The New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans will be doing that same thing as you this Sunday: Sitting on the couch and watching some games.
But why? This is just Week 4 of the season.
The purpose of the bye week is give players a break from the grind that is the NFL season and help them recover from the wide array of minor injuries that you suffer week to week while playing such a physical game.
So why are teams off after playing just three games? These two teams will now have 13 weeks in a row of games, including a Thursday nighter each.
There are two things that the league should do with bye weeks:
-Start them later in the season, with the first ones coming in Week 6, and maybe have them end a bit later in the season if you don’t want them condensed as much.
-Put bye weeks for teams before Thursday night games.
The first would help teams get healthier mid-season and provide a nice break, which what the purpose of bye weeks are supposed to be. The second would greatly improve the quality of games that are supposed to showcases for the league in prime time, but instead are among the sloppiest.
Either way, it would be a simple change to make that would help the entire league a lot.
The lines are from Vegas and the home teams are in CAPs.
PITTSBURGH +3 over Baltimore
It was always going to be a push with a line like this, but Pittsburgh sure did its best to lose this one with terrible decisions and terrible kicking.
New York Jets -2 over MIAMI at London, England
The folks in London may be in for a treat. These two teams are pretty evenly matched and should have a good game. It’s a shame nobody on the west coast will be up for it.
INDIANAPOLIS -9.5 over Jacksonville
If Andrew Luck wasn’t playing, this would’ve been a fantastic bet to make early in the week going the other way. Instead, we get to watch him torch this AFC South also-ran.
Houston +7 over ATLANTA
If Arian Foster is back, I’ll gladly take the points. If not, this could get ugly.
TAMPA BAY +3 over Carolina
This just feels like an upset waiting to happen. Either that, or the Panthers just blow out the Bucs.
New York Giants +5.5 over BUFFALO
The Bills are a solid team, but the Giants could really be 3-0 right now if not for some colossal blunders.
CHICAGO +3 over Oakland
The Bears are already phoning this season in, but we just can’t give points with the Raiders on the road.
Philadelphia -3 over WASHINGTON
If the Eagles lose this one, there could be some rumbles about Chip Kelly’s job security. But he shouldn’t have to worry too much about this Washington team.
CINCINNATI -4 over Kansas City
The Chiefs are a good team, for sure. But the Bengals are looking like the second best team in the AFC and play very well at home.
Cleveland +9 over SAN DIEGO
The Chargers may be my survivor pick of the week, but the Browns have a garbage-time TD in them to cover a line like this.
SAN FRANCISCO +9.5 over Green Bay
This is too many points to be giving on the road, even for a team as good as the Packers. Remember, Aaron Rodgers is superhuman at home, but only just excellent on the road.
DENVER -7 over Minnesota
Teddy Bridgewater looked bad last week and it won’t get much better against the Broncos solid defence.
St. Louis +7.5 over ARIZONA
Quite simply, the Rams always play their best against division rivals and the Cards have beaten up some pretty mediocre sides.
NEW ORLEANS -3 over Dallas
Honestly, I probably would’ve taken the Saints if Drew Brees wasn’t playing. Brandon Weeden won’t be able to handle the dome.
SEATTLE -10.5 over Detroit
The Lions don’t really do much well and Matt Stafford has looked mighty shaky.
Last week: 11-5
This season: 28-19-1