Realistically, you can make a case for either team in this Super Bowl. For me, it comes down to the ground control game of the 49ers vs the passing game of the Chiefs. Kyle Shanahan was on the losing end of Super Bowl 52 with the Falcons leading the Patriots 28-3. He has said he learned a lot from that loss and you know it weighs heavily on him here in this Super Bowl. He won't ask Jimmy Garrapolo to do much in this game, not that he has in the last two games. Jimmy G threw just eight times vs the Packers and they still scored over 30 points. It all comes down to the 49ers running game vs the Chiefs defense. For me, if the Niners get out to a lead they will take the air out of the ball and the ball out of Garappolo's hands. Expect to see a lot of Mostert running in this game. I don't think the 49ers can be a come from behind team and ride the arm of Jimmy G, they need to get out front here and keep the Chiefs offense off the field. I believe that Shanahan learned from his prior mistakes and will get out in front and be more conservative. I'm going to take the 49ers here in Super Bowl 54

NFC Championship game here as the winner earns the right to head to the Super Bowl. The Packers jumped out to a big halftime lead over the Seahawks last week and then held on tight for the win, 23-28, just covering the 4 1/2 point spread. The Hawks went for two on a crucial play that ended up being the difference in the cover for the Packers. The 49ers had a much easier time with the Minnesota Vikings. The two teams tied at 7-7 to end the first quarter, but after that it was all 49ers as they easily pulled away for the win. This is a rematch of the week 12 matchup as the 49ers easily beat the Packers in San Francisco, 37-8. The 49ers defense was on display in that game just as it was in last week's divisional series win over the Vikings. They have held four other opponents under 20 points on their home turf and I expect that the defense will once again be key to a 49ers win here on Sunday. I'm laying the points with the home team as the 49ers move on to the Super Bowl. Play San Francisco.

I got my Playoff Total of the Year winner in easy fashion last week with the Texans and the Chiefs over. They actually went over in the 1st half of the game, scoring 52 combined points. I'm coming right back again here with the over in this game. The Chiefs offense looks like they can score at will once again. You really have to double both Hill and Kelse and that is just too difficult for teams to do. The Titans are a ground and pound team with Derick Henry just grinding out yardage. But beware, he can break the long ones too. Ryan Tannehill has been amazing this year at QB for the Titans after taking over the starting job. The Chiefs have some payback on their minds today. Not only did they lose to the Titans 32-35 back in week 10, but the Titans knocked them out of the playoffs back in the 2017 Wildcard game. The Titans have really been the surprise team of the playoffs with road wins over the Patriots and then last week shocking the Ravens, 28-12. Can they do it again? Don't expect the Chiefs to take those shockers lightly here. They will be ready for this game and I look for the Chiefs to want to start fast and avoid that 0-24 hole they put themselves in last week. I'm taking the OVER here on Sunday.

Playoff Total of the Year: The Divisional playoffs here on Sunday and Jim Feist has his best total of the playoffs going. Last time these teams met back on Oct 13, it was a 31-24 win by Houston. Deshaun Watson threw for 280 yards in that game. The Texans had to overcome a 0-16 deficit to the Bills last week before coming back for the win and cover 19-16 in OT. JJ Watt returned for that game and had a big sack that sparked the Texans. The Chiefs won their last six games of the season (five after their bye). The big news for Houston today is that WR Will Fuller should play. The Offense is so much better with Fuller to compliment DeAndre Hopkins and take pressure off him. The Chiefs defense has been much improved, but where they lack is the secondary and the return of Fuller could be a big plus here to the Texans offense. Lets face it, this one should be a shootout. I expect both teams to score in the 30's here today. With Fuller's return and a total in the low 50's I expect this game to fly OVER. Play OVER as your Playoff Total of the Year.

 The Tennessee Titans know they can't get into scoring match here today with the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens just have too many offensive weapons to contend with. So how do the Titans plan to combat that? With ball control. I expect to see Tennessee get into a conservative, ground game here on Saturday with Derick Henry as the battering ram he's been all season long. That along with short passing from Ryan Tannehill and the Titans should keep that vaunted Baltimore offense on the bench. Unders took over the Wild Card round and I expect to see more of that here today. Should be light showers in Baltimore on Saturday with winds around 10-15 mph. Lets take the UNDER here with these two teams. Play UNDER.

Division action from the NFC here will determine if the Vikings or the 49ers advance to the Conference Championship game. The Vikings pulled of the huge upset last week at New Orleans, 26-20 in OT. The Saints never got the ball in the OT period. That was the 2nd year in a row that the Saints lost in the playoffs in OT. The Vikings defense played very good, keeping the high flying Saints offense to just 20 points. The offense was back at full strength with Dalvin Cook returning from his shoulder injury and Adam Thielen catching that big OT ball to set up the win. The 49ers had a great season, though they did lose that tough home game to the Cardinals and then almost gave away the NFC West to the Seahawks on the last play of the game. HC Pete Carrol making another bonehead move as his team was hit with a delay of game on the 1 yard line. I'm still amazed at some bonehead moves Carrol makes in big games. The Vikings have rushed for 310 yards in their last two games and now have a healthy Dalvin Cook back. QB Kirk Cousins got that monkey off his back about not winning the big games and getting his first playoff victory. The 49ers defense struggled a bit down the stretch, which concerns me. The Vikings ground game will take pressure off Cousins here today. I expect this to be a close game, just like last week's for the Vikings. That means this 7 or 7 1/2 points is a mountain for the Niners to climb. San Francisco may win this game, but I don't think it will be by more than three-points or an outright loss here today. Take the Vikings plus the points.

To say that football can be a game of inches has never been more true than the Seattle Seahawks game with San Francisco in week 17. The Seahawks win that game and they get a bye this week and home games the rest of the playoffs. Lose and they hit the road this week for a Wildcard game. Well, with just seconds left, the Seahawks missed scoring a touchdown literally by inches. The Seahawks had first and goal at the 1-yard line with just a few seconds left and in comes Marshawn Lynch. But that would not be as the Hawks committed a cardinal sin and let the clock run out for a 5-yard penalty. Now it's 1st and goal at the 6-yard line with time for just one play. Wilson completed the pass to Hollister, but he was stopped just inches from the goal line and the 49ers win and clinch home field in the playoffs. Whew! You would think that would deflate the Seahawks. But I don't believe that. The Eagles won the NFC East with their win in week 17 over the Giants. Seattle will be No 5 seed with an 11-5 record but must travel to Philly this week. The Seahawks are a 1 1/2 point favorite here next Sunday. This is a rematch of their week 12 matchup in Philly where the Eagles were a 3-point favorite. The Seahawks won that previous meeting, 17-9. The Eagles have never beaten Russell Wilson, so they have their work cut out for them here today. The Eagles have won four straight to close the season and the Seahawks have lost two straight. For me, the Seahawks have had to play in the tough NFC West, while the Eagles played in the weakest division in football, the NFC East. The Seahawks, in my opinion, are the far better team and with this small line I look for them to sweep the Eagles this year. I love this matchup and will make it my WildCard Game of the Year. Take Seattle.

The Vikings come into today's Wildcard game at New Orleans riding a two-game losing streak. The Vikings lost to Green Bay, 10-23 and then closed the regular season losing to the Bears, 19-21 - both at home. Meanwhile, the Saints are hitting on all cylinders as they enter the playoffs. The Saints are on a three-game win streak and have scored 34 points or more in four straight and six of their last seven games. I look for the Saints to continue their offensive outburst today and that means the Vikings will have to open the playbook to keep up here today. I'm taking the over in this game. Play OVER.

It came down to the final week of the regular season for Tennessee to make the playoffs. They beat Houston 35-14, though Houston sat many regulars who were ailing with injuries or illness. The NE Patriots could have had a bye this week, but instead their loss in the final week of the regular season vs Miami Dolphins, 24-27 as a 17-point favorite. That led to them playing this game in the Wild Card round instead of having the week off. Tennessee was 2-4 to start the season, but rebounded the second half. Tennessee RB Henry is key here as don't think the Patriots have an answer for him. Tannehill took over at QB this year and the offense changed around after that horrible start. Expect Henry, Henry and more Henry from the Titans today. Take Tennessee.      

The Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans both finished the season at 10-6. The Bills winning a AFC Wildcard and the Texans winning the AFC South division. Buffalo did lose their last two games of the season to the Patriots (17-24) and then last week at home to the Jets, 6-13. Though the latter they had no incentive to win that game. The defense has been great for this team, ranked 3rd overall in the NFL behind the Patriots and 49ers. The Houston Texans defense isn't very good, at least statistically as they rank 28th overall in the league. Houston does hold the edge in offense, ranking 13th to the Bills 24th. Buffalo has been good to under bettors, with five of their last six going Under and 12 of their 16 on the season going under. Houston had to rest some of their injured stars in the final game, including QB Deshaun Watson (back) and WR DeAndre Hopkins (illness). They should be fine here today. The big news though is the return of DE JJ Watt who tore his pectoral muscle and has missed about half the season. That could be big to the defensive side of the ball here today. Don't expect a lot of points in this one. The Bills defense is stout and with the return of Watt to the Texans defense they should be improved. I'm playing the UNDER here today.

The Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans both finished the season at 10-6. The Bills winning a AFC Wildcard and the Texans winning the AFC South division. Buffalo did lose their last two games of the season to the Patriots (17-24) and then last week at home to the Jets, 6-13. Though the latter they had no incentive to win that game. The defense has been great for this team, ranked 3rd overall in the NFL behind the Patriots and 49ers. The Houston Texans defense isn't very good, at least statistically as they rank 28th overall in the league. Houston does hold the edge in offense, ranking 13th to the Bills 24th. Houston had to rest some of their injured stars in the final game, including QB Deshaun Watson (back) and WR DeAndre Hopkins (illness). They should be fine here today. The big news though is the return of DE JJ Watt who tore his pectoral muscle and has missed about half the season. WR Will Fuller could also return here today as he's been battling a groin issue. With the rest the players got last week coupled with Fuller and Watt returning, I like the Texans at home here. Play Houston Texans.

These two AFC South foes close out the regular season here today. Tennessee has their playoff hopes on the line today. Good news for the Titans is that Houston QB Deshaun Watson is questionable with a back injury. Considering that Watson likely will miss this game, that will help the Titans immensely here. The Titans need this game and the Texans don't. Get on this one early, play the Titans.

