The Rams made life tough on Tom Savage. Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
Through two quarters, the Texans looked like a team that could pull off the win as a double-digit underdog going into the intermission only down 9-7. It was only a matter of time before the Rams would break through and score 24 unanswered points in the second half.
Tom Savage had four turnovers on the day and only completed 50% of his passes, going 18-36 for 221 yards. The Rams play caller was the complete opposite in the closing half. Jared Goff went 14-of-17 for 251 yards in the half tacking on three scores. The game was quickly blown open after mistakes made by the backup quarterback and the Texans were never able to get back in it. The offense who once was so dynamic scoring 30 plus points in five straight games now seems hardly watchable. The Rams covered the -11 number comfortably after the public was all over them.
Most Bet Teams:
Patriots 91%
Lions 87%
Rams 84%
Steelers 81%
Cowboys 71%
Favorites went 8-5-1 ATS and 12-2 straight up in Week 10. The favorites continue to dominate and now are caught up at 68-68-7 on the year. This week only two teams won their game straight up as underdogs (Packers, 49ers).
Biggest Favorites to cover
Rams - 11
The Rams were bet up all the way to -13 by kickoff with 84% of the bets pouring in on the home team. L.A covered comfortably blowing the doors open in the second half with a final score 33-7. The under 45 also cashed as the Texans failed to score in the closing half.
Lions -10
After being spotted 10 points, the Browns did Cleveland-like things and collapsed. They came out playing like an inspired team and jumped out to an early ten point lead. Things changed quickly as Matthew Stafford led the Lions on a drive, that was capped by an 8 yard Ameer Abdullah run to tie the game 10-10. What looked to be an easy cover for first half Cleveland backers with +6.5 tickets, quickly turned into a migraine. Detriot's Nevin Lawson stripped the ball from the Browns tight end and ran it back for a 44-yard defensive score to take the 17-10 lead late in the second quarter. Browns fans and backers decided in taking unexpected restroom breaks reminiscing of the first quarter, to be startlingly surprised by a DeShone Kizer run down inside the 5 of the Lions, giving life to the halftime wager. What happened next is something you would do to your friend at the end of a video game, where you would knock the controller out of his hand and watch him go crazy as time expired. This, is exactly, what happened when the Browns failed to convert. For some odd reason, they chose to run a quarterback sneak from outside the two-yard line and watched time expire as they failed to get another snap off. If you were to bet opposite of the Browns all year for the first half and full game this year you would be 13-5 ATS.
Biggest Underdog to Cover
Packers +5 (+190)
Just six days out from looking disastrous vs. the Lions in a prime-time matchup, Packers quarterback Brett Hundley led Green Bay to a road win as an underdog. After a shaky start and a red zone turnover, Hundley went 10-of-13 for 126 yards and a touchdown in the second half. The talk of this game will be the challenge by Bears Coach John Fox on a play that was called down just shy of the goal line. After the challenge ruled that Benny Cunningham indeed stayed in bounds, it showed he lost control of the ball before crossing the pylon resulting in a touchback. This might go down as one of the worst challenges of all time.
Totals:
The Over/Under was 8-6 in week 10 and is now 74-71-1 in 2017.
Play Action or Pass went 3-4-1 in week 10. The Browns loss was the difference this week, or at least it felt that way after the way it played out ending with a DeShone Kizer interception to Darius Slay in the end zone killing the back door cover. We are 13-13-2 for the year.
Browns +11 LOSS
Rams -11 WIN
Buffalo: +3 LOSS
Vikings/ Redskins: Under 43 LOSS
Steelers Team Total over 27.5 LOSS
Teasers 7 points:
Patriots -.5/ Panthers-2 WIN
Patriots -.5/ Rams-4 WIN
For any questions or comments reach me at @JerryBoKnowz on twitter.
How 3 major x-factors could tip the scales in Texans-Colts: Week 1
Sep 5, 2024, 7:27 pm
Each football game of a season carries much more weight than one game in a 162 Major League Baseball schedule. That reality, combined with the National Football League campaign opening and with it the most anticipated season in Texans’ history, the Astros are relegated to second banana this weekend. Just the way it goes despite the Astros’ phenomenal extended run from 10 games out of first place in mid-June to now having control of the American League West race and a likely (though definitely not yet certain) eighth consecutive year of postseason play.
