The TSN Edge staff is off and running with its Week 2 preview picks.

Luke Bellus went 2-0 with his Thursday Night Football predictions, taking the Cincinnati Bengals to cover as six-point underdogs and the Cleveland Browns to win outright.

Final score: Browns 35, Bengals 30.

The TSN Edge staff improved to 9-1 with its Primetime game selections.

Unfortunately, we didn’t foresee Tennessee Titans kicker Stephen Gostkowski’s three missed field goals and a missed extra point in a 16-14 win over the Denver Broncos in Week 1 – a 10-point swing that resulted in Tennessee failing to cover at -2.5 by a half-point.

We’ll do our best to be better.

Here is the Morning Coffee for Friday Sept. 18, 2020.

 

Stanley Cup Final Is Set

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars will play in this year’s Stanley Cup Final.

The Lightning advanced with a 2-1 overtime win over the New York Islanders in Game 6 on Thursday night.

Anthony Cirelli was the hero for Tampa Bay, scoring the game winner 13:18 into the extra frame.

Nikita Kucherov entered franchise playoff record territory earlier in the night with an assist on Victor Hedman’s goal.

Meanwhile, teams that have had a 3-2 series lead in these playoffs have now gone a combined 7-0. 

The Lightning are the betting favourite to win the Stanley Cup at -185 odds.

The Stars are listed at +155 to win it all.

You might have an entirely different outlook on which team should be the favourite, depending on whether or not you’re a superstitious person.

 

Cleveland Wins The Battle Of Ohio

The Browns established a winning blueprint in Thursday night’s 35-30 win over Cincinnati. But that blueprint won’t be as easy to execute against better defences.

Cleveland’s running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt combined for 234 scrimmage yards and four touchdowns in the victory, including all 75 yards on a fourth-quarter touchdown drive in which Baker Mayfield didn’t attempt a single pass.

Mayfield threw for 219 yards and two scores in the game. With the exception of an ugly fourth-quarter interception, Mayfield looked extremely confident in his second start in Kevin Stefanski’s offence.

Meanwhile, the Bengals leaned heavily on rookie quarterback Joe Burrow to keep them in it. Burrow went 37-of-61 for 316 yards and three touchdowns.

His 61 pass attempts were the second-most in NFL history for a rookie.

The Browns won outright, but Cincinnati managed to cover as six-point underdogs, thanks in large part due to Burrow’s performance.

 

Heat Continues To Rise

The Miami Heat took a 2-0 series lead in the NBA Eastern Conference final with a 106-101 win over the Boston Celtics.

At one point, Miami trailed by 17 points. That matches the largest deficit overcome to win a playoff game in franchise history.

Apparently, Celtics guard Marcus Smart wasn’t happy about it.

Then there’s this:

The Heat improved to 5-0 in games in which they have been the betting underdogs.

The only team with a longer win streak as underdogs is the 1994-95 Houston Rockets, who went on to win the NBA title that season.

 

How Low Can You Go?

Justin Thomas stands alone atop the leaderboard at the 120th U.S. Open after the first round.

With a five under 65, Thomas set the record for the lowest score of any player ever in a U.S. Open at the Winged Foot Golf Club.

J.T. was one of four players who shot a 66 or better – something that had happened only once before in a U.S. Open at this course.

Thomas became the obvious favourite to win the tournament at +400, down from +1200 heading into the second major event of the shortened season.

Here is a look at the top 12 to win outright according to the updated betting odds after the first round:

Justin Thomas +400
Rory McIlroy +700
Xander Schauffele +800
Jon Rahm +900
Patrick Reed +1100
Matthew Wolff +1400
Bryson DeChambeau +2200
Louis Oosthuizen +2500
Thomas Pieters +2500
Dustin Johnson +3500
Harris English +3500
Tony Finau +3500

You can catch our complete coverage of the U.S. Open on TSN 1 and 4, as well as on the TSN APP and TSN DIRECT.

Be sure to check in with us this weekend for our best bets for Sunday’s NFL games.

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