Ray Hagan
Welcome to another round of Beat of the East here at Philly Influencer. Let’s review my predictions for this season so far: 7-5-1 with winners and losers and 6-7 against the spread. It’s been a rough few weeks after a hot start to the season. It’s time to rebound with a nice 3-0 this week, I’m back to three games to really get rolling to it.
CHICAGO BEARS @ NEW YORK GIANTS (-7.5)
This is the game where we see if the 6-3 Giants are contenders or pretenders. The Bears are in the bottom half of the league in terms of points allowed and allow the sixth highest completion percentage in the league to opposing passers. This should be the type of game where Eli Manning and his plethora of weapons have a field day. They’re at home, and they need that high priced defense to get in Jay Cutler’s face all day. Whether that defense is capable or not … that’s the question. The Giants are currently 30th in the league in sacks. It’s weird to say that a game against a 2-7 team is a litmus test of sorts, but I’m still not sold on this team. So I strongly consider it to be one.
New York 24, Chicago 20.
If betting were legal: Take Chicago plus the points.
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BALTIMORE RAVENS @ DALLAS COWBOYS (-7)
I saw the stat the other day that Dallas is 8-0-1 against the spread this year, and I don’t see any reason for that to change. Baltimore is a good team, but they’re not a great team. I’m afraid that Dallas is a great team. So I fully expect a great team at home to handle a good team. The Ravens are allowing a league low 3.3 yards per rush. The last time Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys faced a rushing defense that was doing that it was the Packers and Zeke ran for over 150 yards. To me this game isn’t a test for Dallas, it’s a test for Baltimore. If Baltimore can walk into Dallas and shock the world, they’re going to put their stamp on the wide-open AFC North. Baltimore has outscored opponents by 22 points in their nine games. Dallas has outscored opponents by 88 in that same span.
Dallas 30, Baltimore 21.
If betting were legal: Take Dallas laying the points.
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GREEN BAY PACKERS @ WASHINGTON REDSKINS (-3)
I’ll freely admit, I’ve struggled with the Redskins all season long. I’ve been on the wrong side of almost every win, loss, or tie that they’ve had this year. That ends this week. Green Bay is still the second best team against the run in terms of yards per carry. Washington’s run game isn’t that strong, and Green Bay is a team with high expectations that is falling short. I believe that at least for this week they’re going to kick it into gear with their playoff hopes already perilously thin and probably unable to sustain a loss in Washington. The Redskins are in a very precarious position themselves, but at the end of the day I’m going to lean towards the team with a Super Bowl quarterback and Super Bowl coach. I think that Green Bay wins a very tightly-contested game by a very narrow margin.
Green Bay 27, Washington 24.
If betting were legal: Take Green Bay plus the points.
Comments? Questions? Follow me on Twitter (@faux_philly).