Dolphins (2-2) @ Falcons (3-1) — Miami’s OL coach was fired Monday for off-field issues, which can’t help an offense that scored 3 offensive TD’s on 42 drives in their 2-2 start. Last 3 games, Miami averaged 4.1/4.0/2.8 ypa, which is hideous. Dolphins are 7-11 in last 18 games as a road underdog. Atlanta is 7-1 in its last eight post-bye games, covering five of last six; they’ve run ball for 147 ypg in last three games. Falcons are 4-11 as home favorites under Quinn. Fish are 8-4 in series, but lost 38-16/19-7 in their only two visits here in last 20 years- their last win in Atlanta was in 1980. AFC East road teams are 7-2 vs spread outside their division; NFC South teams are 6-8 vs spread, 2-3 as home favorites. All four Miami games this year have stayed under total.
Packers (4-1) @ Vikings (3-2) — Keenum played QB in 2nd half of Monday nite’s win in Chicago; Vikings haven’t allowed a first half TD in last three games (outscored foes 31-8 )- they held last two opponents under 300 yards, last three opponents to 17 or less points. Minnesota is 12-3 in its last 15 games as a home underdog, 5-2 under Zimmer. Pack scored 35-35 points in last two games; Rodgers won game LW 35-31 in Dallas with last-minute drive- Green Bay is 9-7 vs spread in last 16 games as a road favorite, 5-2 in last 7 games on artificial turf. Last four GB games went over total. Green Bay is 11-3-1 in last 15 series games; they won 3 of last 4 visits to Twin Cities, but lost 17-14 in first visit to the Vikings’ new dome LY.
Lions (3-2) @ Saints (2-2) — Detroit won last three series games, by 1-8-15 points; they beat Saints here the last two years, 35-27/28-13. Lions are 2-0 on road, beating Giants/Vikings, but they lost last two home games; Detroit is just 11-39 on 3rd down last three weeks- they’ve run 65 times for 218 yards (72.7 ypg) in last three games. New Orleans is 6-1-1 vs spread in its last eight post-bye games. Saints are playing only 2nd home game- they allowed total of 13 points winning last two games after an 0-2 start. NO is 5-13-1 in its last 19 games as a home favorite. NFC North teams are 8-6 vs spread outside their division, 2-1 as road dogs. NFC South teams are 6-8 vs spread, 2-3 as home favorites.
Patriots (3-2) @ Jets (3-2) — Teams are in 3-way tie with Buffalo atop AFC East. Patriots are 10-2 in last 12 series games, with both losses in OT- teams split last four meetings played here. Pats won last meeting 41-3 LY. Extra prep time for NE after Thursday night win; they’re 2-0 on foreign soil, winning 36-20 in Superdome, 19-14 in Tampa LW, first game this year Patriots held an opponent under 7.6 ypa. Jets won three in row after an 0-2 start, they’re 12-5 vs spread in last 17 games as a home underdog. Gang Green held opponents to 13 points on their last six red zone drives, but that was vs sub-par NFL QB’s (Bortles-Kizer-Hogan). NE is 8-1 in last nine games as a road favorite- they have 25 plays of 20+ yards, #2 in NFL behind Rams’ 29.
49ers (0-5) @ Redskins (2-2) — Kyle Shanahan worked for Redskins with his dad from 2010-13; his 49ers lost in OT the last two weeks. Since 1997, favorites that lost the previous two weeks in OT are 4-2-1 vs spread in that 3rd game. Niners may be 0-5, but their last four losses were by 3-2-3-3 points- they’re 2-1 as road dogs. This is also their 3rd week in row on road, a historic soft spot for road teams. 49ers won last four series games, taking last two played here. Redskins’ last series win was in ’05. Redskins are 2-7 in last nine post-bye games; favorites covered 9 of their last 10 post-bye games. Washington is favored for first time this year; since 2013, they’re 5-10 vs spread as a home favorite.
Bears (2-3) @ Ravens (3-2) — Trubisky was 13-26/159 passing in his NFL debut Monday night, throwing key INT in last 3:00 that cost Bears the game, but he was OK. This is his first road start- he started only 13 college games at North Carolina. Chicago is 12-36 on 3rd their last three games; they’re 0-2 on road, losing 29-7 (+7) in Tampa, 35-14 (+7) in Green Bay- they’re 12-17-1 vs spread in last 30 games as a road underdog. Ravens scored 20+ in their three wins, with a +8 TO ratio- they scored 7-9 in losses, with -5 TO ratio. Baltimore is 5-3 vs spread in its last eight games as a home favorite. Bears are 3-2 in last five series games; home side won four of last five meetings. Ravens lost 23-20 in OT in last visit here, in 2013.
