Dave Carney 12/21/2020
Overall record: 109-84
How did I get here?: Thursday Night Football almost did what I thought it would *(go UNDER the total of 53)* and may have held up, had the Raiders and Chargers NOT gone to Overtime. They did, and the total of 10 points in the OT session sent the game OVER to a total of 57…meaning I LOST!
However, Saturday I was vindicated as the Badgers and Gophers battled UNDER the total of 47 in the Badgers 20-17 (OT) win. That was about as easy as a game will ever be to predict, and I felt really strongly about that for the whole week leading up to the game.
**For more info on TOTAL plays, OVER/UNDER, and PLUS/MINUS plays check back through some previous columns for detailed information*
What’s on the table today?: Monday Night Football’s match-up: Steelers at Bengals!! This is another game primed to go UNDER the total of 41 which I nabbed this morning.
The Steelers started this season with a franchise best 11 straight wins, but have faltered in both of their past two games, losing to Washington 23-17, and to Buffalo 26-15. That’s just 32 TOTAL points in their past two contests.
Likewise, the Bengals have been inept on offense, which shouldn’t be a surprise, considering that rookie sensation Joe Burrow has been knocked out for the season with compound knee injuries four weeks back. Taking over for Burrow was Brandon Allen, who is ALSO potentially out for tonight’s game with a knee injury, meaning Ryan Finley (who?!) could get the start for the Bengals, who’ve scored a whopping 14 points over their past two games losing to the Dolphins (19-7) and the Cowboys (30-7).
When you also factor in that UNDER plays have been solid in both the Steelers/Bengals series lately (7-2 UNDER last 9 games), and for the teams themselves (PITS 7-5-1 UNDER) & (CIN 7-6 UNDER) the play seems perfectly set for us….UNDER the total of 41.
We might not get the most exciting Monday Night Football game this evening, but if 2020 has taught me anything it’s this…don’t worry about pretty. Get it done, take the money and RUN!
REMEMBER – don’t bet based upon my recommendations. Do your research. Stay in your lane. Don’t take college basketball!
