By Tony Fortier-Bensen – Wanamakeabet Staff Writer
There’s a popular saying that all good things must come to an end, and in Week 13 of the NFL season, we will see the end of some winning streaks. Conversely, all bad things must come to an end as well, so we should see a losing streak ending as well.
Last week, the good times stopped rolling for New Orleans Saints, and their eight-game win streak came to a crashing halt by the Los Angeles Rams. This week, there’s a couple games where, despite what all the stats say, weird things happen in football, and teams who shouldn’t win or shouldn’t lose will actually win or lose this week. For the Vikings and Eagles, sorry to see it end, but for the Broncos, congrats! Also for losing streaks, sorry, Browns, you aren’t in this article.
These bets will be placed on either the moneyline or the spread at Wannamakeabet.com, depending on which one pays out more.
Denver Broncos (-2) vs Miami Dolphins
Not my strongest start, but the battle between the second longest losing streak (Broncos) and third longest losing streak (Dolphins) means it’s guaranteed that a losing streak will end. I went back and forth on this trash game, but I finally settled on the Broncos on one simple reason. Despite the loss of Aqib Talib, the Broncos defense is still extremely good, and Jay Cutler still loves to commit turnovers. Trevor Siemian can work as a game manager and sneak out a victory.
My prediction: Broncos 21-13. My bet: spread, 1,500 units
Philadelphia Eagles (-5.5) vs. Seattle Seahawks.
Two weeks ago, the Seahawks ran into a hot Falcons offense at home and basically looked out of the game for the most part. It’d be easy to think the same thing will happen again with the Eagles dominating offense. However, Pete Carroll is 9-3 the past three seasons in December, and tomorrow is the first December game of the year. Some upsets don’t make sense, and this is one of them. A safer bet is to take the 5.5 points, but that wouldn’t end the Eagles NFL-leading nine-game win streak.
My prediction: Seahawks 21-20 My bet: ML +195, 1,500 units; spread, 3,000 units
Minnesota Vikings (+3) vs. Atlanta Falcons
The Vikings put their seven game win streak on the line in Atlanta, who also own a three-game win streak of their own. Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense seem to have figured out that they should just target Julio Jones all the time. If Marvin Jones can dominate the Xavier Rhodes, there’s no reason to suspect Jones can’t either, and the Falcons go around a tough run-defense by passing it. Also, Case Keenum still has Teddy Bridgewater applying additional pressure behind him, as head coach Mike Zimmer said they’re taking it “one week at a time.” It’ll be a close game, but the Falcons win and cover the spread.
My prediction: Falcons 31-24. My bet: spread, 4,000