Jim Feist Handicapper Reviews & Picks

The NL Wild Card race still in doubt. The Mets or Braves will take the top spot, depending on who wins the NL East. However, San Diego, Philly and Milwuakee still battling for two spots. Baring a complete collapse in these final days, the Padres should finish second as they lead the Phillies by two games and the Brewers by three. The White Sox hope to just finish at or above .500 as they sit at 78-80 on the season. They will start Lance Lynn today. Lynn is 7-7 in his 20 starts with a 4.16 ERA. The Padres will start Blake Snell. Snell is 8-9 with a 3.54 ER. Snell has been very good of late, allowing no runs over his last two starts, just three hits, 19 KO's and five BB's. Padres look for that clinching win and Snell looks to be a great bet to do it today.

The Denver Broncos are tied for first in the AFC West with the Kansas City Chiefs at 2-1. That despite a rocky start under new QB Russel Wilson. The Broncos defense has been excellent, ranked 3rd overall in the NFL, 3rd against the pass and 6th against the run. The offense ranks 16th, 11th rushing and 18th passing. As for the Raiders, after a 4-0 preseason they are now 0-3 to start the regular season. They have lost those games by a combined 13-points. Still, have to think Josh Daniels on the hot seat after some questionable calls. Another home loss here and he might be in trouble in Vegas. The Raiders offense one behind Denver at 17th. This with Carr at QB, Adams and WR, Jacobs at RB and Waller at TE. They have the talent, but they have yet to put up the numbers. Vegas has dominated this series going back to when they were in Oakland, covering eight of the last nine times. They have also gone UNDER in eight of the last 10 games. The Raiders are now 3-7 ATS in their last 10 vs the AFC. They are 0-4 ATS in their last four games. This game looks to be close like all the Raiders games have been thus far. But for me, I think I'd rather be on the side getting points. Take Denver.

The Buffalo Bills are 2-1 and can move into a tie with the Miami Dolphins for 1st place in the AFC East with a win today. They will take on the 2-1 Baltimore Ravens who are tied with the Cleveland Browns for first in the AFC North. After that horrendous collapse in week 1 vs the Dolphins, the Ravens have bounced back with a pair of wins. Last week they won on the road at New England, 37-26, as a 2.5-point favorite. They were out-gained by the pats, 394-447, had five fewer offensive plays and three fewer first downs. The offense has been very good, ranked 4th overall in the NFL. It's their last place defense that has been the problem. Now they face Josh Allen and the Bills offense that is ranked 2nd in the NFL. The Bills also have the NFL's top ranked defense. The Bills are only 1-4 ATS in their last five road games vs a winning home team. The Ravens are 9-4 ATS their last 13 vs a winning team. Ravens have covered four of the last five vs the Bills and the home team is 4-1 ATS the last five meetings. I'll take the Ravens plus the points here on Sunday.

The LA Chargers off to a slow start at just 1-2. After beating the Raiders at home to start the season, the Chargers have found it rough the last two weeks. Injuries have played a part though. They lost their star WR Keenan Allen in game two with a hamstring and he could return this week but likely will miss another week. QB Justin Herbert has been playing hurt the last two weeks and it's showed. The Chargers were trounced at home last week by Jacksonville, 10-38. The Jags had 413 yards to just 312 by LA. The Jags also had 18 more plays and nine more first downs as they grinded out 151 yards on the ground. Houston is 0-2-1 S/U to start the season, but they have been competitive. They tied the Colts to start the season, then lost at Denver by seven points and last week lost at Chicago by just three points. They are 2-0-1 vs the number. The Houston offense is just 29th overall and the defense is 29th. The Chargers are 19th on defense and 12th on offense. Houston is 5-0 ATS their last five games vs the AFC. With the Chargers still dealing with some injuries they will continue to struggle here this week in Houston. Take the Texans.

