NFL Week 13 Teaser of the Week

NFL Teaser — We Look For Inspired Efforts From Wild Card Contenders San Diego, Tennessee

We’re going for the gusto a little bit this week with a five-team, seven-point teaser, which, as it is laid out at TopBet.eu, is going to be good for paying out at a price of +300 (3/1). Do we have enough decent plays to make this happen? We think we do.

So what are the components to our teaser?

Well, first of all, we realize that the Indianapolis Colts are pretty good when they are coming off a straight-up loss, having covered the last eight games in that situation against the NFL odds. But could they get it done when laying more points? That’s a heck of a question. At Top Bet they are four-point favorites over the Tennessee Titans, and they were good enough to come from way back to overcome the Titans a little more than two weeks ago for a 30-27 win. Andrew Luck is very good, as we know, when engineering those come-from-behind wins. But how does he do in terms of stretching leads?

We suggest that he isn’t as strong, especially as the absence of Reggie Wayne really eats into the depth at the wide receiver spot, and the under-achievement of Trent Richardson is still a problem. He’s had a TOTAL of 59 yards over the last four games. We’re happy to move with these feisty Titans, who went into this week’s action as the front-runner for the AFC’s final playoff spot and have covered all five of their road games. Tease ’em up! TENNESSEE +11

Now that the Jacksonville Jaguars have out a couple of wins under their belts, there isn’t a whole lot to separate them from the Cleveland Browns, is there? Actually, there may not be any difference at all, when you think about the fact that the Browns have had most of their success with Brian Hoyer at quarterback. They have not covered one game against the NFL pointspread when Brandon Weeden has been the starter. They’ve averaged less than 17 points over the last six games. That doesn’t appear to make them the type of team that could put a lot of distance between themselves and anyone. The Jags are seven-point underdogs at TopBet, so we’ll take a little extra. JACKSONVILLE +14

The Philadelphia Eagles are battling it out with the Dallas Cowboys for the NFC East title, and Nick Foles, who was just named the starting QB for the rest of the season, has been phenomenal, with 16 TD passes and no interceptions. The Eagles have moved the ball well in every game he has started and played all the way. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they cover a lot of games at home, where they are 1-12 against the NFL lines over the last thirteen.

And it isn’t as if no one in the Cardinals’ organization is familiar with Foles, a graduate of the U of A. He might experience something completely different if the Eagles can’t get a running game going, and the Cards have been shutting down ground attacks (3.4 yards per carry allowed). Andre Ellington and Michael Floyd have given the Arizona attack some extra dimension, and guess what? Carson Palmer has actually gone two games without being picked off. Arizona gets 3.5 points in the pro football betting odds at Top Bet, and we’ll add to it in our NFL teaser. ARIZONA +10.5

The New England Patriots are making a visit to Houston’s Reliant Stadium to play against the Texans, who have now lost nine games in a row. Yes, there’s some hangover from that momentous comeback the Pats made against Denver, but the way we figure it, if Houston was going to be inspired to win a game, they could have done it with any number of more winnable games, including home contests against Oakland and Jacksonville the last two weeks. Yet that hasn’t happened.

We doubt New England is going to let this one get away from them. And what’s being heard out of Houston isn’t necessarily the most comforting stuff in the world, including criticism of the coaching staff from the since-departed Ed Reed (actually the criticism helped hasten his departure). The Texans have to be wondering who’s going to be there next year and who’s going to be gone. Can the Pats win this game straight up? As an 8.5-point favorite at Top Bet, if they can do it, we’re basically there. NEW ENGLAND -1.5

The San Diego Chargers are a team that has moved efficiently on offense, despite the loss of some key people, and you really have to respect that. As we have talked about on these pages, they move the ball farther than any team in the league on a per-drive basis (40.02). Philip Rivers is 71% accurate with 22 touchdowns, so it is safe to say that heads coach Mike McCoy and offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt have brought him back. And they’ve done it in a big way. He carved up a tough Kansas City defense last week for 392 yards and three touchdowns. Just as importantly, he didn’t give the Chiefs any cheap turnovers to feast on.

Remember that San Diego is still in the hunt for a playoff spot, as a lot of teams have come into the week’s play with 5-6 records. And while we don’t have a lot of disparaging things to say about the Cincinnati Bengals, we’re going to take a wild guess that they are not going to get a ton of mistakes (as they did against Cleveland before their bye week) from this Charger team that has turned it over just 13 times in eleven games. We’re okay with grabbing some extra points with the Chargers, because they can win the game straight-up, and even though we lose a little value here (with San Diego at -1 with Top Bet), we’ll make the call for the sake of our NFL teaser. SAN DIEGO +6

Here’s the recap:

Tennessee Titans +11
Jacksonville Jaguars +14
Arizona Cardinals +10.5
New England Patriots -1.5
San Diego Chargers +6

We hope to be lighting up that victory cigar! In the meantime, go to Top Bet and take advantage of great teaser odds in both football and basketball!