Injuries 🤕

• Arizona Cardinals

  • Trey Benson is now done for the year after not being activated off the IR

  • Marvin Harrison Jr, Paris Johnson Jr., Max Melton, and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson are out as well.

  • RB Emari Demercado is expected to play

• Baltimore Ravens

  • Rashod Bateman is listed as questionable.

• Buffalo Bills

  • Josh Palmer, Christian Benford, and Terrel Bernard are listed as questionable.

• Carolina Panthers

  • DT Tershawn Wharton is questionable

• Chicago Bears

  • DB Kyler Gordon has been ruled out

  • Rome Odunze is questionable, but the team indicates that he is likely to play

• Cincinnati Bengals

  • Tee Higgins has been ruled out with another concussion

  • DE Shemar Stewart is out, joining Trey Hendrickson

• Cleveland Browns

  • T Jack Conklin, G Wyatt Teller, G Zak Zinter, and C Ethan Pocic are all out up front.

  • G Joel Bitonio is questionable

  • David Njoku, Dylan Sampson, and Denzel Ward are out as well.

• Dallas Cowboys

  • CeeDee Lamb cleared protocol and will play

  • OT Tyler Guyton is out as is CB Trevon Diggs

  • Jake Ferguson and Jadeveon Clowney are questionable but expected to go

• Denver Broncos

  • G Ben Powers remains out, OT Mike McGlinchey is questionable.

• Detroit Lions

  • Brian Branch, Thomas Harper, and Kerby Joseph remain out in the secondary.

  • OT Taylor Decker is questionable.

• Green Bay Packers

  • Josh Jacobs and Emanuel Wilson are listed as questionable

  • Lukas Van Ness and Savion Williams are also questionable.

• Houston Texans

  • Nick Chubb is not expected to play (ribs), WR Justin Watson is out

• Indianapolis Colts

  • With Daniel Jones and Riley Leonard hurt, Phillip Rivers will get his first start in many moons today

  • Sauce Gardner remains out

  • RT Braden Smith will also miss this game

• Jacksonville Jaguars

  • Parker Washington and Walker Little are questionable

• Kansas City Chiefs

  • WR Hollywood Brown will miss the game for personal reasons

  • Wanya Morris, Trey Smith, and Jawaan Taylor are all out for the OL

  • Trent McDuffie did practice on Friday but is still listed as questionable.

• Las Vegas Raiders

  • Geno Smith is out with a shoulder injury, and Kenny Pickett will get the nod

  • Kolton Miller is out (ankle)

• Los Angeles Chargers

  • Trey Pipkins is listed as doubtful, adding to the OL injuries

  • WR Quentin Johnson is questionable.

• Los Angeles Rams

  • WR Davante Adams (hamstring): questionable but expected to go

• Minnesota Vikings

  • LT Christian Darrisaw is questionable

• New England Patriots

  • RB Terrell Jennings is out with a concussion

• New Orleans Saints

  • Alvin Kamara is out, S Justin Reid is questionable.

• New York Giants

  • Long list of questionable, including Dexter Lawrence and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles.

  • Kayvon Thibodeaux is out, as is DL Rakeem Nuñez-Roches

  • Punter Cameron Johnston was elevated from the practice squad and likely handles punting today, with Jamie Gillan listed as doubtful.

• New York Jets

  • With Tyrod Taylor and Justin Fields banged up, Brady Cook will start at QB

• Philadelphia Eagles

  • Jalen Carter and Lane Johnson remain out

• San Francisco 49ers

  • Christian McCaffrey was a late addition to the injury report this week with a back issue. He is expected to start

  • LB Tatum Bethune remains out.

• Seattle Seahawks

  • TE Elijah Arroyo is out

• Tennessee Titans

  • C Lloyd Cushenberry and OT Dan Moore are questionable.

