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Monday’s 6-pack
Top 6 picks for Week 14 of Westgate SuperBook NFL handicapping contest (3,123 entries)
1) Indianapolis Colts +5 (988)- W
2) Kansas City Chiefs -6.5 (797)- L
3) Los Angeles Rams -3 (791)-L
4) Buffalo Bills -3 (761)- L
5) New Jersey Giants -3.5 (711)- W
6) Chicago Bears +3 (694)-w
Season record: 42-37-3
Quote of the Day
“In southern California, it takes 45 minutes to get out of your driveway.”
Al Michaels
Monday’s quiz
Matt Prater (then with the Broncos) holds the record for the longest FG in NFL history (64 yards); who did he kick it against?
Sunday’s quiz
Dwyane Wade played his college basketball at Marquette.
Saturday’s quiz
Tom Coughlin was the first coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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Monday’s Den: Wrapping up an NFL Sunday…..
Chiefs 27, Ravens 24 OT— Chiefs converted a 4th-and-9 with 1:20 left that would’ve ended game, then they tied game with 0:53 left, and won it with a FG on first down of OT, followed by a defensive stop. This was a playoff-quality game. Lamar Jackson got hurt at the end of OT; not sure how severe the injury is, but Robert Griffin III played the last two plays of the game.
Ravens ran ball for 198 yards, but were outgained 441-321.
There are four teams at 7-6 in AFC, which is second Wild Card spot, so last three weeks are going to be fun. Denver’s (6-7) loss in San Francisco could be a crippler for them.
Dolphins 34, Patriots 33— One of wildest endings ever; Miami had ball on its own 31-yard line with 0:02 left, down 33-28. They complete a pass over middle about 20 yards down field, toss two fairly short laterals, and they score the game-winning TD. New England’s defense doesn’t have lot of real fast guys. Really a shocking ending.
Patriots have now lost five of their last six visits to Miami; home team won 11 of last 12 series games. New England is 3-4 on road this year; Miami is 6-1 at home. Dolphins are 8-3-1 vs spread in last dozen games as home underdogs. Dolphins’ playoff hopes are still alive.
Saints 28, Buccaneers 14— Tampa Bay’s special teams totally screwed this game up; they missed two pretty easy FG’s (46, 40 yards) when they were ahead, had a punt blocked in 3rd quarter when they led 14-3 and New Orleans looked dead.
Saints’ first six drives: 28 plays, 108 yards, 3 points
Saints’ last four drives (after blocked punt): 33 plays, 175 yards, 25 points
First time these teams played, when Bucs won 48-40 in Week 1, there were 15 plays of 20+ yards; there were only four such plays in this game.
Last five years, Saints are 15-8 vs spread coming off a loss; they’re 17-6 vs spread in last 23 road games, 6-1 this year.
Colts 24, Texans 21— Andrew Luck is Comeback Player of the Year; Indy won six of last seven games after a 1-5 start. Ravens’ loss, coupled with this result and Miami’s win, totally jumble race for second Wild Card in AFC.
Houston could’ve claimed #2 spot in AFC with win here; their 9-game win streak ends. Texans ran for only 89 yards in this game.
Browns 26, Panthers 20— Carolina was inside 10-yard line in last minute, but Newton threw two incomplete passes and Cleveland held on to improve to 5-7-1, while Panthers lost their 5th game in row- they’re 1-6 on road this season.
Carolina had 12-yard edge in field position, was +1 in turnovers, but lost. Scoring 20 points (two TDs, two FGs) on five red zone drives isn’t good enough. Cleveland is 5-7-1; how do you not consider Gregg Williams for the permanent head coaching position?
Packers 34, Falcons 20— Green Bay started this game by losing two replay challenges in first 1:23, which just never happens, but then they whacked Atlanta, scoring five of the first six times they had the ball, and also adding a defensive TD.
Falcons lost their lost their last five games, scoring 17 ppg; they’re 0-7 this season scoring 20 or less points, 4-2 scoring more- they’re 1-5 on road. If you own the Falcons, do you stay the course with this coach and this QB? They’ve got injuries, but they also look like a team that has quit.
