Sportsologists

Listening to Brockhampton’s New Orleans as I write this, “The feeling’s never the same, you chase what you couldn’t gain. I’m so accustomed to flames, I couldn’t tell you what’s fire.” 

Thought my Colts bet would push, but then Frank Reich went for it on 4th down in overtime on Indy’s side of the field. The Texans stopped them and got the ball with 24 seconds left. Deshaun Watson throws it to Hopkins to get into field goal range and Houston wins. Reich said he wasn’t playing to tie. Well Frank, a tie is better than a loss in every playoff scenario and in my wallet. Damnit Frank. Vinatieri broke the NFL record for field goals made. The man is clutch and consistent. Luck threw a completion 51 yards in the air. Andrew can throw deep again!! I was thinking he was going to have a late stage Peyton Manning noodle arm for the rest of his career, it seems I was wrong. The former North Carolina State running back, Nyheim Hines, introduced himself to the NFL with two touchdowns and 73 total yards. It was an exciting game that neither team should have lost. Frank Reich has probably kissed his sister before.

Aaron Rodgers and the Packers covered and won against the Bills. Buffalo scored 27 first half points last week against the Vikings. They didn’t score in either half in this one. Josh Allen had two interceptions and a lost fumble. Bills offense had like 5 too many 3 and outs. McCoy had 5 carries for 24 yards. Packers are going to have to keep winning if they want to keep pace with Chiacago.

The Bears won behind Mitch Trubisky’s 6 touchdowns. The most for a Chicago QB in the Super Bowl era. Tarik Cohen went off as well. Cohen had 20 touches for 174 yards and a touchdown, essentially making Jordan Howard obsolete. Ryan Fitzpatrick was 9/18 with an interception and Jameis Winston was 16/20 with a TD and two interceptions. Neither played great. Akiem Hicks got ejected for touching an official. DeSean Jackson still has wheels and is averaging over 20 yards a catch. Taylor Gabriel had 7 catches on 7 targets (104 yards and two TDs) and has found a nice home in Chicago. Bears are 3-1 and leading the NFC North.

Marcus Mariota and the Titans beat the defending Super Bowl champions in overtime behind a Corey Davis touchdown. Davis had 161 yards and a touchdown on the day. Ertz and Jeffrey had over 100 yards receiving for the Eagles. Philly is 2-2 having lost both road games this season. Philly’s o-line, secondary, and play-calling could all use some work. Wentz looked solid though. You don’t hear much about this Titans team, but they are 3-1 with quality wins over the Jaguars and Eagles.

The Patriots were up 24-0 on the Dolphins at halftime. Tom Brady threw two interceptions, but Ryan Tannehill played awfully. Josh Gordon caught two balls for 32 yards. The Patriots latest “rehab” project looks like it is off to a good start. Gronk left the game early, but “should be fine.” Dolphins did not record a sack. Sony Michel had 25 carries for 112 yards in a week in which Georgia running backs went off across the league.

Nick Chubb had 3 carries for 105 yards and 2 touchdowns. A silly good game for him. Chubb broke 4 tackles on his second touchdown run. Browns lost, but they covered. Good teams win, Great teams cover. Gruden got his first win in a decade. Refs were bad for both sides in this one. Browns need to cover the tight ends a lot better if they want to string together some wins. Lee Smith was wide open every time he was targeted and Jared Cook had 110 yards with two touchdowns.

The Cowboys got a needed win against the Lions. Dak and Elliot played the best games of their season. The Cowboys got a win without Sean Lee. The Lions should have ran Kerryon Johnson more. Lions secondary let up too many big plays. Demarcus Lawrence did his best Demarcus Ware impersonation with 3 sacks on the day.

In what I thought was the best game of the day, the Bengals beat the Falcons. Keanu Neal, Ricardo Allen, and Deion Jones being on IR for the Falcons was, what I believe, to be the difference in this game. Atlanta had no answer for Tyler Boyd, AJ Green, John Ross, and Eifert. Speaking of the IR, Eifert had a Gordon Hayward-esque ankle injury. It is sad because he is seriously snake bit, but his mullet is awesome.. Joe Mixon should be back next week, so the talented Giovanni Bernard will most likely take a backseat. UNC football sucks now, but they were good with Gio. 

Jaguars rolled over the Jets. Jets lack an offensive playbook it seems. They only ran 14 times, they do the same play to Enunwa like 10 times a game. Jets had two big plays called back for a penalty. Blake Bortles threw a completion 64 yards in the air. Dede Westbrook was open all day for Jacksonville.

