The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Atlanta Falcons want to finish the season with their heads up. In the upcoming matchup between the two 5-9 teams, which side gets to enjoy a victory? Going into the game, the sportsbook favors the home team by 7-points. Read on for more about this contest below.
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Betting Preview for the Jacksonville Jaguars vs Atlanta Falcons NFL Regular Season Week 16 Game on December 22, 2019
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
When: Sunday, December 22, 2019, 1:00 PM ET
Line: Jacksonville Jaguars (+7) vs. Atlanta Falcons (-7) – view all 2019 NFL lines
TV Broadcast: FOX
Betting on the Jacksonville Jaguars (5-9)
The Jags finally snapped out of their funk, ending a five-game losing streak on Sunday with a 20-16 road win over the Oakland Raiders. Perhaps the biggest takeaway for the Jags from that game was the performance of Gardner Minshew. While he did not string together an impressive stat line, Minshew was steady and looked set-upped to challenge Nick Foles for the starting gig in Jacksonville in 2020. Minshew finished the game with 201 passing yards and two touchdowns on 17-of-29 completions. Without wide receiver DJ Chark, Minshew looked for the pair of Keelan Cole and Chris Conley for most of the game downfield and found success, especially with the latter, as Conley was the receiver of Minshew’s two TD strikes. Chark could be held out for the rest of the season, which would leave Minshew with a still solid core of weapons in the passing attack with Cole, Conley, and Dede Westbrook.
The Jaguars have seen the total hit the under in two of their last three games.
Betting on the Atlanta Falcons (5-9)
The Falcons are not going to the playoffs, but that didn’t stop them from playing like there’s that much on the line last Sunday, as they took down the San Francisco 49ers on the road, 29-22. The Falcons leaned on their best player in wide receiver Julio Jones to lead them to the victory. Jones finished the game with 134 receiving yards and two touchdowns — including the game-winning one — on 13 receptions and 20 targets. That the Falcons were able to do that against an elite defense should only boost their confidence going forward in attacking opposing defenses via the air. The Falcons have the league’s busiest passing attack with a 67.41 passing play percentage and sixth in pass play completion (67.52).
The Falcons are 5-2 against the spread (ATS) in their last seven games. They were 11-point underdogs against the Niners. The over is also 2-0 in Atlanta’s last two outings.
Writer’s Prediction
The Falcons win, 28-20.
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