Mile High freefall
Spiraling Broncos head to Arizona on Thursday night
Things are spiraling in Denver. At least the Broncos won’t have to worry about the cold and the snow when they journey to Arizona for a Thursday night game.
The Broncos have dropped four straight after opening with two wins. Their defence is dead last against the run and 27th overall.
With the Cardinals going with rookie quarterback Josh Rosen, the temptation will be to keep the ball on the ground as much as possible in this primetime, uh, thriller.
“Oh yeah, anytime you’re losing, everybody’s fighting for their lives and fighting for their job every week at every position, it doesn’t matter,” says veteran cornerback Chris Harris Jr.
“You just want to continue to ball, continue to do your job. There’s always finger-pointing and you don’t want to have that. We don’t want to have that at all. We want to just stay together and keep working.
“We know everybody’s fighting for their lives. That’s the NFL, though. If you don’t have that in your mind every week, that you’ve got to go out here and play great, and if you don’t your job can be on the line, then you haven’t woken up to the NFL.”
Arizona (1-5) wasn’t awake for much of the early season and was the last team to win a game. Surprisingly for such a record, the Cardinals have 11 takeaways. Not surprisingly, they have 10 giveaways.
No. 26 Denver is a 2 1/2point choice at No. 31 Arizona.
UPSET SPECIAL: CARDINALS, 19-16
KNOCKOUT POOL: The Texans made us sweat - what else do you do in Houston nowadays? But they came through. Now we look to the CHARGERS to do the same.
No. 29 New York Giants (plus 5 1-2) at No. 23 Atlanta, Monday night.
Falcons can score, Giants can’t.
BEST BET: FALCONS, 33-16
No. 2 New England (minus 3 1-2) at No. 13 (tie) Chicago
Notice how Patriots’ opponents always seem to be injuryravaged?
PATRIOTS, 24-20
No. 4 New Orleans (plus 2 1-2) at No. 6 Baltimore
Big-time offence faces big-time defence in classic matchup.
SAINTS, 23-18
No. 8 Cincinnati (plus 6) at No. 3 Kansas City
Both sides come off late-game losses that are potentially damaging for long term.
CHIEFS, 33-31
No. 12 Carolina (plus 4 1-2) at No. 10 Philadelphia
Did Eagles turn around things in win over Giants on Oct. 11?
EAGLES, 30-27
No. 5 Los Angeles Chargers (minus 6 1/2) vs. No. 20 Tennessee at London
Should be a better match at
Wembley than last week’s rout. CHARGERS, 23-14
No. 1 Los Angeles Rams (minus 10) at No. 28 San Francisco
Someone will stop the Rams’ run to 16-0. Won’t be Niners.
RAMS, 36-15
No. 19 Dallas (plus 1 1-2) at No. 16 Washington
Schizophrenic NFC East members; Redskins pretty good at home.
REDSKINS, 19-16
No. 24 Cleveland (plus 3) at No. 25 Tampa Bay
Two more unidentifiable teams.
BUCCANEERS, 24-23
No. 7 Minnesota (minus 3) at No. 21 New York Jets
Third game of Jets’ homestand, first tough opponent.
VIKINGS, 32-27
No. 27 Buffalo (plus 7 1-2) at No. 30 Indianapolis
Andrew Luck tips scales to Indy in matchup of very flawed clubs.
COLTS, 23-9
No. 18 Houston (plus 4 1-2) at No. 17 Jacksonville
Texans have won three straight with grit. Jags struggling in every way. But ...
JAGUARS, 20-19
No. 22 Detroit (OFF) at No. 13 (tie) Miami
Rested Lions are better no matter who QBs Dolphins.
LIONS, 27-17
2018 RECORD:
Last Week: Against spread (78). Straight up (1-5)
Season Totals: Against spread (40-48-3). Straight up: (58-33-2)
Best Bet: 2-4 against spread, 5-1 straight up
Upset special: 4-2 against spread, 3-2-1 straight up