Be sure to check any relevant information before kickoff as this article is written days in advance!
Carolina Panthers at New York Giants
Carolina (3-3) has fallen from the high horse that was there 3-0 start. After losing CMC to injury, they haven’t been terrible but they can’t get over the hump after suffering close losses to the Cowboys, Eagles, and Vikings. The QB play of Sam Darnold hasn’t been great, but this offense was built around CMC. Darnold has slipped in recent weeks tossing for 1573 yards, 7 TD, and 7 INTs while completing 137/224 passing. Bad completion numbers.
The Giants have been dealing with a lot of injuries in their offense that have hindered their play. However, there is some goods news as Golladay, and Barkley are now listed as questionable which will provide a boost to the offense. Sharpe and Engram are also listed as questionable.
If everyone returns, this offense might be able to do some damage. Jones hasn’t been terrible with all of his pieces out but has still managed to go for 1524 4 TD, and 4 INTs. He still has to get those TD numbers up for this team to start winning games.
The Panthers are the favorite to win with a spread of -3.0. You are going to want to watch the injury report on this close to game time to see who is active for the Giants offense. However, I still think the Panthers win and snap their 3 game losing streak so Panthers ML looks good.
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
Lamar Jackson has caught flack throughout his entire career that he is simply a running back. Jackson is silencing those people by vastly improving his passing game without compromising his ground game. He does still need to work on his decision making as he still tries to throw into double and triple coverage. Jackson has tossed for 1686 yards, 9 TD and 5 INTs while completing 131/194 of his passes. On the ground, he has 64 touches for 392 yards and two scores.
The Bengals are looking like contenders early on with Joe Burrow. He is starting to come into his own and the addition of fellow LSU teammate Chase has helped him out immensely with 5 TD already. Joe Burrow looks better every game and will be a force in the future. Burrow has thrown for 1540 yards, 14 TD, and 7 INT. The INTs are a tad high but he is still young.
This matchup appears to be one sided by Vegas by making the the Ravens the -6.5 favorite. This number seems high given how well the Bengals defense has played and have beaten teams like the Tampa Bay Bucs. The Bengals defense is top tier this season ranking 7th in points allowed, 13th in passing yards allowed, 8th in rushing yards allowed, and 5th in points allowed.
Don’t get me wrong, taking down the Ravens at home probably isn’t in the cards for the Bengals, however, +6.5 seems a little high. I’m buying up to +7.0 and giving it a full send.
Kansas City Chiefs at Tennessee Titans
To the surprise of everyone, the Chiefs are sitting at a record of 3-3 after many thought they would at worst have maybe one loss early on. However, the offense isn’t at fault as Mahomes is still throwing touch down after touchdown. Something new has emerged, Mahomes is throwing up INTs at an unprecedented rate for him. He has tossed for 1887 yards, 18 TD and 8 INT.
The Titans get a tough back to back schedule but are coming off an upset win against the Bills on Monday night should give this team some swagger. Nearly all of the money was on the Bills and many said Bills was a lock. As we know, there is no such thing as a lock. King Henry has yet to be slowed by any defense and he has to be licking his chops at this Kansas City defense that is one of the worst in the league. They are allowing an average of 133.2 yards per game. Henry has 162 touches for 783 yards and 10 TD. He can’t be stopped.
The Titans defense hasn’t been that great either which suggests a shootout. This game should be high scoring as Henry is just as unstoppable as Mahomes. The Titans have proved their grit. The Titans offense rely on the rush game but their passing game needs some serious work as they rank 27th in passing yards. They have elite receivers but Tannehill can’t find them as he only has 6 TD passes and 4 INTs. Might be time to move on from him. This team is win now and are wasting Henry’s prime.
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Kansas City is the favorite on the road with a spread of -5.0 which is surprising given their last game against the Bills and the glaring mismatch against Henry and the Chiefs defense. Chiefs most likely win this game but I’m taking the +5.0. All hail King Henry.
Honorable Mentions
Raiders -3.0
Colts +4.0
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