The Seahawks were down at halftime, but rallied to beat the Josh Rosen led Cardinals. Chris Carson was out, but Mike Davis had 21 carries for 101 yards. Bruce “armchair coach” Arians said Arizona was using David Johnson wrong. They involved Johnson more in the passing game this week. Earl Thomas was lost for the season. Le’Veon Bell said he will continue to be the bad guy even after Thomas stopped holding out, came back, and was lost for the season. Mike Iupati had a great game at left guard for Arizona. David Johnson had 7 carries for 51 yards when running behind Iupati. Cards seem like the Jets in the sense that they need a bigger offensive playbook. JJ Nelson should be utilized more.

The Chargers came back to beat the 49ers after being down 14-6 after 1 quarter. Phil Rivers has been playing excellent all season long. Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler may be the best backfield duo in the league (well at least untill Mark Ingram and Kamara get going). CJ Beathard had a great game, but the 49ers just couldn’t seem to tackle or get stops when they needed them. Derwin James is making a case for the best safety in the league as a rookie. I was shocked on draft day when he slipped to pick 18. He is a top 10 talent. I am going to give another offensive lineman some love here, Russell Okung played a great game. Gordon and Ekeler had 12 carries for 81 yards running behind Okung. Antonio Gates got another touchdown….

The Saints beat the Giants. Saquon Barkley has had 100 total yards or more in every game in his young career. Barkley also scored a pretty sweet touchdown. Barkley had a higher top speed (20.86 mph) than Tedd Ginn in this game (19.76 mph). He is an athlete. Odell still doesn’t have a touchdown on the season. Sterling Shepard had 10 catches on 10 targets. There were no sacks in this game.

The Ravens, John Brown, and Justin Tucker beat the Steelers. Pittsburgh just can’t sustain drives without their “Bell” cow. Flacco completed 28 passes to 11 different people. Ryan Switzer led Pittsburgh in receptions with 7. Ravens looked great in all 3 phases of the game. Baltimore has a great offensive playbook, unlike the Giants, Jets, and Cardinals.

14-14-3 on NFL down 1.38 units

Case Keenum over 279 passing yards at -110 for 3 units. KC gives up 362 passing yards a game. Keenum averages 275.5 yards threw the air at home. The Chiefs give up the most points per drive on the season. Broncos and Keenum should be able to move the ball in this one. 2-0 on Qb prop bets on the season. Let’s keep it rolling.

Phillip Lindsay 1+ rushing Td(s) at +130 for 3 units. Lindsay does not have a rushing touchdown on the season, but I think he gets one here. 4 Broncos have a rushing touchdown on the season, it is Phillip’s turn now. Lindsay averages 6 YPC. He can break a big one here against the Chiefs. Kansas City gives up 111 rushing yards a game. KC has given up 3 rushing touchdowns on the season.

Broncos over 2.5 sacks at +100 for 3 units. Von Miller. Broncos average 3 sacks a game.

11-13-1 on NFL down 5.34 units

Went up over 10 units and then down over 10 units already on this NFL season. Had a good read on the Thursday night game and I am going to keep that going. I have won a lot of money since Tha Carter V came out. I thank Wayne. Causation.

People said the Vikings defense could stop Sean McVay on the road on a short week… lol. Anthony Barr got burnt over and over again. Barr was drafted 4 picks before Aaron Donald in the 2014 draft.

Packers at -380 for 6 units. Packers won’t take the Bills for granted like the Vikings did last week. Rodgers does not lose at home very often. Green Bay averages over 100 more yards per game on offense than the Bills. Packers have a problem getting off the field on 3rd down (45% third down conversion allowed), they had to have made that a focus this week. Packers only win this year was when Aaron was all hopped up on pain pills against the Bears. They get back to winning here.

Colts at -105 for 3 units. Texans are 0-3 and now travel to Indy. Colts gave the Eagles all they could handle last week. This Colts defense finally looks like a NFL defense allowing 21 points a game. Houston is 0-5 ATS in last 5 games, while Indy is 4-1 ATS. Weak offensive lines in this one, Hopkins and Hilton will prolly go off.

Andrew Luck over 263 passing yards at -145 for 2 units. Luck threw for 319 yards in his only other home game this season. Shoulder should be back to “basically 100%.” The over/under for this game is 48, which is a little above average. Could turn into a shootout.

