Recap (Full Card at End)
In Week 4 of the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings 24-21 in Dublin, while the New England Patriots dominated the Carolina Panthers 42-13. The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-25 in the only matchup of undefeated teams, and the Green Bay Packers tied with the Dallas Cowboys 40-40 in overtime. Injuries impacted several teams, including Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill, and Giants receiver Malik Nabers.
Vikings vs Browns
It’s finally Dillon Gabriel’s time to make his first NFL start on Sunday against the Vikings in London. The 24 year old rookie was selected in the 3rd round out of Oregon in this year’s draft and will replace veteran Joe Flacco after he managaed just 2 TD’s with 6 INT’s through the season’s first 4 games. Gabriel will face a Vikings team fresh off a 24-21 loss against the Steelers in Dublin, Ireland last week. JJ McCarthy has been ruled out for this contest still recovering from a high ankle sprain, so that means Carson Wentz will make his 3rd straight start of the season. Cleveland’s defense has been balling out so far this year even with the poor QB play ranking first in the league in yards allowed per game, yards per play, and rush yards allowed. Rookie RB Quinshon Judkins has started to flash his potential tallying 176 yards in his last 2 outings. If Gabriel can simply pass the ball 20 times a game without turning it over, then the Browns will be a hard team to beat.
Best Bet: Browns +4 (-110)
Broncos @ Eagles
A fantastic matchup of 2 teams with playoff hopes, as the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles host the 2-2 Denver Broncos. The Broncos took down Jake Browning and a depleted Bengals team last time out 28-3 responding well after 2 close losses in weeks 3 and 4. The Eagles have looked like the best team in the NFL through 4 weeks taking down 3 straight teams that project to be playoff contenders including 2 road games in that span. Philadelphia’s defense has relied on turnovers getting outgained in all 4 games so far. They also have been a disciplined unit averaging the fewest penalty yards against in the NFL. The Broncos defense hasn’t been as dominant as last season where they led the NFL in most categories, but they still average the most sacks in the league with 3.8 per game. This is a matchup of 2 teams with similar identities and I like the Eagles to cover the 3.5 point spread at home.
Best Bet: Eagles -3.5 (-110)
Texans @ Ravens
The Houston Texans will travel to Baltimore for a meeting with the Ravens without star QB Lamar Jackson. Jackson will miss this contest with a hamstring injury he suffered in a loss to Chiefs last week and bakcup Cooper Rush will get the start in his absence. Both teams entered the season with playoff expectations and yet both only have 1 win through the first 4 weeks. The Texans have struggled on offense this year, but beat up on the Titans last week in a 26-0 shutout win. In fact, the under has hit in all 4 of Houston’s games this year as they have averaged just 16 points per game so far this season. The Texans defense has been elite holding teams to just 280 yards per game good enough for 6th in the NFL. This projects to be a low scoring matchup, but Jackson’s injury will be a huge blow to an offense that revolves around his playmaking ability. However, I do also like Cooper Rush to get over 178.5 passing yards as he has experience going back to last season and should be throwing the ball alot down the stretch in this contest.
Best Bet: Texans -1.5 (-110)
Player Prop: Cooper Rush Over 178.5 Passing Yds (-110)
Dolphins @ Panthers
The Miami Dolphins face off with the Carolina Panthers following their MNF win over the Jets in their last game that saw star WR Tyreek Hill exit with a season ending knee injury. TE Darren Waller returned from a short retirement stint and caught 2 TD’s in his debut for the Dolphins. The Panthers lost to the Patriots last week 42-13 and have not looked strong, apart from a 30-0 week 3 win over the Falcons. Carolina will be without a playmaker of their own with RB Chuba Hubbard out for this week’s game. Hubbard who already has 217 rush yards and 94 receiving yards is the only Panthers player with more than 100 rushing yards this season. These 2 teams are similar in many aspects, poor defenses mixed with turnover prone QB’s tends to lead to losses in the NFL. I like the Dolphins to cover the 1 point spread as road favorites primarily because of the injury to Hubbard.
Best Bet: Dolphins -1 (-110)
Giants @ Saints
The theme for this week’s matchups is similar teams matching up and this game is no different. The New York Giants started rookie Jaxson Dart last week and it paid off in their 21-18 win over the Chargers. Only an injury to young star WR Malik Nabers put a damper on the win as he suffered a season ending knee injury in the win. The Saints are winless on the season, but have been feisty with 3 of New Orleans’ 4 losses being one score games in the 4th quarter. The Giants defense has been poor against the run so far allowing 153 yards per game and they will face Alvin Kamara who has quietly had a strong season and the veteran could be in for a big workload since the Saints may actually lead in this game. I like the Saints to protect their homefield advantage as 1.5 point favorites behind a strong game from Kamara.
Best Bet: Saints -1.5 (-110)
Player Prop: Alvin Kamara Over 57.5 Rushing Yds (-115)
Buccaneers @ Seahawks
The Bucs finally lost a game last week after 3 straight game winning drives by Baker Mayfield to open their season. They were taken down by the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles last time out 31-25 and will now face a Seahawks team which is surrendering the 2nd fewest points per game through 4 weeks. Just like in many of the other matchups this week, injuries will play a major factor in this one as the Bucs will be without Mike Evans and Bucky Irving in this encounter. Seattle is 3-0 ATS in their last 3 games and took down the Cardinals 23-20 last week in a stellar defensive performance. QB Sam Darnold threw for 242 yards and a touchdown in the win and has continued to look like the real deal completing 70 percent of his passes this year. An interesting fact, both QB’s were drafted with top 3 picks in the 2018 drafts before bouncing around before eventually finding homes in the NFL. I like Darnold and the Seahawks to protect their homefield advantage against an injured Tampa Bay team that will have to travel across the country this weekend. I also like Rachaad White to have over 46.5 rushing yards as that line is simply too low and he is basically their only option at the position.
Best Bet: Seahawks -2.5 (-110)
Player Prop: Rachaad White Over 46.5 Rushing Yds (-110)
Patriots @ Bills
Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills enter thsi game as just 1 of 2 teams still undefeated in 2025 and will visit the New England Patriots who are 2-2 and are off their best game of the season with a 42-13 defeat of the Panthers last week. The Patriots have had their issues in pass defense allowing the 2nd most plays of 20 or more yards through the air. They will face Allen and the Bills who boast the 2nd most yards per game and 4th most yards per completion in the NFL. The Bills have a balanced attack though, with James Cook leading the way for a unit that averages a league leading 163 rush yards per game. New England’s offense has been solid to start the year relying heavily on 2nd year Drake Maye, but have had the benefit of a ridiculously easy schedul to open their season. I think the Bills harasses Maye and the Bills are simply unstoppable on offense so I’ll take the Bills to cover the 7.5 point spread as home favorites.
Best Bet: Bills -7.5 (-110)
Best Bets:
- Browns +4 (-110)
- Eagles -3.5 (-110)
- Texans -1.5 (-110)
- Dolphins -1 (-110)
- Saints -1.5 (-110)
- Seahawks -2.5 (-110)
- Bills -7.5 (-110)
Player Props:
- Alvin Kamara Over 57.5 Rushing Yds (-115)
- Cooper Rush Over 178.5 Passing Yds (-110)
- Rachaad White Over 46.5 Rushing Yds (-110)
The Bookie of Eli 
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