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It’s hard to believe that you could lose a game (and a bet) when your QB passes for 497 yards and six touchdowns.
Unless you had Jameis Winston and the Browns on Monday night. Alas, two of Winston’s touchdowns were Pick-Six’s for the Broncos, who held on to win 41-32 and cover the -6/-6.5. The Browns almost salvaged the backdoor cover, but Winston threw his final interception in the endzone with under a minute left.
“That’s one of the worst beats of the year,” — VSiN’s Wes Reynolds.
That is, unless you had one of the 11 Circa Survivor entries on the Broncos.
And congrats if you were playing the revenge factor on Browns WR Jerry Jeudy, who finished with 235 yards, the most ever by a receiver vs. his former team.
Everything we do on NFL Week 14 will be posted here.
FYI: The 49ers put RB Christian McCaffrey (knee) and RB Jordan Mason (ankle) on the IR, which means they are out at least four weeks. The 49ers are lined at -3.5 vs. the Bears on Sunday, down from the opening -5.5.
Market Watch
Coming off another action-packed weekend, VSiN.com senior editor Zach Cohen checks the odds on various NFL and college football markets, so you don’t have to do it.
Here are three of the many nuggets:
To make the College Football Playoff:
SMU probably can’t afford to lose to Clemson this weekend, which is another interesting wrinkle in the playoff picture. Plenty of coaches and analysts have argued that teams shouldn’t be punished for losing in their respective championship games. But a loss means Clemson gets the automatic ACC bid. Meaning it’d be two-loss SMU vs. a team like Alabama. Uh oh.
To win the National Championship:
How about Ohio State? While it might seem like the sky is falling after a fourth consecutive loss to Michigan, should The Game really matter all that much? Ryan Day is seemingly on the hot seat in Columbus, but he’s 65-6 against non-Wolverines. And this year’s Buckeyes team is first in the nation in EPA per play allowed (-0.156) and third in EPA per play 0.124).
To win the Super Bowl:
After a road win over the Ravens, the Eagles (+475) are now second on the oddsboard (behind the Lions at +290). It’s hard to argue with it. Philadelphia is fifth in the NFL in EPA per play (0.104) and sixth in EPA per play allowed (-0.067). The Eagles also have a reasonable path to 15 wins, so it isn’t outrageous to think that they’ll steal home-field advantage from the Lions.
Conference title previews
Tireless VSiN.com managing editor Adam Burke is churning out the conference championship betting previews:
Friday
Conference USA: Western Kentucky at Jacksonville State – 7 p.m. ET
Mountain West: UNLV at Boise State – 8 p.m. ET
AAC: Tulane at Army – 8 p.m. ET
Saturday
Big 12: Iowa State vs. Arizona State (Arlington) – Noon ET
MAC: Ohio vs. Miami (OH) (Detroit) – Noon ET
>>More to come.
Today in college basketball
Greg Peterson has posted his Best Bets for today’s menu.
>Adam Burke’s top plays will be up later today.
Quick Hits
NBA: Zach Cohen will post his Best Bets later today on our NBA page.
NHL: Look for Jonathan Davis‘ picks by mid-morning on our NHL page.