NFL 2022 Week 4 Prequel
Thursday, September 29, 2022, 8pm
Miami Dolphins at Cincinnati Bengals (-3 1/2) — The Dolphins are unbeaten and coming off an emotional home win over Buffalo. A letdown is very possible. The Bengals are not playing as well as they did last year. The Dolphins have a seriously good defense. The Bengals still have not fixed their offensive line. Upset special, Dolphins win outright
Sunday, October 2, 1pm
Minnesota Vikings (-2 1/2) at New Orleans Saints in London — The Vikings won their two home games and lost their road game. Jameis Winston is not healthy. Yet the Saints have a very good defense. Trust the defense. Upset special, Saints win outright
Cleveland Browns (-1 1/2) at Atlanta Falcons — Jacoby Brissett and Marcus Mariota are both coming off of big wins. Weather will not be a factor in this game. Kevin Stefanski gets more out of less. Nick Chubb runs hard. Browns cover
Buffalo Bills (-3 1/2) at Baltimore Ravens — This could be an AFC Title Game preview. Lamar Jackson is a pinball video game. Josh Allen can scramble as well. The Bills have the better defense and will be angry after their loss at Miami. These teams are both well-coached. the spread is too high for a road team, especially when the home team has Jackson. Go with the home field. Upset special, Ravens win outright
Washington Commanders at Dallas Cowboys (-3) — Cooper Rush has been playing well in place of the injured Dak Prescott. The Commanders inspire nobody. They looked lifeless at home against Philadelphia. Cowboys cover
Seattle Seahawks at Detroit Lions (-5) — Both of these teams lost heartbreakers last week. The Lions twice blew double digit leads. The spread is too high for a Lions team that is still young and learning how to win. Jared Goff is still better than Geno Smith. Lions win but fail to cover
Los Angeles Chargers (-5) at Houston Texans — The Chargers looked horrendous at home last week against Jacksonville. Justin Herbert is not healthy. Yet the Texans are terrible. Davis Mills can manage a game, but there is no way he will win a shootout with Herbert. The Chargers will look to rebound and prove that their preseason hype was not misplaced. Chargers cover
Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts (-3) — The Titans barely survived at home to avoid becoming the only winless team in the NFL. The Colts shocked Kansas City at home. Derrick Henry looked like his old self, and Matt Ryan seems to be struggling. This is one that could go either way, so go with the home field. Colts cover
Chicago Bears at New York Giants (-3 1/2) — Nobody is taking either of these 2-1 teams seriously. It is hard t trust Daniel Jones or Justin Fields. Saquon Barkley has been looking like his old self, which could be the difference. These evenly matched teams could go down to the final play. Giants win but fail to cover
Jacksonville Jaguars at Philadelphia Eagles (-6 1/2) — Doug Pederson returns to take on the team that got rid of him only three years after the only Super Bowl win in Eagles history. He was expected to turn the Jaguars around, but not this quickly. The Jaguars went on the road and gave the Chargers a royal beating. Yet Kevin Sirianni is no slouch either. After starting his rookie season 2-5, he got the Eagles to the playoffs and has them 3-0 this year. The Jaguars are due for a letdown. Eagles cover
New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers (-3 1/2) — The Steelers looked flat at Cleveland, but they had 10 days to get ready for a Jets squad that looked lifeless against Baltimore. Joe Flacco used to beat the Steelers regularly, but that was years ago. The Steelers can still run the ball and Mike Tomlin usually has his teams prepared. The Steelers will rebound. Steelers cover
Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers (-2) — A monumental comeback 2 weeks ago is the only thing keeping the Cardinals from being winless. Kyler Murray is better than Baker Mayfield, but the Panthers have the better defense. The forecast calls for in, which will make things tough for the Arizona passing game. Go with the home field and the team that runs the ball with Christian McCaffrey and plays defense. Panthers cover
4pm
New England Patriots at Green Bay Packers (-10 1/2) — 25 years ago, Mike Holmgren and Brett Favre led the Packers to a Super Bowl win over Bill Parcells and the Patriots. Desmond Howard was the unlikely hero. Aaron Rodgers is far superior to Mac Jones, especially with Jones being injured. The Packers gutted out a win at Tampa last week due to their defense. Nevertheless, when was the last time a Bill Belichick team got blown out in the regular season? The spread is too high, especially with the Packers winning uglier than in years past. The Patriots can run the ball and speed up the game. Packers win but fail to cover
Denver Broncos at Las Vegas Raiders (-2 1/2) — The Raiders are the only winless team in the NFL, mainly due to Josh McDaniels’s stubborn refusal to work Josh Jacobs. on the ground. The Broncos are 2-1, but all three games were hideously ugly. The Broncos have the better defense, but Russell Wilson has not gelled with his offense yet. Derek Carr has more weapons but a suspect offensive line. The Raiders are desperate. McDaniels is also desperate to beat the team that fired him after less than two years on the job. If the Raiders run the ball, they will win. Raiders cover
8pm
Kansas City Chiefs (-2 1/2) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Right now Tampa has bigger worries than football. Hurricane Ian is expected to belt Tampa from Wednesday through Saturday. The weather should be sunny by Sunday, but who knows if the game can even be played in Tampa. In strictly football terms, Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady both had ugly losses last week. They both have slightly fewer offensive weapons than one year ago. There is no evidence that Todd Bowles can be a successful head coach. With everything else considered equal, go with the guy holding seven rings. Upset special, Buccaneers win outright
Monday, October 3, 8pm
Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers (-2 1/2) — The Rams overcame a 17-7 deficit to win a brutal NFC Title Game last year 20-17. With these teams, throw out the records. They know each other well and are willing to get nasty in the trenches. The 49ers are coming off an ugly loss where the offense did nothing. The Rams nearly blew a 25 point lead but hung on to win. The Rams won it all last year, but the 49ers went blow for blow with them in all three of their head to head matchups. Jimmy Garoppolo has his job back, and is determined to prove to the football world that he is more than a game manager. 49ers cover
eric