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Kirk and Matt get $100 each per week and go head-to-head to see who can light the most money on fire betting the NFL this season.
Welcome back to Oddball! Our weekly NFL gambling competition. The rules are simple:
We each get $100 to make NFL bets every week.
We must bet the entire $100.
We'll post our picks every Thursday and recap how we did every Tuesday.
We can only bet on stuff that will be resolved during the week (no futures).
Loser must eat an entire well-done steak at Applebee's.
Any profit you make in a given week can be banked and used later. Any portion of the $100 that you don't lose, cannot be used later but does count towards your overall total for the season.
Wow, that preamble was more verbose than Swiftie Nation was on Sunday. Let's get to this week's picks...
Matt's Picks
$100 available to bet this week -$58.00 last week $187.17 in the bank
I'm not going to lie, last week was tough. My confidence was wavering all week. Picking the stinky teams that no one wants has always been an amazing strategy for me. What do I do when that stops working?
The answer, my friends, is nothing. I'm not changing my approach. I'm staying the course. Let's hold our noses and take some more smelly dogs.
Titans +2.5
Straight up ATS (-115)
I just can't quit this team. Even after a disappointing performance last week, I'm right back on Tennessee. Joe Burrow and the Bengals need to show they are capable of throwing the ball down the field before they should be road favorites against anyone.
💰 $23 to win $20
Rams +1.5
Straight up ATS (-120)
Great teaser leg, but we're not doing those anymore. At least for a week. Instead, I'll just grab the points. The Colts got all kinds of lucky last week to beat the Ravens. It looks like Anthony Richardson practiced yesterday, so he'll likely be back for Indy. That weirdly makes me like the Rams more. I think a healthy Minshew is scarier than a rusty Richardson. I trust McVay to scheme it up nicely and win a close one on the road.
💰 $24 to win $20
Jets +9.5
Straight up ATS (-110)
The Chiefs are getting all the hype after blowing out the clueless Bears. Now all eyes will be on them again as the Taylor Swift love story continues to unfold. See what I did there? On the other hand, all anyone can talk about is how bad Zach Wilson is. His own fans hate him so much their teeth are falling out. Who is going to bet this stinky Jets team? This guy, that's who.
💰 $22 to win $20
Bills -3.0
Straight up ATS (-105)
Just gonna keep betting against Miami until it works. Joe Public is going to be all over the Dolphins after their 70-point outburst last week. It's scary and I hate it, but ya gotta fade the hype train and take the Bills who have looked solid two weeks in a row (albeit against crappy teams).
💰 $21 to win $20
Moneyline Parlay (+1281)
Jets (+370)
Raiders (+194)
Because I know my co-author will be putting together some kind of 20-leg same gamer to try and sink me, I'll also try for a bit of a long shot. Chiefs will be a very popular play in knockout pools and teasers this week for obvious reasons. But as we saw with the Cowboys going down in flames last week, strange things happen in the NFL. Give me the Jets to pull off the impossible. Also give me the Raiders against the hapless Chargers who cannot stop anyone. It's the Chargers, so this game will come down to the last play. Therefore, the Raiders will have a chance.
💰 $10 to win $128.18
Kirk's Picks
$168.26 available to bet this week +68.26 last week $306.82 in the bank
Because I'm currently winning our contest I feel confident that from here on out I'm going with a weekly Thursday Night Same Game Parlay to get the pre weekend juices flowing. This weeks special: The Boring No Fly Zone Parlay
Same Game Parlay (+1411)
Jordan Love Under 227.5 Passing Yards, Jared Goff Under 249.5 Passing Yards, Jordan Love Under 1.5 Passing TD's, Jared Goff Under 1.5 Passing TD's, Amon-Ra St. Brown Under 72.5 Receiving Yards, Sam LaPorta Under 44.5 Receiving Yards
Even though this TNF game on paper is more exciting than many we've been forced to watch in the past (solely for the teams 'rivalry'), they tend to be boring, Al Michaels dozing in the booth confirms this hypothesis. With that in mind, what would be the most boring result? If against all common NFL practice both teams abandoned the passing game and went straight to ground and pound. The Lions have a solid running game and I'm not sold on Jordan Loves accuracy to be a threat. This could go tits up but that's a risk I'm always willing to take.
💰 $25 to win $377.82.
Lions -2.0
Straight Up ATS (-110)
As a hedge against my above bet going astray early I'm putting a little something on the Lions to cover so I'm not bored the rest of the game. I'm betting a weird amount as I hate the fact this competition format gives me loose change to deal with.
I love the Lions head coach. MC DC is already a Detroit legend and I find myself rooting for them when they're not playing the Birds. That is my expert analysis.
💰 $43.26 to win $39.33
Browns -2.5
Straight Up ATS (-118)
The Browns defense means serious business this year, that is clear. Jim Schwartz being brought in this year as DC was a fantastic move. He helped the Eagles to their first Super Bowl and his fingerprints are still on the team to this day. As long as the Browns QB avoids turning the ball over I think they jump to an early lead on a banged up Ravens squad and seal the deal.
I do not like betting on the Browns. But at least it's at the same time as the Bears/Broncos game so I can fully avoid watching that god forsaken monstrosity of a game.
I feel bad for the broadcast booth and their seating arrangements for the game:
💰 $100.00 to win $84.75