Jets 27, Bills 23— 49ers, Raiders both won; had the Jets lost this game, they would’ve had inside track to #1 pick in the draft.
With 1:22 left and Bills up 23-20, Jets had 4th-and goal inside 1-yard line; they went for it and ran ball in for a TD. TV guys had been babbling about how Jets HAD TO GO for it— why? Where does it say that you have to?
Jets had a 20-yard edge in field position in this game; they were outgained 368-248, but snapped a 6-game losing streak. Allen was just 18-37 passing- he did run for 101 yards.
If they re-did the 2018 draft today, Mayfield/Barkley would probably still be top two picks, but what about Darnold/Allen/Rosen? How do they stack up now?
Giants 40, Redskins 16— Pet peeve of mine; NFL is a multi-billon dollar business, yet they cheap out when it comes to QB’s. Every NFL team should have three QB’s active every week, even if the #3 QB is a separate part of the roster. Why? So you don’t get situations like the Redskins have, with two QB’s on roster, neither of whom has been with the team for two weeks yet. It kills the quality of the product; you cannot compete without a QB who knows the plays.
Giants’ rookie RB Barkley only ran ball 14 times, but for 170 yards; he is definitely on a pitch count- his backup ran ball 14 times, too. Giants won four of last five games, but three of the four wins were vs backup QB’s (4th win was vs Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is now a backup). This was a horrendous day for the Redskins.
Which the score 40-16 and Washington driving with about 4:30 left, Redskins’ WR Doctson got a taunting penalty after he made a 20-yard catch; penalty took ball from 2-yard to the 17, then Washington threw an INT on next play. Grow the bleep up, shut up and play!!! Winning teams aren’t stupid. Losing teams do stuff like this all the time.
49ers 20, Broncos 14— Kyle Shanahan beats the team his dad led to two Super Bowl titles. Loss drops Denver to 6-7, a game behind four teams for the 6-seed in the AFC. Game was 20-0 at the half. Broncos converted 2-15 on third down, averaged 3.9 yards per pass attempt.
49ers are 3-3 at home; last five Denver games, four of last six 49er games stayed under total.
Chargers 26, Bengals 21— Bolts won nine of their last ten games, head to Arrowhead this week with chance to tie for AFC West lead. Cincy lost five games in row, seven of last eight- they actually outgained LA 295-288.
Lions 17, Cardinals 3— Arizona’s offense was on the field for 65 plays in this game; they were outscored on those plays 7-3 by the Detroit defense. Total yardage in this slugfest was 279-218 Arizona and it was played in a dome; there was only one play in this game (out of 120) that gained more than 17 yards, by either team.
Cardinals stayed under their team total in six of their last seven games. Six of last seven Detroit games stayed under total; under is 5-2 in Arizona home games. This snaps the Lions’s 8-game losing streak in the desert; their last previous win here was in 1993.
Raiders 24, Steelers 21— Third loss in row for Pittsburgh,, which maintains a half-game lead over Baltimore in AFC East. Roethlisberger missed the first four drives of the second half with a rib injury, then returned to lead two drives, one which put Steelers ahead, other which ended with a missed FG at the gun. Under is 6-1 in Steeler road games this season.
Cowboys 29, Eagles 23 OT— Dallas traded a first-round pick for Amari Cooper; that investment paid off here, with Cooper catching 10 passes for 217 yards and three TD’s, including the GW score in OT, catching a deflected pass and running it in.
Dallas has now won/covered five games in a row; if you had Philly/under, the gambling gods owe you one (or two). Over is now 3-1 in Philly’s road games this season, 5-1 in last six Dallas home games.
There were nine one-score games Sunday, just a great day of football.
Bears 15, Rams 6
— Excellent defensive game for the Bears, who had four takeaways.
— Second week in row Rams gave up a TD pass to an offensive lineman, which is odd.
— New Orleans takes over the #1 seed in the NFC.
— Chicago won six of its last seven games; they’re 9-2-2 in last 13 games as a home dog.
