Contributors: Corey Eckenroth/Jeff Hartman/Dave Schofield

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The New York Giants presented a tougher task to the Pittsburgh Steelers than the New York Jets did from the week previous. This despite the Jets better ranked offense, better ranked defense, better Quarterback, etc.

The defenses for both teams showed up in terms of points allowed, but the rush defense for both teams was sparse, as both starting running backs went over 100 yards on the day. The Giants rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr went for 145 yds and a touchdown on 20 carries, for a 7.3 yd/carry average, while the Steelers Najee Harris went for 114 yards on 19 carries, for a 6.0 yd/carry average, but no touchdowns.

It was bend but don’t break for both defenses, and the touchdowns were hard to come by. In fact, it took a Calvin Austin III punt return for a touchdown to open the scoring up. It had been Chris Boswell field goals up until that point, and the only other touchdown the Steelers would manage on the evening would be another Calvin Austin III receiving touchdown. Najee would not get the chance to hit paydirt, even though the Steelers first two red zone trips were very promising.

Review

Corey – My confidence was soaring seeing as how the Steelers offense dismantled a talented Jets defense the week prior. Then, the Steelers were taking on a perceived weaker Giants defense. The on field litmus test determined that my eyes were lying to me.

However, with the Steelers improved offense, it is worth keeping an eye on the TOTAL POINTS OVER for the next couple of weeks until Vegas realizes and course corrects on their weekly lines:

• Total Points OVER 36.5pts (-108) – HIT
• ALTERNATE Spread PIT +11.5pts (+198) – MISS
• Najee Harris Anytime TD Scorer (+110) – MISS

Total Parlay Odds: +600

Winning Bet of $10 = $70.00

TJ Watt is an All World player, and he is on his way to another stellar season. All he did against the Giants was: 7 Total Tackles, 5 Solo, 2 Tackles for Loss, 2 Sacks, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Fumble Recovery. Another game where TJ Watt did TJ Watt things.

The only thing that kept this bet from hitting, was the fact that on the other side of the line, Alex Highsmith was playing like a man on fire, and was at the QB before TJ Watt was on most plays. Watt got the two sacks, but couldn’t ge home for one in the first half.

If that had hit, it would have taken the sting out of the huge miss on the parlay, but alas, it was not meant to be.

*** Bonus Leg (Single Bet) ***

• TJ Watt to have 1+ Sack in Each Half (+650) – MISS

Winning Bet of $10 = $75.00

Jeff – Last week my parlay hit, for just the second time this season. I feel like as the season progresses I’m getting better at picking my spots, but this week is a different beast. Nonetheless, let’s get to the parlay last week, which didn’t hit.

Here was my parlay from last week:

• Najee Harris Rushing Yards: 70+ (+130) HIT
• Russell Wilson Passing Yards: 200+ (-115) HIT
• Pat Freiermuth Receiving Yards: 40+ (+130) MISS

Another parlay ruined by me not being able to figure out Pat Freiermuth’s lack of production. More on that a little later here on SCN…

Dave – All I do is win, win win.

• George Pickens Receiving Yards: 70+ (+125) HIT
• Russell Wilson Passing Yards: 225+ (+160) HIT
• PIT total points: Over 23.5 (+142) HITTotal Odds: +575Winning Bet of $10 = $67.50

I don’t know if I can say I’m 3 for 3, but I can definitely say I’m 2 for 2. Maybe I need my own betting podcast.

This Week’s Picks

Corey – With the Steelers on BYE this week, I’ll be coming up with a League-Wide parlay that also allows me to take advantage of the Promotions that DraftKings likes to throw out. They will typically put out an All Parlay boost for any general parlay that you want to build, with some minimum odds exceptions. DK will also put out a Parlay Boost that is centered on Touchdown Scorers as well. This week’s Promo that I am using is the 25% Profit Boost for any winning 4+ leg Touchdown Scorer parlay, provided each leg has a minimum odds of -250 or longer. I saw a couple of individual lines that were too tempting to pass up as a combined parlay, and the theme of the picks are “J” names:

• Anytime TD Scorer – Jalen Hurts vs JAX (+100)
• Anytime TD Scorer – Josh Allen vs MIA (-105)
• Anytime TD Scorer – Justin Jefferson vs IND (-115)
• Anytime TD Scorer – Josh Jacobs vs DET (-105)

Total Parlay Odds: +1325

w/ Odds Boost Payout (+25%): +1657

Winning Bet of $10 = $175.70

Jeff – This week’s parlay…which I don’t have a good feeling about considering I’m look at AFC North plays not involving the Steelers. Here goes nothing:

2 Pick Parlays

• LA Chargers (-1) + UNDER 42.5 (+250)
• Broncos (+9) + UNDER 46 (+244)
• Bengals (-7) + OVER 45 (+232)

Dave – I’m taking a different approach this week as I am offering three bets that can’t be parlayed (according to DraftKings). I only like doing parlays for the Steelers (just look at my spotless record), so what I’m offering this week are three futures bets that could pay off based on how things stand now. I’m glad these won’t ruin my perfect record.

• T.J. Watt DPOY (+100)
• PIT win division (+180)
• PIT over 10.5 wins (+135)

I went with the Steelers winning the division rather than making the playoffs because those odds were -400. These are not bad odds to jump on right now, but are not nearly as good as they were before the season. I actually got the Steelers at +9.5 wins at +220 back in August.

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