The Philadelphia Eagles win and they are the division champions and make the playoffs. They lose and they will need Dallas to lose to Washington at home to make the playoffs. If I was Philly I wouldn't count on that to happen. That puts them really in a must win spot here Sunday. The Giants would like nothing better than to spoil those hopes. Philly is 2-4 ATS in their last six games while the Giants have covered four of their last five at home. Philly also hasn't done well vs the Giants, going 1-4 ATS their last five vs New York. Saquon Barkley had a great week last week and looks to be healthy again after an injury. The Eagles will also be without some big weapons on offense in the person of TE Zack Ert who is out today along with WR Nelson Algholor who is out. They join Alson Jeffrey, the WR who is also out. Key offensive losses will make this a close game. I don't expect the Giants to go quietly here. Take the points with the Giants. Play New York.

The Indianapolis Colts can still finish at 8-8 on the season with a win here today at Jacksonville. The Colts beat the Panthers last week, 38-6 while the Jags lost at Atlanta, 12-24. The Colts will look to duplicate their effort vs the Jags from week 11 in which they ran for 264 yards. They tallied 218 yards last week, so they are still hitting on all cylinders in the run game. The only incentive for the Colts here is to make it to .500 and I believe that's enough vs this poor Jacksonville team. Take the Colts.

The Oakland Raiders still have a shot to make the playoffs, but it's a longshot. First, they have to win at Denver today and then they need about eight other things to happen to have a shot. All of which don't look probable. The Raiders snapped a four game losing streak last week with a win over the Chargers, 24-17. That 1-4 their last five games really hurt their playoff chances. They opened the season against the Broncos with a home win, 24-16. The Broncos hope to payback the effort here in the last game. The Broncos are off a home win over Detroit, 27-17. Von Miller returned, though he wasn't 100% healthy. The Broncos have looked like a new team with QB Lock starting the last four games. They have wins over the Chargers, Houston and Detroit. I look for Denver to end the Raiders playoff hopes today with a win. Play Denver.

This game has no meaning to the Baltimore Ravens as they have already secured home field through the playoffs. As such, QB Lamar Jackson will take a seat and rest for this one. Also, Mark Ingram is hurting and will miss this game so he can rest for the playoffs. That's a good chunk of this Ravens offense that will miss this game. Throw in the fact that the Steelers have a very good offense and we might not see but a few points out of this Ravens team today. Devlin Hodges will be the starter for the Steelers at QB. He has not been too good with just 5 TD's and 8 INT's this year and a 75.8 passer rating. I'm going to take the UNDER in this one as I don't expect many points by either team.

The Atlanta Falcons have finished strong at the end of the year with wins over Carolina, San Francisco and last week vs Jacksonville. They have also gone over in two of their last three games. They scored 29 points at San Francisco two weeks ago. Tampa Bay has been a scoring machine most of the year. They have scored 28 points or more in four of their last five games. They have also scored 30 points or more in seven games this year. The defense isn't all that good though and that will make for a high scoring game here on Sunday. I'm taking the OVER.

The NFC North Title is on the line tonight in Minnesota as the 11-3 Green Bay Packers take on the 10-4 Vikings. The Packers have improved greatly under first year coach Matt LaFleur after a 6-9-1 season last year. The Vikings have won eight of their last 10 games. The Rams loss on Saturday clinched the Vikings a playoff spot. The Vikings will have to play on Monday without star running back Dalvin Cook, who will miss Monday's game with a bad shoulder. Alexander Mattison is his backup, but he's not near healthy either with an ankle sprain. That leaves Matt Boone as possibly the starter here on Monday. Whoever is rushing the ball will face the league's fourth best rushing red zone defense in the Packers. I like the points here on Monday, with the Pack getting about 5 or 5 1/2 points. If Cook were playing this would be a much more even contest. Take Green Bay.

Arizona just playing for fun right now as they won't be going anywhere this postseason. The Cardinals showed just that last week, knocking off Cleveland, 38-24. Now they travel to the Northwest to take on the Seahawks. Seattle and San Francisco are tied in the NFC West with 11-3 records. The Seahawks had to hold on last week to beat the Panthers, 30-24, pushing the 6-point favorite line. This after jumping out to a big lead. This is not a game the Seahawks really care about because they have the 49ers up next week in the season finale. That game will likely determine the division winner and possibly the best record in the NFC. The Seahawks also have two key defensive injuries, Jadeveon Clowney and Bobby Wagner, neither of which have practiced. The Flu has also circulated through the locker room the last couple of weeks, hitting the defense particularly hard. They should be back today, but those effects could linger into this week's game. Just too many factors that make me believe that Seattle will be disinterested in this game. I expect them to win, but not cover this big spread. Take Arizona.

It all comes down to this for the Cowboys and the Eagles. They both come into today's game with 7-7 records and the winner of today's game should win the NFC East. That isn't saying much considering they have both had up and down seasons. Dallas did get a big win last week, beating their first opponent with a winning record in the LA Rams, 44-21. That win broke a three-game losing streak for the Cowboys. Philly also won last week, beating Washington, 37-27, though they were trailing at half. The issue is that both teams have numerous injuries. Dallas has issues at linebacker with Vander Esch and Sean Lee both hurting. Philly is without its two top receivers in Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson. Plus, Nelson Agholor is having knee issues and missing practices. The big one though is Dak Prescot who has a hairline fracture in his finger and a bad shoulder. Presot should start here today, but how effective he will be is yet to be seen. With all the injuries I expect these teams to play this game close to the vest and conservative. I'm taking the UNDER here today.

New Orleans Saints still hoping to get that best record in the NFC with a 11-3 record. The Saints have two games left and are tied with three other teams at 11-3. New Orleans had an easy win last Monday night over the Colts, 34-7, covering the 9-point favorite line. The Saints get the shorter week here today as they play at the Titans. Tennessee is fighting for that last AFC Wildcard spot with Pittsburgh. Both teams tied at 8-6 with two games left. The Titans lost last week to division foe Houston, 21-24 at home. They finish up next week against Houston. The Titans could still win the AFC South as Houston is one game ahead at 9-5. Lots on the line here for the Titans, they can win the division, become a Wildcard or miss the playoffs all together. For me, the Saints coming off that short week and laying a few points here both go against them. I like the way Ryan Tannehill has led this Titans team and they had some bad luck last week that put them in an early hole. I look for the Titans to rebound here today. Play Tennessee.

The Carolina Panthers won't play in the postseason, but that doesn't stop them from scoring. The Panthers have seen their last four games go over the total. Their defense has been horrible, allowing 29 or more points in five straight games. They have now gone over in eight of their last 10 games. The Colts just didn't show up to last Monday's game at New Orleans, losing 7-34. That's three straight games that the colts have allowed at least 31 points. Today, they face a Panthers' defense that has dropped to number 26 overall in the league. The Colts defense is now 16th in the league. I expect a high scoring game in here today. Play the OVER.

The 49ers final two games of the season are not easy ones. They play a LA Rams team today that likely is out of the playoffs. The Rams lost big last week to the Cowboys, 21-44. That was the first win against a winning team by Dallas. The loss dropped the Rams to 8-6 in the West and now two-games back of the Vikings with two games to play for the Wild Card. The 49ers lost a heart breaking game last week to Arizona, 22-29. The 49ers were leading with seconds left when Arizona scored a touchdown that had to be reviewed and overturned as the player just broke the plane of the goal line. That came with just a few seconds left in the game. The subsequent kickoff turned into another Atlanta touchdown during the throw backs by the Niners. San Francisco is tied with Seattle for the NFC West at 11-3 and they face each other next week. Normally I might expect a look ahead here by the Niners, but coming off that loss I expect them to be fully ready for the Rams here today. Plus, I feel the Rams will not be in the game here today as they have nothing left to play for as their playoff hopes are realistically gone after last week. Play San Francisco.

 The Buffalo Bills moved to within one game of the New England Patriots with a win last week over the Pittsburgh Steelers, 17-10. It was the Bills fourth spread win in their last five games. The Patriots improved to 11-3 with their win last week over Cincinnati, 34-13. It was the first spread win for the Pats in their last four games and five of the last six. The Pats offense has been stagnant, scoring 24 or fewer points in five of their last six games. Both of these teams have excellent defenses. Buffalo ranks 3rd overall and New England ranks 1st in the NFL. I think nearly a TD is too many points for a good defense like the Bills. Plus the Pats just not scoring like they were. I'm taking the Bills.

Both these teams had rough losses last week and look to bounce back here tonight. The Colts are 6-7 and have lost five of their last six games. They had hopes of a playoff spot until this recent bad run. They lost last week at the Bucs, 35-38 and allowed 542 yards of offense. The Saints have clinched the NFC South but have given up the NFC best record. They also came out on the losing end of a shootout last week at home to the 49ers, 46-48. The Saints defense is banged-up, losing two defensive linemen in Sheldon Rankins and Marcus Davenport - both will miss rest of season. Defense probably won't be on display here today. I'm taking the over and enjoying the show. Play OVER.

Sunday night action is a big AFC battle between two teams looking for wild card berths as the Steelers host the Bills. The Bills are 9-4 and trail the Patriots by one game in the AFC East. The Steelers are 8-6 and while they have no hope at the AFC North, they are in a fight with Tennessee for that 2nd Wild Card spot. The Bills lost a tough one at home last week to the Ravens, 17-24, narrowly missing the cover as a 6-point dog. The Bills have now gone under in three straight and 10 of their 13 games. This is thanks to a 3rd ranked defense. The Steelers have the 5th ranked defense. I like both these defenses to dominate here today. I'm taking the UNDER.

The Seahawks NFC West division hopes were dealt a blow last week as they lost to the Rams in a key contest. The Hawks dropped to 10-3, now a game back of the 49ers. The Rams are just two games back of the Hawks at 8-5 and hold that head-to-head advantage. The Hawks have Carolina this week, at home vs Arizona next week and then finish with a big game at home vs the 49ers in the final week. Seattle looks to bounce back here at Carolina this week. The Panthers got beat bad last week at Atlanta, 20-40. It was the team's fifth straight loss. Carolina allowed 461 yards and turned the ball over four times in their loss at Atlanta. The Panthers just not a good team at this point and Seattle has a lot on the line. Take Seattle.