Top 6 picks for Week 14 of Westgate SuperBook NFL handicapping contest (3,123 entries)
1) Indianapolis Colts +5 (988)- W
2) Kansas City Chiefs -6.5 (797)- L
3) Los Angeles Rams -3 (791)-L
4) Buffalo Bills -3 (761)- L
5) New Jersey Giants -3.5 (711)- W
6) Chicago Bears +3 (694)-w
Season record: 42-37-3
Quote of the Day
“In southern California, it takes 45 minutes to get out of your driveway.”
Al Michaels
Monday’s quiz
Matt Prater (then with the Broncos) holds the record for the longest FG in NFL history (64 yards); who did he kick it against?
Sunday’s quiz
Dwyane Wade played his college basketball at Marquette.
Saturday’s quiz
Tom Coughlin was the first coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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Monday’s Den: Wrapping up an NFL Sunday…..
Chiefs 27, Ravens 24 OT— Chiefs converted a 4th-and-9 with 1:20 left that would’ve ended game, then they tied game with 0:53 left, and won it with a FG on first down of OT, followed by a defensive stop. This was a playoff-quality game. Lamar Jackson got hurt at the end of OT; not sure how severe the injury is, but Robert Griffin III played the last two plays of the game.
Ravens ran ball for 198 yards, but were outgained 441-321.
There are four teams at 7-6 in AFC, which is second Wild Card spot, so last three weeks are going to be fun. Denver’s (6-7) loss in San Francisco could be a crippler for them.
Dolphins 34, Patriots 33— One of wildest endings ever; Miami had ball on its own 31-yard line with 0:02 left, down 33-28. They complete a pass over middle about 20 yards down field, toss two fairly short laterals, and they score the game-winning TD. New England’s defense doesn’t have lot of real fast guys. Really a shocking ending.
Patriots have now lost five of their last six visits to Miami; home team won 11 of last 12 series games. New England is 3-4 on road this year; Miami is 6-1 at home. Dolphins are 8-3-1 vs spread in last dozen games as home underdogs. Dolphins’ playoff hopes are still alive.
Saints 28, Buccaneers 14— Tampa Bay’s special teams totally screwed this game up; they missed two pretty easy FG’s (46, 40 yards) when they were ahead, had a punt blocked in 3rd quarter when they led 14-3 and New Orleans looked dead.
Saints’ first six drives: 28 plays, 108 yards, 3 points
Saints’ last four drives (after blocked punt): 33 plays, 175 yards, 25 points
First time these teams played, when Bucs won 48-40 in Week 1, there were 15 plays of 20+ yards; there were only four such plays in this game.
Last five years, Saints are 15-8 vs spread coming off a loss; they’re 17-6 vs spread in last 23 road games, 6-1 this year.
Colts 24, Texans 21— Andrew Luck is Comeback Player of the Year; Indy won six of last seven games after a 1-5 start. Ravens’ loss, coupled with this result and Miami’s win, totally jumble race for second Wild Card in AFC.
Houston could’ve claimed #2 spot in AFC with win here; their 9-game win streak ends. Texans ran for only 89 yards in this game.
Browns 26, Panthers 20— Carolina was inside 10-yard line in last minute, but Newton threw two incomplete passes and Cleveland held on to improve to 5-7-1, while Panthers lost their 5th game in row- they’re 1-6 on road this season.
Carolina had 12-yard edge in field position, was +1 in turnovers, but lost. Scoring 20 points (two TDs, two FGs) on five red zone drives isn’t good enough. Cleveland is 5-7-1; how do you not consider Gregg Williams for the permanent head coaching position?
Packers 34, Falcons 20— Green Bay started this game by losing two replay challenges in first 1:23, which just never happens, but then they whacked Atlanta, scoring five of the first six times they had the ball, and also adding a defensive TD.
Falcons lost their lost their last five games, scoring 17 ppg; they’re 0-7 this season scoring 20 or less points, 4-2 scoring more- they’re 1-5 on road. If you own the Falcons, do you stay the course with this coach and this QB? They’ve got injuries, but they also look like a team that has quit.
