Right out of the gate, I can promise you we will promise you that we will not beat three outright upsets for this article again this season. But we do hope to tie it again often this year! What a whacked Week 1 in the NFL. Underdogs covered 12 of the 16 games and they had nine outright upsets. Online sportsbooks around the world cleaned up like never before. We tried to do our part in this neck of the woods on your phone or PC and also enjoyed success.
Also, for those that say and believe the NFL preseason doesn’t matter, while this doesn’t happen every year, those that were winless in August were 1-6 SU in Week 1 and the lack of teams playing together was a hot topic Sunday night across the country. Looking ahead, here are three possible upsets that caught our eye when looking at the NFL odds.
Sunday, September 19, 2021 – 01:00 PM EDT at Soldier Field
Among the many upsets on Sunday was Cincinnati over Minnesota in OT. Joe Burrow has returned at quarterback from a nasty knee injury last season and was 20-for-27 for an efficient 260 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Carson Palmer’s younger brother Jordan runs a high-level football camp with individual instruction and he said after working with Burrow, he expects him to have a “big season”.
Chicago was thumped by the Rams 34-14 and Andy Dalton completed 27 of 38 throws for only 206 yards, or 5.4 yards an attempt. Granted, the Rams try to force you to run and throw underneath, however, that average is not going to win many games. Chicago had problems on moving pockets and deep throws last week and Burrow is accurate enough to hit those for chunk plays.
For NFL picks, keep a watchful eye to see if the Bengals climb to +3.5, which would add value, but with Da Bears 9-23 ATS after allowing seven or more yards a play in their previous game, Cincy is worth consideration.
NFL Pick: Bengals +3 (-120) with Intertops (visit our Intertops Review)
Sunday, September 19, 2021 - 01:00 PM EDT at Hard Rock Stadium
The AFC East encounter should not be a close game, yet, there is good reason to think it will. Buffalo outgained Pittsburgh 371-192 and lost and Miami was outgained 393-199 and won. What those two games had in common was the winning team doing the little things. Pittsburgh blocked a Buffalo punt, which kept them in the game and after a sorry first-half offensive showing, the Steelers manufactured points in the last two quarters for the victory. Miami did much the same versus New England, hanging around and forcing two miscues and pulling out a victory.
Despite the Bills running 76 plays, they threw the ball 51 times and lacked balance. Other than the Patriots with Brady, that many throws are usually a recipe for defeat. Buffalo seems to think with Josh Allen, they don’t have to run. Though the game has changed, that formula is not going to beat good and opportunistic teams like Miami.
That’s how the Dolphins play under coach Brian Flores and they counterpunch and wait for their opponents to make a mistake. With Miami at +3.5, we would like to point out that home teams off a win against a division rival, in a matchup involving two teams in the early season that had winning records last season, are 39-12 ATS.
NFL Pick: Dolphins +3.5 (-105) with Intertops
Sunday, September 19, 2021 - 04:25 PM EDT at United Airlines Field at LA Memorial Coliseum
lutch performance by the Chargers on the road at Washington to escape with a victory and they will get to host a home game with fans in a legit stadium for the first time since leaving San Diego after the 2016 season. SoFi by all reports is the new standard of modern football stadiums. The Chargers’ players will be quite excited for this “true” home opener, yet this won’t be easy.
Dallas went toe to toe with Tampa Bay and covered as nine-point underdogs and lost 31-29. The Cowboys’ inability to run the ball against a stout Bucs defense hurt them. That might not be the case against the Bolts who gave up 4.5 yards per carrying to Washington and have ranked no higher than 18th in stopping the run the three prior years.
The Chargers put up 424 yards last week and only scored 20 points and are 1-9 ATS after gaining 400 or more total yards in their previous outing. The Boys have possibilities.
NFL Pick: Cowboys +3 (-110) with Intertops
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.