The Denver Broncos have the 27th ranked offense this season, but since they made the move to QB Drew Lock two weeks ago they have looked very good offensively. Lock had missed the season to that point with an injury or this could have been a much different season with all the close games the Broncos have lost. Denver's defense is still good, not great, ranked 12th in the league. They will contend with the 6th ranked offense here in Kansas City. QB Patrick Mahomes should play today, though he has been nursing a bad hand which could impact his performance today. KC has gone under in two of its last three games as the defense has played much better, not allowing more than 17 in any of those three contests. The Chiefs have the division locked up with a 9-4 record and Oakland sitting second at 6-7. That could come into play since Baltimore will have home field with the conference best record at 12-2. I'm going to take the under here today. Play UNDER.

Huge game here on Sunday in the AFC South as both Houston and Tennessee are tied at 8-5 in the division. The winner takes over the division while the lose could miss the playoffs. Houston had a big letdown last week after beating New England the week before. The Texas lost at home to Denver, 24-38. They have two games left with Tennessee so they have their own destiny in their hands. Same for Tennessee, with two of their last three vs Houston this is a huge game. Tennessee's offense has been great since putting Ryan Tannehill in at QB. The Titans have score 35, 42, 31 and 42 and points with Tannehill. They have also gone over in seven straight games. This one really looks likes a shootout. Both teams have dynamic offenses. I'm taking the OVER.

The Chicago Bears offense finally looks to be clicking. After a season of misses, QB Mitch Trubisky has been connecting with his receivers, Miller and Robinson. The result was a nice win at home last week over Dallas, 31-24. The defense has been good, not great. They have had injuries on the defense that have hurt what looked like one of the best in the league. Now they face the Packers, who they faced in week 1 of the season when they lost at home 3-10. The Packers have gone under in four of their last five games. The offense has hit over 24 points just once in that span. Last week they beat Washington at home, 20-15, but failed to cover the 12 1/2 point line. Despite being led by future Hall-of-famer Aaron Rodgers, the offense ranks just 23rd in the league. Chicago still ranks just 29th. In reality, both teams are probably better defensively then offensively. I'm taking the UNDER here today as I expect a repeat of a low scoring game. Play UNDER.

The Denver Broncos have the 27th ranked offense this season, but since they made the move to QB Drew Lock two weeks ago they have looked very good offensively. Lock had missed the season to that point with an injury or this could have been a much different season with all the close games the Broncos have lost. Denver's defense is still good, not great, ranked 12th in the league. They will contend with the 6th ranked offense here in Kansas City. QB Patrick Mahomes should play today, though he has been nursing a bad hand which could impact his performance today. KC has gone under in two of its last three games as the defense has played much better, not allowing more than 17 in any of those three contests. The Chiefs have the division locked up with a 9-4 record and Oakland sitting second at 6-7. That could come into play since Baltimore will have home field with the conference best record at 12-2. That being said and the fact that Lock has looked great and injected some enthusiasm into this Broncos team, I'm taking the points here today. Take Denver.

Seattle and San Francisco both tied in the NL West at 10-2. The difference is that Seattle has just a +36 point differential and the 49ers have a +166. Still. Seattle finds ways to win. Seattle beat Minnesota on MNF last week. 37-30 despite trailing at the half. It was the clubs fourth straight cover. They have also gone over in three of their last four games. Seattle had 444 yards of offense in that game. The Seahawks now have the league's 3rd top offense. Their defense, well it ranks 24th, hence the low point differential. The LA Rams are in desperate need of a win. A loss and any hope of the post season is gone. The Rams have the league's 10th ranked offense and 12th defense. Last week they played great, beating Arizona on the road, 34-7. I think today's game is going to be a shootout. I'm taking the OVER.

Not sure what has happened to the Oakland Raiders. They beat Cincinnati three weeks ago, 17-10 for their third win in a row. Then they bot beat at the Jets, 3-34 and then last week Kansas City beat them, 9-40. The Raiders held the Chiefs to just 259 yards, which is great, but gave up 40-point, mainly because of three turnovers. If you just looked at the stats, the Raiders should have been right in that game. Those two losses dropped them to 6-6 as they host the Titans today. The Titans are 7-5 and looking to get a Wild Card. They are battling with Pittsburgh right now, but the Raiders and Colts are both just a game back. That means a loss today by Oakland and the Raiders playoff hopes probably are gone. Since Ryan Tannehill took over the Titans they have been great. They beat the Colts last week on the road, 31-17, despite almost 100 yards fewer than Indianapolis. The Titans have been a great over team since Tannehill took over. They have gone over in six straight games, thanks to an offense that has scored 27 points or more in five of those games. The defense hasn't been great, but the offense has been. Today, I look for a lot of points from both teams. I'm taking the OVER.

With just four regular season games left, the Pittsburgh Steelers increased their odds of grabbing one of the Wild Card slots with a big win over Cleveland last week, 20-13. The Steelers are 7-5 now and tied with the Tennessee Titans for that last playoff spot. That makes all these game of great importance as they have a huge impact on their postseason chances. The Steelers defense has held three of the last four opponents to 13 points or fewer. Arizona got manhandled last week at home by the LA Rams, 7-34. They never were in that game, failing to come close to the +2.5-point line. Arizona has now allowed 28 or more points in each of their last five games. Arizona is now dead last in overall defense in the NFL. Pittsburgh's defense has climbed to 6th in the league now, though the offense is ranked 28th. This game has a lot more importance to the Steelers. That being said, I don't have a lot of confidence in this Steelers team to get a lot of points. They seem to be content to be conservative and let their defense win them games. Even though Arizona has the worst overall defense, they should be able to keep Pittsburgh from scoring a lot here on Sunday. I look for a low scoring close game. Play the UNDER.

With just four regular season games left, the Pittsburgh Steelers increased their odds of grabbing one of the Wild Card slots with a big win over Cleveland last week, 20-13. The Steelers are 7-5 now and tied with the Tennessee Titans for that last playoff spot. That makes all these game of great importance as they have a huge impact on their postseason chances. The Steelers defense has held three of the last four opponents to 13 points or fewer. Arizona got manhandled last week at home by the LA Rams, 7-34. They never were in that game, failing to come close to the +2.5-point line. Arizona has now allowed 28 or more points in each of their last five games. Arizona is now dead last in overall defense in the NFL. Pittsburgh's defense has climbed to 6th in the league now, though the offense is ranked 28th. This game has a lot more importance to the Steelers. I'm taking them here with the much better defense. Play Pittsburgh.

Ever since Drew Brees has returned to the NO Saints, this club has look out of sorts. They just haven't been as fluid as they looked with Teddy Bridgewater running the show. Now, they may have to play without two starting offensive linemen who are hurt. That not only will hurt the running game, but pass protection. The 49ers lost a tough game last week in a driving rain at Baltimore 17-20 on a last second field goal by Justin Tucker. The loss drops the 49ers into a tie with the Seahawks at 10-2. No doubt that the 49ers will make the playoffs, but there is a big difference between a Wild Card and the best record in the NFC. So these last four games of the regular season are of utmost importance to the 49ers. The 49ers have the best point differential in the NFC with a +166 mark. Compare that to the Seahawks who they are tied with at just +36. The Saints are also 10-2 and have a +50 differential. Right now I believe the 49ers are a better team than the Saints. I look for the 49ers to be more hungry to win this game on Sunday. I'm taking San Francisco.

The return of Andy Dalton to the Bengals starting QB spot seemed to be just the shot in the arm that Cincinnati needed to get their first win of the season. The Bengals beat the NY Jets, 22-6. It was the club's third spread win in a row however. It was also the first time the Bengals cracked the 20-point mark in the last seven games and just the third time all season long. Now they hit the road to play the Browns. Cleveland saw it's playoff hopes take a major hit last week as they lost at Pittsburgh, 13-20. Not sure what to make of this Browns team. They have plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. They have major playmakers at both Wide receive spots and two excellent running backs to go with Baker Mayfield. Yet they continue to underachieve. They do have three somewhat easy games left of their four, with Cincinnati twice, at Arizona and home vs the Ravens. They really need to win out to have a chance at one of those Wild Card slots. I do think today these teams will put some points on the board. Cleveland has shown they can score big and with Dalton back in the saddle the Bengals should do better on offense. Play the OVER today.

A bit confused to how Dallas is a road favorite here tonight at Chicago. The Cowboys have lost two straight games, losing last Thanksgiving at home to Buffalo, 15-26 and the week before at New England, 9-13. They play their third good defensive team here tonight, scoring 24 points total their last two weeks. Meanwhile, Chicago has won its last two games and three of the last four. The Bears defeated Detroit on Thanksgiving, 24-20 and the Giants the week before 19-14.The NFC East is just a mess, with the Cowboys leading at 6-6 and the Eagles right behind at 5-7. A loss today by the Cowboys and the division leader won't even be at .500 after this week. The Bears are 6-6 and look like they are out of any playoff implications. That doesn't mean they won't want to deal the Cowboys a blow here today. The Cowboys have the league's top ranked overall offense, but it sure hasn't looked that way the last few weeks. This team looks all out of sorts and now they look to have a lame duck head coach to top it all off. I'm going to take the points here with the Bears on Thursday and expect them to win outright. Play Chicago.

The Seattle Seahawks will likely make the postseason as they sit at 9-2. However, they can catch the 49ers at 10-2 with a win tonight over Minnesota as the 49ers lost on Sunday to the Ravens. What is more surprising is that Seattle is 3-2 at home this year and 6-0 on the road. Minnesota can also climb into a tie in the NFC North division with the Green Bay Packers with a win here today that would make both teams 9-3 on the season. The Vikings needed a big come from behind victory two weeks ago to defeat the Broncos, 27-23. The club had last week off to prepare for this game. Seattle has won four straight games after beating the Eagles on the road last week, 17-9. Seattle is now 11-5-1 ATS their last 17 vs the NFC and 10-4-1 ATS their last 15 on Monday Night football. I like the home team here tonight. Take Seattle.

Sunday Night NFL here as the new youth QB's in Houston's Watson faces the old dog in the Patriots' Tom Brady. This looks to be one of the best games on the board for Sunday. However, word has it that the illness bug is making its way through the Patriots locker room. As of last count, 17 players have been infected. What does this mean? Likely that we are looking at a low scoring game. The Patriots already have one of the top defenses in the league, now if you throw that illness bug into some offensive players and you have the recipe for a hard-fought, lower scoring game. I'm going to take the direction here in the Sunday Night game. Take the UNDER.

