Volume 37 Issue 18 Date: December 19, 2018 Murray /Sooners In The Playoffs College Football Recap COLLEGE FOOTBALL BOWL GAME PICKS LET'S GO BOWLING! The College Football Playoff is set. Unbeaten and top-ranked Alabama will square off against No. 4 Oklahoma, the Big 12 champion, at the Orange Bowl in Miami in one semifinal matchup on Dec. 29. The other game is also on Dec. 29 and will be at Jerry World in Arlington, where undefeated and second-ranked Clemson will take on unbeaten No. 3 Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl. The winners will collide in the finals on Jan. 7 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern in Santa Clara at Levi s Stadium, the home of the NFL s San Francisco 49ers. Lincoln Riley s squad avenged its only loss of the season a 48-45 setback vs. Texas in the Red River Rivalry by beating the Longhorns 39-27 in Saturday s Big 12 Championship Game at Jerry World. The Sooners will be underdogs for the first time this season. They were dogs three times last year in Riley s first season since taking over for Bob Stoops, compiling a 2-1 record both SU and ATS. OU lost a 54-48 decision to Georgia as a 2.5-point dog in last year s CFP semifinals in Pasadena. This is Oklahoma s richest underdog spot since the 2013 Sugar Bowl, where OU thumped Alabama by a 45-31 count as a 15-point puppy. The Sooners have won outright in both of their most recent situations as double-digit dogs, beating Oklahoma St. 33-24 in Stillwater as 10-point road dogs in the 2013 regular-season finale. These storied programs played a home-and-home series back in 2002 and 2003. OU won a 37-27 decision in Norman as a 12.5-point favorite. The Sooners went to Tuscaloosa the following season and won 20-13 at Bama, but the Tide covered the number once again as a 7.5-point home underdog. Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had to leave the SEC Championship Game with a foot injury that s expected to have him sidelined for at least two weeks. Without the sophomore QB, back-up and former starter Jalen Hurts rallied the Crimson Tide from a 28-14 deficit to win 35-28 over Georgia in an epic thriller. Clemson won the ACC title with a 42-10 win over Pittsburgh as a 27.5-point chalk. Dabo Swinney s club is in the CFP for the fourth straight year. Like Bama, Clemson has been a double-digit favorite in all 13 of its games, winning by at least 20 points 11 times. Meanwhile, Brian Kelly s bunch is an underdog for only the second time this season. The Irish beat Michigan 24-17 in its opener as a 2.5-point home underdog. They haven t been double-digit dogs since the 2016 regularseason finale resulted in a non-cover when USC beat them 45-27 as 17.5-point home chalk. Georgia finished No. 5 and Ohio State, the Big Ten champ, was sixth in the final CFP poll. The Bulldogs will meet Texas in the Sugar Bowl, while Ohio State will face Washington at the Rose Bowl. Other New Year s Six matchups include LSU (- 7.5) vs. UCF at the Sugar Bowl and Michigan (-6) vs. Florida at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.
