Morning Coffee: A FanDuel Best Bet to close out 2023

The Cleveland Browns are headed to the playoffs.

With a 37-20 victory over the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football, the Browns clinched just their third postseason berth since returning to the NFL in 1999.

Cleveland is just the eighth team in the Super Bowl era to make the playoffs despite starting at least four different quarterbacks and the first to do it since the Houston Texans in 2015.

More importantly, the Browns also cashed the FanDuel Best Bet from Thursday’s Morning Coffee column as Cleveland -6.5 was never in doubt in the 17-point victory.

I’m on a 14-5 run with my FanDuel Best Bets across all platforms dating back to late November.

Hopefully, I can keep it going with another winner in this column to close out 2023.

This is the Morning Coffee for Friday December 29^th, 2023.

Browns Clinch Playoff Berth With Win Over Jets

Cleveland opened at +104 to make the playoffs.

Anybody who bet on the Browns to get to the postseason back in July could have never expected that it would be Joe Flacco that ultimately led them back to the dance.

Cleveland has won and covered in four straight games with Flacco at quarterback.

The 38-year-old veteran quarterback threw for over 300 yards with multiple touchdowns in each of those four contests.

Flacco’s 1,616 passing yards this season is the third-most by a player in his first five games with a team all-time.

In fact, Flacco’s 1,616 passing yards and 13 touchdowns are both his most in any five-game span in his career.

Flacco is now the second choice to win the AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year award at +150 at FanDuel.

That number was cut from +250 prior to last night’s game.

Only Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has shorter odds.

Meanwhile, Kevin Stefanski remains the favourite to win the AP NFL Coach of the Year honours at -300 at FanDuel.

The fact that the offence didn’t miss a beat last night with a fourth-string quarterback and minus their best receiver is a testament to the job that Stefanski has done.

Meanwhile, the Cleveland defence gave up just one offensive touchdown while holding the Jets to a field goal in the second half.

The Browns looked like a team that was motivated to clinch a playoff spot with a win in front of their fans.

A couple of notable futures that I highlighted in Wednesday’s column were on the move at FanDuel following last night’s win.

Cleveland to win the AFC is down from 20-to-1 to 14-1.

The Browns to win the Super Bowl is down from 50-to-1 to 37-to-1.

While it would still be a surprise to see this team make a deep playoff run, I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Flacco led Cleveland to the AFC Divisional Round, at the very least.

A FanDuel Best Bet For NFL Sunday Week 17

This is my final Morning Coffee column for 2023.

I’d be the first to admit that I don’t spend enough time reflecting on the results.

It’s the nature of this business to always remain focused on what’s next.

However, I do want to take a moment to say thank you to everybody who has supported me on this journey.

It would be great to finish off the calendar year with another winner.

So here’s my FanDuel Best Bet for NFL Sunday Week 16: Same Game Parlay +: Buffalo Bills ML & Juwan Johnson 2+ receptions at -160.

The New Orleans Saints are in must-win territory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this weekend.

The Buccaneers defence has been susceptible versus tight ends, giving up 5.9 receptions per game to the position this season.

Johnson is coming off a season-high seven targets in last week’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams, finishing with four catches for 48 yards and a touchdown.

Johnson has registered two or more receptions in three straight games.

The Saints are still dealing with some injuries at wide receiver, so the targets should be there again for Johnson against a Tampa Bay defence that has struggled against tight ends this season.

Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills are also in must-win territory against the New England Patriots.

Buffalo has won four of its previous five meetings versus the Patriots by 12 or more points.

While I considered taking them -2.5 on the alt spread, I’ll keep it simple and pair the Bills to win with Johnson 2+ receptions at -160.

The final FanDuel Best Bet for 2023 is locked in.

Once again, a sincere thank you to all of you who have read this column and supported me this past year.

Hopefully, we can pick up where we left off in 2024 and continue to cash our FanDuel Best Bets together in the new year!