by: Double E
NFL Week 9
I’ve never been happier going 3-3 in my entire life. After losing 16 straight times to the Kansas City Chiefs, my Denver Broncos finally broke the streak in style, crushing the sickly Patrick Mahomes. Yes, the Mile High victory caused us to lose our first teaser pick last week, but it should tell you something that I recommended picking against the team I root for. No homer picks here. We now stand at 26-23 through 8 weeks.
In other news, one of my favorite breakout players of the year, Kirk Cousins, was lost to an Achilles injury. It’s sad news for my fantasy team, but sadder news for this article as I can no longer recommend hammering his passing props (which he was obliterating on a weekly basis).
Let’s get ready for the last week of the first half.
Spreads+Totals (2-1 last week, 13-11 for the year)
1. Saints -2.5 vs Bears, Eagles/Cowboys over 40.5 in 6-point teaser: Another teaser to kick off the week, and I love the numbers we get by moving these lines by 6. I expect the Saints to destroy the Bears, but now we can get them for less than a field goal? Yes, please. For the other leg, in 3 of the last 4 matchups between the Eagles and Cowboys, one team has scored at least 40 by themselves! I expect another wild shootout here between two of the top teams in the NFC.
2. Jets +3.5 vs Chargers: We must give the Jets credit; they looked dead in the water last week and yet they found a way to win despite playing terrible offensive football for 58 minutes. At home once again hosting the Chargers, I expect them to have better success moving the football, but more so I expect their defense to continue locking teams down and giving them a chance at the end.
3. Giants/Raiders under 37.5: Who are we kidding here? These teams have set the NFL back decades with their inability to move the football, and I expect nothing less this week after the Raiders once again fired their coach before he could reach the halfway mark of his contract. The NFL record for punts in a game for a single team is 16 by the Raiders back in 1998. We could approach that number in this game.
Props (1-2 last week, 13-12 for the year)
1. Tyreek Hill over 92.5 receiving yards: You don’t need me to convince you of the other-worldly talent Hill possesses. You don’t need me to remind you of the revenge game narrative. Instead, I’ll remind you that Hill has an NFL record for receiving yards through 8 games and is on pace to break the all-time single season record, a record he stated he could break before the season. Expect another monster performance.
2. Chuba Hubbard over 46.5 rushing yards: This is a great time for Chuba to be taking over the Panthers backfield. The Colts are 0-3 in their last 3 games and have given up 38, 39, and 37 points. The Panthers are underdogs at home, but I fully expect a plethora of scoring in this matchup as the Panthers looked much better offensively after the switch in play-caller coming off the bye.
3. AJ Brown over 82.5 receiving yards: Brown averaged 85 yards per game a year ago against these very Cowboys, and now he won’t have to contend with the tough coverage of Trevon Diggs. Oh, and he’s gone over 125 yards in six straight weeks. Fire up Brown with confidence this week.