GRIDIRON GOLD SHEET COLLEGE FOOTBALL BOWL GAME ISSUES College Football Regular Season Best Bets Have Ended Let's Go Bowling, Buy Bowl Issue #2 Right Now Previews & Picks For Bowl Games December 21-26, 2018 Gridiron Gold Sheet Bowl Games Newsletters ALL COLLEGE BOWL GAME NEWSLETTERS INCLUDE AT LEAST 10 PICKS CLICK HERE TO ORDER BOWL ISSUE #2 Dennis Stagliano's Private Gold Picks 8-1 ATS Last 9 An Outstanding 20-8 71% For The Season
NFL BEST BETS OVER 60% NOW WITH JUST TWO WEEKS LEFT MAJOR GAMES THIS WEEK WITH PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS Brady Shut Down By Pittsburgh Will Patriots Get Back On Track? NFL Football Recap -- The Philadelphia Eagles hit the road to battle the Los Angeles Rams, and it was announced this week that QB Carson Wentz (back) is dealing with a stress fracture which requires three months of recovery. Enter QB Nick Foles, and it feels like Dec. 2017 all over again. The Eagles pulled the upset as nearly a two-touchdown underdog, posting a 30-23 win with QB Jared Goff looking like the backup, committing an egregious error late in the contest with one of the worst interceptions you'll ever see. The Eagles pounced on the miscue, took a 30-13 and hung on for the win to keep their playoff hopes very much alive. -- The San Francisco 49ers gained another home win, earning revenge on the Seattle Seahawks. San Francisco fell 43-16 just two weeks ago in Seattle, and they entered the game just 1-3 ATS over the past four outings. However, the 49ers dumped the Denver Broncos last week by a 20-14 home win and cover as three-point 'dogs, and they're a respectable 3-1 SU/ATS in the past four home contests. They'll try and wave their magic wand in Week 16 against the Chicago Bears. -- The game with the highest total on the board (55) was the New England Patriots-Pittsburgh Steelers, but it never even came close. The first quarter had a total of 14 points, but it kept going downhill from there. The Steelers managed the only points of the second quarter, a touchdown, and the third and fourth quarters each only featured one lone field goal. The second- and third-highest totals on the board, the Los Angeles Chargers-Kansas City Chiefs (54.5) and Philadelphia Eagles-Los Angeles Rams (52.5) each hit over the mark. -- The lowest totals on the board were the Washington Redskins-Jacksonville Jaguars (36.5) and Detroit Lions-Buffalo Bills (39.5), and both games ended up going well 'under'. The third-lowest game, the Tennessee Titans-New York Giants (42), actually ended up going well under as well, 17-0. -- The 'over' went 2-1 this week through the first three outings, with the Monday nighter between the New Orleans Saints- Carolina Panthers (50) pending. Overall for the 2018 season the 'over' in primetime games is 24-22 (52.2%). Officially, the 'over' finished 25-23-1 (52.1%) in 49 games under the lights in 2017. In 2016, the 'over' in night games went (52.9%) through 51 games. In 2015, the over finished 20-28-1 (41.7%) in 49 primetime games. In 2014, the over went 33-17 (66.0%) in primetime games, and the over was 28-22 (56.0%) in 2013. Injury Report -- Dolphins RB Frank Gore (ankle) left Sunday's game in Minnesota due to a foot sprain, although X-rays were negative. -- 49ers RB Matt Breida (ankle) left Sunday's game on the final drive against the Seattle Seahawks. -- Packers RB Aaron Jones (knee) left Sunday's game on the road against Chicago and he was unable to return. WR Randall Cobb (ankle) left Sunday's game to be evaluated for concussion.
PRO FOOTBALL BEST BET TENNESSEE - 11 Over Washington by 3 The Washington Redskins look for another big road victory to stay in the NFC playoff hunt and get a game above a.500 record. The Washington Redskins have won four of their last seven road games. Josh Johnson is completing 65.9 percent of his passes for 346 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Johnson has a combined 77 pass attempts since the 2011 season. Jordan Reed and Josh Doctson have combined for 1,027 receiving yards and four touchdowns while Vernon Davis has 25 receptions. The Washington Redskins ground game is averaging 113.7 yards per contest, and Adrian Peterson leads the way with 923 yards and seven touchdowns. Defensively, Washington is allowing 22.1 points and 357.4 yards per game. Mason Foster leads the Washington Redskins with 115 tackles, Ryan Kerrigan has 11 sacks and D.J. Swearinger has four interceptions. The Tennessee Titans look to build on their three-game winning streak while staying in the thick of the AFC wild card race. The Tennessee Titans have won five of their last six true home games. Marcus