NFL handicapping is hard enough even when you know who the quarterback is.
Today, the quarterback injury list is already in mid-season form with five starters who will or may miss time:
Joe Burrow, Bengals
- Injury: Toe
- Status: Needs surgery, out three months
- Replacement: Jake Browning
- Line move from lookahead to Monday: CIN +1.5 at MIN to CIN +3. Line was CIN +4.5 Sunday night after Burrow’s injury but before J.J. McCarthy’s injury was revealed.
J.J. McCarthy, Vikings
- Injury: Ankle sprain
- Status: Likely out Sunday, week-to-week
- Replacement: Carson Wentz
- Line Move: See above.
Jayden Daniels, Commanders
- Injury: Sprained knee
- Status: Undetermined
- Replacement: Marcus Mariota
- Line move: WAS -6.5 vs. LV to WAS -3.5
Justin Fields, Jets
- Injury: Concussion
- Status: In protocol, likely won’t clear in time to practice
- Replacement: Tyrod Taylor.
- Line move: NYJ +4.5 at Bucs to NYJ +7
And then there is the 49ers’ Brock Purdy, who missed Week 2 with an injured toe and was replaced by Mac Jones. He hasn’t been ruled out for Sunday’s game vs. Arizona (+1.5).
Baker Mayfield shook off injuries to various body parts and rallied the Bucs (+2.5/+3) to a 20-19 victory over the Texans. The Total was Under the closing 43.
In case you went to sleep: The Chargers (-3.5) defeated the Raiders 20-9 in the late game. The Total went Under 46.5.
Dave Tuley’s ATS Report: Favorites finished 11-5 SU and 9-7 ATS in Week 2; road teams led 9-7 SU and 11-5 ATS; Overs bounced back at 10-6 despite 2 MNF Unders.
>>NFL Week 3 Hub with stories and resources.
College football betting takeaways
Zach Cohen recaps what you should know about the week that was in pro and college football.
Since I watched all the NFL games, let’s see what he has to say about the FBS:
Alabama: This Ryan Grubb passing game suddenly looks potent, and we’re going to learn a lot when Bama takes on Georgia in Week 5. But I said it last week and I’ll say it again: Alabama to win the SEC looks pretty good at +550.
Cal: Freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele looks like a star. . . . You can make worse bets than Cal to make the ACC Championship Game at 17-1.
Clemson & Notre Dame: Hope isn’t completely lost for either team, as DraftKings Sportsbook has the Tigers at +350 to make the CFP and the Irish are only +160. But there isn’t much of a margin for error for either team moving forward, and I’m not sure either looks good enough to win out.
Josh Appelbaum will post his early CFB Sharp Report later this morning.
>CFB Week 4 Hub with links to stories and resources.
Contest Corner
Here is where we stand on the various Circa and VSiN contests:
- Circa Survivor: 282 entries advanced behind the Chargers; 104 departed with the Texans’ loss, leaving 16,965 for Week 3.
- Circa Grandissimo: 1 entry moved on with the Chargers, so 68 of the original 69 advance.
- Circa Million: The top 5 consensus picks went 2-3, better than the 0-5 in Week 1.
- Circa Friday Football Invitational: Las Vegas handicapper Doug Kezirian leads by one point over pro bettor Frank Carulli. >>Leaderboard.
- EdgeBoost Average Joe Contest: We had 10 7-0 records this week. Leaderboard.
If you missed the Average Joe sign-up deadline, you can sign up at any point in the season for a chance to win weekly prizes (up to $1,000) and quarterly prizes (trips to Las Vegas).
Quick Hits
MLB: Greg Peterson has Best Bets for today’s MLB menu. Adam Burke and Steve Makinen will post their contributions later this morning.
