Monday’s 6-pack
Six interesting college games this week:
— Notre Dame @ Wisconsin (-6)
— Texas A&M (-6) @ Arkansas
— Clemson (-10) @ NC State
— UCLA @ Stanford (-4.5)
— Louisville (-2.5) @ Florida State
— Kentucky (-5) @ South Carolina
Quote of the Day
“Offensively, in particular, that’s as poor as we’ve been in a long time around here, and that starts with me. We’ve gotta do a better job going in. Our protection plan wasn’t good enough. But it had nothing to do with us being short-handed with coaches or us being away or the COVID [situation].”
Saints’ coach Sean Payton
Monday’s quiz
Who was the Baltimore Ravens’ coach before John Harbaugh?
Hint: He won a Super Bowl
Sunday’s quiz
In the TV show Magnum PI, Thomas Magnum grew up in Virginia.
Saturday’s quiz
Sun Bowl football game is played in El Paso every December.
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Monday’s Den: Wrapping up an NFL Sunday
Baltimore 36, Kansas City 35:
— Chiefs averaged 8.3 yards/play; only 6 of their 49 plays were on 3rd down.
— KC turned ball over on two of their last three drives.
— Chiefs were outgained by 68 yards/game in first two games.
— Kelce caught 7 passes for 109 yards and a TD.
— Jackson ran 16 times for 107 yards, threw for 239 yards.
— On their last six drives, Ravens scored four TD’s, kicked a FG.
— Last 5+ years, Baltimore is 5-1 ATS as home underdogs.
— Ravens snapped a 4-game skid vs Kansas City.
Arizona 34, Minnesota 33
— Vikings missed 37-yard FG at gun; they also missed a PAT.
— Vikings’ first four drives: 23 plays, 242 yards, 20 points.
— Vikings’ last seven drives: 40 plays, 176 yards, 6 points.
— Minnesota lost first two games by total of four points.
— Arizona scored 72 points in winning its first two games.
— Redbirds scored nine TD’s on 23 drives in two games.
— Murray threw for 400 yards and three TD’s.
— Matt Prater drilled a 62-yard FG for the Cardinals.
Tampa Bay 48, Atlanta 25:
— Falcons gave up 80 points in losing first two games.
— Atlanta has been outscored 44-15 in 2nd half of games.
— Tampa Bay had 13-yard edge in field position.
— Last 4+ years, Atlanta is 8-13 ATS as road underdog.
— Buccaneers won first two games, scoring 79 points.
— Brady threw for 276 yards, five TD’s in this game.
— Three of their five TD drives were less than 50 yards.
— Tampa Bay had two pick-6’s in 4th quarter.
Tennessee 33, Seattle 30, OT
— Tennessee outscored Seahawks 17-0 over final 17:32 of game.
— Henry ran ball for 182 yards, three TD’s.
— Julio Jones caught six passes for 127 yards.
— Last 6+ years, Titans are 15-10-1 ATS vs NFC opponents.
— Seattle lost its first home opener since 2008.
— Seahawks’ last 3 drives in 1st half: 12 plays, 164 yards, 21 points.
— Seahawks rest of game: 24 plays, 150 yards, 6 points.
— Their last nine games vs Titans were decided by 7 or fewer points.
Dallas 20, LA Chargers 17
— Dallas ran ball for 198 yards, averaged 7.0 yards/play.
— Cowboys scored 17 points on three red zone drives.
— Two games this season, Dallas is 15-27 on 3rd down.
— Better balance this week; Cowboys ran ball 31 times, threw 27 passes.
— Chargers’ 7 drives: one TD, four FG’s, two INT’s.
— Bolts scored only 14 points on four red zone drives.
— Herbert threw for 338 yards, also threw two INT’s.
— Last 3+ years, Bolts are 3-14-1 ATS as home favorites.
Las Vegas 26, Pittsburgh 17:
— Raiders outgained Pittsburgh, 425-331.
— Las Vegas kicked FG’s on three of four first half drives.
— Raiders have 782 passing yards in first two games.
— Raiders are 7-1-1 ATS in last nine road openers.
— Steelers have been outscored 19-7 in first half this season.
— Pittsburgh ran ball 14 times for only 39 yards.
— Steelers have been outgained by 106.5 yards/game.
— Under is 9-4 in their last 13 home openers.
