
  4. Dolphins:  Believe it or not, they are on a 2-game winning streak.

            Last night, the Texans simply dominated the Bills.  The score was 23-19, but the game was not nearly that close.  The Texans’ defense created 3 turnovers and sacked Josh Allen 8 times in the game.  If the Texans’ defense can play like that week after week, they will be in the playoffs and will be a tough out.

Steelers at Bears – 2.5 (46):  Here are two division leaders playing each other; that made me think about this as the Game of the Week for a while.  The effectiveness at the QB position is in doubt this week with Aaron Rodgers having a wrist injury and the backup being Mason Rudolph.

Jets at Ravens – 14 (44.5):  This is one of three double-digit spreads on the card for this weekend.  The Ravens sure did not look like world-beaters last week against the Browns.

Giants at Lions – 13 (52):  This is another of the double-digit spreads for this week.  The Lions would not be in the playoffs if the season ended today; they need a win and just might stomp on the gas pedal and never let up.

Pats – 7 at Bengals (51):  The Pats have won 8 games in a row and the Pats are 5-0-0 on the road this season.

Seahawks – 13 at Titans (40.5):  These are two good defensive teams.  The Seahawks are usually a good offensive team, but the Titans are not.

Vikes at Packers – 6.5 (41):  Both teams need this divisional game badly.  The Vikes are 3 games behind the Bears with 7 to play; the Packers are still second in the division but have not played well for the last several weeks.

Colts at Chiefs – 3.5 (48):  This is the start of a difficult schedule span for the Colts – – and the Chiefs are desperate for a win to stay playoff relevant.

Jags – 2.5 at Cards (47.5):  The Jags’ defense needs to show up big here; they cannot allow another offensive outburst like the one the Cards laid on the Niners last week.

Browns at Raiders – 4 (36):  I will call this the Dog-Breath Game of the Week, but only by a very slim margin.  Shedeur Sanders has to do better this week than he did last week, no?  The Raiders could not handle the Cowboys’ defense last week; so, how are they supposed to deal with the Browns’ defense?  I rarely make a selection in a game this bad but getting more than a field goal is too tempting to pass up here; I’ll take the Browns plus the points; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

Falcons at Saints – 2 (40):  This is the other contender for the Dog-Breath label.  Any time this year’s Saints are favored in a game is reason to think that will be a stinkeroo.

Eagles – 3 at Cowboys (47):  This is an important division game.  A win for the Eagles just about eliminates the Cowboys from the division title race.  That made me think about this as the Game of the Week for a few moments.

(Sun Nite) Bucs at Rams – 7 (49):  This is the Game of the Week.  Both teams are leading their divisions and both teams are playing well.  I think this game stays close so I’ll take the Bucs plus the points here; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

(Mon Nite) Panthers at Niners – 7 (49):  The Niners trail the Seahawks by half a game, and it looks like the Seahawks have a very winnable game on Sunday.  So, this becomes a big game for the Niners.  Meanwhile the Panthers trail the Bucs by half a game, and the Bucs look like they have their hands full on Sunday.  So, this becomes a big game for the Panthers too.

Now, let me review the “Betting Bundle”

  • Mizzou/Oklahoma UNDER 43
  • Oregon – 9 over USC
  • Arizona St. – 7 over Colorado
  • Browns +4 against Raiders
  • Bucs +7 against Rams

And just for fun, here are three Money Line parlays:

  • Pats @ minus-340
  • Browns @ +170                     $100 wager to win $249

And …

  • Tulane @ minus-340
  • JMU @ minus-550
  • Arizona St. @ minus-275      $100 wager to win $109

And ,,,

  • Colts @ +155
  • Packers @ minus-280           $100 wager to win $246

Finally let’s hear from Hank Stram:

“I’ve lived a charmed life. I married the only girl I ever loved and did the only job I ever loved.”

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

 

 

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