The world of gambling can be tough sometimes, and that’s especially true when it comes to the realm of the National Football League. An example of that is when you look at the betting lines for this weekend. According to the top football betting sites, two teams with no wins on their 2019 resume are the favorites against their opponents. It may be a sports cliche, but it’s true: You can “throw out the wins and losses” for each team and every game when it comes to betting in the NFL.
Here in the new campaign, nothing has changed at all, with things that we didn’t see in preseason coming at us from multiple directions. This includes a number of teams that are having a good year here in 2019 after missing last year’s postseason.
Altogether, we have a total of four franchises that would miss the playoffs last season and are now undefeated here in the new year in Week 4. Those teams: Green Bay Packers (3-0), San Francisco 49ers (3-0), Buffalo Bills (3-0) and Detroit Lions (2-0-1). Since 1990 when the format for the current playoff system was implemented, this is the fourth time in history where at least four teams have missed the postseason the year before and then would start out the season 3-0 the year after — the three other times would be in 2002, 2003 and 2013.
As far as one of those teams are concerned, the San Francisco 49ers, they have a guarantee of staying undefeated as they have a bye for Week 4. With the other teams, it’s only a matter of time what we see happen with them in the unpredictable NFL, and with that being said, let’s go ahead and get to my Week 4 National Football League picks and predictions.
With the way the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense has been struggling to start out the season, the sight of Aaron Rodgers and a potent Green Bay Packers offense has to be a bit concerning to the city of brotherly love. Not just that, but the concerns actually get even deeper when you look at the state of Philadelphia’s offense — oh, and the fact that Green Bay has the second best defense (points allowed) in the National Football League. With that being said, things can get a bit problematic. The Eagles are going to need to be aggressive with their running game, and not just that, but they better hope that Alshon Jeffrey comes back this weekend to help out Carson Wentz and the lacking passing attack. If they can’t get it together with their rushing and Jeffrey is out for another week, it’s going to be nearly impossible to score against the Packers.
On top of that, you also have the short week to consider, with Philadelphia having far more injuries than Green Bay. I’ve got a close game on the scoreboard, but I think the Green Bay Packers get a pretty comfortable win with never really any worry about the Philadelphia Eagles playing from behind throughout.
Right now, Baker Mayfield is currently going through what we call the “sophomore slump”, but he has a great shot this weekend to break out of that and get things going. Here in the early season, the race for the AFC North division championship has became important for the Browns, as they’ll be looking to gain a game on the Ravens for the lead, rather than fall yet another game behind them. Cleveland has the perfect opportunity to do this with Baltimore’s defense on a decline, but there is a major problem in the way of this for the Browns, and his name is Lamar Jackson. Jackson’s numbers have been elite this season, throwing for 863 passing yards, seven touchdowns and he’s yet to throw an interception. On top of that, he also has the fourth best QBR at 80.2.
As far as Cleveland’s defense is concerned, their secondary is injured right now and completely out of wack with those circumstances. Lamar Jackson should torch the Browns as a result for a lot of points on the board, and not just that, but their rushing attack should be able to add to their tally on the scoreboard as well. Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns have a chance to get back on the winning side of things this weekend, but it all depends on how much they contain Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. Me personally, I’ve got Baltimore’s potency in a victory, while Cleveland continues to be Cleveland.
Out with a foot injury, Cam Newton will be sidelined once again and Kyle Allen will be starting another game for the Carolina Panthers, and he’s in good circumstances this weekend against the Houston Texans. Here in the early part of the campaign, the Texans have struggled with their passing defense, and after Allen’s great showing (261 YDS, 4 TDS) against the Arizona Cardinals, he has the opportunity to repeat that performance. And if he does, it may cause a little bit of a quarterback controversy in Charlotte, and this despite Cam’s injury — though I personally think it’s a little unfair to give up on Newton this soon, and quite frankly, a little bit dumb. The man is suffering from an injury after all, but hey, this is the National Football League: What can you give me now? Kyle Allen should be able to draw more positive attention to himself this weekend with Houston lacking with their secondary, and points should be put up in the favor of Carolina as a result.
As far as who the victor is, the Panthers have their own issues on the defensive side of the ball as well, but it’s in a better state than Houston’s. Even if Deshaun Watson has a great game, I think Kyle Allen and the Carolina Panthers will counter enough to get the W in an entertaining and close battle.
Both of these teams are some of the most unpredictable in the National Football League, and with that being the issue, this game is going to be an extraordinarily hard (and entertaining) one to pick. The similarities don’t stop there though, they both also come in with losing 1-2 records, but both have the potential to recover and win a weak NFC South. On the defensive side of the ball, the Tennessee Titans have that leverage, and that’s especially true when you consider that the Atlanta Falcons don’t have Keanu Neal anymore because of a season-ending left Achilles injury. Not just that, but the Titans also have Derrick Henry at the running back position, which gives them the better rushing game over Atlanta.
With that being said, you have to take the Titans, right? Not so fast, my friend. (Lee Corso voice) If this game is close at the end, which I have it being, the quarterback play will be vital to decide who the winner is. If that’s the case, you’ve got to trust Matt Ryan in the clutch a lot more than Marcus Mariota. On top of that, there’s massive pressure on Falcons head coach Dan Quinn to get a win. Those two factors alone (and the game being at Mercedes-Benz Stadium) make me side with the Atlanta Falcons for the tight victory.
Shout out to Detroit! The Lions have gotten here to Week 4 with an undefeated record. It might be a 2-0-1 mark with a tie attached to it, but it’s still pretty impressive, especially considering they would pull upsets over the Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles in the past two weeks to get them to this point. With that being said, they’re now tasked with MVP Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, and it’s highly likely that the dream start for the Detroit Lions will come to a halt here. Even with Darius Slay, the Lions were certainly going to have a tough time containing the Chiefs, but their defense is in an even worse state now with Slay being out with a hamstring injury. Lions’ running back Kerryon Johnson has the potential to put up numbers this weekend against Kansas City’s run defense that’s still working out the kinks, but even if he does have a great game, it won’t be potent enough to stop the Kansas City Chiefs. Sorry, Detroit, you’ll be taken back to earth this week.
Just a couple weeks ago after we found out that Drew Brees would be out for the season due to a hand injury, we thought this “Game of the Week” match would lose all of its hype as a result. And then Sunday happened: They would get a 33-27 win over the Seattle Seahawks without their franchise quarterback, and what was even more impressive about that is that they did it at CenturyLink Field — an environment where it’s almost impossible to win if you’re a road team. With that being the case, the New Orleans Saints completely saved the entertainment value with their Sunday night primetime contest against the Dallas Cowboys.
Here’s the issue for New Orleans though: The Cowboys are going to make life on them a lot harder than the Seahawks did, limiting the effectiveness of Teddy Bridgewater (or Taysom Hill) and also being able to slow down Alvin Kamara a little bit with their defense. Dallas also has the leverage on the offensive side of the ball as well, having their franchise player Ezekiel Elliott going up against a rushing defense that hasn’t been the best this season — as a result, you can expect Zeke to get plenty of yards in this one to help take out the Saints, and that’ll keep the pressure off of quarterback Dak Prescott for the extra nail in the coffin. Dallas Cowboys in a close one.
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