San Francisco 17, Philadelphia 11
— 49ers’ first four drives: 20 plays, 49 yards, 3 first downs, 0 points.
— 49ers’ last four drives: 43 plays, 267 yards, 19 first downs, 17 points.
— 49er’s two TD drives were 97-92 yards.
— San Francisco has two road wins despite being minus-2 in turnovers.
— Up 3-0 in 2nd quarter, Eagles were stopped on downs on SF’s 3-yard line.
— Both teams average starting field position; their own 19-yard line.
— Hurts threw for only 190 yards, ran for 82 more.
— Last 5+ years, under is 29-12 in Eagle home games.
Chicago 20, Cincinnati 17:
— Total yardage: 248-206, Bengals.
— Cincy lost despite a 13-yard edge in field position.
— Bengals turned ball over four times (minus-3)
— Bengals are 8-14 ATS last 22 games vs NFC opponents.
— Roquan Smith had a 53-yard pick-6 to put Bears up 17-3.
— Rookie QB Fields was 6-13/60 passing, ran 10 times for 31 yards.
— Dalton got hurt; he started 133 games for Bengals (70-61-2, 2011-19)
— Under is 5-1-1 in Bears’ last seven home openers.
LA Rams 27, Indianapolis 24:
— Rams drove 70 yards in four plays to take lead for good early in 4th quarter.
— Cooper Kupp caught nine passes for 163 yards, two TD’s.
— Rams averaged 11.6 yards/pass attempt last week, 8.7 this week.
— Under McVay, Rams are 5-0 SU in road openers (3-2 ATS).
— Wentz got hurt; backup QB Eason saw first NFL action in final 2:25 of game.
— Indy had two empty trips to red zone in their first three drives.
— Colts got gift TD in 3rd quarter when Rams screwed up snap on a punt.
— Indy starts 0-2 at home; their next three games are on road.
Carolina 26, New Orleans 7:
— Saints’ only TD came on a 18-yard drive early in 4th quarter.
— New Orleans ran only 43 plays for 128 yards.
— Saints had only six first downs, threw for only 80 yards.
— Saints are 2-10 ATS in last 12 road openers.
— Carolina ran 73 plays, converted 8-15 on third down.
— Panthers allowed total of 93 YR in first two games.
— McCaffrey has 59 touches in his first two games.
— Carolina beat Saints for only 2nd time in last 10 meetings.
Cleveland 31, Houston 21:
— QB Taylor got hurt; rookie Mills was 8-18/102 passing.
— Houston’s first three drives: 20 plays, 155 yards, 14 points.
— Houston’s last six drives: 39 plays, 154 yards, 7 points.
— Last 3+ years, Texans are 10-6 ATS as road underdogs.
— Browns were +3 in turnovers, had 12-yard edge in field position.
— Mayfield completed 19-21 passes, for 8.7 yards/attempt.
— Cleveland is 0-8 ATS as a favorite in their home opener.
— Browns are 11-16-1 ATS in last 28 games as home favorite.
Buffalo 35, Miami 0:
— Last two meetings, Bills beat Miami 56-26/35-0.
— Buffalo outscored first two opponents 24-0 in first half.
— Last 3+ years, Bills are 6-3 ATS as road favorite.
— McDermott is 18-12-1 ATS as a favorite.
— Tagovailoa got hurt; Brissett was 24-40/169 passing.
— Miami got to red zone three times, but didn’t score.
— Dolphins were outgained 707-475 in first two games.
— Dolphins have lost six games in row vs Buffalo.
Denver 23, Jacksonville 13:
— Denver opens up 2-0, with pair of road wins.
— Broncos had 11-yard edge in field position.
— Denver outgained Jaguars 398-198.
— Broncos converted only 2-11 third down plays.
— Jaguars have now lost 17 games in a row.
— Rookie QB Lawrence was only 14-33 passing for 118 yards.
— Jaguars’ second TD came on a 102-yard kick return.
— Jaguars are already minus-5 in turnovers this year.
New England 25, NJ Jets 6:
— Patriots had 15-yard edge in field position.
— New England has three TD’s on first 19 drives this year.
— Patriots outgained first two foes 653-495
— Belichick is 21-6 vs rookie QB’s.
— Rookie QB Wilson threw four INTs, three on first four drives.
— Jets started 0-2 four of last five years.
— Jets lost 11 games in row to New England.
— Jets ran ball for 152 yards, but minus-4 in turnovers is no bueno.