NFL Captain Morgan Halloween Weekend Legendary Preview

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Welcome back to another edition of our weekly NFL previews. This preview will be presented by Captain Morgan this week and will highlight the NFL’s top 5 matchups for this legendary Halloween weekend, which will feature a Sunday Night game between the New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers. Arrrrrrrr!

TENNESSEE TITANS @ SAN DIEGO CHARGERS (-3.5)

Like the Cowboys, the Chargers have gotten off to a very poor start. They’re now sitting at 2-5 thanks to 4 road losses and a home loss to the Patriots. The Titans have been on fire at 5-2 coming off a strong comeback win against my beloved (and often hated) Philadelphia Eagles. The Chargers aren’t as bad as their record, which is why they’re favored by 3.5 points. Their road woes have also really hurt them. I used the “must win” factor as my sole reason for taking the Cowboys at home on Monday Night and it backfired on me, although I gave the pick a mere 2/5 and simply couldn’t forecast Tony Romo going out of the game in the 2nd quarter.

If Chargers get their 6th loss before at the halfway point of the season, they can kiss their season goodbye. Now they have to face a tough Titans team whose defense has been phenomenal despite the losses of Vanden Bosch and Haynesworth. I’m going to recommend taking the points here. The Chargers have too many injuries on both sides of the ball to truly dominate a strong football team here. Although the Chargers play great football at home, they showed last week that they couldn’t overcome the injuries they were faced with. However, I just can’t be overly confident in the Titans because this is a “must win game” for the Chargers. Tread carefully, but I’ll pick up the points. You may see the Titans outright and if SD wins, I would expect it to be by a field goal.

Prediction: Titans 24 – Chargers 23

Pick Against the Spread: Titans +3.5 (Confidence: 2/5)

MINNESOTA VIKINGS @ NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (-5.5)

I will take the Patriots here. The Vikings have back-t0-back road games which will be tough, especially for Brett Favre whose age is getting the best of him and I fully anticipate him on tiring out big time right about now. The Vikings put up a huge fight on Sunday Night and you may see them come out a bit flat after their demoralizing loss to the Packers. The Patriots are fired up again coming off four straight wins over strong teams such as the Chargers, Dolphins, and Ravens. Make it five straight and a W against the spread as the Pats should win this one by 7-14 points. The Vikings will put up a fight, but the Pats should run away with this one by the 2nd half. They’re averaging 29.5 PPG compared to the Vikings 19 PPG.

Prediction: Patriots 31 – Vikings 20

Pick Against the Spread: Patriots -5.5 (Confidence: 3/5)

GREEN BAY PACKERS @ NEW YORK JETS (-6)

I like the Jets here. They’ll be in good shape at home coming off a bye week, well rested and ready to go against a team that has been hurt by the injury bug. Revis should be 100% to cover Greg Jennings and the Packers will completely lack any semblance of a run game against the Jets front seven. The Jets have been hot with 5 straight wins over the Patriots, Dolphins, Broncos, and Vikings. That’s an impressive resume.

The Jets margins of victory in their last 5: 14, 8, 24, 9, and 4. I like my chances on the -6 spread as the Jets should win by 7+ just like they’ve been doing. Jets are scoring 26+ while holding their opponent to under 17. Packers just have too many injuries to compete against one of the NFL’s best teams. By the way, what do you think the chances of a New York Jets vs. New York Giants Super Bowl is?Interesting thought going into week 8.

Prediction: Jets 27 – Packers 17

Pick Against the Spread: Jets -6 (Confidence: 3/5)

PITTSBURGH STEELERS @ NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (-1)

What a game for Halloween. Two teams rocking the black. Two Super Bowl contenders. This one should be awesome. The Saints have been huge under-performers this year. It doesn’t get any worse than losing to the Browns AT HOME. How does that happen? I did pick the Browns +13 since the Saints struggle against double-digit spreads, but there is no way that I expected them to lose that game.

I’m surprised the Saints are even favored seeing how Steelers are arguably the best team in the NFL right now sitting at 5-1 (4-2 ATS). The books are clearly thinking that back-to-back road games will be tough on the Steelers and that the Saints are ready to rebound at home in the big Sunday Night game. 80% of the money is on the Steelers here. I’m going to pick the Steelers since they are as consistent as rush-hour traffic in Los Angeles. However, its going to get a very low confidence rating solely due to the home-team prime-time Halloween game factor. Plus, I want to see the Saints win this one — they deserve it!

Prediction: Steelers 24 – Saints 20

Pick Against the Spread: Steelers +1 (Confidence: 1/5)

HOUSTON TEXANS @ INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (-5.5)

On Monday Night we are treated to a classic matchup between the Colts and Texans that always entertains. The Texans crushed the Colts in the season opener and Peyton Manning has to be thinking revenge. With the Colts scoring 27.8 PPG and the Texans giving up 27.8 PPG, you know that Manning has done his due diligence in breaking down the Texans game tape over the last 7 games and will lead his Colts to a victory at home.

The over is a play that you’re probably thinking about since you know that each team should and probably will put up 24+ points. The over/under is set at 49.5 here. That’s a high number but I like the over. The over is 10-1 in these teams last 11 games. Here are the scores of their last 6 games: 34-24 (58), 35-27 (62), 20-17 (37), 33-27 (60), 31-27 (58), 38-15 (53). I’m going to say that you see one of these teams put up 31+ and that will likely be the Colts win the Texans terrible defense. Count on the Texans to fight while they’ve prepared for this one off their bye week and gave Andre Johnson’s ankle a chance to heel. Expect an awesome game.

Prediction: Colts 34 – Texans 27

Pick Against the Spread: Colts -5.5 (Confidence: 2/5), Over 49 (Confidence: 3/5), Tease Colts +1.5, Over 42.5 (Confidence: 3/5)

CONCLUSION

There are your top 5 most-intriguing games to watch this week. Out of the picks, I like the Patriots (-5.5) the best, followed by the Jets (-6) and Colts/Texans over 49.5. As always, good luck and have a legendary Halloween weekend.

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