We coasted to a win on Saquon Barkley’s receiving yards prop on Monday Night Football, only to be brought back down to Earth by Cooper Rush - who may actually not be a bad quarterback after all. The Giants, Daniel Jones, and prime time just don’t mix, and I may have lost a few hours of sleep imagining my betslip and accepting a wager on New York. It wasn’t pretty.
Anyway, we move forward after a 3-3 week and look ahead to the Miami Dolphins’ trip to take on the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night. Let’s continue what’s been a profitable season for us so far and get off to a solid 2-0 start here.
Dolphins @ Bengals
You’ve seen the power rankings. For the most part, the Dolphins sit atop the league after a mind-bending come-from-behind victory over the Baltimore Ravens and a massive win against their AFC East rivals the Buffalo Bills. It’s easy for people to get caught up in the Miami hype - count me as one of them. The combo of Tua Tagovailoa, Jaylen Waddle, and Tyreek Hill is becoming a very difficult trio to stop. The Bengals flat out haven’t seen an offense like Miami yet after going up against Mitchell Trubisky, Cooper Rush, and Joe Flacco. This is a whole different demon, and the matchups on that side of the ball can be devastating.
Three weeks into the season, Tua leads the AFC with 9.2 yards per pass and a league-leading quarterback rating. He’ll have the matchups he needs to torch the pedestrian Bengals secondary. Barring his health - which is a storyline to watch - there are plenty of avenues for Miami to cover. On the other side, Joe Burrow has been sacked an NFL-leading 15 times behind a retooled offensive line that has yet to find its footing, and Miami is riding a four-sack game of Josh Allen. In the secondary, it will be Xavien Howard vs. Ja’Marr Chase, which in itself will be worth the price of admission. Miami has the angles and matchup to cover here, if not win outright. Watch the line as injury news comes in - Waddle, Tua, and safety Jevon Holland are banged up, but it’s expected that they will all play. Let’s make some cash.
Bet: Dolphins +4.5 (-110 at BetVictor)
Tyreek Hill started his talk as soon as Miami’s game against Buffalo ended. He called out Eli Apple, and made sure to let Apple know he owns him. After being targeted 25 times to the tune of 19 catches and 284 yards through the first two weeks, Hill was limited to just two catches for 33 yards a week ago in what could be his worst output game of the season. I see him as an incredible bounce-back candidate under the lights of prime time. All it takes is one boom play to get close to this number, and I believe Tua will be feeding him all night - he said as much in his pregame press conference. If Waddle is out for whatever reason, expect Hill’s usage to climb even further.
Bet: Tyreek Hill over 70.5 yards (-115 at DraftKings)