NFL Notes, Futures and more

Published on Monday, 1/11/16, at 1:04 p.m. Eastern.

Odds to win Super Bowl 50 courtesy of Sportsbook.ag…

Arizona Cardinals +350 (risk $100 to win $350)
New England Pariots 4/1
Carolina Panthers 5/1
Denver Broncos +550
Seattle Seahawks +550
Kansas City Chiefs +850
Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1
Green Bay Packers 16/1

This week’s lines…

Saturday:

Kansas City at New England (-5). Total: 43.5 pts.
Green Bay at Arizona (-7). Total: 50

Sunday:

Seattle at Carolina (-3). Total: 44
Pittsburgh at Denver (-6.5). Total: 41

Key Injuries:

Carolina RB Jonathan Stewart (questionable)
Carolina WR Ted Ginn (questionable)
Seattle RB Marshawn Lynch (questionable)
Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger (probable)
Pittsburgh WR Antonio Brown (probable)
Pittsburgh RB DeAngelo Williams (questionable)
New England LB Dont’a Hightower (questionable)
New England DT Chandler Jones (questionable)
New England OT Sebastian Vollmer (questionable)
Denver DE DeMarcus Ware (questionable)
Kansas City WR Jeremy Maclin (questionable)

**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**

–All four road teams won during wild-card weekend for the first time in NFL history.

–Before his 27-yard miss at crunch time Sunday, Minnesota kicker Blair Walsh had buried 30-of-31 career field-goal attempts inside of 30 yards. The miss gave Seattle a 10-9 win over the Vikings, who took the cash as four-point home underdogs.  By all accounts, Walsh was pure class in defeat, answering every reporters’ questions for more than 10 minutes. He didn’t mention that the holder had the laces of the ball in the wrong place.

–Green Bay finally found a pulse for the first time in a month after falling behind 11-0 at Washington. Like I said on every radio show spot I did last week, there was no reason to overthink the handicap of Packers-Redskins. Even though Kirk Cousin had looked great and the Packers had looked mostly horrible for two months, it was Aaron Rodgers at pick ’em against the Redskins in January. The Pack was the pick and it was a no-brainer.

–Coach of the Week: Pittsburgh LBs coach Joey Porter. Regardless of whether or not Porter should have been on the field or not (he shouldn’t have been) when he allegedly was talking trash to Vontaze Burfict, the result won the game for the Steelers. With 18 seconds left, Burfict was flagged 15 yards for his hit on Antonio Brown (a defenseless receiver). While medical personnel tended to Brown, Porter was out on the field and whatever he was saying to Burfict prompted Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones to come after Porter. In doing so, he bumped an official for another 15-yard penalty.

–The Bengals meltdown was one of epic proportions. I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen an NFL postseason game decided by incomprehensible/dumbass decisions like the ones made by Jones and Burfict. Burfict and Jones are the definition of players who are ‘character risks.’ When you have those types of players on your team and on the field, these are the results you sometimes get. Poor Marvin Lewis, who remains winless in the playoffs.

–Kansas City has now won five consecutive road games by 14 points or more. The Chiefs will take an 11-game winning streak to Foxboro. They have covered the number at an 8-3 ATS clip during their 11-game surge. However, Andy Reid’s team is just 1-3 both SU and ATS in four games as an underdog this year.

–New England has been a single-digit home favorite five times this season, compiling a 1-1-3 spread record. That’s right. The Patriots have won by seven as seven-point ‘chalk’ three times.

–Players of the Week: Kansas City TE Travis Kelce (eight catches for 128 receiving yards) and Pittsburgh LB Ryan Shazier for his strip of Cincy RB Jeremy Hill to get the Steelers the ball back late in the fourth quarter.

–Goats of the Week: Jones, Hill and Burfict (see above) along with Houston QB Brian Hoyer, who had four first-half turnovers, and Washington WR Desean Jackson, who didn’t lay out for a TD, which cost the Redskins four points in the first quarter.