Monday’s 6-pack
Interesting Week 17 NFL spreads:
— Washington @ Philadelphia (-1.5)
— Jacksonville @ Indianapolis (-14)
— Green Bay (-4.5) @ Chicago
— Dallas (-2.5) @ NJ Giants
— Pittsburgh @ Cleveland (-7)
— Tennessee (-7) @ Houston
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 331,732
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“When I threw it, I didn’t see it. As you saw, my facemask got basically ripped off. I didn’t know he caught it. And everybody on the sideline was all excited. … It was pretty incredible.”
Ryan Fitzpatrick, on his pass Saturday that set up Miami’s game-winning FG
Late baseball trade: Tampa Bay is trading P Blake Snell to San Diego for prospects.
Monday’s quiz
Before moving to Tennessee, where did the Titans call home?
Sunday’s quiz
Robert Wuhl played the pitching coach in the baseball movie, Bull Durham.
Saturday’s quiz
Stan Kroenke owns the Los Angeles Rams; he also owns the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.
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Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Sunday
Jets 23, Browns 16
— Browns were missing their three best WR’s (contact tracing)
— Cleveland in first half: 38 plays, 113 yards, 3 points.
— Cleveland was outrushed 131-45; they threw 53 passes, ran ball only 18 times.
— Browns are in a massive tie for AFC Wild Card; one of six teams will miss out.
— Jets won their second straight game after an 0-13 start.
— Jets are 6-3 ATS in their last nine games.
— Jets are 14-9-2 ATS in last 25 games as a home dog
— Jets have a +2 turnover ratio this season.
Cincinnati 37, Texans 31
— Second straight win for Cincinnati, scoring 27-37 points.
— QB Allen threw for 371 yards; he is now 2-5 as an NFL starter.
— Bengals in 2nd half: 35 plays, 305 yards, three TD’s, two FG’s.
— Bengals trailed at halftime only twice in last ten games.
— Texans lost last four games, giving up 31.5 ppg.
— Houston has zero takeaways in last three games (-7).
— Texans allowed 11 TD’s on opponents’ last 29 drives.
— Total yardage in game: 540-488, Cincinnati.
Steelers 28, Indianapolis 24
— Colts led 24-7 with 4:00 left in third quarter.
— Indy’s last five drives: 25 plays, 97 yards, zero points.
— Colts are 8-0 when they score 27+ points. 2-5 when they do not.
— Eight of their last 11 games went over the total.
— Pittsburgh snaps a 3-game losing streak, clinches AFC North title.
— Steelers’ last four drives: 24 plays, 232 yards, 21 points.
— Pittsburgh still ran for only 20 yards on 14 carries.
— Steelers won last seven series games, last three by total of 9 points.
Bears 41, Jacksonville 17
— Jaguars had ball in 10-10 game with 0:24 left in first half; they threw INT, Bears kicked FG, and the was the end of that.
— Chicago’s first four 2nd half drives: 30 plays, 204 yards, four TD’s.
— Bears are in playoffs if they beat Green Bay next week.
— Last five games, Chicago scored 33.0 ppg.
— Jaguars lost their last 14 games; they clinched 1st pick in 2021 draft.
— Jacksonville gave up 27+ points in 12 of their last 13 games.
— Jaguars in 2nd half: 24 plays, 84 yards, four first downs. No bueno.
— Jaguars are 8-11-2 ATS in last 21 games as a home dog.
Baltimore 27, NY Giants 13
— Giants lost last three games, outscored 73-26.
— Giants are 2-8 SU, 4-6 ATS outside their division.
— Last four games, Giants were outscored 51-6 in first half.
— Despite all that, Giants win NFC East if they win and Eagles win next week.
— Baltimore won last four games, scoring 37 ppg.
— Baltimore scored 18 TD’s on their last 37 drives.
— Ravens won field position by 18 yards in this game.
— Right now, Baltimore is odd-man out in playoff logjam.
Kansas City 17, Falcons 14
— Atlanta missed 39-yard FG with 0:09 left.
— Falcons lost five of their last six games.
— Atlanta trailed in only two of last 10 games at halftime.
— Nine of their last 12 games stayed under the total.
— Chiefs won their last ten games, are 0-6-1 ATS in last seven.
— KC won its last seven games by 6 or fewer points, longest-such streak in NFL history.
— Chiefs scored game-winning TD with 1:55 left.
— Kansas City clinched #1-seed in AFC with win here.
Panthers 20, Washington 13
— Carolina won for only second time in last ten games.
— Panthers in second half: 29 plays, 79 yards, zero points.
— Carolina is 5-0 when they allow 21 or fewer points, 0-10 when they allow 23+.
— Panthers won field position in this game by 10 yards.
— QB Haskins was relieved by Heinicke, playing in NFL for first time in two years.
— Somehow, Washington still leads the NFC East.
— Washington outscored last seven opponents 130-37 in second half.
— Last six weeks, Washington allowed 16.2 ppg.
Seahawks 20, Rams 9
— Seattle wins AFC West fir fifth time under Pete Carroll.
— Seattle won five of its last six games overall.
— Last five games, Seahawks allowed 12.2 ppg.
— Last seven Seattle games stayed under the total.
— Down 13-6 in 3rd quarter, Rams had 1st-and-goal on 1-yard line, did not score.
— In their six losses, Rams were outscored 96-31 in first half.
— QB Goff dislocated his right thumb in 3rd quarter, finished the game.
— Ten of LA’s last 12 games stayed under the total.
Dallas 37, Eagles 17
— Eagles lost six of last seven games; they were 1-7 SU on road.
— Philly gained 413-422-477 yards in Hurts’ first three starts at QB.
— Last four games, Philly allowed 458.5 yards/game.
— Eagles are 4-0 if they allow 21 or fewer points, 0-10-1 if they allow more than 21.
— Dallas won its last three games, scoring 30-41-37 points.
— Dalton threw for 377 yards and three TD’s.
— Cowboys have ten takeaways in those three games (+9)
— Dallas was leading at halftime in six of last eight games.
LA Chargers 19, Denver 16
— Broncos had ball in red zone four times, scored only 10 points.
— Denver lost seven of their last nine games.
— Broncos turned ball over 21 times (-13) in their last ten games.
— Denver outgained the Chargers 396-316, but the red zone killed them.
— Badgley kicked 37-yard FG with 0:37 left for the win.
— Chargers won their last three games, all in last minute.
— Bolts won five of eight games in their new home.
— Four of last five Charger games stayed under the total.
Green Bay 40, Tennessee 14
— Tennessee was outgained 448-260 on a snowy night at Lambeau.
— Titans are still tied for first with Indy in AFC South.
— Tennessee gave up 234 rushing yards.
— Over is 10-3-1 in Titans’ last fourteen games.
— Green Bay won five in row, seven of last eight games.
— Packers scored 32.8 ppg in their last six games,
— Green Bay has converted 85-173 third down plays (49.1%)
— Davante Adams caught 11 passes for 142 yards, three TD’s.
2) Halftime score of the day: Mavericks 77, Clippers 27. Really. 77-27. Dallas wound up winning by 51.
1) College hoop scores of note:
— Providence 95, DePaul 90 (2OT)
— Cal-Irvine 75, UCSB 56
— Drake 81, Indiana State 63 (Drake is 10-0)
— Southern Illinois 63, Evansville 57
