Case of the Mondays: Lions, Falcons Bumbling Out of Contention

by Ricky Dimon - 12/7/2015

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers

Already teetering on the brink of elimination, the Lions basically saw their season come to an end when Green Bay's Richard Rodgers brought down an Aaron Rodgers Hail Mary on the last play of last Thursday night's game. Even the Falcons, who are 6-6 and two games ahead of Detroit, are just about finished. They were once 5-0 but dropped their fifth game in a row to NFC South rival Tampa Bay on Sunday afternoon.

All odds provided by BetOnline Sportsbook.

Detroit Lions . First Cleveland lost in fitting Cleveland fashion, as the Browns went down last Monday night on a blocked field-goal return by Baltimore on the last play of the game. In Week 13 it was Detroit's turn to lose as only Detroit can. The Packers appeared to be in need of a miracle touchdown via the razzle-dazzle, but-after appearing to have the play stopped-the Lions gave the visitors new life by getting a piece of Rodgers' face-mask on what would have been a game-ending tackle. Green Bay thus got one more un-timed down, and the rest is history. Detroit had won three in a row, but at 4-8 the team is all but out of it. The Lions are +1 underdogs at St. Louis on Sunday.

Matt Ryan . What happened-or what is happening-to Ryan this season is one of the NFL's great mysteries. The three-time Pro Bowler came out firing under new Falcons' head coach Dan Quinn, throwing six touchdowns and just two interceptions in the first four games (all wins). Fast forward two months and Ryan now has a whopping five multi-interception performances, including four in his last eight outings. The 30-year-old has been picked off six times in the past three weeks. Ryan's lone interception on Sunday at the Bucs came on the first play of Atlanta's final drive following Tampa Bay's go-ahead touchdown with 1:39 remaining. That ended the visitors' hopes in a 23-19 loss. The Falcons are +7 underdogs at undefeated Carolina in Week 14.

Iowa . The Hawkeyes' first loss in their improbable 2015 came at the absolute worst of moments. This past weekend's Big Ten Championship between Iowa and Michigan State was a virtual qualification game for the College Football Playoff. And it did not disappoint. Showcasing typical Big Ten football, the Hawkeyes and Spartans battled through five lead changes even though there were only 29 total points scored in the entire contest. Iowa held a 13-9 advantage for much of the fourth quarter, but MSU went on a 22-play, 82-yard drive that ended with what proved to be a winning one-yard touchdown run by freshman L.J. Scott with 27 seconds remaining. Michigan State is heading to the four-team tournament, while Iowa's consolation prize is the Rose Bowl against Stanford. The Spartans are +550 long-shots to win the title.

Ohio State . Speaking of the Big Ten, Ohio State will not be defending its National Championship that it captured in last season's inaugural College Football Playoff. After losing to Michigan State earlier this year, the Buckeyes needed help from both North Carolina and Southern Cal this past weekend. They got it from neither. The Tar Heels went down to top-ranked Clemson in the ACC Championship, and the Trojans succumbed to Stanford in a battle for the Pac-12 title. Of course, OSU apparently would not have made it to the final four anyway, because even Big Ten runner-up Iowa finished higher (fifth) than the Bucks (seventh) in the final CFP rankings. The Hawkeyes snagged an invitation to the Rose Bowl, leaving the Fiesta for Ohio State. Urban Meyer's team is a -6.5 favorite over Notre Dame.

LeBron James . Only the Suns have lost more games in a row than Cleveland at the moment. The Cavaliers are in the midst of a three-game slump, having been defeated by Washington, New Orleans, and Miami. They have dropped into a tie for first in the East with the Heat and are just two games away from being out of the playoff picture in a conference currently marked by incredible parity. LeBron missed a shot at the regulation buzzer at the Pelicans last Friday before his team went down in overtime. He then sat out one day later to get some rest and Miami had no trouble taking care of Cleveland, 99-84. After going four straight games making at least half of his attempts from the floor, LeBron has not shot better than 45.5 percent in any of his last six outings. The Cavs are still heavy -275 favorites to win the East, and they are +275 to win it all.

Vancouver Canucks . The Canucks own the longest current losing streak in the NHL at five games. They have managed to take two points with a pair of overtime setbacks during this current stretch of futility, but they have not picked up a win since Nov. 25 at Minnesota. Additionally, Vancouver's slump dates back even further. The team is 2-7-3 in its last 12 contests and 3-9-4 in its last 16. If the playoffs began today, the Canucks would be on the outside looking in-and not even particularly close. They are 10^th in the Western Conference with 26 points at 9-11-8. Vancouver is a +175 home underdog against Buffalo on Monday.

Manchester City . Man City manager Manuel Pellegrini chalked up his club's recent Premier League loss to Stoke City as a result of a rigorous schedule that has also included matches in the past two weeks in the Champions League and the Capital One Cup. But with Stoke wallowing outside the top 10 of the EPL table, this was still a golden opportunity for the Sky Blues to stay atop the standings. But they gave up two goals in the first 15 minutes and that score held up en route to a 2-0 victory for the underdogs on Saturday. City is a +150 favorite to capture the league title.

Start:	November 23, 2024 @ 2:30 PM
Expert:	Tony George
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