On paper this looks to be shootout with the poor defense of the Raiders and the high flying Chiefs offense. However, mother nature will be raring her ugly head a bit here in the form of some winds. Wind affects totals and sides more than rain or even snow. Winds, especially cross winds can hurt field goals and passing games. That being said, we can throw out all kinds of stats to play this game over or the favorite in this one. For me, I expect the winds to cause these teams to be a bit more conservative than usual. That being said, the +10.5 points for the Raiders might be a bit much if the scoring isn't going to be as high as normal. I'm taking a chance on the dog here. Play the Oakland Raiders.

The Denver Broncos have to be one of the most snake-bit teams in the NFL. They have held many 4th quarter leads, only to lose all but a couple. The defense has been good, not great by their previous standards, but still good enough to rank 10th overall in the league. Now they face the Chargers, who have the 5th ranked defense in the league and the 13th ranked offense. Denver ranks 26th in offense and is without QB Joe Flacco. The last four meetings between these clubs have all gone UNDER, including this year's meeting in LA that was a 20-13 Chargers win. Denver will be very conservative here and the Chargers rely more on their defense these days then the offense. I'm taking UNDER here today.

On paper this looks to be shootout with the poor defense of the Raiders and the high flying Chiefs offense. However, mother nature will be raring her ugly head a bit here in the form of some winds. Wind affects totals more than rain or even snow. Winds, especially cross winds can hurt field goals and passing games. That being said, we can throw out all kinds of stats to play this game over. But for me, with this cross wind I'm going to use this high total and take the UNDER. The game opened 54.5 and is now 50 to 50 1/2. Still, that's plenty high enough for me. Play UNDER.

The Washington Redskins are 2-9 on the season, but looking for win number two in a row here today at Carolina. They beat the Lions last week, 19-16 at home. Rookie QB Dwayne Haskins has looked terrible in that role, but the Redskins are sticking with the young QB. Haskins has 654 total yards with two TD's and six INT's. The Skins defense ranks 20th and don't put too much into that 16 points they allowed to the Lions. Detroit was playing with backup QB Driskell. The Panthers gave New Orleans all it could handle last week, losing on the road 31-34. That coming after a horrible outing at home the previous week against Atlanta which they scored just three points. Washington has been outscored in every quarter this year. I don't have much faith in the Washington QB here on the road today. Carolina still has a solid defense that can give Haskins all kinds of problems. I'm laying the points with the home team here on Sunday. Play Carolina.

The Green Bay Packers offense was embarrassed by the San Francisco 49ers last week, managing just eight points in the blowout loss, 8-37. The offense has not been firing on all cylinders of late, scoring 11, 24 and 8 the last three weeks. QB Aaron Rodgers and crew managed just 198 yards vs the 49ers stout defense. That should change here today against a Giants defense that ranks 27th in the league. I have to feel that the Packers will want to get things moving in the right direction here again today. The Giants have allowed 30 or more points to four of their last six opponents. The Giants should get their own share here today at home. That's why I'm taking the OVER.

It's the rematch here today as the Steelers host the Browns. It was only a few weeks ago that the Browns humiliated the Steelers on the field and then we had that malay on the last play between Mason Rudolph and Myles Garrett that resulted in many suspensions and massive fines to both teams and players. Here today, Rudolph (while not suspended) finds himself riding the bench after another poor performance last week. This is a huge game for both teams. A Cleveland win and they are 6-6 and hold the tiebreaker over the Steelers and sit pretty for a Wild Card slot. With two games against the Bengals left on the schedule, Cleveland can almost write themselves into the postseason with a win here today. Devlin Hodges will start at QB for the Steelrs. But the Steelers offensive woes may go much deeper than just Rudolph. They have scored 40 total points the last three games and seven of those were by the defense. I think Hodges and the Steelers play a very conservative game and look to not make mistakes. This is going to be a low scoring game that could go either way. For me, I'm taking the UNDER.

Lots of discourse in Big D this week after they laid an egg last week at New England. The Cowboys lost to the Patriots, 9-13 despite out-gaining the Pats, 321-282 yards. The Cowboys rushed for 109 yards, but just couldn't pull out the win. Jerry Jones may have had it with his head coach and could be shopping. Problem is, the Cowboys played the 2nd ranked defense in the NFL last week and now face the 3rd ranked defense in the Bills. Dallas is no slouch though, ranking 6th themselves on defense. The good news for Dallas is that they still are tied for the best offense in the league with 433 yards per game. That will be tested here today against this stubborn Bills defense. Buffalo has allowed over 21 points just one time all season and that was 31 points to Philadelphia. The Bills look to have a solid hold on one of the Wild Card slots at 8-3. Dallas needs a win here to stay ahead of Philly who is just one game back of the Cowboys for the NFC East division. I like the points here, the Bills just don't allow enough points and this touchdown looks like a mountain to climb for Dallas. Play the Bills.

Thanksgiving day matchup here to start your Thursday early as the Bears take on the Lions. The Lions likely will be without QB Mathew Stafford again, as the QB has been out for weeks now with a hip injury. Officially Stafford is listed as doubtful for today's contest. The Lions lost last week for the fourth week in a row, this time at Washington, 16-19. The Lions lost the game despite holding the Redskins to just 230 total yards. Turnovers though did them in, with four give aways in the contest.The Chicago offense looked pathetic for the entire first half last week against the Giants, before Mitchell Trubisky finally connected with Robinson in the 2nd half for some big yards and a come from behind win at home, 19-14. Still, the offense hasn't scored more than 20 points in any of their last five games and they have now gone under in five straight. The defense is good, not great like everyone expected. They did hold the Giants to just 243 total yards though. Chicago has the 4th overall ranked defense in the NFL. This won't bode well for Lions QB Keff Driskel who has not looked all that good and is now injured himself with a hamstring problem. Driskel is day-to-day right now and on this short week will have his hands full with this Bears defense if he does play. Considering the Lions haven't signed another QB, I'd say Driskel will give it a go on Thursday. With that I'm looking for this game to go UNDER the total.

Baltimore has scored 90 points the last two games, 49-13 over Cincinnati and then last week over Houston, 41-7. The Ravens have covered four straight games and their offense has at least 30 points in each of those games. The Ravens now have the league's second best offense at 445 yards per game. The Ravens are 1st in rushing yards per game in the league with 204 per game. The Rams offense has dropped to 13th with Todd Gurley and Jared Goff both under-performing this year. The Ravens are about a 3-point road favorite here today. The Ravens offense has been hitting on all cylinders. Can't say the same about the Rams. Ever since Goff signed that big contract he's performed well below his last two seasons. The Rams have 29 total points the last two weeks, though they did win at home over Chicago last week, 17-7. The Rams offense continues to drop in the rankings and I believe they will have issues keeping up with the Ravens potent attack here tonight. I'm taking the Ravens and laying the field goal.

Great matchup here between the league's second rated defense in San Francisco and the Aaron Rodgers led Packers offense. The Packers had last week off to prepare for this game after winning the prior week over Carolina, 24-16 as a 4.5 point favorite. San Francisco looked like they were going to go to another OT last week vs the Cardinals with seconds remaining and down by three points. However, a breakout run led to a TD and a four point lead with seconds to play. Then the improbable happened with Arizona, trying backward passes with no time left on the clock, let the 49ers take the ball and score another touchdown. The 49ers scored 13 points in the last 40 seconds of the game for a very improbable push of the 10-point line. The 49ers have now covered just one time in their last five games. The defense has also allowed at least 25 points in each of their last three games. Anytime a team has an extra week to prepare, especially a good team like the Packers, I'll take that team. Play Green Bay.

Great game here tonight on national television as two of the best in the NFC meet as the 49ers host the Packers. I really love the over in this contest. The Packers had last week off to prepare and when they do that you know Aaron Rodgers and Company will have it dialed up for some points here tonight. The 49ers have the league's 2nd best defense, but lately they have been giving up points. They have gone over in four straight games with 25 points or more allowed to Seattle and Arizona twice. These clubs met last year and they scored 63 points at Green Bay. Green Bay has gone over in 20 of their last 28 road games. In addition, these clubs have eon over in 7 of their last nine meetings. I'm taking the OVER again here tonight.

All of a sudden the Atlanta Falcons look like a real NFL team. After a horrible season that saw the club go 1-7 S/U and ATS their first eight games, the team has won back to back games against New Orleans and Carolina. What's even more impressive is that they got both those wins on the road and held the Saints to just nine points and the Panthers to three points. Now they return home where they get another very winable contest against Tampa Bay. The Bucs lost last week to the Saints, 17-34. It was the sixth straight game they have failed to cover the season and the eight straight game they have gone over the total. Tampa Bay's offense is ranked 8th in the league but their defense is ranked 23rd. Atlanta has improved to 10th in the league in offense and 21st in defense. Atlanta is laying 3 1/2 or 4 here today at home. The way the Falcons are playing, I have no problem laying those points. Play Atlanta.

Seattle Seahawks having a fine season as they look to either catch San Francisco for the NFC West or grab a wild card spot. At 8-2, the Hawks are one game back of San Francisco and tied with the Vikings for a Wild Card. The only other team possible close are the Rams and they are two-games back of the Seahawks. Philadelphia in all probability will need to catch the Dallas Cowboys for the NFC East division title if they want to make the playoffs. The Eagles trail Dallas by just one game and Dallas must play at New England this week. The Eagles, at 5-5 really have no shot at a Wild Card slot. The Eagles are laying one-point here on Sunday. I'm afraid I have to side with the much better Seahawks team here. They are just too good with Russell Wilson at the helm. Play Seattle.

 The Colts welcomed back QB Jacoby Brissett and thusly posted an impressive win over Jacksonville, 33-13. The only negative was losing RB Marlon Mack to a broken hand. He will be out indefinitely with that injury. The win snapped a 2-game losing streak while Brissett was nursing his own injury. Now they play a big game here on Thursday at Houston. Houston looked thoroughly confused in their loss at Baltimore last week, 7-41. It was billed as a battle of two of the best, young QB's in the league, but it turned out to be a lopsided Ravens win. The Texans have the Patriots up next, so they might not have full attention here on this game tonight. The Colts have covered the last two and four of five in this series with the Texans. The Colts have already beaten the Texans this year in Indy, 30-23. Houston holds the edge in this game offensively, but the Colts have the edge on defense. This should be a great Thursday matchup, but I'm going to take the points with the visitor here. They have a huge edge in coaching in my opinion and we saw that come to light last week in Houston's bad loss at Baltimore. Play Indianapolis.

