We’ve got 15 games of NFL action ahead of us in Week 4 as most of the league closes out the first quarter of their schedule.
After a COVID scare the Titans and Steelers get an unintentional early bye week with that game set to be caught up at a later date but the rest of the weekend has plenty to get excited about.
Admittedly things get off to a fairly flat start with the hopeless Jets face the depleted Broncos but on the plus side, there’s a huge Monday morning ahead, headlined by the clash between the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots.
We’re running through all 15 games below and have our Week 4 NFL Tips here!
If the Jets are going to win a game in 2020, this Thursday night clash with what’s left of the Denver Broncos might be their best chance.
Injuries have ravaged the visiting side’s roster with something called Brett Rypien scheduled to start at quarterback after Drew Lock was ruled out with injury and Jeff Driskel was not good at all.
This line seems like its shifting towards the Jets which in a way makes sense since even your average NFL fan would have to search for Rypien’s bio.
Then you remember it’s the Jets and they could very well fire Adam Gase after a loss here which seems like something the entire roster plus most of New York and New Jersey seems to want.
I’ll take the Broncos at the miniscule line now and it’s tempting to wait for kickoff to see if the Jets move into favouritism to back against at a better price.
There was more than a bit of Schadenfreude in Week 1 when Brady and the Buccaneers stumbled out of the gates, but they have steadily improved in the last two weeks and cruised to an easy win in Denver last week.
Justin Herbert and the Chargers had a major letdown last week against the Panthers after such a strong performance against the Chiefs.
We should see plenty of points in this game with both offences more than capable of moving up and down the field but I’ve got to give the edge to Brady and the Bucs, especially with LA making the cross country trip and having the early kickoff.
With the line at a touchdown, I’ll go a bit safer and back the Bucs outright instead of at the line but throw in the over as the better side wins.
A week after picking up his first NFL tie, something many quarterbacks go through their whole careers without achieving, rookie quarterback Joe Burrow is in a great spot to pick up his first NFL win in his fourth start.
It might not be a day for the quarterbacks though, after the Jaguars were literally run over by the Miami Dolphins last week.
The two headed running back tandem of Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard should keep the clock moving and the Jags defence on its heels.
Because it’s still the Bengals it’s hard to see them winning by too much so I’ll take a dip into the winning margin market and back the Bengals to get home by less than two touchdowns.
After a brief scare when the Titans (Minnesota’s opponent last week) had multiple positive COVID tests, the Vikings have been given the all clear and will take to the field in Houston as scheduled.
It’s possibly the most desperate matchup of the weekend with both sides stuck well below where many expected them to be at 0-3.
Houston at least has an excuse for not winning a game yet considering they have gone down to Kansas City, Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
Minnesota (on paper at least) should give them a real test but their defence has given up 43, 28 and 37 points already this season, so this could be the game Deshaun Watson goes off and carries this side to its first victory.
GAME POSTPONED
Seattle is one of the most entertaining teams in the NFL with Russell Wilson lighting up opposing defences week in, week out.
They head into this game without running back Chris Carson so there’s even more pressure on Wilson but the good news is he is more than capable of shredding this Dolphins defence.
With the line at a surprisingly low 6.5 you have to jump on the Seahawks to win and cover.
The totals are now correcting to Seattle scoring over 30 each week with this number in the mid-50’s even though the Dolphins offence is in the bottom half of the league in terms of talent.
Seattle’s defence is one of the worst in the NFL and Ryan Fitzpatrick should be able to put up at least 20 on them putting the overs into play here for a decent value double.
Finally, the Bears coaching staff came to their senses and benched Mitch/Mitchell Trubisky in favour of the slightly less horrible Nick Foles.
To his credit the former Super Bowl MVP looked pretty good leading the Bears back from a 26-10 deficit in Atlanta last week and should be a better option for this Bears offence going forward.
In an added bonus, they go into this game at 3-0 and in a great position for a playoff run.
The loss of Tarik Cohen will hurt their offensive productivity but the Bears look like good value as home underdogs against a Colts side that might be feeling better about themselves than they should after destroying the hapless Jets last week.
Do we start panicking about the Saints two game losing streak yet?
They have not looked all that great in those games, but you can explain away both losses and Detroit is probably their easiest opponent of the season so far.
Having picked up their first win of the season over Arizona, the Lions will be looking to build some momentum with another win, which would lower the temperature on Matt Patricia’s seat.
