Morning Coffee: Chase’s heroics fuel Offensive Player of the Year buzz

Here’s the thing about football: it’s a team sport. 

You win together. You lose together. All for one, one for all.  

You get it. 

But occasionally, a pair of superstars step up and steal the show with a performance that makes everyone watching the game recognize immediately that there’s no way their team would win the game without them. 

The Cincinnati Bengals have made that a bit of a habit. 

We saw it again from them on Monday Night Football. 

With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, Joe Burrow connected with Ja’Marr Chase on a 40-yard touchdown pass that was the difference in a 27-20 win. 

Chase finished with 14 receptions, 177 receiving yards, and two touchdown receptions, retaking the league lead in all three statistical categories in the process. 

It was his third game this season with at least 175 receiving yards and two TD receptions, which matches the record for the most such games in NFL history. 

Chase’s odds to win the NFL Offensive Player of the Year were cut from +2200 to +600 at FanDuel following another epic individual performance. 

Only Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has shorter odds to win that award. 

Of course, Burrow might not have had the chance to throw that winning score if Amani Oruwariye of the Dallas Cowboys didn’t muff a blocked punt three plays earlier that gave the ball back to the Bengals. 

That’s because football is the ultimate team game, even if you have a superhuman lined up at the receiver position. 

Cincinnati won’t make the playoffs following a 5-8 start. 

If they can give their biggest superstars a little more help with some key tweaks to their roster this off-season, the Bengals could go from one of the league’s biggest disappointments to a legitimate contender in short order. 

Football is a team sport. 

In the NFL, there’s not many tandems that are better to build a team around than Chase and Burrow. 

This is the Morning Coffee for Tuesday Dec. 10, 2024. 

Bills, Lions primed for Week 15 showdown 

As someone who has covered the NFL for a long time, I’m never surprised by the pace of the regular season. 

The addition of games on days other than Monday, Thursday and Sunday add to the tempo of the season. 

While we’ll get the basic Thursday-Sunday-Monday schedule of games this week, we’ll also get a little bit of everything when it comes to the matchups. 

The Buffalo Bills will visit the Detroit Lions in one of the most highly anticipated games of the regular season. 

The Lions are the Super Bowl favourite at +270. The Bills are the fourth choice to win it all at +650. 

Detroit opened -2.5 at FanDuel. That number is down to Lions -1.5 this morning. 

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles will host the Pittsburgh Steelers in a highly anticipated in-state showdown on Sunday.

The Steelers have been one of the league’s biggest surprises as the AFC North leader entering Week 15. However, they’re currently a 5.5-point underdog for Sunday’s game in Philadelphia. 

On the flip side, we’ll also get one of the most lopsided matchups of the season so far when the Baltimore Ravens visit the New York Giants.

The Ravens are chasing the Steelers for first place in the AFC North coming off a bye.  Baltimore is currently a 14.5-point favourite at FanDuel. 

If that number holds, the Ravens will be the biggest betting favourite that we’ve seen in the NFL this season. It would also be just the second time in franchise history that Baltimore closed as a road favourite of 14 points or more. 

The last eight road favourites of 14 points or more have gone a combined 1-7 against the spread. 

Still, I have a feeling that it will be hard to convince the betting public to take the points with the Giants. 

A FanDuel Best Bet for Tuesday Night 

While Chase vaulted himself into the Offensive Player of the Year conversation with an epic performance, the Canadian Chase Brown delivered another outstanding game as we cashed the FanDuel Best Bet for Monday Night Football in the first half.

Turning the page this morning, I’ll lock in a Same Game Parlay with Giannis Antetokounmpo to score 20+ points, record 4+ assists, and the Milwaukee Bucks to beat the Orlando Magic in NBA Cup action tonight at -117 odds. 

Giannis has registered 20+ points in every game this season. He’s scored 30 or more three games in a row and has averaged 35.9 points per game at home this season. 

Meanwhile, he’s also averaged 6.7 assists per game at home and he’s registered four or more assists in each of Milwaukee’s previous nine wins.

The Magic were already without Paolo Banchero and now they will be without Franz Wagner for tonight’s game. 

Giannis has put up some impressive numbers in NBA Cup elimination games and I expect that trend to continue tonight in a Bucks win on their home floor. 

I’ll take Giannis 20+ points, 4+ assists, and Milwaukee to win outright as a builder SGP at -117 odds as my FanDuel Best Bet for Tuesday night. 

Have a great day, everyone!