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Case of the Mondays: Falcons Lay Egg in Super Bowl Rematch


by - 10/23/2017

Julio Jones Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons, of course, would have to do far more than beat New England in one regular-season game to fully avenge last season's Super Bowl collapse. Perhaps they understand that and thus are waiting for a grander stage on which to show their true selves. Whatever the case, Atlanta failed to show up for Sunday night's rematch and once again went down to the Patriots. Elsewhere on the gridiron this past weekend, the Browns continued on their way with zero wins and the Kansas Jayhawks scored zero points.

All odds provided by BetOnline Sportsbook .

Atlanta Falcons . Through three weeks of 2017 campaign, Atlanta was 3-0 and looking like the class of the NFC. But the team may have been a bit overrated, with last-second-and borderline miracle-escapes at Chicago and Detroit plus a win over a banged-up Green Bay squad. Reality has set in fast on the Falcons, who have since lost to AFC East foes Buffalo, Miami, and New England. Their once-vaunted offense went scoreless in five consecutive quarters spanning the last two against Miami in Week 6 and the first three during a 23-7 setback against the Patriots on Sunday. The Falcons finds themselves in third place in the NFC South behind New Orleans and Carolina. They are -4.5 favorites at the Jets this weekend .

Joe Thomas .The streak is over. Thomas had played 10,363 consecutive snaps since being selected third overall by Cleveland in the 2007 NFL Draft until he sustained an apparent triceps injury in Sunday's 12-9 overtime loss at Tennessee. The star offensive tackle exited midway through the third quarter, and the Browns fear that his left triceps may be torn. "That one's really personal to me," head coach Hue Jackson said of the injury. "He's a huge part of what we do; a huge part of this organization. And we'll see where he is, but obviously that's a big blow." The Browns fell to 0-7 and are one of two remaining winless teams along with San Francisco. They are +7.5 home underdogs against Minnesota in Week 8.

Peyton Bender . Kansas finished with 21 total yards of offense in last weekend's 43-0 loss to TCU. You can't make this stuff up, folks. Bender completed only seven of 16 passes for 38 yards and he rushed for negative-23 yards. The Jayhawks recorded negative-25 rushing yards as a team, with five different ball-carriers going for less than zero. Kansas, which set an all-time Big 12 record for futility with its 21 yards, is 0-4 in the conference and has now gone nine straight quarters without scoring a point. "We've got to pick out a few things that we can do well,'' head coach David Beaty explained. "And then we've got to really, really practice them and get good at them so we have something to go to and be able to create some offense for us. That's a challenge that rests on my shoulders.'' TCU is a -6 favorite at Iowa State on Saturday .

New York Yankees . An eighth consecutive World Series will come and go without the Yankees. This is their longest such drought since ending a streak of 13 straight misses with a world championship in 1996. A young New York team did, however, turn in a better-than-expected season. Aaron Judge and company won the American League wild-card game over Minnesota and stunned Cleveland in five games after trailing 2-0. The Yankees also led Houston 3-2 in the ALCS but dropped the final two contests on the road to see their Fall Classic dreams crushed. The Astros took Game 7 by a 4-0 margin this past Saturday night. They are +141 to beat the Dodgers and win the World Series.

Boston Celtics . Well, it's safe to say this not how the Celtics drew up the start of their season-and most likely their entire season. Most notably, of course, newcomer Gordon Hayward suffered a dislocated ankle and fractured tibia in an opening loss to Cleveland. Boston still managed to hang tough in that game despite that haunting first-quarter moment, losing 102-99 when former Cavalier Kyrie Irving missed a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer. The Celtics dropped their second contest 108-100 to Milwaukee before finding the win column for the first time in 2017-18 with a 102-92 victory at Philadelphia last Friday. They are +1600 to win the NBA title.

Arizona Coyotes . The Coyotes have played eight games so far this season and are sporting a grand big zero in the win column. With all but one of the losses having come in regulation, Arizona has all of one point in the standings. Not surprisingly, that means the team is in last place in the entire NHL and already 12 points behind first-place Los Angeles in the Pacific Division. The Coyotes have allowed a Western Conference-worst 34 goals and have surrendered less than three goals in a game on only one occasion (their 2-1 overtime setback against Last Vegas on Oct. 7). Los Angeles is a +127 underdog at Toronto on Monday.

Manchester United . Promoted to the English Premier League just this season, Huddersfield stunned Manchester United 2-1 this past Saturday. Man United had allowed only two goals in eight previous EPL matches this season, but that total was doubled against an unheralded opponent. This marked Huddersfield's first victory over the Red Devils in 65 years and it dropped United five points back on the Premier League table of first-place rival Manchester City. "The best team won," Man U manager Jose Mourinho admitted. "It's simple. I have to give them credit. They had a different attitude, motivation, and desire than we had. Everyone at the stadium could feel in the first couple of minutes that one team was ready to give everything and the other was not ready for it…. They wanted it more than us." Man City is -500 to win the EPL title.

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