The Colts welcomed back QB Jacoby Brissett and thusly posted an impressive win over Jacksonville, 33-13. The only negative was losing RB Marlon Mack to a broken hand. He will be out indefinitely with that injury. The win snapped a 2-game losing streak while Brissett was nursing his own injury. Now they play a big game here on Thursday at Houston. Houston looked thoroughly confused in their loss at Baltimore last week, 7-41. It was billed as a battle of two of the best, young QB's in the league, but it turned out to be a lopsided Ravens win. The Texans have the Patriots up next, so they might not have full attention here on this game tonight. The Colts have covered the last two and four of five in this series with the Texans. The Colts have already beaten the Texans this year in Indy, 30-23. Houston holds the edge in this game offensively, but the Colts have the edge on defense. This should be a great Thursday matchup. However, both teams have injuries they are dealing with and I expect a much more conservative contest here tonight. Play the UNDER.

The NFL moves to Mexico City tonight for Monday Night football. The problem here is the elevation, which is over 7,000 feet. The Chargers practiced all week in Denver, which at just over 5,000 foot is still well short of the elevation here tonight. Kansas City finally got back QB Patrick Mahomes after his kneecap injury. Still, the Chiefs lost last week with Mahomes, 32-25 at Tennessee. It was the team's second loss in the last three weeks. The Chiefs are also just 2-5 ATS their last seven games. The Chargers are also off a loss last week, at Oakland, 24-26. Despite having more plays and yards then the Raiders, the Chargers three turnovers and no take aways were the difference in that game. It's a wide open AFC West with both KC and Oakland tied right now at 6-4 and the Chargers at 4-6. Chargers can't afford another loss if they hope to make the postseason. I expect a high scoring game with this one going back and forth all evening. I'm taking the points here today and playing the OVER. Play LA Chargers & the OVER.

The NFL moves to Mexico City tonight for Monday Night football. The problem here is the elevation, which is over 7,000 feet. The Chargers practiced all week in Denver, which at just over 5,000 foot is still well short of the elevation here tonight. Kansas City finally got back QB Patrick Mahomes after his kneecap injury. Still, the Chiefs lost last week with Mahomes, 32-25 at Tennessee. It was the team's second loss in the last three weeks. The Chiefs are also just 2-5 ATS their last seven games. The Chargers are also off a loss last week, at Oakland, 24-26. Despite having more plays and yards then the Raiders, the Chargers three turnovers and no take aways were the difference in that game. It's a wide open AFC West with both KC and Oakland tied right now at 6-4 and the Chargers at 4-6. Chargers can't afford another loss if they hope to make the postseason. I expect a high scoring game with this one going back and forth all evening. I'm taking the points here today and playing the OVER. Play LA Chargers & the OVER.

Arizona Cardinals may be dead last in the NFC West at 3-6-1, but this is a team that is improving. All you have to do is look at their last two games. Last week at Tampa they went toe to toe with the Bucs and lost 27-30, but covered the 5.5 point spread. The prior week they gave then unbeaten San Francisco all it could handle in a 25-28 loss, but again covered the 10-point line. In fact, the Cardinals have now covered fie of their last six games. Now they face San Francisco for the second time in three weeks, but this time in Arizona. San Francisco saw it's perfect season come to an end last week in an OT loss at home to Seattle, 24-27. Their backup, rookie kicker had a chance to win the game in OT, but shanked the field goal attempt. San Francisco is just 1-3 ATS in their last four games. The 49ers have the league's 2nd best rated defense. They will have to contain dynamic Arizona QB Kyle Murray, who is proving he is the real deal in the NFL rookie class this year. Murray has the best percentage of NFL Qb's at avoiding pressure this year, 34.1%. Murray has improved wit each game this season and his sack avoiding skills will have to be on high today against the 49er's defense. Murray also has just one pass intercepted in his last four games. I'm going to take the 10 1/2 points here today with the Cardinals.

A pair of first place teams meet here on Sunday as the Baltimore Ravens host the Houston Texans. Houston is 6-3 and leads the Colts by one-game in the AFC South. The Ravens are 7-2 and have a 2 1/2 game cushion over the Steelers. Baltimore's offense has been hitting on all cylinders, scoring 30 points or more in each of their last three games, including last week's win over the Bengals, 49-13. Baltimore has the 2nd ranked overall offense in the league. Houston might have something to say in this one, ranking fourth in the NFL in offense. Houston has scored at least 23 points in each of their last five games including two week's ago over Jacksonville, 26-3. The Texans had the week off following their London trip. That should do nothing but help the offense here today. I'm looking for a high scoring game in this one. Play the OVER.

The Buffalo Bills look to solidify their hold on a AFC Wild Card spot with a game at Miami today. The Bills are 6-3 and trail first place New England by 2-games. The Dolphins, who stared the season 0-7, have won two straight games. Buffalo lost last week at Cleveland, 16-19 as a 3-point dog. Miami won at Indianapolis last week, 16-12, as a 10.5-point dog. Buffalo has covered just one of its last four games while the Dolphins have now covered five straight games. Buffalo is laying anywhere from 6 to 7 points on the road today. The way Miami is covering spreads those points look very generous. I'm taking the Dolphins here on Sunday.

The Pittsburgh Steelers pulled another upset win last week, beating the Rams at home 17-12. The Steelers won the way they have most of this year, with defense. The win improved the Steelers to 5-4 on the season and 2-games back of division leading Baltimore. However, they are in the thick of things right now for a Wild Card slot in the AFC as just Buffalo has a better record at 6-3. So much hope was put into the Cleveland Browns this year with the addition of Odell Beckham Jr to the receiving corps. However, that really has not materialized as the Browns are just 3-6 on the season. The Browns did win last week, snapping a four-game losing streak with a 19-16 victory over the Bills. The Browns pushed the 3-point chalk line, making them just 2-6-1 ATS on the season. The Steelers are 5-1 ATS their last six vs the AFC North and 9-2-1 ATS their last 12 following a ATS Win. The Browns are 5-21-2 ATS against winning teams their last 28 tries. They are also 0-6-1 ATS their last seven on grass. The dog is 3-1-1 ATS the last five in this series. I expect a good defensive battle here this week and with that I'll be taking the points on Thursday night. Play Pittsburgh.

Reason: Maybe our best MNF matchup of the season has the undefeated 8-0 San Francisco 49ers host their division rivals, 7-2 Seattle Seahawks. The 49ers saw the Patriots perfect season go down last week and they had a scare put into them by the Cardinals. Seattle no longer the great defense of year's past. Now, this is QB Russell Wilson's team. He makes this team go. This is going to be a true test of just how good the San Francisco team and their top ranked defense really is. For me, this game comes down to QB's. Yes, Jimmy Garoppolo is coming into his own this season. However, he's up against the top QB in passer rating in Wilson with a 118. Garoppolo isn't far behind though. In looking at the total in this game your first inkling is to the under. You have this excellent 49ers defense. The 49ers have gone over their last two games, though they did score 51 points against Carolina. Last week Arizona with a rookie QB was able to put 25 on the board. Seattle has the 4th rated offensive unit in the NFL and San Francisco isn't far behind at 7th. Two very good offenses here and I look for this to be higher scoring than most think. I'll take the over here tonight.

Maybe our best MNF matchup of the season has the undefeated 8-0 San Francisco 49ers host their division rivals, 7-2 Seattle Seahawks. The 49ers saw the Patriots perfect season go down last week and they had a scare put into them by the Cardinals. Seattle no longer the great defense of year's past. Now, this is QB Russell Wilson's team. He makes this team go. This is going to be a true test of just how good the San Francisco team and their top ranked defense really is. For me, this game comes down to QB's. Yes, Jimmy Garoppolo is coming into his own this season. However, he's up against the top QB in passer rating in Wilson with a 118. Garoppolo isn't far behind though. My feeling is that getting nearly a TD with a Wilson led team is more than I can pass on. Should be a great game though. Take Seattle.

The LA Rams are coming off a win over the Cincinnati Bengals, 24-10. But that was against the worst defense in the league and they could only score 24. It was their 2nd win in a row though and their second cover. LA is 5-3 S/U and 6-2 ATS on the season. QB Jared Goff has struggled this year, 19th in QB Ratings. The Pittsburgh Steelers look for their third win in a row after last week's win over the Colts, 26-24. QB Mason Rudolph looks recovered from his concussion. As Rudolph and this offense develops from game to game, it's the defense that's been keeping the team in games. The Steelers are going to be tough at home, especially as a dog here. I'm taking the points with the host. Play Pittsburgh.

 The Carolina Panthers coming off a win last week over the Titans, 30-20. It was the team's third win in their last four games. In fact, this Panthers team has score 30 or more points in three of those last four games. In addition, Carolina has covered five of their last six. The Green Bay Packers looked bad last week at the Chargers, losing 11-26. It was the team's worst performance of the season. Still, the Packers are 7-2 S/U and 6-3 ATS on the season. The problem with the Packers is which team do you get this week? The Panthers have been great against the pass this year and will be tested here today against Aaron Rodgers. Expect the Panthers to pound the ball on the ground with all purpose back Christian McCaffrey. I like the points here with the Panthers. This could be a shootout today, but the Panthers have enough weapons to stay close. Take Carolina.

The Baltimore Ravens are 6-2 S/U and 3-4-1 ATS on the season. The Ravens pulled one of the biggest wins of the season last week in beating the previously undefeated Patriots, 37-20. The problem is that this will set up the Ravens for a huge letdown week here. Why would they even care about getting up for a game against the winless Bengals? The Bengals are without a win this year, but have covered three spread. They actually haven't played too poorly giving up points. Even thought Cincinnati has the worst team in allowing yards per game, they have not allowed more than 27 points in any of their last six games. While I won't take the points with the Bengals, I will play the under here today. The Bengals have score more than 17 just once in their last seven games. Look for the Ravens to do just enough to win here today. Play the UNDER.

