Tennesse's commitment to the run game led to Derrick Henry leading the league in rushing. For the other games this weekend:
New England -5.0 vs Tennessee – Are we watching the end of a dynasty? New England looked like they were going to waltz to the Super Bowl again starting out 8-0. But starting in November the schedule got a lot tougher and the Pats went 4-4 over the last half of the season, culminating in a humbling 27-24 loss to Miami, a loss that knocked them from a week 1 playoff bye.
It’s the first time since 2009 that New England has had to play in the opening round of the playoffs. And the bye means something to New England. They are 27-7 with a bye since 2001 and 3-3 without the bye.
For Tennessee, it was the opposite. After starting 2-4, the Titans replaced Marcus Mariota with Ryan Tannehill as their starting QB. They also committed to the Derrick Henry and running game, going 7-3 and making the playoffs.
It was a remarkable turnaround. Only three quarterbacks in NFL history have averaged 9 yards per attempt while completing 70 percent of their passes: Sammy Baugh in 1945, Joe Montana in 1989 and Tannehill this season.
Tannehill’s passer rating of 117.5 is the fourth-best mark ever. Next on the list is Tom Brady’s iconic 2007 season, at 117.2. All Henry did was lead the league in rushing with 1,540 yards.
New England -5.0 vs Tennessee – Are we watching the end of a dynasty? New England looked like they were going to waltz to the Super Bowl again starting out 8-0. But starting in November the schedule got a lot tougher and the Pats went 4-4 over the last half of the season, culminating in a humbling 27-24 loss to Miami, a loss that knocked them from a week 1 playoff bye.
It’s the first time since 2009 that New England has had to play in the opening round of the playoffs. And the bye means something to New England. They are 27-7 with a bye since 2001 and 3-3 without the bye.
For Tennessee, it was the opposite. After starting 2-4, the Titans replaced Marcus Mariota with Ryan Tannehill as their starting QB. They also committed to the Derrick Henry and running game, going 7-3 and making the playoffs.
It was a remarkable turnaround. Only three quarterbacks in NFL history have averaged 9 yards per attempt while completing 70 percent of their passes: Sammy Baugh in 1945, Joe Montana in 1989 and Tannehill this season.
Tannehill’s passer rating of 117.5 is the fourth-best mark ever. Next on the list is Tom Brady’s iconic 2007 season, at 117.2. All Henry did was lead the league in rushing with 1,540 yards.
New England led the league in interceptions But the Titan rush defense must not learn a lot during practice. The Titans have given up at least 100 yards in 10 of their 16 games this season on the ground with two games where they allowed over 150 yards. New England is methodical running the ball. The Patriots have run for more than 100 yards eight times this season never falling below 68 yards on the ground all season.
Belichick is the master of taking away your best player. He will limit Henry and force Tannehill to win the game. It will be a tall order. New England has a veteran secondary and leads the league in picks by a wide margin. I’ll lay a Mini Mega Bet on the Pats to cover.
Expect a high scoring game too The Titans are 1st in red zone offense, scoring TDs on 75.6% percent of their drives. Conversely, the Titans Tennessee is just 31st in red zone defense giving up TDs 60.1% of the time. I’ll put quatloo on the over 45.0
The dynasty is coming to an end just not this week.
Belichick is the master of taking away your best player. He will limit Henry and force Tannehill to win the game. It will be a tall order. New England has a veteran secondary and leads the league in picks by a wide margin. I’ll lay a Mini Mega Bet on the Pats to cover.
Expect a high scoring game too The Titans are 1st in red zone offense, scoring TDs on 75.6% percent of their drives. Conversely, the Titans Tennessee is just 31st in red zone defense giving up TDs 60.1% of the time. I’ll put quatloo on the over 45.0
The dynasty is coming to an end just not this week.
Dalvin Cook is healthy after missing the last two weeks New Orleans -7.5 vs Minnesota - Minnesota’s offense has relied primarily on Dalvin Cook. Prior to getting hurt two weeks ago, he had 1,135 yards rushing along with 13 TDs. He’s healthy this week and gives a needed boost to the Viking offense.
For all the shade thrown at Kirk Cousins he had his best season yet with a passer rating of 107.4 along with 26 TDs versus just 6 picks.
Brees has been even better. Despite missing the five games this season, he had a passer rating of 116.3, connecting on 27 TDs versus just four picks.
It’s here where the biggest mismatch resides. The Vikings are a sieve against the pass. On the road, the Vikings allow 252 YPG. Brees is especially deadly in the Super Dome throwing for an average 305 YPG.
For all the shade thrown at Kirk Cousins he had his best season yet with a passer rating of 107.4 along with 26 TDs versus just 6 picks.