Seahawks -3 for 2 units. This is one of those games that I want to bet a lot on, but I feel like I shouldn’t. Seahawks have not played well on the road this season, but they should be favored by more against the Cards right? Cardinals only convert 23% of their third downs on offense and now they meet Earl Thomas. Seattle averages over 100 yards per game more on offense than Arizona does on offense. Also, Seattle has a better defense… I can go on and on.

Chris Carson over 66 rushing yards at +114 for 4 units. Seattle gets up and runs him. Seattle gave him the ball 32 times on the ground last game and they won. That should be their formula like it was when they had the Legion of Boom and Beast Mode.

Browns +3 for 3 units. Baker Mayfield and their lottery pick defense gets the job done here. That is all.

Ravens +3 for 3 units. Steelers have not looked all that solid this season. I think this game should be a push so I will take the points. Justin Tucker could be the difference in this one. The man just doesn’t miss field goals. Big Ben is going to sacked multiple times in this one. Suggs is solid against the run and we all know what he can do as a pass rusher. JuJu and Antonio Brown can always go off and screw me here, but I like what I have seen from the Ravens so far this year. Steelers have an awful secondary. John Brown will have a big game.

12-10 on college football up 2.39 units

Colorado at -320 for 4 units. UCLA has not won a game all season and now they travel to Boulder. Colorado has not lost a game all season. Chip Kelly’s “great” offensive schemes have his UCLA team averaging only 17 points a game and allowing 30 something. I would bet Colorado -10, but UCLA has to play desperate. A hungry dog runs faster and what not. Colorado’s Laviska Shenault Jr. has a touchdown in every game and has earned his way onto the list for best wide out in the country. This game is worth watching just for him.

Central Michigan +30 for 2 units. Michigan State has not blown anybody out all season. Central Michigan is 1-3, but they are only allowing 140 passing yards per game on the season. Also, they have 5 interceptions in 4 games. Michigan State has been fairly one dimensional this season with the air attack. MSU only has 3 runs over 10 yards. They will get some 10 yard runs in this one, but 30 points is just too much for this in-state game.

Clemson -25 for 2 units. Syracuse beat Clemson last year. Clemson just named Trevor Lawrence their starter and Bryant has decided to transfer. Sunshine, as Trevor is known, places the ball where it needs to be like he is Jared Goff playing the Vikings on a Thursday. Syracuse has a great QB in Eric Dungey, but he will not be able to do enough against this hungry Clemson defense.

Alabama -49 for 3 units. UL Lafayette lost to Mississippi St. by 46. They scored 10 points in that game, Saban will want his Bama team to pitch a shutout. UL has one of the worst run defenses in college football. Not going to overthink this one.

Texas Tech +3.5 for 2 units. Texas Tech leads college football in plays per game. Tech is historically known for their offense – See Pat Mahomes. Tech’s defense is solid this year though in the games I have watched. Grier has thrown a few too many interceptions already in this young season. Going to Texas Tech is not easy, this might be WVU’s toughest game on the schedule.

NC State -6 for 3 units. UVA is not as good as NC State. It is that simple. The Hoos strength on offense is running, while NCSU has one of the best rush defenses in the country. It gets a little tougher here for State, but I like their consistent QB and their 3-0 record.

ECU -7 for 4 units. East Carolina won’t take ODU for granted. Let down game for The Monarchs. ODU gives up over 500 yards a game; whereas, ECU only gives up 320 YPG. Old Dominion gives up over 225 yards a game on the ground and ECU will take advantage of this. ECU won the only other meeting by 14 and I expect more of the same here. This is a must win for ECU, while ODU has already had one of the best seasons in school history (no exaggeration).

VT +4.5 for 5 units. This is make or break for VT. 2-2 does not look good for them. Duke is good on defense, but so is VT besides last week. Ryan Willis takes over for VT here. Duke has not been tested yet and I think this will be a close one. I am taking the points.

Ohio State -3 for 2 units. OSU is just better than Penn State. I thought this line would be OSU -7 so I will bite.

LSU -10 for 5 units. I love this LSU team. Ed O is the man. I need a translator sometimes to understand him, but it is still awesome. He sounds a lot like my uncle when he has a lot of chewing tobacco in his mouth. LSU’s offense does not make mistakes and the Ole Miss defensive front is not as strong as past years. LSU’s defense can shut down Ole Miss to cover here. LSU’s scoring defense is 15th. Ole Miss’s scoring defense is 112th.