 The Arizona Cardinals are 3-5-1 S/U and 6-3 ATS on the season. Rookie QB Kyler Murray continues to shine in the role of starting quarterback. The Cardinals gave a big scare into the undefeated 49ers last week, losing a tough game, 25-28 as a 10-point dog. Tampa Bay is 2-6 both S/U and ATS on the season. The Bucs played very good in Seattle last week and should have covered, losing in OT, 34-40. This team is a bit confusing, they looks great at times and very sloppy at others. They have lost and failed to cover their last four games now. No way the Bucs should be laying these points in this game. The Cardinals are improving game by game and really I believe are the better team right now. Take Arizona.

Chicago Bears continue to struggle for some offense this year, scoring just 14 and 16 in their last two games. They have gone under those last two games and under in five of their eight games. Today they take on the Detroit Lions and they might have a great shot today. Lions QB Mathew Stafford is out today with a hip injury and lets face it, Stafford is the Lions offense. Without Stafford the Bears should run rough shot over the Lions offense all day long. I don't trust the Bears offense enough to lay the points, but I will take UNDER.

The LA Chargers shocked the Green Bay Packers last time out, 26-11 as a 4-point dog. The Chargers actually are playing good defense, allowing 16 and 11 their last two games (both wins). After a terrible spread start that saw the club go 1-5-1 ATS, they have covered their last two games. The Oakland Raiders also coming off a win at home over the Detroit Lions, 31-24. The win snapped a two-game losing streak. The Chargers have the 8th ranked overall defense, compared to Oakland's 27th ranked defense. The Raiders are better offensively, ranked 11th overall with the Chargers coming in a 16th. The Chargers have covered the last four in this series and six of the last seven meetings. I like the Chargers here tonight. Play LA Chargers.

Monday Night football is a key NFC East matchup between the Cowboys and the Giants. The NFC East is up for grabs, even the 2-6 Giants are not out of it. The Eagles and Cowboys lead the division with 4-3 records. That makes these division games big. Dallas had a big win two weeks ago at home over the Eagles, 37-10 and then had last week off. Three of the Cowboys next four games are on the road. This will also be the 2nd meeting of the season between these teams with Dallas winning on opening weekend at home, 35-17. The Giants have only two wins but they have been playing better of late, losing by five at Detroit last week and six at home two weeks ago to the Cardinals. Saquon Barkley is back from his injured ankle and QB Jones has been having some big weeks of late. The Cowboys haven't been a good Monday Night football team, covering just 4 of their last 14 on the big stage. Giants getting a TD here at home is too much for me to pass up on. I'll take New York.

Sunday Night football has a good one tonight as the Patriots play the Ravens in Baltimore. The Patriots have had one of their best defensive teams in memory. The Patriots have not allowed more than 14 points in any game this season, including 7 or fewer points in four games. Not hard to follow that starting week 9 the Pats were the 2nd best overall defense in the league behind the 49ers. Baltimore has seen it's ranking drop, now down to 16th in the league. As for offense, the Patriots may only be 16th but they don't have to rely on Tom Brady to run up scores with the way the defense has been playing. The Ravens offjavascript:__doPostBack('eAddPickPackage','')ense now ranks 2nd, only behind Dallas. This game comes down to the Patriots defense against the Ravens offense. As for me, I haven't seen any team yet that has solved this problem. However, to be on the safe side, I'll take the UNDER here today and look for a low scoring game.

The Seattle Seahawks got some much needed help at wide receiver when they picked up Josh Gordon from the waiver wire. Question is, will Gordon be worth the trouble that no other team has been willing to put up with so far. Seattle beat Atlanta last week, 27-20, but failed to cover the 7.5 point favorite line. It was the second week in a row that Seattle has failed to cover and is now 3-5 ATS on the season. Tampa Bay lost its third in a row last week at Tennessee, 23-27. They are just 2-5 ATS on the season. Since their big win at the Rams back on Sept 29th, they have lost three straight both S/U and ATS. Tampa dominated the game in yards, gaining 389 yards to 246. The problem was that the Bucs had four turnovers to just one for Tennessee. Not sure how Seattle won either, they were outgained by Atlanta, 322-512 yards. Again, it was turnovers as the Falcons had three turnovers to none for the Seahawks. Tampa should get its share of yards and points here today. Problem is how Jameis Winston can control turnovers. If the Bucs can keep those down, they can win this game. They have already proved at the Rams they can beat good Western teams on the road. I'm taking the points with Tampa Bay.

The Detroit Lions have been a good over team all season, posting a 5-2 O/U record and having both their last two games going over the total. That's what I'm looking at here today. Detroit has the 2nd worst defense in the league, only Cincinnati is worse. They counter that poor defense with a better than average offense that ranks 10th in the league. Pretty much the same for the Raiders. The Raiders are 26th in defense and 14th in offense. Oakland has seen three of its four road games go over the total. Last week at Houston was their first road under and that was just by one-point and they had the over TD called back. The Raiders lost at Houston last week, 24-27 with both teams gaining nearly 400 yards in offense with no turnovers. The Lions beat the Giants in Detroit last week, 31-26, going over the 49.5 point total. I love this game over here on Sunday with two of the worst defenses in the league on display here. Play the OVER.

Early game here from across the pond as the Texans and Jaguars matchup in London. The Houston Texans won a narrow game last week at home over the Oakland Raiders, 27-24. They failed to cover the 6.5-point favorite line. It was the second failed cover in a row for the Texans. Jacksonville won its second game in a row both S/U and ATS with a win over the Jets last week, 29-15. It was the teams fifth cover in eight games. The Jags defense held the Jets to just 213 total yards and had three takeaways. Houston ranks 20th in the league in defense, but will be without their star DE in JJ Watt, who will miss the remainder of the season with a tear in his Tricep. Jacksonville ranks 13th defensively. Houston has the better offense though, ranking 4th in the league compared to the Jags 11th ranked offense. The Jags are a 1-point dog, so just need to pick the winner in this one. For me, that's Jacksonville.

San Francisco 49ers look to be one of the favorites in the NFC to win the conference this year after a 7-0 start. The defense has improved so much that's it has overtaken New England for the best overall defense in the league. They have allowed 13 points or fewer in their last four games and no team has scored more than 20 against them this year. The 49ers destroyed the Panthers last week, 51-13. However, the Niners only had 388 yards of offense. They controlled the ball on the ground though, rushing for 232 yards. The Niners allow a league best 224 yards per game now with the offense coming in 6th overall. Arizona will have its work cut out tonight. The Cardinals are the 22nd best offense in the league and the defense is ranked 29th. Arizona lost last week at the Saints last week. 9-31. I won't be laying the big price on the road with the 49ers. Rather, I'll be taking the UNDER here tonight. I don't expect the Cardinals to get much and as long as the 49ers don't go crazy again, this one should stay under.

The Kansas City Chiefs will have to play at least this week and likely more weeks without start QB Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes hurt his knee against the Broncos last week and is expected to miss some time. Mahomes is back at practice though and may return sooner than many have expected. The starting job will fall to Matt Moore. Moore will face a very good Packers defense that ranks 11th overall in the league. The Packers are now 6-1 after a big win over Oakland last week, 42-24. QB Aaron Rodgers has been red hot, throwing 5 TD's last week and over 400 yards. He will face a Chiefs defense, that while ranked only 25th overall, has yet to allow a 300 yards passing in a single game. The Chiefs are a good under team at home in their very loud stadium, evidenced by a 25-51-1 O/U record their last 77 home games. Without Mahomes here I expect to see a much more conservative effort by the Chiefs. And as such, I'm taking the UNDER here today.

The Oakland Raiders were hit hard last week by Aaron Rodgers who wracked-up the yards and Touchdowns against them in a 42-24 loss. The Raiders had no answer for Rodgers who threw five TD's and over 400 yards. It's not surprising, given the Raiders have the 24th ranked defense. The Raiders also have the third worse pass defense, allowing 289 yards per game. Offensively, the team isn't bad, ranked 13th in the NFL behind QB Carr and a good RB in Jacobs. The Raiders defense will once again be tasked here on Sunday against the league's 4th ranked offense in Houston. The Texans are coming off a loss at Indianapolis, 23-30. These clubs have gone over the last four meetings. Houston has also gone over in 16 of their last 23 vs the AFC. I expect a lot of points in this one. The total is high at around 51, but I don't think these clubs will have any problem going over that. Play the OVER.      

 Carolina playing very well under new QB Kyle Allen. Since Cam Newton went down in game two, the Panthers have won four straight games. Allen has benefited from one of the best all purpose players in the game in Christian McCaffrey. The Panthers last played on October 13th in London where they beat Tampa Bay, 37-26. The Panthers have had plenty of rest for the 49ers today. San Francisco improved to a perfect 6-0 with their win at Washington last week, 9-0. The 49ers defense is one of the best in the league, but the offense could muster just three 2nd half field goals in the win. Now they face a tough stretch of games with Carolina, Seattle, Green Bay, Baltimore and New Orleans on tap in five of the next seven weeks. For this game, I'm going to take the points here with the Panthers. They have had plenty of rest and time to prepare for this game. I expect a tough defensive battle that should be a field goal either way. Take Carolina.

The Giants fully expected to win last week. They were at home against a weak Arizona club and they were getting back star running back Saquon Barkley. But, things didn't quite work out as they fell behind early and never could catch up, losing 21-27. Barkley performed well in his return from an ankle injury rushing 18 tim3es for 72 yards and a TD. Barkely has been limited in practice this week, but is expected to play on Sunday.The Giants have now lost three straight games both S/U and ATS. Meanwhile, Detroit is coming off a loss at home to the Vikings, 30-42. The loss snapped a four game spread win streak for Detroit. The Giants offense is now ranked 24th in the league and their defense is ranked 28th. The Lions offense is ranked 8th overall and the defense is 31st. This game looks to be fairly high scoring as both teams rank low in defense. The Giants have done well on the road, covering eight of their last 10 away games. The road team has also done well in this series, covering seven of the last nine meetings. I'm going to take the points here on Sunday. Play the Giants.

