As ever the NFL season opens up with two matches on the first Monday Night Football of the year and this week is no different. We have an inter-conference battle and a divisional battle to launch the Monday Night action.
Sunday was a thrilling day in the National Football League and we should get the opportunity to see some more decent action over the course of the Monday games. First up Pittsburgh Steelers head to Washington and then Los Angeles Rams head to San Francisco.
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Washington Redskins
The two sides I’ve taken to win their Conferences meet in the opening week of the season and I’m expecting an entertaining battle and one which is going to see the football spending plenty of time in the air. Both sides have issues with their running game be it Le’Veon Bell’s suspension or the star running back leaving in Washington’s case.
Both quarterbacks are fairly solid in the pocket and they both have some excellent options to pass too in the form of Antonio Brown and DeSean Jackson among others so it makes sense that we are going to see plenty of passing going on.
In terms of a bet I like the passing yards of Kirk Cousins. The Steelers’ secondary and back field is pretty young and lacking experience and Cousins should have the poise to pick them off. As well as Jackson, Cousins has Garcon to throw too and the Skins are absolutely loaded in the tight end position so there is enough weapons for him to make it up to 275 passing yards.
Los Angeles Rams @ San Francisco 49ers
The first all NFC West battle of the season takes place at the Levi’s Stadium in the second clash on Monday night and I think all things being equal we are going to see a defensive tussle here. Both sides have issues in the quarterback area and neither have a reliable one.
San Francisco are going into the match with Blane Gabbert as their number one and he isn’t the greatest and his receiving options are diminishing season upon season while Case Keenum isn’t a top level quarterback either. He has better options to be fair but he still doesn’t convince me.
Both sides have a good pass rush so there is going to be a lot of pressure on the quarterbacks throughout this match which I believe will keep scoring to an absolute minimum. Neither of their meetings saw more than 40pts last season and I’m not convinced either side are better this year so under 42.5pts looks an obvious play.
I’ll also take a chance on the Los Angeles Rams’ defence or special teams notching a touchdown at some point. Blane Gabbert isn’t adverse to turning the ball over and the Rams go hunting for picks and fumbles and it wouldn’t be beyond all possibilities for someone like Tavon Austin to take a kick back to the house. At 3/1 that price is enough to tempt us in.
Tips
WON – Back K.Cousins Over 274.5 passing yards for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Paddy Power
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WON – Back Los Angeles Rams @ San Francisco 49ers – Under 42.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Bwin
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Back Los Angeles’ D/ST Anytime TD for a 2/10 stake at 4.00 with Skybet
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