Happy Columbus Day everyone! If you’re reading this, it means you survived week 5 of the NFL season.
Our picks went 2-1 yesterday, bringing our record on the NFL to 6-6, +0.3u.
In the 1:00 slate, the Colts, with Jonathan Taylor back but Gardner Minshew under center, held on to beat the Titans. Indianapolis has two quarterbacks that fit perfectly into that scheme, and you barely notice the difference in play.
The Saints-Patriots game was very different than I had pictured, but we hit that under nonetheless. The Patriots are a mess. Missing defensive stars are a huge problem, and Mac Jones continues to get worse.
In the 4:00 slate, the Broncos let the Jets hold on as the game seemed to come down to which quarterback sucked less. In the battle of the Wilsons, Zach far outplayed Russell, who hasn’t improved a bit under the new regime in Denver. He’s still the same QB that runs around too long, makes stupid decisions and takes terrible sacks. It’s hard to believe this is the same guy that took the Seahawks to the Super Bowl twice.
The games we didn’t bet on were pretty good too.
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: the Steelers won a divisional game at home. As home dogs they looked dead after a muffed punt put the Ravens close to their end zone, but Lamar Jackson threw a terrible goal-line pick to give the Steelers a chance. They capitalized on it when Kenny Pickett hit George Pickens for a touchdown. The entire AFC North division has left a lot to be desired in the early-going, and right now it’s up for grabs between any of those teams.
Speaking of the AFC North, the Bengals bounced back against the Cardinals. Ja’marr Chase had a historic day receiving and Joe Burrow looked much more comfortable behind a line that was actually blocking for him. Maybe this is the start of the turnaround they so desperately need.
The Chiefs put the fork in the Vikings’ season, winning by 7 in Minnesota. Taylor Swift’s boyfriend went down with a non-contact ankle injury but was able to finish the game. The Vikings should start to seriously consider moving Kirk Cousins.
The Lions look like the real deal, as they handled the Panthers yesterday. The defense is extremely talented and the offense is firing on all cylinders. They’re the clear favorite to win the NFC North division.
One game that wasn’t very good was the Sunday night game between the Cowboys and 49ers. What was supposed to be a close, low-scoring game turned into an absolute annihilation of the Cowboys. I’ve said it before, but the 49ers are the perfect football team. They have weapons at every position on the field, a great coach, and they found a steal at quarterback who was putting the ball wherever he wanted last night.
The Cowboys, on the other hand, are done. Last night was a season-ruiner, especially if guys like Daron Bland, Leighton Vander Esch and Donovan Wilson are going to miss significant time. Dak Prescott is not the guy he was a few years ago and will never take this team to a Super Bowl. That being said, coaching can at least try to put him in an offense that highlights his strengths. After firing Kellen Moore, they switched to a west coast offense under Mike McCarthy. Not only does the offense look like it’s from 1985, but the receivers don’t get open and Dak Prescott is uncomfortable throwing the ball deep. Do you see how that’s a problem? The Cowboys, like so many other teams around the league (Jets and Giants come to mind) are trying to turn their quarterback into something he’s not. At this point, I’m not even sure they make the playoffs.
We’ll gear up for what should be a decent Monday night game, and I’ll be putting a unit on the Packers +2. The Raiders have problems on offense when they can’t get the ball to Davante Adams, and he’ll be covered by Jaire Alexander. I’m expecting the crowd to be about 70% Packers fans and I think it gives them the edge tonight.
Tough Money Sports 