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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Coin Toss: NFL Week 13

Brad-1

Welcome to The Coin Toss, where I make bold predictions about your favorite professional sports.

First, a recap of my Week 11 predictions from before Thanksgiving break:

Prediction Outcome Did I get it right?
Chiefs and Rams score over 64 points Rams 5451 Chiefs Yes!
Titans defeat Colts Colts 3810 Titans No
Kirk Cousins throws three TDs vs. Bears Two TDs No
The Chiefs and Rams blew the over/under out of the water, so that was my lone correct prediction. Let's move on to Week 13...

Jets beat spread against Titans (lose by less than 9.5 or win)

Yes, I know how bad the Jets have been this season. I've watched them be a miserable football team for years now. However, when you look at the opening line for their game against the Titans, this prediction doesn't seem as crazy. Tennessee is favored over New York by 9.5 points.

The Jets just had a rough loss to the Patriots, but they did put up somewhat of a fight in that game. They'll likely get Sam Darnold back this week, so their offense should improve. The Titans are coming off a great offensive game; Marcus Mariota threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns last week. Still, they got blown out by the Texans, 17–34. I think the betting line is too generous to Tennessee, and I can see New York beating that 9.5-point spread.

Lamar Jackson goes off on Atlanta (250+ passing yards, 100+ rushing yards)

Jackson will make his third straight start this week for the Baltimore Ravens after Joe Flacco's injury. This week, he'll get to face the Atlanta Falcons. Thanks to a slew of injuries and misfortune, Atlanta's defense has been subpar this year. This will open the door for a huge game for Jackson, which is what I'm predicting.

Just how bad is the Falcons' defense? They are in the bottom five in the NFL in total yards and total points allowed. They let Drew Brees throw an easy four touchdowns on them last week. Lamar Jackson is no Drew Brees, but he'll certainly benefit from this matchup. The rookie didn't look great in the first half last week against the Raiders. He rebounded eventually, however, and he should be able to get off to a better start this time out. That will propel him to big numbers — I predict 250 passing yards and 100 rushing yards.

Rams (-8.5), Chiefs (-15) and Packers (-14) all cover the spread

Picking one of these teams to cover wouldn't be bold enough, so how about a triple pick? Two of these teams, the Rams and Chiefs, have been tearing it up and are bound to score a lot of points, and the other, the Packers, has struggled but is looking to get back on track this week in a great matchup.

The Rams will play the Lions, who have had a rough season that doesn't look to be turning around after a trade (Golden Tate) and injuries (Marvin Jones, Kerryon Johnson) have depleted their offense. The Chiefs and Packers will take on the Raiders and Cardinals, respectively. Both of those teams are 2–9 and have poor defenses that Mahomes and Rodgers will pounce on. I predict no shenanigans here: All three teams will cover their opening spread.