The NFL’s Week 14 was a week of shocks with a host of pre-game New Jersey sportsbook favorites crashing everywhere, both at the top and the bottom of the NFL standings.
In perhaps the biggest stunner we saw the rampant Rams, who last week had become the first division (NFC West) winner to qualify for the playoffs with 11 wins to only one loss, brought to a shuddering halt in week 14 by home-team Chicago Bears, the Rams going down 6-15 in a low-scoring game that put a big -30 in the over/under betting bracket beside this result.
Another big-gun to go down was the 2017 Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. They were edged 33-34 by home team Miami Dolphins, but with a 9-4 win-loss record against the 7-6 of the Dolphins, the Patriots continue to head the AFC East division.
Other Big Guns
The other two big guns of the current top four Super Bowl favorites, the New Orleans Saints and the Kansas City Chiefs, both fared a lot better than the Rams and the Patriots this week.
The Saints, perhaps the No 1 Super Bowl favorites before their upset 10-13 defeat to the Dallas Cowboys last week, bit the bullet this week, bounced back and restored themselves as a strong candidate to pick up the coveted No 1 seeding for the Bowl by beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28.
The Chiefs, also playing an away game like the Saints, didn’t have things quite as easy in their match against the Baltimore Ravens, but in the end, they managed to edge the Ravens 27-24 to join the Saints and the Rams at the top of the NFL standings with an 11-2 win-loss record.
For a week or two the ailing Philadelphia Eagles, reigning Super Bowl Champions, looked as if they were going to close the season with a fight-back that could put them through to the playoffs, but that hope might well have gone out of the window on Sunday when they lost their away game 23-29 to the Dallas Cowboys, their major rivals in the NFC East division.
With this vital win, the Cowboys were able to tighten their hold on the Division. They now lead the Eagles by 8 games to 6.
Bottom Standings
But if there were shocks galore at the top of the standings, there was plenty more at the bottom.
Northern California’s Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers who between them, had won only four games all season and were being called the worst teams in the league, both went out and turned the tables on opponents who were confidently expected to win going away.
The 49ers beat middle-of-the-road Denver Broncos 20-14 while one-time NFL champions Oakland, believe it or not, edged the AFC North division leaders Pittsburgh Steelers 26-24.
The two New York bottom feeders, the Jets (AFC East) and the Giants (NFC East) also had eyebrows shooting up, the Jets beating Buffalo Bills 27-23 and the Giants thrashing the Washington Redskins 40-16.
Getting back to the Rams defeat and the NFL’s big talking point of last week, we note that for the second time in two weekends a stout and resolute defense has shut down the offense of a seemingly unstoppable log-leader.
At a moment in time when the Saints looked as if they were going to go marching into the Bowl final with no more than one early season defeat, Dallas did it by closing down their standout quarterback Drew Brees and the rest of the Saints offense and winning 13-10.
A Little Background
Now, this Sunday, just past it, was the Chicago Bears defense that proved to be the undoing of the league newest front-runner. In this case, the Rams, who they beat 15-6 to give the New Jersey over/under punters a big under-30 margin.
The Rams had only scored less than 29 points once this season and that number was 23, but on Sunday when they were hardly able to keep a drive alive against the Bulls fired-up defense, they could manage only six.
Todd Gurley just couldn’t get anything going and Jared Goff had so little time and space to do anything. His mistakes were plenty and costly.
The Bears, who head the NFC North division, broke a 6-6 tie with a safety, and were never headed thereafter. Their stifling defense let nothing through while their not-exceptional offense was taking their own final tally to a match-winning 15.
Until the last few weeks a string of high-quality quarterbacks with astute coaches who know how to use them had ruled the roost in NFL football, but suddenly two tough defense-geared outfits have come to the party to suggest that the team that wins the Super Bowl will have to be equipped with more than a masterful quarterback.
The Bears have certainly stepped into the picture now as a Bowl contender. Although it is the Saints who are once more the favorites for the important Super Bowl No 1 seeding.
They have the tie-breaker thanks to their face-to-face win over the Rams earlier this season.
The Rams will be heavily favored to win their remaining three games. But it just won’t be enough to get anything better than the 2nd seed. Thats if the Rams also won their last three games.
WEEK SCORES
- (Home teams are listed second in each score line with the win-loss-tie records of both teams bracketed after their names.
- For the over/under punters we list game’s o/u betting margins at the end of each score-line.)
THURSDAY
Jac Jaguars (4-9) lost 9-30 to Ten Titans (7-6) (O/U +2)
SUNDAY
NY Jets (4-9) won 27-23 v Buffalo Bills (4-9) – O/U +13
NY Giants (5-8) won 40-16 v Wash Redskins (6-7) – O/U +15.5
NO Saints (11-2) won 28-14 v TB Buccaneers (5-8) – O/U -12.5
Atl Falcons (4-8) lost 34-20 to GB Packers (4-7-1) – O/U +3.5
Car Panthers (6-7) lost 20-26 to Clev Browns (5-7-1) – O/U -2
NE Patriots (9-4) lost 33-34 to Miami Dolphins (7-6) – O/U +17.5
Balt Ravens (7-6) lost 24-27 to KC Chiefs (11-2) – O/U +2
Ind Colts (7-6) won 24-27 v Hou Texans (9-4) – O/U -4
Den Broncos (6-7) lost 14-20 to SF 49ers (3-10) – O/U -11.5
Pitt Steelers (7-5-1) lost 24-26 to Oak Raiders – 3-10) (O/U -6
Cinc Bengals (5-8) lost 21-26 to LA Chargers (10-3) – O/U -1.5
Det. Lions (5-8) beat Ariz. Cardinals (3-10) 17-3 – O/U -20.5
Phil Eagles (6-7) lost 23-29 to Dal Cowboys (8-5) – O/U +6.5
LA Rams (11-2) lost 6-15 to Chic Bears (9-4) – O/U -30).
MONDAY
8:15 pm Minnesota Vikings (6-5) at Seattle Seahawks (7-5-1) – spread +3/-3