It is reality that getting swept out of Cincinnati cost the Astros two games in the standings to Seattle the last two days and trimmed their division lead to four and a half games going into this weekend. There was nothing shameful about getting swept. It’s not as if they choked. They got outplayed and beaten in all three games. Stuff happens within a 162-game season. The 2019 Astros were vastly better than the 2024 Astros. The 2019 ‘Stros posted the best record in franchise history at 107-55. In Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole they had the two best pitchers in the AL. The Reds finished 75-87 in ’19. In the lone Astros-Reds series five years ago, Verlander and Cole started two of the three games. The Reds swept the Astros out of Cincy by scores of 3-2, 4-3, and 3-2. Stuff happens. The following week the Astros called up Yordan Alvarez. There is no Yordan coming to fortify the offense now, but wait! Is that Kyle Tucker's music?
The Astros host the NL champs this weekend
It’s highly unlikely but it’s still a possible World Series preview at Minute Maid Park this weekend with the Astros home for three games versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. The reigning National League Champions woke up under .500 July 11, but since then have been sizzling with 33 wins against just 15 losses. Over the same time frame the Astros are 27-21. The Diamondbacks by a large margin have scored the most runs in MLB this season, and that’s while playing the last nearly three weeks without Ketel Marte because of a high ankle sprain. Marte has been far and away the best second baseman in the game this year. He may return this weekend in a designated hitter role. The Arizona offense overall has been sensational, however it has vulnerability against left-handed pitching, in significant part because it typically takes lefty-hitting platoon beast Joc Pederson out of the lineup. The D’Backs are 55-35 in games facing right-handed starters, just 24-27 in games started by opposing southpaws. The Astros have lefties Framber Valdez and Yusei Kikuchi set to go in the first two games this weekend. While the Astros deal with the Diamondbacks the Mariners are in St. Louis for three against the Cardinals.
Eleven Diamondbacks have had at least 200 plate appearances this season. Only one of them has an OPS below .725. The Astros also have 11 guys with at least 200 PAs. Five of them lug around sub-.715 OPSes: Jeremy Pena (.714), Jake Meyers (.664), Mauricio Dubon (.645), Jon Singleton (.697), and Chas McCormick (.566).
Maximizing Tucker's return
Speaking of returns, Tucker fiiiiiiinally should see action for the first time since his June 3 bone bruise. Oh wait, broken leg. Shame on the Astros for their BSing over this and other injuries. Yeah, Alex Bregman slept funny. Whatever. To boost the lineup Tucker doesn’t have to be the .979 OPS MVP candidate he was when felled. Ben Gamel has done some good work, but over time he’s Ben Gamel. Same for Jason Heyward. If Tucker's legs are under him his power is a B-12 shot and only Yordan is in his league in on-base percentage. Joe Espada has decisions to make as to how slot the batting order. Against a right-handed starter Jose Altuve, Tucker, Alvarez, Yainer Diaz, Bregman one through five makes sense with Tucker dropping down below Yainer against a left-handed starter. No question those are the top five in some order. How much of a workload Tucker is ready for bears watching. Presumably he doesn’t initially play the outfield day in day out. When Tucker DHs obviously Bregman (and Yordan) can’t so Alex’s ailing elbow holding up is key. One might say hopefully the bone chips don’t fall where they may. Tuesday the Astros start a stretch playing 16 days in a row.
Keep hope alive!
If you’re an Astros fan holding out hope of chasing down the second seed to avoid having to play the best-of-three Wild Card series, say it with me, whatever nausea it may induce: “Go Dodgers Go!” Hurt as it might, business is business. The Dodgers play host to the Guardians. The Astros trail Cleveland by five games with just 22 to play, but do finish the regular season with three games at Cleveland. It's pretty much over for the Astros to catch both the Orioles and Yankees.
Season-long trends mean nothing once the playoffs start, and that’s a good thing for the Astros provided they are in the playoffs. They continue to flat out stink in close games. Thursday’s 1-0 loss to the Reds has the Astros record in one-run games at 15-24. In two-run games they are 10-14. Correlatively, the Astros also continue to routinely fail late in close games. The Astros have played 14 games that were tied after seven innings. They have lost 11 of the 14. In games tied after eight innings they are 7-13. Every team loses an extremely high percentage of games when trailing after eight innings, but the Astros haven’t pulled out a single game they’ve trailed going to the ninth. 0-50. Oh and fifty. But hey, the White Sox are 0-92!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.