The New Orleans Saints host the Denver Broncos on Thursday night and will be looking to stop their back slide. The Saints opened the season at historic pace, winning and scoring over 40 points in the first two games, but have massively dropped off and lost four straight. They face a big test in the Denver Broncos, whose defense is only allowing 284.3 total yards and 16.0 points per game, fourth least in the league for both. Denver’s offense has been complimenting their defense to a reasonable standard, especially over the past two weeks averaging 25 points a game. We expect Denver’s defense to give the Broncos the edge in this Thursday Night game and given the New Orleans Saints growing injury report, we’ll take the Broncos to win and cover the spread.
Take the Denver Broncos to Cover the -2.5 Spread.

The pick of Sunday’s early window of games is the NFC North matchup between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. This division is the best in the NFL with all teams at least two games above .500 and this game could see a change in the division leader as the Lions will take the lead of the division off the Vikings with a win. The Lions have the highest scoring offense in the league this season, they are only the only team to average over 30 points a game this season. They will have their work cut out this week against a Minnesota defense that leads the league in interceptions on the back of a pass rush that is generating 5 sacks a game (2nd most in the NFL). The Lions lost their defensive leader, Aidan Hutchinson to a devastating leg injury this week. Hutchinson will be hard to replace and given the Vikings have had a week’s extra rest with their bye. We’re taking the Minnesota Vikings to win and cover the small spread in the process.
The Minnesota Vikings to Cover the -1.5 Spread.

This week sees the Jacksonville Jaguars play their second game in London in as many weeks, this time at Wembley Stadium against the New England Patriots. Both teams are seeing any opportunity of a playoff berth rapidly slip away from them, with both currently at 1-5. The Jacksonville Jaguars defense has been seriously struggling, they are allowing the second most yards (390 YPG) and points (29.7 PPG) per game. So for the spread to be this large, against a New England Patriots offense that showed signs of significant improvement after promoting Drake Maye to starting quarterback, doesn’t seem right to us. Drake Maye threw for a New England season high in both passing yards and touchdowns last week. We’re taking the improved New England Patriots to cover the large spread.
New England Patriots to Cover the +5.5 Spread.

During this week’s late window of games we have the repeat of last year’s and 2020’s Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers. In both of these Super Bowls and the two times he has faced the 49ers in the regular season, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has bested San Francisco. In each of these games, Mahomes has thrown multiple touchdown passes and over 280 passing yards. San Francisco have been amongst the best teams in the NFL in recent seasons, but this year hasn’t been up to their high standards. When you take into account the Chiefs will have extra rest because of their bye week and their head coach Andy Reid has an NFL best record of 21-4 off a bye, we expect Patrick Mahomes to continue to dominate the San Francisco 49ers. We’re taking the small underdog Kansas City Chiefs to win straight up.
Take the Kansas City Chiefs to win straight up.

The Philadelphia Eagles came off their bye and snuck past the Cleveland Browns 20-16 in a game they won but they failed to properly assert themselves. This week they make the short trip to New Jersey to take on the New York Giants. The Giants will be fired up for this game and they can cause problems for the Eagles. The Giants currently lead the NFL with 26 sacks and the Eagles offensive line is allowing pressure this year leading to a high number of turnovers. The Eagles passing defense had their best game of the season on sunday, but they have been susceptible and the Giants, especially if Malik Nabers is back, could trouble Philadelphia’s young secondary.

During Sunday’s early window of games the Green Bay Packers host the Houston Texans at Lambeau Field in a game that could prove crucial in the race for the number one seed in both the AFC and the NFC. Packers’ quarterback Jordan Love has been a sensation this season, despite his two game injury absence he is still tied second for most passing touchdowns thrown with 12 and is second out right in terms of passing yards per game with 282.8 YPG. He is backed up by a defense that is top of the turnover charts with a massive 17, 4 ahead of second place, and that has kept their opposition under 20 points in four out of six games this season.

The Seattle Seahawks have seen their strong start to the season falter, they have lost their last three games, and will be looking to get back to winning ways this week in Atlanta against the Falcons. Seattle’s offense has been one of the most consistent groups in the league, one of only four teams to score over 20 points in each game so far this season. This is led by quarterback Geno Smith and his elite trio of receivers, who lead the league in passing yards per game with almost 300 a game (296.3 YPG). If Seattle’s defense can get back to anywhere near their early season form, the Seahawks will be well on their way to winning this game and staking a claim back on the NFC West crown.