By Nick Sparrow – Wannamakeabet Staff Writer
The Teaser King’s Weekly Football Betting Preview:
Welcome to another week of football betting. Before we get into the most interesting bets of Week 13, let’s take a look and see how we did last week.
Our first best bet was a 10-point three-team teaser with:
Detroit Lions (+13) over Minnesota Vikings
Los Angeles Chargers (+10) over Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants (+17) over Washington Redskins
Nothing is better than winning some money on a holiday. This Thanksgiving Day teaser paid out at -120 and felt safe throughout the day. Detroit had a few legitimate chances to win the game and ended up losing by just seven. The Chargers won outright with a 28-6 score against the Cowboys and never lost the lead after scoring their first points. The Giants also looked to have a chance to win on Thursday night until Washington put up ten points in the final four minutes of the game.
Our second best bet was a four-team moneyline parlay with:
Carolina Panthers (-211) over New York Jets
Cincinnati Bengals (-370) over Cleveland Browns
Philadelphia Eagles (-840) over Chicago Bears
Pittsburgh Steelers (-900) over Green Bay Packers
This bet caused a little more sweat than our Thanksgiving Day parlay. The Eagles and Bengals won handedly but both the Panthers and Steelers had to pull off comebacks against teams they were expected to beat. Pittsburgh was especially surprising, as they were forced to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired against a Packers team they were double-digit favorites over. Still, a win’s a win and the Steelers secured another perfect week for us with their win on Sunday night.
Best Bets 4-0 (Current Total: $548.71; Started with $200)
Upset Special 1-1
Game of the Week:
Minnesota Vikings @ Atlanta Falcons (-3) –
It is shocking the NFL hasn’t moved this game to primetime, or at least the afternoon slate, as two of the NFC’s top teams will face off with major playoff implications on the line. The Falcons are coming off a 34-20 win over the division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which wide receiver Julio Jones had 253 receiving yards and two touchdowns on just 12 receptions. Jones has been fairly quiet this year considering he is one of the best receivers in the league, but with a performance like that he is sure to gain a ton of attention of the Vikings’ elite secondary. Despite how good they have looked recently, the Falcons still find themselves in third-place in the NFC South, behind the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers, so a win over the 9-2 Vikings (who have the second-best record in the NFC) is sure to be huge. The Vikings are on a seven-game win streak, whereas the Falcons have won four of their last five games.
Upset Special:
Philadelphia Eagles (-7) @ Seattle Seahawks –
The Eagles currently have the best record in the NFL and have looked fantastic in recent weeks, winning their last three games by an average score of 29 points. However, their ease-of-schedule really isn’t being discussed enough. A 10-1 record is impressive no matter what but I still don’t know if I would declare them the best team in the NFC, much less the NFL. Of their ten wins this season, only one has come against an opponent that currently has a record of .500 or better (a win against the Carolina Panthers in Week 6) and their last four wins has been against opponents with a combined record of 12-32. Also take into consideration that Seattle hasn’t been a home underdog in over five years (last time was Week 6 of 2012 against the New England Patriots) and this has a real possibility to be a huge upset.
Best Bets: Teasers King Weekly Teaser
Tease of the Week (Three-Team 10-Point) –
Jacksonville Jaguars (PK) over Indianapolis Colts
New England Patriots (+1.5) over Buffalo Bills
Seattle Seahawks (+17) over Philadelphia Eagles
My case for the Seahawks is laid out above and there isn’t a ton to say about the other two picks here. The Jaguars have won five of their last seven games, whereas the Colts have lost five of six. Additionally, the last time the Jaguars and Colts faced off Jacksonville absolutely dominated them on way to a 27-0 victory. The Patriots haven’t lost a game since Week 4 and have three of their last four against the Bills.
Payout: Bet $100 to win $83.33
Four-Team Moneyline Parlay –
Oklahoma (-265) over TCU
Oakland Raiders (-300) over New York Giants
Los Angeles Rams (-294) over Arizona Cardinals
Kansas City Chiefs (-120) over New York Jets
We will start with college football. Oklahoma is one of the hottest teams in the nation and Baker Mayfield appears to be the best player anywhere. While Oklahoma’s defense is their weakness, they have played better in recent weeks and I don’t see TCU’s offense being able to compete with Oklahoma’s either way. The Oakland Raiders have been a let down this week but this week shouldn’t be a problem as the New York Giants are now benching Eli Manning in favor of Geno Smith, effectively signaling they are done for the season. This should be an easy win for Oakland, despite being without wide receiver Michael Crabtree. With a win over the New Orleans Saints last week, the Los Angeles Rams have proven themselves to be one of the top teams in the NFC as they face off against a Cardinals team without their starting quarterback or running back. Division games are never easy but I believe in Los Angeles in this spot. Finally, the Chiefs. Kansas City has lost five of their last six games but they are a team filled with much more talent than the Jets. I believe their losing streak has to come to an end this week.
Payout: Bet $50 to win $175.60