NFL Week 5 Preview
Best Bets
1.5 Pts David Johnson (Arizona Cardinals) to have over 88.5 rushing yards vs San Fran (5/6 Bet 365)
1.5 Pts Cincinnati Bengals to beat Dallas Cowboys by a margin of 1 -13 points (7/5 Paddy Power)
2 Pts Pittsburgh Steelers (-7 Handicap) to beat the New York Jets (10/11 General Price)
We are a quarter of the way through the NFL season and the standings are starting to take shape. The main talking point this year is how unpredictable the early matches have been! Despite this we managed to make a small profit last week and with the following tips we are hoping to continue our good form this week.
1.5 Pts David Johnson (Arizona Cardinals) to have over 88.5 rushing yards vs San Fran (5/6 Bet 365)
Our first tip comes in the Thursday night match between the struggling Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers. Much has been said of the Cardinals and their early season struggles, and they find themselves in a horrible position after four games and will be without their quarterback Carson Palmer on Thursday night. Palmer misses out due to concussion protocol and his return date is unknown. The Cards will have to go with their backup Drew Stanton who often struggles in getting the ball downfield, but can manage with a simple playbook.
On the other side of the field the 49ers have also struggled early and will be starting Blaine Gabbert on Thursday. Gabbert has failed to impress in his career and this contest could turn into a defensive war of attrition. The Arizona defence is impressive on paper, but the 49ers have struggled to contain the run in recent weeks and this could present a huge opportunity for the Arizona star running back David Johnson.
The Arizona offensive coaching team are likely to come up with a conservative strategy with Stanton being at the helm. This should lead to plenty of runs for Johnson, who racks up on average more than four yards per carry. Look for him to exceed 89 yards rushing in this match which looks good value on paper. At the time of writing there is only one over/under rushing market available for Johnson, but we are more than happy to promote a bet on him achieving more than 89 yards. We would expect him to pass the 100 yard mark in this ideally suited contest.
1.5 Pts Cincinnati Bengals to beat Dallas Cowboys by a margin of 1 -13 points (7/5 Paddy Power)
The Bengals showed up in a big way on Thursday night football last week and confidence must be high in this talented outfit. A.J Green went off for huge receiving numbers and Andy Dalton looked confident slinging it from the pocket. Aside from one poor defensive play the Bengals shut out the Dolphins and gave up next to nothing. This week they venture on the road to Dallas and we are very confident they can expose an overrated Cowboys side.
The Cowboys are 3-1 currently and their fans are understandably excited with the play of their rookie quarterback Dak Prescott. We think that some of this excitement is misplaced however with their three wins coming against struggling teams. Ezekiel Elliot now leads the league in rushing, but going up against the Bengals defence will be a much sterner test for the rookie running back. The Bengals are masterful at slowing down the run which should mean that Prescott will have to air it out.
We feel that the Bengals will get enough on the offensive end, and will be able to stifle the efforts of Prescott and Elliot. The odds on a Bengals winning margin anywhere between 1 and 13 points look very generous and we are happy to make a play on that with confidence.
2 Pts Pittsburgh Steelers (-7 Handicap) to beat the New York Jets (10/11 General Price)
Things aren’t looking good currently for the Jets. After Ryan Fitzpatrick got his big money contract fans can rightfully demand consistently above average performances from their quarterback. What they are getting however are historically bad passing performances which are littered with fourth quarter interceptions. On the defensive side of the field the Jets are underperforming also. The Jets are consistently giving up huge plays, which is exactly what you don’t need to be doing when you have to face the Steelers.
The Steelers on the other hand looked scary good last week against Kansas. Le’Veon Bell is back from his early season suspension and showed everyone that he is the best running back in the NFL. He went for 178 yards on 18 carries on Sunday and don’t expect him to slow down any time soon. Through the air the Steelers look fantastic also. Ben Roethlisberger had five touchdown passes on Sunday of which two were caught by star receiver Antonio Brown.
In our eyes this is a mismatch and we are happy to take on the handicap and back the Steelers to run out convincing winners.