What We Learned from NFL Week 12 (Sports Betting)
Week 12 of the NFL season has come and gone, which means it’s time to get ready for Thanksgiving. Before we look ahead to the Thanksgiving Thursday contests, let’s look back and see what we learned from Week 12.
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Broncos Are A Rudderless Organization
It’s been obvious to many but should now be clear to everyone, the Broncos are a completely direction-less organization. They acquired Joe Flacco in hopes of boosting their offense to pair with what they thought was a Super Bowl-worthy defense. Their plan was to restructure but not rebuild. As they struggled early, they shipped off star wideout Emmanuel Sanders and are now using undrafted rookie Brandon Allen as their starting quarterback. Soon it will be Drew Lock time.
Management and the coaching staff know they need to win now while the fans know this team probably needs a full rebuild. Head coach Vic Fangio has rubbed players the wrong way and the one thing he’s supposed to be known for – coaching up defenses – is not working. The Broncos have the 22nd-ranked defense.
At this point, I’d take a good look at betting against them consistently. I might pass this week as they’re at home against the sloppy Los Angeles Chargers, but road games at Houston and Kansas City look like great spots to bet against this Broncos team.
Cowboys Are Again A Laughing Stock
There’s nothing all that embarrassing about losing to the New England Patriots – especially on the road. However, it’s the continued sloppiness that sunk the Cowboys on Sunday and will eventually ruin their season.
On Sunday, the Cowboys started the game with a missed field goal, a blocked punt, and an interception on their first few drives. It’s now a weekly theme that this talented team struggles early on in football games, just as they did against the Detroit Lions and New York Giants in previous weeks.
At this point, you might want to look at betting against the Cowboys in first halves because they’re often unprepared. In the long run, we already know they can’t beat teams with winning records, so they’re going to struggle once the playoffs hit – if they even make it to the postseason.
49ers Must Run To Win
There’s no question the 49ers put forth one of their most impressive outings on Sunday when they crushed the Green Bay Packers 38-7. They dominated early and often, stymying Aaron Rodgers to post some of his worst passing numbers ever. He finished the day with just 104 passing yards.
For the 49ers to succeed in the long run, they’re going to have to run the ball. They only had 112 rushing yards on Sunday night, but they averaged 5.1 yards per carry. That threat of the run is what allows them to do whatever they need to do on offense. It allows for play-action passes, bootlegs, and keeps the defense off-balance.
Keep an eye on the 49ers’ matchups in the playoffs because a good run defense might be able to usher them out early.
Eagles Are A Broken Team Right Now
The Eagles suffered another ugly loss on Sunday, this time to the Seattle Seahawks. Although there’s no shame in losing to a playoff-caliber team like Seattle, it was the general performance that once again is concerning.
The Eagles’ offense is just terrible this season. You can put some blame on Carson Wentz as he’s looked nothing like the MVP we’ve seen in the past. Beyond that, the team doesn’t run the ball with any consistency. Add in the fact that this receiving corps hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 6, and it’s easy to see why the Eagles are a mess.
Obviously, the main blame here is the receiving corps as Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson haven’t been healthy and Nelson Agholor has been inconsistent. The good news here is the Eagles have a super-soft remaining schedule with the Dolphins, Giants, and Redskins coming up, so they should be able to turn it around and win three in a row. Even so, they’re not a real Super Bowl contender as their offense just isn’t able to do much against quality teams.
Don’t Write Off The Raiders
A lot of people are saying “I told you so†with the Oakland Raiders as they went on the road and put up a clunker at the New York Jets. I wouldn’t sweat that so much as most teams have at least one really bad, inexplicable game per season – if not multiple.
The Raiders are a west coast team that had to fly across the country and play an early start in New York. The weather was an issue for them too as they’re not used to the cold. On top of that, they were probably looking ahead to their all-important matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs.
This loss will sting as it probably puts the Raiders’ playoff hopes to bed. However, this is still a good team that can compete and will cover spreads down the stretch.
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Dave Golokhov is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Dave, check out his archive and follow him @davegolokhov.