By Spread Astaire (@spreadastaire)
The Monday Night Football Doubleheader Games:
Bears vs Vikings 8:00 est
Falcons vs Raiders 8:30 est
The NFL returns to its doubleheader format on this week’s Monday Night Football. First, we have a NFC North duel between the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings. Then, the Atlanta Falcons travel to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders. Let’s take a look at each of these games to find winning NFL picks.
Chicago Bears vs Minnesota Vikings
I thought the Bears were to get the “new coach bump” last week when they traveled to take on the 49ers. I’ll take the loss; that was an ill-fated idea as the Bears only had four yards of offense in the first half. They fell 38-13 to the 49ers. After a couple of weeks of looking to improve on the offensive end, the Bears offense regressed. Now they’ll face a tougher task against one of the most aggressive defensive coordinators in the league, Brian Flores.
The Vikings keep rolling but they get no credit. They come into this game on a six-game winning streak after an utter beatdown of the Atlanta Falcons. Because Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold has looked bad in the past no one wants to give him credit for this season. However, he is having a career resurgence this season and if you just judge his play off this year, he’s looking like a top-10 quarterback. Vikings fans have to wonder if this is a “Geno Smith-like” one-year resurgence or if Darnold has fixed his flaws and finally become a top quarterback.
I don’t think the Bears defense will be able to put the pressure on Darnold to expose some of his flaws. Last week the Bears had an excellent opportunity to make a statement. Instead, we have to wonder if this season is over for the team. The defense looked pretty good to start the year but they might have just quit. However, we know in the NFL, you’re never as bad as your worst game. Maybe we need to keep that in mind going into this division matchup.
Even though it’s a lot of points to lay, I like the Minnesota Vikings in this matchup. The Bears have been a bad team on the road this year. They’ve failed to win a game outright and they are 2-4 ATS on the road. Their offense only averages 14 points per game on the road. Minnesota is 5-2 ATS at home. Lay the lumber and take the Minnesota Vikings.
Atlanta Falcons vs Las Vegas Raiders
The Falcons have disappointed fantasy football fans who thought that with all their shiny offensive weapons, they would be one of the top teams in the league. Unfortunately for Falcons fans, fantasy analysts usually discount important things such as the play of the offensive and defensive lines. The Falcons aren’t good at either and it’s tough to win the game when you can’t win at the line of scrimmage, no matter how good your running back is.
The Raiders season has been a joke and there are questions on whether coach Antonio Pierce is fit to lead an NFL franchise. The team has come in with no semblance of a game plan. Furthermore, Pierce is supposed to be a motivational coach yet the team has looked flat on multiple occasions. Vegas is down to third-string quarterback Desmond Ritter. He was signed off the Cardinals practice squad earlier this year. You have to wonder if the Raiders will pack it in or will they show effort in front of their home fans? Oh wait, they don’t have a lot of fans in the building because most season ticket holders will be selling their tickets to opposing fans making the trip to Las Vegas.
The best way to approach this game is the under. The Raiders will look bad on offense with Desmond Ritter as quarterback and in a prime-time game Pierce will at least rally the defense enough to put forth a solid effort. The Raiders will most likely get blown out but this game will be low scoring. Take the under.
Monday Night Football Doubleheader Best Bets:
Minnesota Vikings -7 (-110) at BetOnline
Atlanta Falcons/Las Vegas Raiders under 44 (-110) at BetOnline