• Washington Commanders

  • Jayden Daniels has been ruled out with his elbow injury, and Mariota will start

  • Deebo Samuel (illness) is expected to play

  • RB Chris Rodriquez will be a game-time decision, needing to test out his groin injury in warm-ups

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Weather ⛈

There’s a system working it’s way through the Eastern Seaboard this morning, dumping some snow on a few stadiums that host games, but for the most part, it should be finished up by the time we kick off.

In other news: it’s December, and it’s cold as hell. While not true “weather games” without some accompanying winds, the games in Kansas City, Chicago, Cincy, and Pittsburgh fall into this category and could be affected by low temps.

• WAS @ NYG - Snow this morning that should be finished up by game time, but still frigid temps and 15-25 mph winds blowing corner to corner

• NYJ @ JAX - Heavier winds, blowing 15 mph sustained with gusts around 25 mph

• IND @ SEA - Possible rain, but that’s kind of always the case here

• LV @ PHI - Snow this morning (like in East Rutherford) that slows down by kick off, could see some gusting of 25 mph + here

• BUF @ NE - Here the snow could be continuing into the game a bit, winds less of a factor, but still could see some gusting 15-20 mph

Situational 📆

• New England (vs BUF), Carolina (@ NO), San Francisco (vs TEN), and the New York Giants (vs WAS) are off the bye week. (last ones of the season)

• Tennessee is also on back-to-back road games, as are the Washington Commanders.

• Dallas will be at a rest advantage vs the Vikings, having played last Thursday.

• Similarly, the Lions also have had 10 days to prep for the Rams this week

• The Colts are on their second straight week of travel, heading to Seattle after last week’s game in Jacksonville

• The Chargers will be starting at 10 am local (West Coast team in the early slot) and playing outdoors (indoor team in the cold). They also have had one fewer day to prep, having played on Monday (into overtime to boot)

• The Raiders will be in the same situation, facing the Eagles in Philly (minus the short week).

• Arizona is also playing in the early slot, but it’ll be much warmer in Houston (indoors).

• The Eagles are coming off a short week after losing to the Chargers on Monday.

Sunday Bets

More NFC West bets, per the norm, but also diving into the worst division in football as well. I was pretty close on Bengals +3, but the Higgins injury kept me away.

Similarly, I almost backed the Giants, but with some of the defense banged up and Mariota looking ok the other week, I passed, even in the good situational spot. I’ll just be rooting for my Dart OROY ticket.

Seahawks -13.5 -110

Just going to refer back to two weeks ago when this Seattle team played the Vikings, who were starting a QB who had very little time to prep. It’s wildly disrespectful to compare Phillip Rivers and Max Brosmer, but the guy is 44 and hasn’t taken a snap against a defense in years, much less a VERY good defense. On that note, that’s another big difference between that Minnesota game and this one: the Vikings’ defense is very good, while the Colts are not only in the bottom ten in the league, they are down multiple corners and will be facing a WR that’s already impossible to defend.

Lions/Rams over 54.5 -110

In another “dance with who brung ya,” I’ll be going back to the well for the millionth straight week, chasing points in a Rams game. The short and the long of it: the Rams’ defense has significantly regressed over the past month or so, and the Lions are decimated by injuries in their secondary. These are two top-five red zone scoring teams playing indoors in what should be a very entertaining track meet.

Saints +3

The Saints’ defense has been playing up for the past few weeks! Brandon Staley has gotten a ton out of a questionable roster, especially in pass coverage. After shutting Mayfield down for big chunks of the game last week, the Saints could feasibly start a winning streak here against another division rival. They were extremely effective against Bryce Young in the first matchup, and at that point, we hadn’t seen much of the progression on the defensive side of the ball yet. Meanwhile, Tyler Shough isn’t good, BUT over the past few weeks, he hasn’t been bad, which is enough in the NFC South.

If you’re looking for thoughts or opinions on any of the other games, we went over them:

One last thing, do me a favor and forward this email to someone you think may like a little more football in their life.