Morning Coffee: The stage is nearly set for a clash of NFL titans in Week 15

The Detroit Lions delivered another statement victory on Thursday Night Football.

With injuries mounting, and a tough division rival in their building on a short week, it wouldn’t have been unreasonable to expect a letdown following an 11-1 start.

Instead, the Lions responded with one of their most impressive performances of the season in a 34-31 win.

Detroit registered its 11th straight win to improve to 12-1.

The Lions have clinched consecutive playoff appearances for the first time since 1993-95.

They moved 1.5 games up on the Minnesota Vikings and three games up on the Green Bay Packers for first place in the NFC North.

Detroit is also 1.5 games up on the Philadelphia Eagles in their pursuit of the NFC’s No. 1 seed for the first time in franchise history.

With four games to go, the Lions control their path to the No. 1 seed with an opportunity to clinch a first-round playoff bye and home-field advantage for the playoffs.

If they can clinch the top seed and avoid further injuries, Detroit will enter the postseason as the favourite to win the Super Bowl at FanDuel.

That’s quite the turnaround for a team that went 3-13-1 in Dan Campbell’s first season back in 2021. 

This is the Morning Coffee for Friday December 6th, 2024.

The Stage Is Nearly Set For Epic Clash Of NFL Titans In Week 15

The Lions remain the Super Bowl favourite at +270 odds at FanDuel this morning.

Dan Campbell to win NFL Head Coach of the Year is -200.

That’s down from +175 as the favourite to win that award prior to Thursday Night Football.

For as impressive as the season to date has been, Detroit can’t afford a letdown over the final four weeks.

The Eagles are a 13.5-point favourite for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers.

With a win, Philly will be one game back of the Lions for the NFC’s No. 1 seed.

Meanwhile, the Vikings are a 5.5-point favourite against the visiting Atlanta Falcons.

With a win, Minnesota will also be just one game back.

The Lions beat the Vikings 31-29 in the first meeting between those teams back in Week 7.

They’ll meet again at Ford Field in a Week 18 game that could potentially have massive implications.

That depends on what Detroit, Minnesota, and Philadelphia do over the next three weeks.

Below is a look at their remaining schedules.

DET: vs BUF, at CHI, at SF, vs MIN
MIN: vs ATL, vs CHI, at SEA, vs GB, at DET
PHI: vs CAR, vs PIT, at WAS, vs DAL, vs NYG

Based on how dominant they have looked over their eight-game win streak, I can’t envision the Eagles doing any worse than 4-1 down the stretch.

I also don’t think anybody would be stunned if the Vikings ran the table over the next four weeks.

Of course, a lot can change between now and Week 18.

With the Lions playing on Thursday Night Football this week, the stage is nearly set for a potentially epic clash of NFL titans in Week 15.

The Buffalo Bills visit the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

Detroit is the only team with shorter odds than Buffalo to win the Super Bowl at FanDuel this morning.

The Lions are the favourite to win the NFC at +140.

The Bills are the favourite to win the AFC at +200.

Detroit has won 11 games in a row.

Buffalo can push its win streak to eight in a row with another victory as a 4.5-point favourite against the Rams on Sunday.

If the Bills beat LA this weekend, the two favourites to represent their respective conferences in the Super Bowl will meet in a highly anticipated Week 15 showdown with both teams riding extensive win streaks.

Lions versus Packers on Thursday Night Football was an absolutely treat.

The stakes will be even higher when Detroit hosts Buffalo in a game that will have major implications for both teams in their bids for the No. 1 seed in their respective conferences.

I can’t wait.

A FanDuel Best Bet For Friday’s NBA Action

The only downside from last night’s game for yours truly was Jayden Reed going bust as the final leg of my FanDuel Best Bet for Thursday Night Football.

Jahmyr Gibbs got me the 40 rushing yards I needed.

Amon-Ra St. Brown got me the 40 receiving yards I needed.

Jayden Reed didn’t record a single catch in the loss.

Turning the page this morning, the best bets this week are 2-2 following back-to-back losses, so hopefully we can bounce back this morning with a winner to end the week.

I’m going with a Same Game Parlay that features the Atlanta Hawks to win outright and Clint Capela to record 8+ rebounds -104 odds.

Capela’s rebounds prop is set at over/under 10.5 at FanDuel.

He’s gone over this mark in four straight games.

Tonight, the Hawks are a 4.5-point home favourite against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers rank 30th in the NBA in rebounds per game allowed to opposing centres.

Capela to haul in at least eight rebounds looks like a reasonable floor for tonight’s game.

Meanwhile, as somebody that was on the wrong end of their win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, I know how impressive Atlanta has looked over the course of its five-game win streak.

The Hawks started the streak with back-to-back wins in a home-and-home against the Cleveland Cavaliers, then beat Milwaukee by 15 in their own building the other night.

Tonight, Atlanta hosts a Lakers’ side that is playing its four straight road game coming off a pair of ugly losses to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat.

I expect Capela to haul in at least eight boards as the Hawks extend their win streak with a victory over the Lakers tonight.

A Same Game Parlay with Capela 8+ rebounds and Atlanta to win outright at -104 odds is the FanDuel Best Bet for Friday night’s NBA action.

Have a great day, everyone!