The playoffs are coming, football freaks! Who are your picks for the Superbowl? There are plenty of dark horse teams once again, but let’s not name them, because jinxes are ALWAYS strong. If we’re going to sleepers, let’s just go with the regular season, it’s just safer.
The Dolphins will be without Ryan Tanehill (knee), but they should still be in a good enough position to record an upset win. Veteran back-up Matt Moore already stepped in last week and was smooth, going 12-for-18 for 236 yards and four TDs. It was arguably one of the best performances of any replacement QB in years.
Also, as you may remember, Jay Ajayi turned into a mack truck in the last time they faced the Bills, rushing for a career-high 214 yards on 7.3 yards per carry, along with one score. It was also the highest ground yardage of any player in the NFL this season.
The Bills are allowing 139 rushing YPG in their last four games, and they are 27th overall in ground defense.
The Dolphins are 7-1-1 ATS in their last nine games.
Writer’s Prediction: The Dolphins win, 23-16.
San Francisco 49ers (+4) at Los Angeles Rams (-4) (December 24th – 4:25 PM ET)
As bad as the Niners have been this year (1-13, 13 straight losses), with all the mess on both of their units, they should be able to do well against the Rams. Remember, this was the team that they beat for their first and only win this season, and they shut them out, 28-0.
The Rams can’t score (14.1 PPG, dead-last in the NFL) and are simply dreadful in moving the ball. They went below 200 yards three times this season, one of which came in the hands of… you guessed it: the Niners.
Writer’s Prediction: The Niners finally snap their awful losing streak, 21-14.
Detroit Lions (+7) at Dallas Cowboys (-7) (December 26th – 4:25 PM ET)
The Lions have the passing game to match up well with the team that has the record in the league. Through Matthew Stafford, they are posting 265.7 YPG through the air; four players are averaging four or more receptions per game and three are posting 50-plus yards per game. It is perfect for the Cowboys, who despite being really good this season, allow the fifth-most passing yards in the NFL, which is interesting because it is identical to what Stafford is producing (264.7 per game).
The QB is 2-0 in the regular season against the Cowboys (364 YPG, 3-3 TD-INT ratio).
Writer’s Prediction: This will be a close game regardless who wins. Thus, the Cowboys won’t cover the spread should they come out on top.
