NFL Bet Box – Week 9

Fittingly it would happen on Halloween. It took until Week 8, but the NFL finally had its first major upset of 2021 when the first-place Cincinnati Bengals, fresh off pummeling the Baltimore Ravens, headed to the Meadowlands and faced the bleepin’ Jets, who had a 54-spot put on them here in Foxboro the previous week and were starting Mike White at QB.

Sure the Bengals were in a letdown spot, but all signs were pointing to the Bungles being a thing of the past. And that’s why they play the games.

Cincinnati, 11.5-point favorites in this space a week ago, managed to put up 31 points, but White threw for 405 yards and a late Joe Burrow interception off a tipped ball set up the Jets’ go-ahead TD in the final few minutes. The Jets’ 34-31 victory was the first straight-up victory by a double-digit underdog all season and the Bengals are once again looking up at the Ravens in the standings.

The double-digit dogs have not had much better luck against the spread, either, as the favorites are 10-4 (based on the spreads used here) with two of the wins coming last week (Giants covering 10 in a loss at Kansas City).

In half of Houston’s eight games so far, they’ve been a double-digit underdog and only covered one of those times. All three times they’ve been getting at least 14, they’ve failed to cover. Though those who waited until the end before taking the Rams when the line got as high as 16.5 last week saw a 38-0 lead turn into a loss as the Texans scored the final 22 points of the game and won by the hook.

As for Week 9 …

Patriots (-3.5) at Carolina – Back to .500 and will be favored in at least their next three games, everyone back on board the Pats to the Playoffs Bandwagon. Christian McCaffrey was designated to return from injured reserve, but will Sam Darnold clear concussion protocol or will it be P.J. Walker? Patriots, 23-17.

N.Y. Jets at Indianapolis (-10.5) – If Mike White knew what was best for him, he’d quit while he’s ahead. Colts, 28-14.

Houston at Miami (-6.5) – The deadline has passed and for better or for worse, Tua is the guy in Miami. Dolphins, 23-17.

Denver at Dallas (-9.5) – The Cowboys are a perfect 7-0 ATS this year, here’s to keep riding that money train. Cowboys, 31-17.

Minnesota at Baltimore (-6) – Ravens coming off a bye get to host a Vikings squad that lost to a backup QB on Sunday night. Ravens, 31-20.

Buffalo (-14.5) at Jacksonville – The Bills are 3-0 when at least a seven-point favorite, meaning they take care of business against the dregs of the league. Bills, 34-17.

Cleveland at Cincinnati (-2.5) – Joe Mixon said the notion of a trap game has been “spoken into existence,” and then said of this week’s battle for Ohio supremacy, “This one just got bigger.” So much for one game at a time. Bengals, 23-21.

Atlanta at New Orleans (-6) – Just get the ball to Alvin Kamara and let him take care of the rest. Matt Ryan is bound to throw in an ill-advised pass for good measure. Saints, 27-17.

Las Vegas (-3) at N.Y. Giants – The Raiders have shown the change on the sideline is not slowing them down, now they’ll try to do it without their deep-play threat after releasing Henry Ruggs III, who is charged with killing a woman after going 156 mph while drunk. Giants, 20-17.

L.A. Chargers (-1.5) at Philadelphia – The Eagles ground attack gives them their first home win this year. Eagles, 30-24.

Green Bay at Kansas City (-7.5) – The line had been Chiefs laying one before word got out that Aaron Rodgers is going to be like Cam Newton and must sit out a game because of COVID. Chiefs 24-16.

Arizona (-1.5) at San Francisco – Kyler Murray did not practice on Wednesday but is still expected to play, but might it limit his mobility come Sunday? 49ers, 27-26.

Tennessee at L.A. Rams (-7.5) – No Derrick Henry means the Titans are a hard pass for me. Rams, 31-20.

Chicago at Pittsburgh (-6.5) – It hasn’t always been pretty but the Steelers are in the middle of the AFC North race. Steelers, 24-13.

Still alive in the survivor pool thanks to a late field goal for the struggling Chiefs to get past the Giants on Monday night. This week we’re going with the Cowboys as they host the Broncos, who traded away the face of the franchise Tuesday. At 4-4 and in the mix of the playoffs, watching someone like Von Miller leave your locker room has to be a devastating gut punch for a team that doesn’t have a big margin for error. As for the Cowboys, Dak Prescott hopes to go on Sunday. If he can’t, Cooper Rush showed that he can help this offense put up 20 points, a number the Broncos have only reached four times so far this season. (Rams-Buccaneers-Broncos-Bills-Vikings-Colts-Cardinals-Chiefs used so far.)

LAST WEEK: 7-8-0 (.467)

SEASON: 56-65-1 (.463)

Lines used are from FanDuel Sportsbook.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3bBTzym