The Colts are now the only 6-1 team, as the Bucs fell in Detroit. Green Bay also has 1 loss and leads the NFC North, while the Steelers were surprised by the Bengals in the AARP Showdown. The Cowboys improved to .500 and are in second place in the NFC East, while the AFC West-leading Broncos executed an amazing comeback over the Giants with 33 4th-quarter points. The Chiefs shut out the Raiders, while the Rams, Niners, and Seahawks all remained tied atop the NFC West at 5-2. And there may be a coaching vacancy soon in Miami as the Fins got stomped by the Browns.
This week’s slate opens with the Chargers hosting the Vikes on Thursday night. Lamar Jackson is set to return when the Ravens host the Bears, and the Eagles host the Giants in the NFC East. The Colts are huge favorites over the Titans, while Dallas visits Denver in an interesting inter-conference matchup. Sunday night is a battle of first-place teams when Green Bay visits Pittsburgh. The week concludes with Washington visiting KC on Monday night.
Here are this week’s lines. All spreads taken from ESPNBet on Tuesday the 21st at 9:35 am CT.
With no announcement yesterday or today, it’s now most likely that McDaniel keeps his job for at least another two weeks. They have a Thursday game following this week against the Falcons, and it’s unlikely they’d fire him on a short week. Not impossible, but unlikely.
The Ravens being favored by almost a touchdown is a bit of a surprise. I kind of get it with Lamar expected back and them being at home, but it’s not like Lamar being out is the only reason they are 1-5.
If the Bears play like they did against New Orleans they probably get rolled, but if the Ravens D continues to be Swiss cheese we should score a bunch of points.
It is amusing to me that a 1-5 team is such a heavy favorite over a 4-2 team. Not a lot of respect for the Bears.
I’m already a bit over my skis (got in at -5.5), but, to no one’s surprise, I disagree with @Omniscient. Giving less than a TD with the Ravens, at home off a bye with Lamar and Roquan back seems almost too easy.
They only have two QBs on the active roster. Brady Cook, a rookie from Missouri who went undrafted, is the only one on their practice squad. He can’t produce worse results than Fields and Taylor, right?
Thursday night game is pretty one sided, and Carson Wentz is clearly not 100 percent due to shoulder issues. Which makes one wonder why they started him. Is he that much better than his backup ( who I don’t think is injured?) ?
I was also surprised to see that the post-game show is sponsored by JC Penney. Surprised because I did not know that JC Penney still, you know, existed.
The NFL evidently contacted Al Michaels in the middle of his broadcast last night to get him in line on the Vikings field attempt from a few weeks ago that hit the wire definitely didn’t hit the wire. In the first half, Michaels mentioned that Will Reichard’s only FG miss so far was because of the wire. He later offered a non-correction.
“The league wants to take my lunch away because I said before that Reichard’s only miss was hitting a wire in London,” Michaels said. “They league says, ‘No, no. It was an optical illusion.’ Not what Reichard thinks. Anyway, there you have it.”
Super Bowl LX Winner
Kansas City Chiefs +550
Detroit Lions +700
Buffalo Bills +700
Green Bay Packers +800
Philadelphia Eagles +950
Los Angeles Rams +1100
Indianapolis Colts +1300
Denver Broncos +2000
Los Angeles Chargers +2200
Baltimore Ravens +2200
San Francisco 49ers +2200
Tampa Bay Buccaneers +2500
Seattle Seahawks +2700
Jacksonville Jaguars +3500
New England Patriots +3500
Washington Commanders +5000
Dallas Cowboys +5500
Pittsburgh Steelers +5500
Chicago Bears +6000
Atlanta Falcons +6000
Houston Texans +6000
Minnesota Vikings +12500
Cincinnati Bengals +15000
Carolina Panthers +25000
Arizona Cardinals +35000
Cleveland Browns +40000
Miami Dolphins +40000
Las Vegas Raiders +40000
Tennessee Titans +40000
New York Giants +40000
New Orleans Saints +40000
New York Jets +40000
I’m on record saying that the footage we (the viewers at home) had access to was inconclusive, but at the same time I think it hit a wire. It was so weird that it seems like the simplest explanation. I think the NFL needs to make the case that it didn’t with whatever footage they have privy to, because I don’t think most of us are buying it.