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Monday Night Football Picks and Predictions

eli manning


by Alan Matthews - 10/18/2018

I don't take vacations during football season, but if I had this would have been the week to do it because Doc's wouldn't have much missed me in regards to previewing the two weeknight games in the NFL. Thursday gave us the 2-4 Denver Broncos at 1-5 Arizona Cardinals. Uh, no thanks.

Aaron Rodgers Green Bay Packers


by Alan Matthews - 10/11/2018

Last Monday's game between the Redskins and Saints from New Orleans was a blowout - we recommended backing the Who Dats - but it was at least interesting because of the whole Drew Brees passing Peyton Manning as the NFL's career yardage leader thing.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees


by Alan Matthews - 10/4/2018

A nice sweep for us last Monday night, although it would have been even better had Denver hung on to its 10-point lead over visiting Kansas City. Alas, Patrick Mahomes worked some of his magic and the Chiefs remained the AFC's lone unbeaten with a 27-23 comeback win. We recommended Denver +5.5 as well as "under" the total of 56 points - perhaps the Broncos did at least give the league a template to slow Mahomes for a while.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes


by Alan Matthews - 9/27/2018

Getting a bit tired of all these splits on my NFL picks - although at least I haven't gone 0-2 yet. It was another wash last Monday night as I went against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Tampa because I felt the Steelers were dealing with too many distractions. However, the magic ran out for Ryan Fitzpatrick as his three interceptions ruined Tampa's chance to win, which was our call. We did hit over the total.

Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers


by Alan Matthews - 9/20/2018

I had split my first five NFL game previews this season until sweeping last Monday's Seahawks-Bears matchup in Chicago. The Bears easily covered the spread, and the total stayed a couple of points under 43.5 - it really wasn't ever close to going over, but Seattle scored a last-second garbage TD to make the final score 24-17. I believe a lot of Bears games will stay under the total this year with that fantastic defense and that plenty of Seattle's will too - more because the Seahawks' offense is not good.

Russell Wilson Seattle Seahawks


by Alan Matthews - 9/12/2018

Glad I went with my gut when choosing last week's Monday night game to preview. Early in the week, I was leaning Jets-Lions because I thought the Sam Darnold angle was interesting and was pretty confident that Detroit would win as rookie QBs historically lose in their first road start. However, I opted to skip that game because the Rams were the better bet in the late matchup in Oakland. That proved wise because L.A. did easily cover vs. the Raiders, although we missed on the total - giving us 1-1 marks on all three game previews in Week 1.

Todd Gurley Los Angeles Rams


by Alan Matthews - 9/6/2018

When the New York Jets traded Teddy Bridgewater to New Orleans during the preseason and it became clear that No. 3 overall pick Sam Darnold was going to be Gang Green's starter in the opener of the Week 1 Monday doubleheader in Detroit, my inclination was to preview the Jets-Lions game. I try to cover as many teams as possible during the season for these Sunday games, and I'm somewhat doubting I'll have much interest in either of those two the rest of the way unless obligated when they play on Thursday or Monday nights.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger


by Alan Matthews - 12/21/2017

So why am I previewing the Christmas afternoon game between the Steelers and Texans in Houston instead of a better matchup Monday night in Philadelphia between the Raiders and Eagles? Honestly, because I think there's potentially great value on Houston, as I'll explain. Plus, neither the Raiders nor Eagles might have anything to play for by the time they take the field. Oakland needs to win out and get a ton of help to get a wild-card spot, and some of that help probably will already have failed Sunday.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan


by Alan Matthews - 12/14/2017

We won't know which team will be featured on the 2018 version of HBO's "Hard Knocks" until the spring, but I'm not going to predict whichever club it is to make the playoffs. I have learned my lesson! Of course, I am speaking somewhat tongue-in-cheek of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I really did think they were a team on the rise after winning nine games in 2016 and Jameis Winston taking a leap forward in his second season.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady


by Alan Matthews - 12/7/2017

I can't guarantee you a winning result in this Monday's game between the AFC East rival Patriots and Dolphins, but I can promise you it won't look anything like last Monday's wildly brutal & dirty Steelers-Bengals bloodfest. Wow, was that game something. This writer was 2-0 on that Pittsburgh 23-20 comeback win, taking the Bengals +5.5 and the under 43.5.

andy dalton cincinnati bengals


by Alan Matthews - 11/30/2017

This Monday's game between the Steelers and Bengals is the second straight MNF matchup featuring at least one AFC North wild-card hopeful - in this case Cincinnati. Last Monday, I recommended taking Houston +8 at Baltimore. The Ravens didn't cover in a 23-16 victory, but it was huge for their wild-card hopes to potentially save the job of John Harbaugh. Cincinnati needs a similar type win this Monday to likely save Marvin Lewis.

