Morning Coffee: Bets to consider for Thursday’s NFL slate

The Philadelphia Eagles are the favourite to win the NFC.

The San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions are the only other teams with shorter than 10-to-1 odds to win the conference at FanDuel this morning.

While the Eagles won’t play until Sunday, the 49ers, Cowboys and Lions are all in action today as part of the American Thanksgiving Thursday NFL triple-header.

All three of those teams are favoured by at least a touchdown in their respective matchups.

Will we see the type of upset that shakes up the NFC playoff picture?

Or will the favourites take care of business and remain in pursuit of the Eagles for the NFC’s best record?

This is the Morning Coffee for Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023.

Bets to consider for Thursday’s NFL slate

While the matchups are pretty lopsided on paper, I’m still thankful to get to watch an NFL triple-header on a Thursday in November.

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than to lock in a FanDuel Best Bet for each of the three NFL games.

The Detroit Lions are a 7.5-point favourite against the Green Bay Packers.

The Lions have won four straight head-to-head meetings, including a 34-20 win over Green Bay back in Week 4.

Running back David Montgomery led the way with 121 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries in that victory over the Packers. Rookie teammate Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 40 yards on eight carries.

While Gibbs has taken over a much bigger role as his debut season has progressed, Montgomery remains a major factor with more than 200 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns over the past two weeks.

Montgomery has rushed for at least 67 rushing yards in all six games that he has started and finished this season. That includes his monster performance against Green Bay.

Meanwhile, Amon-Ra St. Brown had five catches for 56 yards in that win over the Packers.

St. Brown’s 8.1 receptions per game ranks second in the NFL this season. His 99.8 receiving yards per game ranks sixth.

A Same Game Parlay with Montgomery 50 or more rushing yards and St. Brown 50 or more receiving yards gets me to -140 odds at FanDuel.

I’ll lock in that SGP as my best bet for the early game. I’ll also add Jayden Reed 40+ receiving yards at -122 odds to my card for that game.

The second game features the most lopsided matchup of the day on paper as the Dallas Cowboys are -12.5 against the Washington Commanders.

The Cowboys are 4-0 against the spread at home and 7-1 ATS as a favourite this season, and considering Washington just lost to the New York Giants, it’s easy to understand why the betting public is all over Dallas in this one.

For my FanDuel Best Bet, I’ll go with a Same Game Parlay that features CeeDee Lamb 60 or more receiving yards and Brandin Cooks 25 or more receiving yards at -131 odds.

I also like Curtis Samuel 25 or more receiving yards at -146.

In the finale, it’s a battle for first place in the NFC West as the San Francisco 49ers are a seven-point favourite against the Seattle Seahawks.

Despite being separated by just one game in the standings, San Francisco is -800 to win the NFC West.

Seattle is +700 to win the division at FanDuel.

The Seahawks could be without quarterback Geno Smith and running back Kenneth Walker III due to injuries, which would give the 49ers an even bigger edge.

At the very least, Smith could be limited by his injury.

For my FanDuel Best Bet, I’ll take an SGP with Christian McCaffrey to rush for 50 or more yards and George Kittle to finish with 40 or more receiving yards at -104.

McCaffrey has 50 or more rushing yards in three straight games and eight of his past 11 games overall.

When these teams met in last year’s playoffs, McCaffrey went for 119 rushing yards on just 15 carries.

Meanwhile, Kittle had two catches for 37 yards in that game.

The Niners tight end has 13 catches for 274 yards and two touchdowns in his past two games in Seattle.

Kittle has 78 or more receiving yards in four straight games for San Francisco.

I’ll lock in the SGP with McCaffrey 50 or more rushing and Kittle 25 or more receiving yards at -178 odds.

I don’t love the juice, but that’s my FanDuel Best Bet for the Thursday night game.