Jets 27, Bills 23— 49ers, Raiders both won; had the Jets lost this game, they would’ve had inside track to #1 pick in the draft.
With 1:22 left and Bills up 23-20, Jets had 4th-and goal inside 1-yard line; they went for it and ran ball in for a TD. TV guys had been babbling about how Jets HAD TO GO for it— why? Where does it say that you have to?
Jets had a 20-yard edge in field position in this game; they were outgained 368-248, but snapped a 6-game losing streak. Allen was just 18-37 passing- he did run for 101 yards.
If they re-did the 2018 draft today, Mayfield/Barkley would probably still be top two picks, but what about Darnold/Allen/Rosen? How do they stack up now?
Giants 40, Redskins 16— Pet peeve of mine; NFL is a multi-billon dollar business, yet they cheap out when it comes to QB’s. Every NFL team should have three QB’s active every week, even if the #3 QB is a separate part of the roster. Why? So you don’t get situations like the Redskins have, with two QB’s on roster, neither of whom has been with the team for two weeks yet. It kills the quality of the product; you cannot compete without a QB who knows the plays.
Giants’ rookie RB Barkley only ran ball 14 times, but for 170 yards; he is definitely on a pitch count- his backup ran ball 14 times, too. Giants won four of last five games, but three of the four wins were vs backup QB’s (4th win was vs Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is now a backup). This was a horrendous day for the Redskins.
Which the score 40-16 and Washington driving with about 4:30 left, Redskins’ WR Doctson got a taunting penalty after he made a 20-yard catch; penalty took ball from 2-yard to the 17, then Washington threw an INT on next play. Grow the bleep up, shut up and play!!! Winning teams aren’t stupid. Losing teams do stuff like this all the time.
49ers 20, Broncos 14— Kyle Shanahan beats the team his dad led to two Super Bowl titles. Loss drops Denver to 6-7, a game behind four teams for the 6-seed in the AFC. Game was 20-0 at the half. Broncos converted 2-15 on third down, averaged 3.9 yards per pass attempt.
49ers are 3-3 at home; last five Denver games, four of last six 49er games stayed under total.
Chargers 26, Bengals 21— Bolts won nine of their last ten games, head to Arrowhead this week with chance to tie for AFC West lead. Cincy lost five games in row, seven of last eight- they actually outgained LA 295-288.
Lions 17, Cardinals 3— Arizona’s offense was on the field for 65 plays in this game; they were outscored on those plays 7-3 by the Detroit defense. Total yardage in this slugfest was 279-218 Arizona and it was played in a dome; there was only one play in this game (out of 120) that gained more than 17 yards, by either team.
Cardinals stayed under their team total in six of their last seven games. Six of last seven Detroit games stayed under total; under is 5-2 in Arizona home games. This snaps the Lions’s 8-game losing streak in the desert; their last previous win here was in 1993.
Raiders 24, Steelers 21— Third loss in row for Pittsburgh,, which maintains a half-game lead over Baltimore in AFC East. Roethlisberger missed the first four drives of the second half with a rib injury, then returned to lead two drives, one which put Steelers ahead, other which ended with a missed FG at the gun. Under is 6-1 in Steeler road games this season.
Cowboys 29, Eagles 23 OT— Dallas traded a first-round pick for Amari Cooper; that investment paid off here, with Cooper catching 10 passes for 217 yards and three TD’s, including the GW score in OT, catching a deflected pass and running it in.
Dallas has now won/covered five games in a row; if you had Philly/under, the gambling gods owe you one (or two). Over is now 3-1 in Philly’s road games this season, 5-1 in last six Dallas home games.
There were nine one-score games Sunday, just a great day of football.
Bears 15, Rams 6
— Excellent defensive game for the Bears, who had four takeaways.
— Second week in row Rams gave up a TD pass to an offensive lineman, which is odd.
— New Orleans takes over the #1 seed in the NFC.
— Chicago won six of its last seven games; they’re 9-2-2 in last 13 games as a home dog.
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