| Thanksgiving is over and it’s time to begin the playoff stretch in the NFL. The byes are off the schedule at this point and the betting odds and lines should make more sense than at any other time the season. Week 13 is where the contenders separate from the pretenders over the final five weeks.
The action begins on Thursday night as a potential Super Bowl contender in the New Orleans Saints travels to Jerry World to take on the Dallas Cowboys, who will either be battling for a Wild Card spot or looking to pick out a new head coach for 2019. The Saints opened back in May as -1.5 favorites. This could be a -4.5 or better by kickoff. Don’t get too excited about that San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks match up on Sunday Night Football. There’s no way NBC doesn’t flex out of it. The 49ers are heading toward another Top Five pick since Jimmy Garoppolo went down with his knee injury. The Seahawks will be deep in the Wild Card hunt, so this game isn’t complete garbage. There’s just no way it deserves a prime time showing. Seattle opened as a -1 favorite. It’ll be -7.5 by game time. Monday Night Football accidentally got one of the best games of the week. The Washington Redskins have been a surprise in the early part of the season as have been the struggles of the Philadelphia Eagles. The winner of this game could easily end up the NFC East champion and the loser a six seed in the Wild Card race or even out of the playoffs. Thursday Night Football, Nov. 29New Orleans Saints at Dallas Cowboys Kickoff: 8:20 p.m. Broadcast: FOX, NFL Network, Amazon Prime Opening Line: Saints -1.5 The Jason Garrett watch has been on since the middle of October and the question isn’t if he’ll be fired, but when. There’s far too much talent on the Dallas offense for them to consistently perform this poorly and, as long as the next head coach is comfortable with Jerry Jones as his boss, he will inherit a team that could contend for the NFC East immediately. It really shows how poorly Garrett has done. Meanwhile, the Saints have rolled through the first two months clicking on all cylinders. Drew Brees is putting together an MVP campaign and Sean Payton has his hat in the NFL Coach of the Year conversation along with Andy Reid and Sean McVay. These two teams haven’t played, believe it or not, since Oct. 4, 2015 with Brees and the Saints winning 26-20. Sunday Football Games, Dec, 2Baltimore Ravens at Atlanta Falcons Kickoff: 1 p.m. EST Broadcast: CBS Opening Line: Falcons -3.5 Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Kickoff: 1 p.m. EST Broadcast: FOX Opening Line: Buccaneers -1 Los Angeles Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers Kickoff: 1 p.m. EST Broadcast: CBS Opening Line: Steelers -4.5 Chicago Bears at New York Giants Kickoff: 1 p.m. EST Broadcast: FOX Opening Line: Giants -3.5 Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins Kickoff: 1 p.m. EST Broadcast: CBS Opening Line: Dolphins -1 Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals Kickoff: 1 p.m. EST Broadcast: CBS Opening Line: Broncos -1 Los Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions Kickoff: 1 p.m. EST Broadcast: FOX Opening Line: Rams -2 Arizona Cardinals at Green Bay Packers Kickoff: 1 p.m. EST Broadcast: FOX Opening Line: Packers -11 Cleveland Browns at Houston Texans Kickoff: 1 p.m. EST Broadcast: CBS Opening Line: Texans -10 Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars Kickoff: 1 p.m. EST Broadcast: CBS Opening Line: Jaguars -7.5 New York Jets at Tennessee Titans Kickoff: 4:05 p.m. EST Broadcast: CBS Opening Line: Titans -8.5 Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders Kickoff: 4:05 p.m. EST Broadcast: CBS Opening Line: Raiders -2.5 Minnesota Vikings at New England Patriots Kickoff: 4:25 p.m. EST Broadcast: FOX Opening Line: Patriots -4.5 If you’re looking for a game that could (or should) be flexed to prime time Sunday, it would be hard to beat this one. The Patriots open at -4.5 favorites at home and in spite of the talent and record put together by the Minnesota Vikings, that line is likely to stay. Tom Brady is having his usual spectacular season in New England and now that he’s got healthy and explosive weapons, the path to the Super Bowl in the AFC might still go through Foxborough. For the Vikings, Kirk Cousins has been a massive quarterback upgrade and Adam Thielen is having an All Pro season at wideout. Sunday Night Football, Dec. 2San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks Kickoff: 8:20 p.m. EST Broadcast: NBC Opening Line: Seahawks -1 A season of promise circled the drain early for the 49ers and now they’re just playing out the schedule, wishing they could just sim the rest of the year like they were playing Madden. Instead, they have to line up and play through it. On the bright side, with Garoppolo healthy, this is a different team and next year they’ll get to add a Top Five draft pick and potential playmaker to the mix. Thanks to Russell Wilson and a down NFC Wild Card field, the Seahawks should be right in the mix as December dawns. While the NFC West title is probably too far out of reach, a five seed is very much on the table. As turnover prone as the 49ers have been, Seattle should have little trouble in this game at home. Don’t expect this line to be close to -1 by the opening whistle. Monday Night Football, Dec. 3Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles Kickoff: 8:15 p.m. EST Broadcast: ESPN Opening Line: Eagles -7.5 Speaking of moving lines, this game at Eagles -7.5 will definitely shrink. My expectation is Eagles -3 by the time Hank Williams Jr. starts warbling. Philadelphia hasn’t been the power they were last season, but there’s no reason to count them out of any game as long as Carson Wentz is healthy. Washington is getting the usual performance from Alex Smith and has an opportunistic defense. As November started, the Redskins were leading the NFC East and could still be in that seat at kickoff. |