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Did you catch that speech by New York Giants head coach Joe Judge after his team’s 29-3 loss to Chicago? It lasted eleven minutes and change, and essentially he was making a case for keeping his job.
The ownership would like to bring him back, but they will be hunting for a general manager, and that GM might want to bring in his or her own guy. So that’s not a secure place to be.
He did what some coaches do in this day and age – he scapegoated his offensive coordinator. That change has gone over like a lead balloon, which kind of leads him hanging out there on a limb.
Washington at Giants Team Totals
Time: Sunday, January 8 @ 1 PM ET
Team Totals Odds: New York Giants – Over 14.5 Points (+100) / Under 14.5 Points (-130)
The Play: GIANTS UNDER 14.5 POINTS (-130)
Yeah, we’re laying this kind of a price, but we always kind of love the Giants as an “under” possibility, especially as they thought it might be a breath of fresh air to dump Jason Garrett and insert Freddy Kitchens as the “de facto” offensive coordinator.
What they have gotten is very little in the way of ideas, as evidenced by what we’ve seen on the field. If there could be a negative quarterback rating, Mike Glennon would have achieved it, after going 4-of-11 for 24 yards and two INT’s against Chicago.
Glennon has a wrist injury, so now Jake Fromm gets another chance to prove he should be able to stick around. Fromm was yanked after going 6-for-17 with 25 yards against Philadelphia.
In the last six games, the Giants have scored 62 points with 13 turnovers. Don’t you just love that “Kitchens Effect”?
Panthers at Buccaneers Team Totals
Panthers vs. Buccaneers Predictions
Time: Sunday, January 8 @ 4:25 PM ET
Team Totals Odds: Tampa Bay Bucs – Over 26.5 Points (-105) / Under 26.5 Points (-125)
The Play: BUCS OVER 26.5 POINTS (-105)
The Bucs are now down two major receivers, with Chris Godwin injured and Antonio Brown having, well, gone off somewhere. And Leonard Fournette is hurt as well. So this offense is kind of limited in terms of what they can put out there.
So that initially led me to an “under” play here. But then there were other things to consider.
One is that Tom Brady has a way to pull rabbits out of hats. Another is that we are just starting to see what is possible with Cyril Grayson, a world-class sprinter who can outrun just about anybody down the field.
And then there is the Carolina defense, which has a tendency to crumble from the weight of the inability of the offense to do anything. They just put the other team in better field position than otherwise. For example, the Panthers are #1 in the NFL in yards allowed per drive, but they are eleventh in POINTS allowed per drive. So there you see the disparity.
Just a couple of weeks ago, the Bucs won a 32-6 decision as they tallied seven QB sacks. Sam Darnold was sacked seven times last week against New Orleans.
Seahawks at Cardinals Team Totals
Seahawks vs. Cardinals Predictions
Time: Sunday, January 8 @ 4;25 PM ET
Team Totals Odds: Arizona Cardinals – Over 27.5 Points (-120) / Under 27.5 Points (-110)
The Play: CARDINALS UNDER 27.5 POINTS (-110)
We’re going to cast a vote for the Cards having a harder time scoring than most people would expect. Arizona has a chance to win the NFC West with a win here (and an L.A.Rams loss), but as for the element of “urgency,” consider that the Cardinals have had an opportunity for weeks to take command of the NFC’s #1 seed and didn’t get the job done.
They have lost their last four home games. In the first nine games of the season, they scored 30 or more points seven times, but has done that only once since. In the last five games or so, Seattle has cranked up the ground game, as Rashaad Penny – known until recently as a first-round bust – now leads all NFL running backs with 5.8 yards per carry. So they can maybe do some ball control.
And the Seahawks defense are second in the league yards allowed (or more accurately, required) per point, at 18.3. For what it’s worth, they have held each of the last six opponents under 400 yards, which is an accomplishment, considering what their numbers were like earlier in the season.
49ers at Rams Team Totals
Time: Sunday, January 8 @ 4:25 PM ET
Team Totals Odds: San Francisco 49ers – Over 20.5 Points (-110) / Under 20.5 Points (-120)
The Play: NINERS OVER 20.5 POINTS (-110)
We have been reading about the possibility of Niner QB Jimmy Garoppolo playing in this game. He’s been practicing, but at the same time knows that his thumb is not going to be 100%. That could hinder his ability to go down the field, which he is better at than most people give him credit for.
But we have the feeling that Kyle Shanahan will find a way to generate enough offense, just as he’s done in beating his old friend Sean McVay and the Rams five straight times. Elijah Mitchell had 119 yards on the ground last week. The Niners beat the Rams by three TD’s in the previous meeting, with a ratio of 19 passes to 44 runs. Shanahan wants his team to run it at least 40 times. And as an added bonus, the 49ers have the highest percentage of TD’s in the red zone in the NFL (68%).