This is a great game to back the Saints running backs to have a huge day with the Lions very vulnerable on the ground.
They have given up over 500 yards on the ground so far and as long as Sean Payton can keep his ego in check and rely on his backs to get the job done, the Saints should win and cover.
We could be in for another entertaining shootout featuring the Dallas Cowboys when they host Cleveland this weekend.
They have given up 77 points in their last two games and Cleveland is no slouch offensively, with one of the league’s most effective running games featuring Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.
Dallas has just the one big name back in Ezekiel Elliot who is normally a sure thing, but it’s been Dak Prescott who has been the real focal point for Mike McCarthy’s offence.
I’ll back the Cowboys too keep things rolling and come away with a win here to get their season record back to 2-2.
Every great team seems to have their kryptonite and for the Baltimore Ravens, it seems like it might be the Chiefs.
I’m prepared to throw out that loss last week and expect them to get back on track against a Washington team that has shown flashes of competitiveness.
It’s not worth overcomplicating this tip, the Ravens are a better side and should win comfortably, don’t be surprised to see Robert Griffin III playing quarterback for Baltimore in the fourth quarter.
There’s a lot of pressure on the Cardinals to travel to Carolina and come away with a win as favourites and we should learn a lot about this team and its makeup this week.
Kyler Murray had a rough outing against the Lions and will be looking to bounce back against a Chargers defence that forced four turnovers last week.
I’m still feeling good about a preseason prediction for the Cardinals to make the playoffs with at least nine wins.
Because of that, I’ll back Carolina to win a game that a playoff team should win and get things back on track after last week’s setback.
All signs are pointing to the Rams producing a similar performance to the last time they took on a mediocre at best NFC East team.
A week after getting torched by Josh Allen the Rams will not have the same level of trouble stopping Daniel Jones and a Giants offence that is severely undermanned.
On the season the Giants have scored a grand total of 38 points, or one more than the Rams managed in their Week 2 win over the Eagles.
When one team can score and the other can’t, the game is only headed one way.
We have already seen an away game in Vegas claim its first victim in the New Orleans Saints back in Week 2 and now the 3-0 Buffalo Bills put their perfect start on the line.
The Raiders were well below par when they took on New England last week as injuries, a cross country flight and a short week of preparation took its toll on the side.
But now with a return to their brand new home, you have to like their chances here as a home underdog.
Look for Raiders tight end Darren Waller to play a huge role in this game as the Bills have one of the league’s worst pass defences through three weeks.
If the Raiders get rookie receiver Henry Ruggs back after he was a late scratch against New England, that will open things up for Derek Carr and give the Raiders enough to get home over a Bills team that has been very impressive so far.
*UPDATE: The game has been postponed due to COVID tests, Cam Newton is out and Brian Hoyer will start at quarterback for New England so the tip of Kansas City at the line still stands*
Even the most ardent Patriots fan has to admit that this is going to be a huge ask for Bill Belichick and company as they head to Arrowhead Stadium for this marquee matchup.
They have caught a huge break with the number of fans limited for this game as a raucous atmosphere would have made things even tougher.
Belichick will come up with a creative way to slow down the Chiefs offensively but with the form he is in at the moment, it is too hard to back against Mahomes.
It will be very interesting to see how the Patriots attack the Chiefs defence with three different offensive approaches in the first three weeks but if this turns into a shootout there is only one team that is going to win this game.
We knew the Eagles might not be a great team this year but it is a bit of a surprise to see them playing as poorly as they have in the first couple of weeks.
What is even worse is the fact that Doug Pedersen appears to be coaching scared and around a struggling Carson Wentz.
Even with a massively depleted offence, the 49ers at least seem like a team with direction and that is going to be the difference for this primetime feature.
San Francisco should be looking to jump on the Eagles early and go on with the job, while the -7 line seems far too low, I’ll go even more aggressive and back them to win by 14+.
You know just about everyone will be tuning into this game to see how Atlanta finds a way to add to their spectacular list of chokes in 2020.
Green Bay’s season went from good to great with a win in the Superdome last week over the Saints and the only thing that might stop the Falcons from blowing a lead is Aaron Rodgers.
Between himself and running back Aaron Jones, the Packers look like they are playing far too well to find themselves trailing this broken, mediocre Falcons franchise by 16-20 points in the fourth quarter.
The Packers should win this one comfortably and Aaron Jones will lead the way with a touchdown (or 3) in this fairly one sided affair.