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Morning Coffee: Another FanDuel best bet to consider for NFL Super Wild Card Weekend
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We get five days to prepare for the NFL Super Wild Card Weekend.
Every single day this week, my morning coffee has been disrupted by breaking news regarding teams that have already been eliminated from postseason contention.
On Thursday morning, ESPN’s Adam Schefter revealed that the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick would go their separate ways after 24 seasons.
It didn’t take long for them to name his replacement.
As I was writing this column, Schefter posted this breaking news to his X account.
While the Patriots have already named his successor, we still don’t know where Belichick will resume his career.
If you’re interested in betting on where Belichick will resume his career, you can find a market with Belichick next team odds right now on the FanDuel app.
Meanwhile, for anybody interested in a wager or two for the upcoming slate of games, keep on reading to find my FanDuel Best Bets for the NFL Super Wild Card Weekend.
This is the Morning Coffee for Friday January 12th, 2024.
Another FanDuel Best Bet To Consider For NFL Super Wild Card Weekend
Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud exceeded all expectations in his debut season.
The second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft threw for the third-most passing yards ever by a rookie (4,108), while becoming the first rookie QB to lead his team to a division title since Dak Prescott did it in 2016.
The 22-year-old is the youngest player in NFL history to lead the league in TD-INT ratio (23-5).
This weekend, he could become the first rookie QB since the 1970 merger to take a team from worst to first in a division and win a playoff game.
Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Browns will be Stroud’s toughest challenge yet.
Only seven rookie quarterbacks have started and won a playoff game in the Super Bowl era.
Since 1950, rookie quarterbacks are 0-4 when facing the No. 1 ranked total defence in a playoff game.
Meanwhile, rookie quarterbacks are also 0-5 all-time when facing a Super Bowl-winning QB in the postseason.
In order to win, Stroud will need to overcome the top defence in the NFL and keep pace with Joe Flacco, who has the Browns playing their best football of the season.
Since his debut for Cleveland in Week 13, Flacco leads the NFL with 323.2 passing yards per game.
The veteran QB threw for 368 yards and three touchdowns in a 36-22 win over Houston in Week 16.
While Stroud didn’t play in that game, the Texans offence was able to move the football extremely efficiently, with the exception of a pair of interceptions.
Plus, Flacco is 5-0 all-time in the Wild Card Round.
He’s also one of three quarterbacks in these playoffs that already has a Super Bowl ring, along with Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford.
Flacco’s experience and ability to perform at a high level within this offence, combined with the top-ranked defence in the NFL, should give the Browns an edge on the road.
Those factors led to a move on the spread this week from Houston -1.5 to Cleveland -2.5.
In terms of a player prop I have my eye on, Amari Cooper’s receptions prop is set at over/under 5.5 at FanDuel and it’s juiced to the under.
When these teams last met in Week 13, Cooper went off with 11 catches for 265 yards and two touchdowns on 15 targets.
He joined Terrell Owens as the only wide receivers in NFL history to record 200-yard receiving performances against three different opponents.
Since that win over the Texans, Cooper has been resting a heel injury to make sure that he is good to go this weekend.
The veteran wide receiver returned to practice on Thursday, and all signs point towards another big game versus Houston this weekend.
The Texans defence was batter against the run than the pass this season, and after Flacco and Cooper torched Houston in their first meeting, I expect that connection to go right back to work with another big game on Saturday.
I’ll lock in that SGP with Cooper 4+ receptions and Browns +5.5 as my latest FanDuel Best Bet recommendation for the NFL Super Wild Card Weekend.