NONSTOP TRIP
Giants won’t have to contend with defense in Atlanta
THIS is not the place for more analysis of Odell Beckham Jr. and John Mara and who threw whom under the Big Blue Bus.
The Giants are still a football team — albeit a bad one right now at 1-5 — and there’s a football game to be played on Monday night in prime time on national television. Football games are played between two teams, and in case you haven’t noticed, the Falcons (the Giants’ opponent) do not have a defense.
That goes beyond saying Atlanta has a bad defense. The Falcons hardly have one at all — with starting safeties Keanu Neal and Ricardo Allen, linebacker Deion Jones and tackle Grady Jackson all missing. In the past four weeks, the team has given up 43, 37, 41 and 29 points, losing the first three of those games before barely getting by the Buccaneers last week.
This is a game in which the Giants’ offensive line will be able to protect Eli Manning ... if not well, then at least bet- t e r. A motivated OBJ could get to 150 yards receiving and Saquon Barkley’s “Did I just see that?” moves will amount to more points.
The Falcons still have Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, but the lack of a runni ng game has made this a one-dimensional team right now. The pick: Giants, +5. Vikings (- 3 ¹/₂) over Jets: Yes, Kirk Cousins snubbed the Jets in free agency then rubbed their noses in it in a documentary. And yes, coach Todd Bowles could go up to every member of the Jets in pregame, point at Cousins and say, “See that guy over there, number 8, he took less money to play against you because he thinks you’re [bleep]. Said so right on the TV.” Bill Parcells would have been all over that. Not sure if his protégé, Bowles, will go there, and even if he does, the fact remains there’s a game to be played and the Vikings are very good at that. Can’t see a banged-up Jets secondary staying with the likes of Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen and Kyle Rudolph, and Dalvin Cook is expected back as well. Chargers (- 6 ¹ /₂ ) over Titans: Week 7 begins at 9: 30 a. m. from London. Games over there tend to be blowouts, so we’re not worr ied about the spread ( t hough sometimes it’s the underdog that wins big in a surprise). Wondering how much i nformation the Chargers can take from the Ravens’ unreal 11 sacks of Marcus Mariota last week.
BEARS (+3) over Patriots: Tough turnaround for the Patriots, traveling after outlasting the Chiefs in an 83-point track meet on Sunday night. The Bears are capable of making some of the quick-strike plays the Chiefs made against the Patriots. And they’ve given up just 17 and 10 points in going 2-0 at home so far in 2018.
Browns (+3¹/₂) over BUCCANEERS: Four of the Browns’ first six games have been decided by exactly three points, and another finished with a fourpoint margin. So this head start, which may look small, could be meaningful. Looking forward to what Baker Mayfield can do against a Bucs team that’s given up an NFL-worst 34.6 ppg.
DOLPHINS (+3) over Lions: Tough call, as the Dolphins are 3-0 at home with three covers, and the Lions are 0-2 on the road but covered in both. Not afraid to back Brock Osweiler, and the near-90 temperatures and grass-field play in Miami’s favor against an indoor, turf foe.
Pa nt he r s (+ 4 ¹ /₂ ) over EAGLES: Not putting a ton of importance on the recent results vs. the Giants ( the Panthers needed a 63-yard field goal to win, 33-31, at home, then the Eagles crushed Big Blue, 34-13, in Jersey). That was a must-win game for Philly against a “down” team. This will be a tooth- and- nail fight.
Bills (+7¹/₂) over COLTS: In t heir past three games, the Bills are 1-2 with 26 points scored and 54 allowed. The Colts are 0-3 with 92 points scored and 107 allowed. That’s comparably bad, just in different ways, and the takeaway is this spread is too high.
Texans (+5) over JAGUARS: Jacksonville has surrounded a romp over the Jets with losses of 9-6 to the Titans, 30-14 at the Chiefs and a no-show 40-7 at the Cowboys. J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney spell trouble for a limited Jaguars offense.
Saints (+2¹/₂) over RAVENS: Take away the 47-point outlier in the Ravens’ opening romp vs. the Bills, and the next highest outputs from these teams are the 40, 43, 33 and 43 scored by the Saints. Also consider the Sean Payton/ Drew Brees combo is lethal after a bye.
Cowboys (+1¹/₂) over REDSKINS: Dallas is 0-3 on the road (0-2-1 ATS), averaging 12.3 ppg. Expecting an improvement from a bunch that’s done well as visitors in recent seasons. Cowboys put up 40 on the Jaguars last week so possibly they are figuring some things out.
RAMS (-9 ¹/₂) over 49ers: Now that the Rams learned on Monday night they will have to cover Marquis Goodwin deep, that will make it harder for C.J. Beathard to keep up with Sean McVay’s nuclear offense.
CHIEFS (- 6) over Bengals: Cincy has given up 31 (at Carolina) and 36 (at Atlanta) in its past two road games, not offering much hope of slowing down the Patrick Mahomes machine. K.C. will be focused after first suffering its loss at New England.
BEST BETS: Vikings, Giants, Browns.
LOCK OF THE WEEK: Vikings (Locks 4-2 in 2018).
L AST WEEK: 9-5-1 overall, 2-1 Best Bets.
THURSDAY: Cardinals.