The Arizona Cardinals have been underdogs in three games this season. They’ve won each of those games by double digits.

The Cardinals (+150) beat the Cleveland Browns 37-14 on Sunday afternoon to improve to 6-0.

Arizona, which was without its head coach Kliff Kingsbury and several players including Chandler Jones, improved to 5-1 against the spread including those three outright wins as an underdog.

There are now seven NFL teams with one loss or fewer, including the Cardinals as the league’s last remaining undefeated team.

The starting quarterbacks for those seven teams are currently among the top eight choices to win NFL regular season MVP, with Kyler Murray, Dak Prescott and Josh Allen now the co-favourites to win that award at +400. 

Here’s the Morning Coffee for Monday, Oct. 18, 2021.

Murray shines in win over Browns

Murray delivered another MVP performance in Sunday’s win over the Browns.

The third-year quarterback went 30-of-39 for 229 yards and four touchdowns.  

He’s the first Arizona quarterback with four touchdowns and zero interceptions in a game since 2009 when Kurt Warner did it in a game against the Chicago Bears.

DeAndre Hopkins finished with two touchdowns on three catches.

A.J. Green and Christian Kirk also got into the end zone.

Meanwhile, some key injuries didn’t help for Cleveland, with Baker Mayfield injuring his left shoulder but returning to the game, while running back Kareem Hunt needed to be helped off the field after he suffered a calf injury. 

The Browns have a tight turnaround with a home date against the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football. Despite the injuries, Cleveland still opened as a 5.5-point favourite versus Denver.

The Cardinals opened as a 17-point favourite for next week’s game against the Houston Texans.

Even with Arizona’s upset win, NFL favourites posted their best Sunday of the season in Week 6 at 9-3 straight up and 8-4 against the spread.

The Las Vegas Raiders pulled off the biggest upset with a 34-24 win over the Denver Broncos as a +190 underdog.

Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Miami Dolphins 23-20 as a +105 underdog in the other outright upset on Sunday.

Cowboys still perfect ATS

Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes for the fourth straight game, which is the longest streak in Dallas Cowboys franchise history.

Prescott went 36-of-51 for 445 yards and three touchdowns. His 445 passing yards are the most ever by a quarterback versus a Bill Belichick coached team, including playoffs.

Prescott’s final TD pass to CeeDee Lamb was the difference in overtime as Dallas won 35-29 and covered as a 3.5-point favourite.

The Cowboys remain the league’s last remaining undefeated team versus the spread at 6-0.

Prescott entered Week 1 at +1700 to win MVP. He’s now a co-favourite to win that award at +400.

Monday Night Football lookahead

While Murray and Prescott delivered strong performances on Sunday, Allen will get the opportunity to strengthen his MVP case when the Buffalo Bills (-5.5) visit the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football.

Allen, who leads the NFL with an 82.6 QBR since Week 2, is 16-6-1 against the spread on the road in his career.

Buffalo has delivered the best cover margin in the NFL this season at +15.3. In fact, it’s the fourth-best cover margin by any team through five games over the last 20 seasons.

The Bills will look to join the Cardinals and Green Bay Packers at 5-1 ATS this season with a win and cover.

While I wouldn’t bet against Buffalo to win outright, I’ll take my chances on Tennessee to at least put up enough points to keep this game close.

For as impressive as Allen and company have looked early on, the number for tonight’s game has already climbed all the way from -3 to -6.

We can tease that number up even further to +13 and tease the total down from 52.5 to 45.5.

I’ll lock in that two-team, seven-point teaser as my best bet with the Titans and the over for Monday Night Football.

Braves walk it off again

For the second night in a row, the Atlanta Braves (+150) walked off with a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The total went over 7.5. The Braves now lead the NLCS 2-0 for the second year in a row.

Last year, Los Angeles rallied to beat Atlanta in seven games. Can the Dodgers do it again?

As of this morning, the Braves are -190 to win the series. The comeback on LA is +160.

The Dodgers are -200 to win Game 3 at home with Walker Buehler on the mound, so if you think there’s value on L.A. to win the series, now is the time to grab it.

As for the World Series futures, Atlanta is now the favourite at +200. The Dodgers are the third choice to win it all at +290.

Meanwhile, the ALCS is tied 1-1 with the Boston Red Sox a small favourite for Game 3 at -115.

The Houston Astros are the favourite to win the series at -125 and the second choice to win the World Series at +240.

The Red Sox remain the biggest long shot to win it all at +380.