The Giants fully expected to win last week. They were at home against a weak Arizona club and they were getting back star running back Saquon Barkley. But, things didn't quite work out as they fell behind early and never could catch up, losing 21-27. Barkley performed well in his return from an ankle injury rushing 18 tim3es for 72 yards and a TD. Barkely has been limited in practice this week, but is expected to play on Sunday.The Giants have now lost three straight games both S/U and ATS. Meanwhile, Detroit is coming off a loss at home to the Vikings, 30-42. The loss snapped a four game spread win streak for Detroit. The Giants offense is now ranked 24th in the league and their defense is ranked 28th. The Lions offense is ranked 8th overall and the defense is 31st. The Giants have gone over in their last five road games, including all three away games this season. Detroit is 4/2 O/U on the season and have gone over in two of their three home games. I expect a lot of points in this one. Take the OVER.

Minnesota improved to 5-2 both S/U and ATS with a win last week over the Detroit Lions, 42-30. The Vikings offense was clicking with 166 yards rushing and 337 yards passing by Kirk Cousins. The offense improved to 6th ranked overall in the NFL. The 6th ranked defense didn't perform as well, allowing 352 yards through the air to the Lions and 81 yards on the ground. It was the third straight win and cover for the Vikings, who have scored at least 28 points in four of their five games this year. The Redskins covered the spread last week, but barely. And considering they were shutout by the 49ers 0-9, that's even more amazing. But the 10-point line was their savior. The Skins covered their first game of the season last week against four losses. The managed just 154 total yards of offense in the loss and the ranking dropped to 29th overall. These teams last met in 2017 when the Vikings won in Washington, 38-30. The last three meetings have all gone over the total. That's what I'm sticking with here tonight. If we can get 10 points out of Washington then this one should go over. Play OVER.

New England Patriots look like they are making another run at the NFL Super Bowl as their defense has just been outstanding this year. Last week the Pats beat the other New York team, the Giants, 35-14. The Pats defense held the Giants to just 213 total yards and had four takeaways. The Pats defense is ranked 1st overall in the NFL with the Jets at 19th. The last six games in this series have gone UNDER. The Patriots are 1-7 O/U as a road favorite of seven or more points their last eight games. Meanwhile, the Jets are 1-5 O/U when coming off a S/U home dog win as they did last week vs the Cowboys. I'm going to take the UNDER tonight in this one. Play UNDER.

Dallas has lost three straight games after starting the season 3-0. Now there are accusations being thrown around about play calling and such. Bottom line is that this Dallas team is having some issues. They lost at the Jets last week, 22-24 as a touchdown favorite. Still, despite losing three straight games this game with the 3-3 Eagles is for the division lead. The Eagles lost last week at Minnesota, 20-38. That snapped a two-game win streak for Philly. Dallas has the 2nd ranked offense in the league while Philly comes in at 20th. The Cowboys are ranked 9th defensively with the Eagles being 14th. There must be some internal issues in Dallas with a team ranked as high as they are in both offense and defense, yet with just a 3-3 record and on a 3-game losing streak. I'm not going to play Dallas until I see some unity on this club. Tonight, I'll take the visitor in this one. Play Philadelphia.

Reason: Two teams having to play with backup QB's meet today as The Saints clash with the Bears. The Saints will continue here with Teddy Bridgewater at QB as Drew Brees is still out with a hand injury. The Bears could see QB Mitchell Trubisky back this week as he's listed as questionable right now. The Saints also have their star RB Alvin Kamara listed as questionable with an ankle injury. With all this offensive power sidelined, this looks to be a low scoring game. The Bears have the 6th ranked overall defense but the 30th ranked offense. The Saints have the 10th ranked defense and the 22nd ranked offense. So we can see these teams have suffered offensively this year. The Bears had last week off to stew over their beating by the Raiders in London two weeks ago, 21-24. After falling behind big, the Bears came back to lead 21-17 before losing late. The game was just the club's second over in five games. In addition, it was the most points the Bears have allowed this year. The Saints offense has scored less than 14 points two times in the last three weeks, including last week's win at Jacksonville, 13-6 . The team has covered four straight though with half of their games going under. I'm taking the under here today. Both teams have good defenses and both offenses are hurting. Take the UNDER.

 Houston Texans bring their 4-2 record to Indianapolis to the play Colts on Sunday. The Texans are fresh off that win at Kansas City, 31-24. They not only dominated on the scoreboard, but dominated the ball in time of possession. The Texans had 472 total yards compared to the Chiefs 309 yards. Meanwhile, the Colts had last week off after also beating the Chiefs the prior week, 19-13. Houston has the 6th rated offense and the 18th ranked defense. The Colts rank 23rd offensively and 16th defensively. The Colts have covered the last two times they have played the Texans, winning last year at Houston 24-21. That makes four covers for the Colts against the Texans in the last five meetings. The Colts QB Jacoby Brissett has thrown 10 TD's this year with just three INT's. Marlon Mack leads all rushers on the Colts with 470 yards and two TD's. Deshaun Watson has 12 TD's for the Texans with three INT's and adds 5 more rushing TD's. This is a pretty even matchup, but I'm taking the home team here on Sunday. Play the Colts.

The Denver Broncos playing very good all of a sudden with another win on Sunday over Tennessee, 16-0. The Broncos defense held Tennessee to just 39 yards rushing and 165 yards passing. That's two games in a row with outstanding defense. They got their first win two weeks ago at the Chargers, holding them to 35 yards rushing and 211 yards passing. Meanwhile the Kansas City defense has been horrible. They can't stop anyone and proved it again Sunday losing at home to Houston, 24-31. The allowed the Texans 192 yards rushing and 280 yards passing. Their loss two weeks ago at home to the Colts they allowed 180 yards rushing and 151 yards passing. They have now allowed 180 or more yards rushing in four of their five games. That is absolutely horrendous. Add to that fact that QB Patrick Mahomes is banged-up with a ankle injury and the Chiefs look very ordinary at the moment. The Broncos could easily have four wins this season. Vic Fangio finally has this team playing the way he wants, great defense and a conservative offense. Take advantage of the Broncos at +4 or better because I feel this line will go down by gametime. Play Denver.

Denver finally got in the win column last week and they did it on the road at the Chargers. Denver jumped out to a big lead and pretty much cruised the rest of the way for a 20-13 win over the Chargers. Denver held LA to just 246 total yards while controlling the ball on the ground with 191 rushing yards. Tennessee ran into the defensive buzzsaw called Buffalo, losing to the Bills 7-14. The Titans scored just seven points against the league's second ranked defense and totaled just 252 yards. Denver's defense isn't what it used to be, but they have improved to 7th in the league now while Tennessee is 9th in the league. Both teams struggling on offense though, as Denver ranks 19th and Tennessee 27th. Titans have not done well on the road against losing teams, going 5-15-1 their last 21 vs the spread. These clubs have met just once in the last five years and that was at Tennessee where the Titans won a low scoring game, 13-10. If we look back to the last six meetings between these teams, the Broncos have covered five of those. I expect a defensive game here with two better than average defenses. But now that Denver got that first win, I like them to get another here on Sunday. Play Denver.

Trouble brewing in Cleveland after that horrible performance last Monday night at San Francisco. QB Baker Mayfield had a terrible night, getting harassed and sacked by the 49ers tough defense. Mayfield took a seat late in the game he was so ineffective. The Browns managed just 180 total yards and 78 passing yards (20 of those by Beckham). The Browns also had four turnovers to the 49ers zero. Now they have to regroup because it doesn't get any easier tonight against a very good Seattle team. Seattle has the extra rest for this one after playing last Thursday night and beating the Rams, 30-29. Seattle rushed for 167 yards and had 429 total yards.Seattle improved to 7th in the league in total offense while Cleveland dropped to 23rd. Seattle's defense is ranked 14th and Cleveland 18th. This Cleveland franchise has issues from owner James Haslem who is not a good owner, to HC Freddie Kitchens who doesn't know how to coach to Mayfield who acts like a child out of control to Odell Beckham Jr who is just a ego maniac. This is no way to run a football team and that's why I will be betting against them this week. This is a perfect situation for Seattle. They are playing great and now face a team and franchise in disarray. Play Seattle.

Trouble brewing in Cleveland after that horrible performance last Monday night at San Francisco. QB Baker Mayfield had a terrible night, getting harassed and sacked by the 49ers tough defense. Mayfield took a seat late in the game he was so ineffective. The Browns managed just 180 total yards and 78 passing yards (20 of those by Beckham). The Browns also had four turnovers to the 49ers zero. Now they have to regroup because it doesn't get any easier tonight against a very good Seattle team. Seattle has the extra rest for this one after playing last Thursday night and beating the Rams, 30-29. Seattle rushed for 167 yards and had 429 total yards.Seattle improved to 7th in the league in total offense while Cleveland dropped to 23rd. Seattle's defense is ranked 14th and Cleveland 18th. This Cleveland franchise has issues from owner James Haslem who is not a good owner, to HC Freddie Kitchens who doesn't know how to coach to Mayfield who acts like a child out of control to Odell Beckham Jr who is just a ego maniac. There might be some higher winds in this game, which will further effect Mayfield and his inconsistency of late. But what I believe winds will really do is have Seattle continue to run the ball as they have done so well this season. Seattle will control the ball on the ground and for me that will lead this game to go under the total. Play UNDER.

The 3-2 Carolina Panthers travel to Florida to take on the 2-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Carolina has been playing without QB Cam Newton, who is out with a foot injury. However, since Newton went out the Panthers have won three straight games with QB Kyle Allen. Allen has won all three of his starts for Carolina. But the star of this team is RB Christian McCaffrey who is involved in more offensive plays than anyone in the league. McCaffrey has 587 yards rushing this year and 279 yards receiving with seven total TD's. He ranks first in total yards from scrimmage. McCaffrey is the center of this offense and Allen is just the supporting cast at this point. Tampa Bay pulled the huge upset two weeks ago at the Rams, 55-40, then last week lost at New Orleans, 24-31. This team has been very inconsistent. The Bucs managed just 252 yards in the loss last week. That performance dropped the Bucs to 17th in total offense with Carolina coming in at 14th. The difference here is defense, where the Panthers continue to improve and now rank 8th in the league compared to the Bucs 25th ranking. I expect McCaffrey to give the Bucs all kinds of problems here on Sunday. I'll lay the small price with Carolina on Sunday. take the Panthers.