Mariota is completing 68.6 percent of his passes for 2,418 yards, 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Mariota has one or less touchdown passes in five of his last 10 games. Corey Davis and Taywan Taylor have combined for 1,192 receiving yards and five touchdowns while Dion Lewis has 53 receptions. The Tennessee Titans ground game is averaging 130.8 yards per contest, and Derrick Henry leads the way with 882 yards and 11 touchdowns. Defensively, Tennessee is allowing 18.1 points and 329 yards per game. Wesley Woodyard leads the Tennessee Titans with 89 tackles, Jurrell Casey has seven sacks and Kevin Byard has three interceptions. The Washington Redskins are coming off a surprising road win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and need to win out to have any real shot of sneaking into the playoffs. The Tennessee Titans are outscoring teams by an average of 14 points during their three-game winning streak, but the last time they looked this good, they got smoked in back-to-back road games against the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans. The Washington Redskins are 4-4 ATS in their last eight games when a double-digit underdog. The Tennessee Titans have covered eight of their last 12 games when a double-digit favorite. The Titans should win this game, but this is a lot of points to give a desperate Redskins team on short rest. The Redskins are still decent enough defensively to hang around, and the offense will be manageable if Johnson takes care of the football. Also, nine of the Titans last 14 wins have been decided by single digits and the road team is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 meetings and the underdog is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 meetings. Take the Redskins and the generous points. Projected Score: Tennessee 20, Washington 17 PRO FOOTBALL BEST BET NEW ENGLAND - 12½ Over Buffalo by 20 The Buffalo Bills look to play spoiler at this point after splitting their last six games. The Buffalo Bills have lost four of their last five road games. Josh Allen is completing 52.2 percent of his passes for 1,633 yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions. Allen has one or less touchdown passes in nine of his 10 career games. Zay Jones and Robert Foster have combined for 960 receiving yards and six touchdowns while LeSean McCoy has 29 receptions. The Buffalo Bills ground game is averaging 124.7 yards per contest, and Allen leads the way with 506 yards and six touchdowns. Defensively, Buffalo is allowing 23.8 points and 292.2 yards per game. Tremaine Edmunds leads the Buffalo Bills with 98 tackles, Lorenzo Alexander has 6.5 sacks and Jordan Poyer has three interceptions. The New England Patriots look to avoid their third straight loss while winning double-digit games and clinching the AFC East division title. Tom Brady is completing 65.9 percent of his passes for 3,979 yards, 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Brady has one or less touchdown passes in five of his last seven games. Josh Gordon and Julian Edelman have combined for 1,431 receiving yards and seven touchdowns while James White has 81 receptions. The New England Patriots ground game is averaging 116.6 yards per contest, and Sony Michel leads the way with 765 yards and five touchdowns. Defensively, New England is allowing 22.1 points and 372.7 yards per game. Kyle Van Noy leads the New England Patriots with 86 tackles, Trey Flowers has 6.5 sacks and Duron Harmon has four interceptions. The Buffalo Bills continue to play hard, and while their last three wins have come against teams with losing records, each of their last five games have resulted in either a win or a loss by single digits. The New England Patriots are coming off back-to-back last second losses and have lost back-to-back games in the month of December for the first time since 2002. The Buffalo Bills have split their last eight games ATS when a double-digit underdog. The New England Patriots have covered 12 of their last 14 games when a double-digit favorite. The Patriots have been money over the years as double-digit favorites and usually bounce back big after a loss. The Patriots also beat the Bills by 19 points on the road earlier this season and have won the last four meetings against Buffalo by an average of 19 points. The New England Patriots have won all six home games this season. The numbers and trends indicate this will be a comfortable victory for the New England Patriots at home. Lay the lumber with the Patriots. Projected Score: New England 33, Buffalo 13