DeAndre Hopkins Houston Texans


by Alan Matthews - 11/24/2017

OK, once a year when previewing a rather bland Monday night game later in the season, I mention how great it would be if ESPN had the option to flex a better game into that slot. But that's unlikely to happen in the next TV deal because it's a lot different moving a game from Sunday afternoon to Sunday night than it is from Sunday to Monday night. So there it is.

Russell Wilson Seattle Seahawks


by Alan Matthews - 11/16/2017

In this writer's opinion, college football stole the NFL's thunder last weekend. There were several marquee matchups in college that helped shape a potential playoff field. The NFL Week 10 schedule was rather blah. Things are flipped this weekend for sure. It's a ho-hum NCAA schedule at best but a terrific NFL slate with a handful of games with playoff ramifications.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton


by Alan Matthews - 11/9/2017

Looking for a fade candidate the rest of the 2017 NFL regular season? I give you the Miami Dolphins ahead of their Monday night game at Carolina. It's not so much as I think the team lacks for talent, although I'm not a personal fan of Jay Cutler, one of the most overrated quarterbacks of the decade. Yeah, yeah, he has a cannon. He also is wildly inaccurate and makes terrible decisions.

Matthew Stafford Detroit Lions


by Alan Matthews - 11/2/2017

The broken collarbone suffered by Packers star quarterback Aaron Rodgers continues to be felt in the NFC. Add in the six-game suspension that Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott now must serve (as of now), and I think you have an answer as to why it was such a crazy trade deadline around the NFL this week.

Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Justin Houston


by Alan Matthews - 10/26/2017

The Kansas City Chiefs are usually competitive each season, but I wouldn't call them a marquee team in terms of ratings because, well, Kansas City isn't a huge market, for one. Second, the Chiefs generally were considered rather boring over the years because they won by running the ball and with a great defense. No star quarterback to lure non-Chiefs fans to watch.

Carson Wentz Philadelphia Eagles


by Alan Matthews - 10/19/2017

Are the fates conspiring for the Philadelphia Eagles to reach the third Super Bowl in franchise history and perhaps win their first? I've talked plenty about Aaron Rodgers' broken collarbone this week, but that also could affect the Eagles. Philadelphia (5-1) was the NFC's only five-win team entering Week 7 and has become the +425 favorite at Bovada to win the conference title for the first time since that Donovan McNabb/Terrell Owens club in 2004.

DeMarco Murray Tennessee Titans


by Alan Matthews - 10/12/2017

Has there been a more one-sided intradivisonal rivalry this century than Indianapolis usually stomping AFC South foe Tennessee? I can't think of one. The Oilers moved to Nashville for the 1997 season and became the Titans starting in 1999. For purposes of this story, we'll start with the year 2000 - the Titans have just seven victories over the Colts since. And three of those were the first three meetings.

Mitchell Trubisky Chicago Bears


by Alan Matthews - 10/5/2017

Before I get to previewing the Monday night Week 5 matchup between the Vikings and Bears in the Windy City, I must address last Monday's incredible ending between the Redskins and Chiefs in Kansas City. I'm not going to go play-by-play as I'm sure you've seen it plenty of times by now, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a meaningless play like that affect both the spread and total so massively in an NFL game.

Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt


by Alan Matthews - 9/28/2017

When you think of the best Chiefs players of all-time, you probably don't think offense first. Sure, the franchise had a Hall of Fame quarterback in Len Dawson, arguably the best receiving tight end in league history in Tony Gonzalez, and some excellent running backs (at least for a few years) like Jamaal Charles, Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson and Christian Okoye.

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