Thursday night football has the Patriots hosting the Giants from Gillette Stadium. The first thing that hits me in this game is that there could be some winds over 10 mph in this one. That's significant because at Gillette you can get those winds swirling and that effects QB's and their throwing. This could be an issue for Giants rookie QB Daniel Jones. With both Barkley and Gallman out for this game at Running back, more pressure will be on Jones shoulders to make things happen. And he'll be asked to do it with those winds and against one of the best defenses in the league in the Patriots. The Pats allowing just 78 rushing yards and 160 passing yards per game. None of the Pats five opponents have score more than 14 points and three have scored fewer than 10 points. The Pats are a perfect 5-0 S/U and 3-2 ATS on the season with a over/under record of 1-4. The Giants had won two in a row under Jones, but three wasn't to be as they lost at Minnesota last week, 10-28. They have gone under in their last two games and three of their last four. The Patriots have now gone under in five of their last seven home games and 19 of their last 26 against a team with a losing record. The last five meetings between these teams at Gillette Stadium have gone UNDER. I believe the combination of any swirling winds with the Patriots stingy defense will keep this game under. Play the UNDER.

The San Francisco 49ers look to keep their perfect record in tact here on Monday night football as they host the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland pulled the upset win last week at Baltimore, 40-25. They have now covered both road games and not covered both home games. The Browns are 2-2 S/U and ATS. The entire offense was clicking last week at Baltimore with 337 yards passing and 193 yards rushing. The Browns offense now ranked 12th in the league with the defense ranked 13th. The 49ers had last week off to prepare for this game. Jimmy Garoppolo has a 9-2 record in his starts for the Niners. Shanahan is an offensive specialist and now you give him an extra week to prepare for this game? To me that means we'll be seeing plenty of points here on Monday. I'm expecting to see a high scoring contest in this one. take the OVER.

The Denver Broncos might be the best 0-4 team in the NFL. They could easily be 2-2 and should have won the Bears game if not for a bad call at the end. Then last week another late rally by the Jagaurs resulted in a last second loss. The Broncos brought in Joe Flacco to play QB and he hasn't played badly. They also brought in HC Vic Fangio from the Bears and he hasn't performed up to their standards yet. Could a loss here today make Fangio the first fatality of the head coaching ranks this year? We'll see. The Denver defense isn't what it used to be. That's an understatement. It's even been rumored that Von Miller is on the trading block. Star LB Bradley Chubb was injured in the Jags game and is out the rest of the year. As for the Bolts, RB Melvin Gordon returns from his holdout and should start this week. Ekeler has been very good in his place. I think one thing is for sure in Denver this year, we are going to see QB Drew Lock around week 8 when he returns from his injury. The Chargers had the week off last week, also known as playing the Miami Dolphins. The Chargers rolled to a 30-10 win over the Dolphins and evened their season record at 2-2. While I don't see the snake bitten Broncos winning, I think this line is too high for a rivalry game. I'm taking the visiting Broncos plus the points.

I really learned something last week, that this Baltimore Ravens team is a fraud. Everyone watched in week one as they demolished an overmatched and winless Miami Dolphins team. Then in week 2 we saw that effort get tougher as the winless Arizona Cardinals covered the 13 point dog line and almost won the game outright, 17-23. Then in week 4 when the real competition started, they lost at Kansas City, 28-33 failing to cover the 4-point dog line and then got killed at home last week by the Cleveland Browns, 25-40. This team is not nearly as good as they are now getting credit for. Meanwhile, the Steelers defense and offense both looked very good last Monday night for the win over the Bengals, 27-3. They have now covered two-straight games and now that Mason Rudolph is getting more action from the coach, he's looking like a real NFL quarterback. Let's throw out stats in this one because the Ravens are still inflated by that Miami game. Instead, lets look at who's real and who's a fraud. The Ravens are a fraud and should not be favored at Pittsburgh here in week 5. I personally will have my biggest bet of the NFL season so far on this game. Good luck and GO Steelers!

If there was a game Khalil Mack had circled on his calendar, it was this one. Mack gets to face down the team that traded him, the Oakland Raiders. This will be the first of four games being played in London England this year. Chase Daniel looks to get the start at QB for the Bears here today as Mitchell Trubisky is out with his shoulder injury. But that's not a bad thing, I actually like Daniel better than Trubisky. He's a much smarter QB and I think brings a whole other dimension to an offense that Trubisky still has trouble running. The Bears defense dominated Minnesota last week in a 16-6 win. They held the Vikings to 222 yards and took two turnovers from them. The Bears have the fifth rated overall defense with Oakland coming in at 22nd. Where the Bears lack is on offense, as they are just 30th in total yards. However, I see that improving with Daniel at the helm today. Oakland is 21st in total yards and led by QB Derrick Carr. They will be without LB Vontaze Burfict who has been suspended for the rest of the year - a huge blow to this defense. Overall, I love the Chicago defense to shut down Carr and the Raiders today. Lay the 5-points with Chicago.

Buffalo saw it's perfect season end last week, but they put up a valiant fight and kept Tom Brady and the Patriots frustrated with a very good defense. They held the very good Patriot offense to just 224 total yards and Brady to just 150 yards passing. It was turnovers that killed Buffalo with four in the game as they lost 10-16, but covered the 7-point dog line. The Bills boast the league's 2nd rated overall defense, allowing just 281 total yards per game. Tennessee had a fairly easy time last week at Atlanta, winning 24-10. They got the win despite being out-gained in total yards 365-422. Atlanta threw for 364 yards in the loss. Tennessee has just the 25th ranked offense and the 14th ranked defense this year. The Bills have gone under now in their last four road games and are 0-5 in their last five on grass. I love the defense here in this game. The Bills are the only team in the league that hasn't allowed a 2nd half point this season. And while Buffalo is 10th on offense, I don't see them getting a lot of points on the road after that tough game last week. I'm taking the UNDER here on Sunday.

The LA Rams looked like an easy winner last week after the Bucs came to town on the heels of a 18-point come from ahead loss the week before to the Giants. But it was the Bucs that shocked the Rams, 55-40 as 9-point dogs. The Rams trailed at the half 28-17 and cut the lead to 28-20 before the Bucs built another big lead to 45-27 in the 4th. A late rally by the Rams fell short though when Goff was stripped of the ball by Shaq Barrett and returned for a TD by Ndamukong Suh for a 55-40 win. Now the Rams travel to Washington to face the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle won at Arizona last week, 27-10, holding the Cardinals to 321 total yards. Seattle has the 7th ranked defense and the 13the ranked offense. The Rams are 7th ranked on offense and 11th on defense. The last two years these clubs have met four times, with Seattle covering three of those and winning one outright. Last year Seattle lost at home to the Rams, 31-33 as a 7.5 point dog. The key here is for Seattle to control the clock and keep the ball out of the Rams hands. LA will have to do a much better job defensively, especially against arguably the best QB in the league in Russell Wilson. Seattle has performed well on Thursday's, going 7-0-2 ATS their last nine times in the early game. LA is only 1-5 ATS in their last six Thursday games. The difference for me here is that 12th man of Seattle and the home advantage. The Rams defense is struggling and I look for that to continue here on Thursday. I'm taking the Seattle Seahawks.

One of these teams should come away with their first win of the season here on Monday Night (barring a OT tie). Both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are both 0-3 S/U to start the season. The Bengals looked great in their opener at Seattle, losing 20-21. The defense held Seattle to 72 yards rushing and 161 yards passing. Since the it's been downhill with a blowout loss at home to San Francisco, 17-41, and then a loss at Buffalo, 17-21. The Bengals have gone UNDER in two of their three games. Pittsburgh opened with a loss at New England, 3-33, then lost at home to Seattle, 26-28 and last week lost at San Francisco, 20-24. They have also gone under in two of their three games. Both teams rank near the bottom of the NFL in both offense and defense. Cincy has the 27th ranked defense and the 18th ranked offense. Pittsburgh is ranked 29th in defense and 30th in offense. For me, I'm looking UNDER here on Monday. The Bengals are 0-4-1 O/U in their last five road games. They are also 2-7-1 O/U the last 10 vs the AFC North. Pittsburgh is 2-5 O/U in their last seven games and now without Big Ben that should even be more magnified. The last 10 meetings between these teams in Pittsburgh has seen these teams go under eight time. Poor matchup here, so I'm sticking just with the UNDER.

The undefeated Dallas Cowboys travel to the Big Easy to take on the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night. The Cowboys looks rather lethargic in their first half against a very overmatched Miami team. However, they exploded in the 2nd half to cover the 22.5-point line, 31-6. Dallas now has wins against the Giants, Redskins and Miami. Really, this matchup here today is their first real test as those previous three games were all against very poor teams. The Saints are 2-1 S/U and 1-2 ATS after a very nice win on the road last week at Seattle, 33-27. The offense hasn't been all that good since Drew Brees went out with a hurt thumb. The Saints had 265 total yards last week and only 244 totals yards the previous week at the Rams. Teddy Bridgewater is now the starting QB and in his two games he has 342 total yards and two TD's with no INT's. This team still has plenty of weapons with Alvin Kamara at RB and Michael Thomas at Wide Receiver. The Saints should give Dallas their best game of the young season here on Sunday night and I won't be surprised by a Saints straight-up win here. I'll take the 2.5-points with the home team. Play New Orleans.

The Seattle Seahawks are 2-1 S/U and 1-2 ATS to start the season. Seattle opened with wins over Cincinnati (21-20) and at Pittsburgh (28-26), then loss last week at home to the Saints, 27-33. The Arizona Cardinals are 0-2-1 S/U and 1-2 ATS this season. They opened with that OT tie against Detroit and then back-to-back losses to Baltimore and Carolina. Seattle lost to the Saints despite out gaining them in yards 515 to 265. Both clubs had one turnover and the Hawks had 406 yards passing by Russell Wilson. The Hawks were even down 14-33 in the 4th quarter. The Saints returned a Chris Carson fumble for a touchdown in this game and the defensive line got no sacks of Teddy Bridgewater. The Saints also got a punt return for a touchdown. It was just an ugly game all around for the Seahawks special teams and turnovers. Arizona lost at home to a Newton-less Panthers team last week, 20-38. They were outgained 413 yards to 248 yards. Arizona has the 30th ranked defense in the league allowing 443 yards per game and the 25th ranked offense with just 328 yards per game. Russell Wilson and the Hawks offense should have little trouble against this struggling Cardinals defense here on Sunday. Have to lay 5 1/2 points here with the Hawks, but I won't mind with Wilson on my side against rookie Tyler Murray. Play Seattle.