The LA Chargers off to a slow start at just 1-2. After beating the Raiders at home to start the season, the Chargers have found it rough the last two weeks. Injuries have played a part though. They lost their star WR Keenan Allen in game two with a hamstring and he could return this week but likely will miss another week. QB Justin Herbert has been playing hurt the last two weeks and it's showed. The Chargers were trounced at home last week by Jacksonville, 10-38. The Jags had 413 yards to just 312 by LA. The Jags also had 18 more plays and nine more first downs as they grinded out 151 yards on the ground. Houston is 0-2-1 S/U to start the season, but they have been competitive. They tied the Colts to start the season, then lost at Denver by seven points and last week lost at Chicago by just three points. They are 2-0-1 vs the number. The Houston offense is just 29th overall and the defense is 29th. The Chargers are 19th on defense and 12th on offense. Houston is 5-0 ATS their last five games vs the AFC. With the Chargers still dealing with some injuries they will continue to struggle here this week in Houston. Take the Texans.

The Dallas Cowboys are 2-1 and just one game back of NFC East leader Philadelphia. Despite losing QB Dak Prescott, the Cowboys have looked good with QB Rush leading the team. He's been efficient and done enough to win with his RB duo of Ezekiel Elliot and Pollard. After that opening week loss at home to Tampa Bay, 3-19, they have beaten Cincinnati, 20-17, and last week beat the Giants on Monday Night, 23-16. The offense wont set anyone on fire as they rank just 23rd, but they have been efficient. The defense has been good though, ranked 9th overall. The Washington Commander brought in QB Wentz to hopefully energize the offense this year. They opened with a win over Jacksonville, 28-22 and then lost to Detroit, 27-36 and last week managed just eight points in their loss at home to Philly, 8-24. After a couple of 300+ passing games, the offense fell flat last week with just 153 yards through the air and 87 on the ground. Now they have to play at Dallas against a very good defensive unit. The Washington defense only ranks 27th in the NFL with the offense coming in at 19th. Dallas has won and covered the last two games in 2021 and covered five of the last last seven vs Washington. Dallas has covered their last six games against a losing team. They are also 12-3 ATS teir last 15 vs the NFC and 21-7 ATS their last 28 vs the NFC East. The favorite has covered five of the last seven in this series and I look for the Cowboys to do just that again on Sunday.

The Denver Broncos are tied for first in the AFC West with the Kansas City Chiefs at 2-1. That despite a rocky start under new QB Russel Wilson. The Broncos defense has been excellent, ranked 3rd overall in the NFL, 3rd against the pass and 6th against the run. The offense ranks 16th, 11th rushing and 18th passing. As for the Raiders, after a 4-0 preseason they are now 0-3 to start the regular season. They have lost those games by a combined 13-points. Still, have to think Josh Daniels on the hot seat after some questionable calls. Another home loss here and he might be in trouble in Vegas. The Raiders offense one behind Denver at 17th. This with Carr at QB, Adams and WR, Jacobs at RB and Waller at TE. They have the talent, but they have yet to put up the numbers. Vegas has dominated this series going back to when they were in Oakland, covering eight of the last nine times. They have also gone UNDER in eight of the last 10 games. The Raiders are now 3-7 ATS in their last 10 vs the AFC. They are 0-4 ATS in their last four games. This game looks to be close like all the Raiders games have been thus far. I look for another low scoring game with these two anemic offenses going today. Take the UNDER.

The New England Patriots just 1-2 and tied for last in the AFC East with the Jets. The Patriots were beat at home last week by the Baltimore Ravens, 26-37. They had more yards than the Ravens (447-394), more plays (60-55) and more first downs (22-19), but it was turnovers that hurt as the offense had four last week. The Patriots offense isn't bad though, ranked 10th in the NFL. The Defense comes in at 12th. The Green Bay Packers opened the season with a loss, but have since won two straight games to tie the Vikings for the lead in the NFC North. Green Bay held off Tampa Bay last week to win on the road, 14-12 as a 1-point dog. It was a defensive battle as the Packers got 315 yards to the Bucs 285. You have to go back to 2018 for the last time these teams have met, and that went to the Pats, 31-17. The Patriots have now gone under in 24 of their last 31 games on grass. They are also 2-6 O/U in their last eight road games. Green Bay has gone under in four straight and are 0-8 O/U in their last eight October games. With four of the last five going under in this series, I think I will be on the UNDER here on Sunday.