Brees has been even better. Despite missing the five games this season, he had a passer rating of 116.3, connecting on 27 TDs versus just four picks.
It’s here where the biggest mismatch resides. The Vikings are a sieve against the pass. On the road, the Vikings allow 252 YPG. Brees is especially deadly in the Super Dome throwing for an average 305 YPG.
New Orleans held McCaffrey to 26 yards rushing last week Expect New Orleans to get up early and negate Cook and the running game. Last week, Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey was held to 26 yards rushing as the Saints jumped to a 35-3 halftime lead. Not well known, but the Saints have the #1 rushing defense over the last two years.
New Orleans has a huge chip on their shoulders. The last two years they’ve been bounced on memorable plays. Two years ago it was the Minnesota Miracle versus the Vikings and last year on one of the worst non calls ever, an obvious PI by the Rams, cost them a trip to the Super Bowl.
And that bugaboo about Cousins not playing well in big games. There’s some truth in that. He is 0-15 SU and 1-13-1 ATS when playing teams with twelve or more wins. Other trends in the Saints favor – Vikings are 4-14 ATS against teams with a winning record and 1-5 ATS as a road underdog.
I’ll put a Mega bet on the Saints to revenge the Minnesota Miracle and get the cover.
New Orleans has a huge chip on their shoulders. The last two years they’ve been bounced on memorable plays. Two years ago it was the Minnesota Miracle versus the Vikings and last year on one of the worst non calls ever, an obvious PI by the Rams, cost them a trip to the Super Bowl.
And that bugaboo about Cousins not playing well in big games. There’s some truth in that. He is 0-15 SU and 1-13-1 ATS when playing teams with twelve or more wins. Other trends in the Saints favor – Vikings are 4-14 ATS against teams with a winning record and 1-5 ATS as a road underdog.
I’ll put a Mega bet on the Saints to revenge the Minnesota Miracle and get the cover.
The RB situation in Seattle is so bad they needed to bring Marshawn Lynch out retirement Philadelphia +1.5 vs Seattle - The Seahawks stumbled into the playoffs. They lost their last two games and three of the last four, and as a result, they have to play on the road despite posting a better record than the Eagles.
The late-season struggles can be attributed to their injuries to their top two RB’s Chris Carson (1230 rushing yards) and Rashaad Penny (370 yards). They went with Travis Homer and coaxed Marshawn Lynch out of retirement in last week’s loss to San Francisco last week.
They will face off against an outstanding Eagle rush defense that ranks 3rd in the league.
The Eagle, meanwhile, are on a four game winning streak including a win over Dallas in week 16 to clinch the NFC East. The Eagles have a ton of injuries to their receiving core. DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffrey are on the IR. Zach Ertz and Nelson Agholor are both questionable.
But Seattle is 27th against the pass so Philly will still have success especially if Zach Ertz is cleared to play.
The late-season struggles can be attributed to their injuries to their top two RB’s Chris Carson (1230 rushing yards) and Rashaad Penny (370 yards). They went with Travis Homer and coaxed Marshawn Lynch out of retirement in last week’s loss to San Francisco last week.
They will face off against an outstanding Eagle rush defense that ranks 3rd in the league.
The Eagle, meanwhile, are on a four game winning streak including a win over Dallas in week 16 to clinch the NFC East. The Eagles have a ton of injuries to their receiving core. DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffrey are on the IR. Zach Ertz and Nelson Agholor are both questionable.
But Seattle is 27th against the pass so Philly will still have success especially if Zach Ertz is cleared to play.
Wentz is a fumbling machine against Seattle This is Eagles’ QB Carson Wentz’ first career playoff start. First time playoff starting QBs struggle going 14-32-1 ATS. He has also not fared well against the Seahawks in his career. Wentz is 0-3 with a 4:5 TD to INT ratio in his three career games against Seattle including a loss in week 12 this year.
Wentz also has a tendency to fumble the football. He leads all QB’s with 16 fumbles and the Seahawks forced three fumbles against Wentz in the week 12 meeting.
But I’m still going to take the Eagles. It’s a revenge game at home. Neither Seattle nor Philadelphia are the same teams as those earlier versions due to all the injuries. But Phiily has been able to overcome the injuries while Seattle has tanked.
I’ll go against the public and lay the points.
Wentz also has a tendency to fumble the football. He leads all QB’s with 16 fumbles and the Seahawks forced three fumbles against Wentz in the week 12 meeting.
But I’m still going to take the Eagles. It’s a revenge game at home. Neither Seattle nor Philadelphia are the same teams as those earlier versions due to all the injuries. But Phiily has been able to overcome the injuries while Seattle has tanked.
I’ll go against the public and lay the points.
