Intro by Sam
Two pretty bad weeks in a row. Do bad weeks come in threes, too? Read this week’s OLL to find out.
Week 11 Picks
The Collaboration
The Chicago Bears @ the Minnesota Vikings-2.5
Yank: I try to watch my Giants as little as possible yet I can’t help myself. All my takes end up based on Giants games one way or the other. Those of you who saw the Giants Bears game likely see where this is going: the Giants probably should have easily beaten the Bears in Chicago. This means the Bears are terrible. This game is in Minnesota and the Vikings are a significant step up in talent and coaching from the hapless Gmen. I expect Minnesota to easily cover.
Sam: JJ McCarthy throws the ball the way I drive the golf ball. Relaxed, not pressed, I’ll put a far one out there. Think about it a little or have some pressure, and I’m swinging as hard as I possibly can, and it usually ends up far left of the target. That being said, unlike me at the end of the round, the Vikings should win this one going away. The defense will give Williams fits, and the Bears defense is losing players left and right.
Yank’s Pick: $11.00 on the Vikings-2 (-110)
Sam’s Pick: $10.50 on the Vikings-3 (-105)
The Confrontation
The Kansas City Chiefs-4 @ the Denver Broncos
Sam: Not going to lie, mostly picking this hoping the Broncos lose based on my luck this season. That being said, they’re 8-2 and the Chiefs are 5-4. Could this be the season of the cardiac Broncos?
Yank: Once again a giants based pick; the Giants were blowing out the Broncos in Denver late. The Chiefs record is not great but I think they are coming around to their rightful place at the top of the AFC. Bo Nix has not looked up to the task of outdueling Patrick Mahomes.
Yank’s Pick: $5.00 on the Chiefs-4 (EVEN)
Sam’s Pick: $5.00 on the Broncos+4 (EVEN)
The Money Line Parlay of the Week
The Washington Commanders @ the Miami Dolphins-2.5 (Madrid)
The Seattle Seahawks @ the Los Angeles Rams-3.5
Yank: This is the classic pendulum swing parlay. The Rams looked unbeatable last week, easily dispatching the 49ers on the road. Similarly the Dolphins took it to the Bills looking clearly better than a team who’s been to multiple recent AFC title games. The bet here is that the Dolphins performance was a mirage and the Rams are due for a letdown. Seems reasonable for almost 5-1 odds.
Sam: The Commanders might suck, but the Dolphins suck worse. Add in that this game is in a country no NFL team has played in before, I’m expecting the Commanders to apparently surprise folks here. The Seahawks have been legit all season. The defense is great and Darnold has been balling. This will be a critical matchup to see if they’re legit. If you recall, Darnold lost to this team twice last season and it wasn’t pretty.
Yank’s Pick: $10.00 on a Commanders/Seahawks Money Line Parlay (+475)
Sam’s Pick: $10.00 on a Commanders/Seahawks Money Line Parlay (+442)
Rapid-Fire Isolation Picks
Yank’s Picks:
$11.00 on the Houston Texans-5.5 (-110) @ the Tennessee Titans
Yank: the I am taking every opportunity to bet against the Tennessee Titans. I don’t care that Davis Mills is starting. I don’t care that Houston needed a miracle to win last week. I’m going against the Titans again and again and again like when Herb Brooks had the team on the line in Miracle.
Sam’s Picks:
$7.40 on the Houston Texans-5.5 (-112) @ the Tennessee Titans
$5.00 on the Baltimore Ravens-7.5 (-112) @ the Cleveland Browns
Sam: I wasn’t impressed with the Ravens last week, but they did enough to take advantage of a young QB. The recipe is the same this week against a worse offense. Ravens stay on track this week with a big win against the most unserious team in the NFL.
Authors: Sam Mattson and Michael Yanckello
One Last Line 