Thirteen games are on today’s National Football League schedule, and the action starts way too early with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings meeting at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland in a contest that kicks off at 6:30 a.m. Pacific Time. It is very cloudy in Ireland, isn’t it always, but like the six outdoor venues in the states today there is no precipitation forecasted.
In order to best serve my clients, I make it a point not to pick a game that starts before many of them are even up on a Sunday morning. If the game had extraordinary potential, I would make a point of releasing it on Saturday and alerting clients to that fact with an announcement on the website.
This one, between the Vikings and Steelers, wouldn’t be a play for us even if it kicked off at a normal football hour. The Vikings are looking to follow up their lopsided win over the Cincinnati Bengals with their starting quarterback sidelined. J.J. McCarthy, who missed his rookie season with an injury, is sidelined with a high ankle sprain for this encounter.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have won two of three games. How? It’s not because they have a good offense or good defense but must once again fall to the credit of head coach Mike Tomlin. When a team has a suspect roster like the 2025 Steelers and have won two of three games it is tough to think they are in line for another victory.
If both teams could lose in the same game, it is the Vikings and Steelers this morning.
Here is a game that seems obvious and yet doesn’t work when crushing numbers. The Indianapolis Colts are looking to keep their perfect record when they visit the Los Angeles Rams this afternoon. The Rams, who found a way to blow a win for their backers last week, allowing first a 26-7 second half lead to melt to a 27-26 deficit, and then missed a game-ending field goal that could have won it for them. The miss included the Philadelphia Eagles blocking the kick and returning it the length of the field to push their winning margin to 33-26, which covered the 3½ point spread.
It was as tough of a loss as a bettor could absorb … but I have a rule. Four percent of games can play just as projected and still find a way to lose the wager. Most often, it is one of those ridiculous last second kickoffs where the trailing team has nothing to lose and starts lateraling the ball around in hopes of pulling off a Cal/Stanford type miracle. More often than pulling out a win in those situations, the ball ends up in the winning team’s endzone and sometimes that end of the game score shifts a point spread decision.
Those are tough losses … but the Rams meltdown last week ranks among the all-time bitter pills to swallow for a person unlucky enough to be waiting at the payout window when the spread was lost.
Anyway, following the Rams suffering their first loss of the season in dramatic fashion, they now return home to meet the undefeated Colts.
Seems easy.
Take the Rams and laugh all the way to the bank.
Problem is, an undefeated team as an underdog in this spot historically comes up a point spread winner way too often for us to step in on the Rams.
We have other plays we like more, and they are now posted on this site and if a Bullet Play develops in the final hour before the 10:00 a.m. game starts, that game will be added to the list of recommendations by 9:45 a.m. Pacific Time.
As for the public, their three favorite plays today begin with the Los Angeles Chargers (-6½) over the New York Giants and are followed by the Detroit Lions (-10) over the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles (-3½) over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.