The National Football League is staging a pair of Monday Night Football contests tonight. They will do the same thing next week.
Why?
Some things are less explainable than how the New York Giants dominated the Cleveland Browns on the road yesterday. Why we are coupling up Monday Night Football games is one of those great mysteries.
Yet, here we are. First game kicks off at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time with the two and oh Buffalo Bills hosting the oh and two Jacksonville Jaguars. Forty-five minutes later, in Cincinnati, the Bengals will host the Washington Commanders.
Beware of oh and two good teams. We got that lesson yesterday when the Baltimore Ravens went into Dallas and downed the Cowboys, and a favored point spread role, while notching their first win. The previously winless Los Angeles Rams got the better of their NFC West Division rival San Francisco 49ers yesterday at So-Fi Stadium.
Tonight, the Jaguars and Bengals are both looking for their first win of the season. Jacksonville let one slip away on opening day in a loss to the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium and were overmatched last Sunday in a loss to the Cleveland Browns in Florida.
Are the Jaguars that bad?
Or is tonight, against a Bills team with back-to-back wins to their credit, a likely first victim of a Jacksonville squad that should be in an up year according to our stats. That is based on historical trends that show when a team bounces from a last place finish to the playoffs, they often follow that winning year with a down season. Two years ago, the Jaguars came off back-to-back seasons where they had the worst record in football to a playoff berth and Wild Card Weekend win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
On cue, the Jacksonville Jaguars missed the playoffs last year and now should be poised to have their talent take them back to a playoff berth this year. If that is to be, it needs to start here as their two opening losses reduces their chances of earning a playoff berth to 11%.
When the Bengals host the Commanders tonight they come into the game winless, and Washington is fresh off a victory over the New York Giants. Do you think the Bengals are going to drop to oh and three while Washington, behind rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, are going to improve to 2 and 1?
Not likely.
So, in one game tonight we only have to worry about the point spread, that is will the Bengals be able to cover the touchdown line. In the other game, all that we need to be concerned about is whether the Jaguars are a bad team or not because, if they aren’t, they win tonight.
Qoxhi Picks: Jacksonville Jaguars (+4½) over Buffalo Bills