Browns (0-5) @ Texans (2-3) — Cleveland switched to Stanford alum Hogan at QB in 2nd half vs Jets LW- he led them on two TD drives in a 17-14 loss. Browns lost 24-10 (+7.5) at Baltimore, 31-28 (-1) at Indy in their two road games; they’re 6-11 vs spread in last 17 games as a road dog. Houston scored 33-57-34 points in last three games behind rookie QB Watson, but lost 2 of the 3; they allowed 29+ points in their three losses, 9-14 in their wins. Under O’Brien, Houston is 12-5-1 as a home favorite. Texans won five of last six series games, last of which was in 2014; Browns lost last three visits here, by 3-8-18 points. JJ Watt/Mercilus both need surgery for their injuries, big blow to the Houston defense. Since ’09, Texans are 5-3 as a double digit favorite.
Buccaneers (2-2) @ Cardinals (2-3) — Arizona is 2-3 with wins by 3 points each over Colts/49ers; their losses are by 12-11-27 points- they scored two TD’s on 23 drives in their last two games, scored 14.5 ppg in last four games. Dirk Koetter returns to Phoenix (was ASU’s coach from 2001-06); his Bucs got crushed 40-7 in Week 2 here LY, Bucs’ 3rd loss in last four visits to desert- teams split last eight series games. Cardinals are 4-3 as home underdogs under Arians, 16-10 since ’07. Tampa Bay (-2.5) lost 34-17 at Minnesota, in its only road game, first time in four years they were road favorite. Bucs are 5-4 SU on road under Koetter. NFC West teams are 3-9 vs spread outside their division. NFC South teams are 6-8 vs spread, 4-5 when favored.
Rams (3-2) @ Jaguars (3-2) — Two teams having surprising success under new leadership. Jags ran ball for 155+ yards in 4 of their 5 games; their wins are by 22-37-21 points. Jags are +11 in turnovers in those three games, -1 in their two losses, giving up 37-23 points- their defense scored 3 TD’s in their last two games, same as their offense. LA scored 41-35 points in winning its two road games, throwing ball for 10.4/6.8 ypa. Rams lost 13-10 to division rival Seattle LW; they’re -5 in turnovers in two losses, +4 in three wins. Home team won all four series games; Rams lost 23-20 in OT in only visit here, in 2009. NFC West teams are 3-9 vs spread outside their division, 1-6 on road. AFC South teams are 6-5 vs spread outside their division.
Steelers (3-2) @ Chiefs (5-0) — KC is best team in NFL right now, scoring 17 TD’s, trying 12 FG’s on 52 drives; none of their wins have been by less than 7 points. Under Andy Reid, Chiefs are 15-17 vs spread as home favorites, 2-0 this year. Pittsburgh is a road underdog for first time in three years; Steelers lost 2 of last 3 games, throwing five INTs in 30-9 home loss to Jaguars LW. Steelers won five of last six series games; they beat KC 18-16 here in LY’s playoffs, after crushing Chiefs 43-14 in Heinz Field during season. All five Steeler games stayed under the total; over is 3-0-2 in Chief games. Roethlisberger had one of his worst games LW, throwing five INTs with no TD’s- two of his INTs were run back for TD’s. He figures to bounce back here.
Chargers (1-4) @ Raiders (2-3) — Oakland lost its last three games, scoring 10-10-17 points; their QB has a broken back, his backup lost his last six NFL starts and the defense has zero turnovers in their last two games. Raiders are 5-6 vs spread as home favorites under Del Rio. Chargers got their first win LW; four of their five games were decided by 5 or less points. Bolts are 2-0 as road underdogs this year; since ’08, they’re 30-17-2 as road dogs- four of their five games this year went over total. Oakland won last four series games, last three all by 3 points; Chargers lost 23-20ot/34-31 in last two visits here. NFL-wide, home favorites are 5-8-1 vs spread in division games. Raiders’ team total stayed under in four of their five games.
Giants (0-5) @ Broncos (3-1) — New York is in freefall, starting 0-5 and now Beckham is done for the year. Maybe getting away from home will help. Giants’ last three losses are by 3-2-5 points- they ran for 152 yards LW, a positive step after averaging 59.3 ypg in first four games. Big Blue is 3-3-1 as road underdogs under McAdoo. Denver is 3-0 at home, winning by 3-25-6 points; since 2014, they’re 9-11-1 as a home favorite. Over is 3-1 in their four games. Four of five Giant games went over total. Denver won/covered six of last seven post-bye games. Giants lost four of five visits to Denver, losing last three by 14-11-20 points- their lone win in Mile High City was in ’89. This is first time since Manning retired that Denver is a double digit favorite.