The National Football League had all 32 teams in action this week and spread the games over four days beginning with the trio of contests on Thanksgiving. Friday had the Raiders and Chiefs matchup and tomorrow night the Cleveland Browns visit the Denver Broncos to close out Week 13 action.
Today, the NFL has avoided any winter weather conditions that could affect play on the field … until the Buffalo Bills host the San Francisco 49ers tonight. Snow is in the forecast for Highmark Stadium.
The NFL’s strongest division this season is the NFC North. Only the Chicago Bears have a losing mark from the four teams that constitute this group, which is led by the Detroit Lions, who won a record 10th straight game on Thanksgiving and lead the pack with an 11-1 season mark. Right on their heels are the Minnesota Vikings, who have only two losses this year, and the Green Bay Packers who picked up their ninth win on Thursday night against the Miami Dolphins.
The Vikings are an interesting story. They shipped their starting quarterback from the past half-dozen seasons to the Atlanta Falcons before the season started and then turned the starting role in Minnesota over to a veteran who had failed with his first three teams.
San Darnold was the third overall selection in the 2018 draft by the New York Jets. You know, the Jets, wherever since Joe Namath succeeded more than a half-century ago, quarterbacks have found mostly nothing but failure. Darnold also had non-descript seasons with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers before taking over the quarterback duties with the Vikings this season.
Success has followed. While he has not been the only reason the Vikings are in prime playoff position, Minnesota has a sturdy defense and one of the best receivers in the game in Justin Jefferson. But Darnold has done enough to keep the Vikings ahead of the Packers and just behind the anointed best team in football, the Lions.
Last week, in a horrible spot on our charts, he engineered an overtime win in Chicago. Now, he goes from overcoming a bad spot to a sweet spot at home against the Arizona Cardinals.
The Vikings are one of our five money rated plays today.
As for the public, their favorite play of the day is the Washington Commanders (-6) over the Tennessee Titans. The public is also lined up on another six-point road favorite, backing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-6) over the Carolina Panthers. The third most-bet game this week is ironically another six-point favorite, but this one is at home as they like the Buffalo Bills (-6) over the San Francisco 49ers.
The Qoxhi Picks rated plays are now posted on this site, and if a Bullet Play develops in the final hour leading up to the day’s first kickoff, it will be added to the list of recommendations by 9:45 a.m. Pacific Time.