PRO FOOTBALL BEST BET MIAMI - 4 Over Jacksonville by 12 The Jacksonville Jaguars could use a feel good victory here after losing nine of their last 10 games. The Jacksonville Jaguars have lost their last six non-home games. Cody Kessler is completing 64 percent of his passes for 603 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Kessler enters this game with 114 pass attempts under his belt this season. Dede Westbrook and Donte Moncrief have combined for 1,266 receiving yards and eight touchdowns while T.J. Yeldon has 55 receptions. The Jacksonville Jaguars ground game is averaging 111.9 yards per contest, and Yeldon leads the way with 414 yards and one touchdown. Defensively, Jacksonville is allowing 20.6 points and 318.4 yards per game. Telvin Smith leads the Jacksonville Jaguars with 118 tackles, Yannick Ngakoue has seven sacks and Jalen Ramsey has three picks. The Miami Dolphins need a win here to get a game above a.500 record while staying in the AFC wild card race. The Miami Dolphins have won six of their last seven home games. Ryan Tannehill is completing 64.7 percent of his passes for 1,686 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. Tannehill has two or more touchdown passes in six of his last eight games. Kenny Stills and Danny Amendola have combined for 1,030 receiving yards and seven touchdowns while Kenyan Drake has 44 receptions. The Miami Dolphins ground game is averaging 112.6 yards per contest, and Frank Gore leads the way with 722 yards on 156 carries. Defensively, Miami is allowing 26.7 points and 402.3 yards per game. Kiko Alonso leads the Miami Dolphins with 121 tackles, Robert Quinn has 5.5 sacks and Xavien Howard has seven interceptions. The Jacksonville Jaguars have scored 18 or less points in eight of their last 10 games and are averaging just 9.3 points in their last three games. The Miami Dolphins are coming off a beatdown loss to the Minnesota Vikings, but they've been a different team at home. The numbers suggest that this will be another close game, as the Dolphins don't blow anybody out and usually make things interesting. The problem is the Jagaurs can't score and just lost to a Redskins team that's led by a quarterback who didn't have a pass attempt since 2011. The Jags are 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games and 1-7-2 ATS in their last 10 games overall. The Dolphins are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 home games. The favorite is 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 meetings. The Dolphins should be able to cruise in this game given how different they are at home. Back the fish. Projected Score: Miami 26, Jacksonville 14 PRO FOOTBALL BEST BET CLEVELAND - 7 Over Cincinnati by 13 The Cincinnati Bengals have a chance to win back-to-back games for the first time since week 4-5. The Cincinnati Bengals have lost four of their last five road games. Jeff Driskel is completing 60.2 percent of his passes for 775 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. Driskel has one touchdown pass in each of his last four games. Tyler Boyd and A.J. Green have combined for 1,732 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns while C.J. Uzomah has 38 receptions. The Cincinnati Bengals ground game is averaging 103.9 yards per contest, and Joe Mixon leads the way with 995 yards and eight touchdowns. Defensively, Cincinnati is allowing 29.5 points and 413 yards per game. Jessie Bates leads the Cincinnati Bengals with 98 tackles, Geno Atkins has 10 sacks and Shawn Williams has four interceptions. The Cleveland Browns look to stay hot after winning four of their last five games to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. The Cleveland Browns have won four of their last six home games. Baker Mayfield is completing 63.9 percent of his passes for 3,065 yards, 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Mayfield has two or more touchdown passes in six of his last eight games. Jarvis Landry and Antonio Callaway have combined for 1,334 receiving yards and seven touchdowns while David Njoku has 50 receptions. The Cleveland Browns ground game is averaging 121.2 yards per contest, and Nick Chubb leads the way with 860 yards and eight touchdowns. Defensively, Cleveland is allowing 24.9 points and 401.1 yards per game. Jamie Collins Sr. leads the Cleveland Browns with 92 tackles, Myles Garrett has 12.5 sacks and Damarious Randall has four interceptions. The Bengals are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 vs. AFC North. The Browns are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 home games. The Bengals are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 