NFL Highs and Lows

NFL Highs and Lows
by Mike Neri

It was another wild NFL Sunday, with plenty of new surprises to keep any handicapper busy. For instance, are the Jacksonville Jaguars a team to look at over the total? They've gone two straight games over the total and they way they have done so is most revealing.

It's as if offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter is saying, "To heck with it, if we're going to have a bad season, we might as well have some fun offensively and go down swinging." The Jaguars (3-1 ATS) are on a 2-0 SU/ATS run. They blitzed the Texans on the road, a 31-24 victory, then blasted the Titans Sunday, 37-17, as a home dog. QB David Garrard (5 TDs, 1 pick) is in the kind of groove he was in two years ago, his best as a pro, playing turnover free football.

The Jaguars opened some decent holes for Rashad Jennings and Greg Jones, jumping out to a 27-3 halftime lead by throwing it 25 times against seven designed runs. There were nice wrinkles thrown in by offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter by using rookie tight end Zach Miller on inside handoffs and rookie Mike Thomas on end-arounds.

Garrard was outstanding Sunday, 27-for-37, 323 yards, three TDs. Perhaps there's some good chemistry with newcomer Tory Holt, Michael Sims-Walker and TE Marcedes Lewis.

Of course, this defense is still weak. They gave up 398 yards to Houston and got torched by Kurt Warner, who was 24-of-26 for 242 yards, plus Matt Schaub had 300 yards on them, and they gave up 284 yards to Kerry Collins.

The Browns have yet to win, but have a new-found offense with QB Derek Anderson. He threw for 269 yards (26-of-48) in Sunday's 23-20 OT loss to the Bengals, as the offense had 395 yards. Anderson had good chemistry in the past with WR Braylon Edwards (a club record 16 TD passes in 2007 from Anderson) and rookie WR Mohamed Massaquoi had eight catches for 148 yards Sunday.

Buffalo (1-3), meanwhile, has been running the no-huddle offense since preseason, but getting nowhere with it. This offense should be scoring more points with WR Terrell Owens alongside WRs Lee Evans and Josh Reed. Yet, they have scored 7 and 10 points the last two weeks and got RB Marshawn Lynch back Sunday.

The Patriots head to Denver Sunday for a fascinating matchup against their old offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, the new Denver coach. The Broncos have been the biggest surprise at 4-0 SU/ATS. The offense looks like, well, like the Patriots the last few years, with 3 and 4 wide receiver sets. QB Kyle Orton (5 TDs, no picks) has been pretty good, rookie RB Knowshon Moreno looks like a young workhorse, and WR Brandon Marshall was the hero Sunday against Dallas, getting back in the good graces of the fans and the coaching staff.

Most impressive is a Denver defense that has allowed only 2 TDs and 26 total points. Denver is 15-5 ATS the last 20 against New England and has its biggest test of the year next Sunday at home.

The Titans dropped to 0-4 Sunday with that embarrassing 37-17 home loss to the Jaguars. Next up for the winless Titans is undefeated Indianapolis. Then there's that little matter of a trip to New England.

Frankly, the Titans are looking at the very real possibility of a 0-6 start before they hit their bye week on Oct. 25. Amazing when you realize this team was 10-0 a year ago. There are highs and lows every week in the NFL - and on the field and in the handicapping field!

Back to Article Listing