NFL Best Bets, Week 13: Never lay the points with Kenny Pickett

Last week was a historic week for betting favorites. Teams sportsbooks had pegged to win covered 12 of 16 lines over the holiday week. That’s great news if, say, you’d invested in the Dallas Cowboys or San Francisco 49ers to win blowouts. But if you banked on the Minnesota Vikings or Detroit Lions to defend their home fields like we did, well, sorry guy.

That marked a .500 week (4-4) between our picks and served to cool off what had been a hot start over the first two-thirds of the season. Fortunately, we’re primed to learn from these mistakes and get back to profitability — still up more than 30 units total! — as the 2023 NFL season hits its home stretch.

All analysis from our resident NFL handicapper, the Rhode Island Scumbag, is in quotes below. My non-scumbag picks follow.

I made a rule about a decade ago that was pretty simple: “do not put your hard earned money on the Detroit Lions.” For some reason, I lost my way this past weekend.

Detroit will always do Detroit things. Lesson learned. I can probably burn my future ticket on Danny Boy to win coach of the year as well after that pathetic showing.

I’m going to add a new amendment to the Degenerate’s Creed right now: do not back Baker Mayfield… ever. I will say, I hedged off my bet a little bit when I heard that Lavonte David was out (something I was unaware of when I suggested betting Tampa Bay).

Week 13 was a pretty easy slate to handicap. I made my lines and found some key numbers being way off. I am also leaning in on a trend that seems to be automatic.