meetings in Cleveland and 7-1 ATS in their last 8 meetings. These are tough trends to buck and the Bengals would love to exact revenge on the Browns. These Browns beat the hell out of the Bengals a few weeks ago and make comments about former HC Hue Jackson. The Browns clearly have some beef toward Jackson returning to the Bengals and enjoyed sticking it to their former coach. The Cleveland Browns are riding high on confidence, as they're having their best season in years, but they've been in nothing but close games and four of their six wins have been decided by six or less points. The Cleveland Browns haven't been a favorite of at least seven points since their 2013 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. While we're getting a free touchdown, we don't trust these banged up Bengals on the road. The Cincinnati Bengals are coming off a nice win over the Oakland Raiders, but five of their eight losses have been decided by 10 or more points and they've lost their last three road games by an average of 14.3 points. We expect the Browns to lay the wood to the Benglas again. Projected Score: Cleveland 30, Cincinnati 17
12/22 8:20 ET 44.5-4.5 Baltimore Ravens LA Chargers PRO FOOTBALL LEANER PICKS LA is 2-5 ATS L7 home. LA, they re banging out wins at a great pace, but not dominating on the scoreboard as their last three victories have been razor close. We expect a very close tight game down to the last tick, so take the points here. 46-7 Tampa Bay Bucs Dallas Cowboys Tampa is a little ways off of being competitive and don t have anything to play for down the stretch aside from draft position. As for the Cowboys, they re going to bounce back here. So we're going with Dallas on the cover. 50-4 Atlanta Falcons Carolina Panthers The Falcons weren t able to put up more than 20 points during their five-game losing streak, so it s a minor victory to hang 40 on Arizona even if the Cardinals are a terrible football team. We're going to take the Panthers here. 46.5-9 New York Giants Indianapolis Colts Giants are 6-0 ATS L6 roadies and the roadie is 4-1 ATS L5 meetings between these two teams. All of New York s road games have ended in an outright win or a loss of 7 points or less, so take a shot with New York and the points. 45-1 Houston Texans Philadelphia Eagles The Eagles seem to rally behind Foles, but in a near pick em scenario, we can t go against the more complete football team in this game, that s Houston, so take the free point as we see the Texans winning this game. -5.5 43.5 Minnesota Vikings Detroit Lions While a win over the Dolphins doens't prove the Vikings are back, they did look like a reenergized team on both sides of the ball. Assuming those Vikings show up, we lean to the Vinings. 2/23 44-1.5 Green Bay Packers New York Jets The Packers are 0-3-1 ATS L4 roadies and the Jets are 0-3-1 ATS L4 home. The Pack 1-3-1 ATS L5 meetings and the dog is 3-1-1 ATS L 5 meetings. The status of Rodgers is playing is unknown at this time. Take the Jets at home. 4:05 ET -14 47.5 Los Angeles Rams Arizona Cardinals The Rams are coming off two losses where the offense was held to an average of 14.5 points, and they've lost two of their last three road games. The Cards are 3-5-1 ATS in L9 when a double-digit underdog. Lean to Rams cautiously. 4:05 ET -4 43 Chicago Bears San Francisco 49ers A low line against the Niners at home is how we got burned LW, as we sided with Seattle and broke our 8 game Private Gold winning streak. Beaars a much tougher task defensively than Seattle, we'll lay the points with the Bears here. 4:25 ET 56-6.5 Pittsburgh Steelers New Orleans Saints Saints are wen under 19-9-1 in L29 home games. Everybody knows New Orleans is a tough customer, especially at home. This should be a fun game but we like the Saints and Steelers to go over the total in a wild shootout. 8:20 ET -2.5 53 Kansas City Chiefs Seattle Seahawks The Chiefs are 20-8-1 ATS in their last 29 road games and they had extra time to prepare for this game, The Seahawks are a nightmare at home, which makes this a really tough play. In a toss up game we're leaning toward the Chiefs. 12/24 8:20 ET -3 45 Denver Broncos Oakland Raiders Two teams who aren t going anywhere and who are actually worse off winning this game than losing it. We're going to side with the under as we just see this game being a snooze fest and the under has hit in each of the last 4 meetings. THIS WEEKS GRIDIRON GOLD SHEET BEST BETS Best Bet Best Bet Best Bet Best Bet Best Bet NFL Washington +11 New England -12½ Miami - 4 Cleveland - 7 WWW.GRIDIRONGOLDSHEET.COM 859-GIG-GOLD or 859-444-4653