The Dog’s Week 4 Recap

Overall it was a bad week at 13-16-1. The Dog Pound picks got spanked going 0-5!

Buzz. Your girlfriend. WOOF!

Kevin McCallister re: The Dog’s week 4 picks

And that’s all we gotta say about that. The Dog has to go learn a thing or two about a thing or two.

2019 Record

The Dog Pound🐾 2019 Record: 6-9 📉

The Dog’s 2019 Record: 39-39-2 ⚠️

Follow on twitter or reddit and check back Thursday morning when The Dog will throw you another bone with his Picks.

It’s everything that you need to know and how you should play Rams @ Seahawks, The Bears and Raiders in the first London game, Jags @ Panthers, and the rest of the Week 5 slate. Maybe fade me, but I plan to be back baby!

Philadelphia @ Green Bay

PHI 34 GB 27

GB -5 ❌🐾

OVER 45

What can The Dog say about this one? 

The Eagles played a squeaky clean came on the offensive side of the ball. No turnovers.  Balanced attack. Holes to run thru big enough for The Beast to bury 10000 baseballs.

Costly Packers turnover at the end of the first half led to Eagles TD. Not being able to punch it in twice from inside the 5 with a full set of downs.  This one was certainly a winnable one for the Packers and The Dog.

Started off Week 4 on the wrong foot, going 0-1 in the Dog Pound. Got a bad taste in my mouth.

Maybe the Packers Defense isn’t for real. The Eagles were their first true test as a balanced offense (some could argue that the Vikings were) and they sure weren’t up to the task.

LA Chargers @ Miami

LAC 30 MIA 10

LAC -16.5

OVER 44.5

No surprise here; Phil Rivers and the Chargers offense were in control of this one all the way.

Chargers offense to get an added boost in Week 5 with the return of Melvin Gordon. Arguably the best trio of backs in the league when he is healthy and on the top of his game.

Classic AFC West matchup next week for the Chargers against the Broncos. The Dog is already drooling at this one.

We’ll see if an early Bye in Week 5 can give them some much needed to time regroup. Dolphins have shown they’re not good for any more than 10-13 a game at this point.   Will be hard to play Overs with them at anything more than 47 at this point.

Washington @ Giants

NYG 24 WAS 3

NYG -3

UNDER 47

Dimes Jones didn’t have to do much in this one; Giants got up early and then bled the clock. 

He managed to throw 2 INTs, but that doesn’t bother The Dog. You have to let your rookie QB make some throws and maybe some mistakes, and what a better time to do it than up 14-0 in the 2nd Q against the Redskins.

But Until Saquon Barkley is back, Giants will live and die with the productivity of backup RB Wayne Gallman. If he can make defenses respect the run, Dimes will give the Giants a fighting chance/

Only thing we know for sure about the Redskins is that they are stuck in reverse.

Tennessee @ Atlanta

TEN 24 ATL 10

ATL -4

OVER 45.5

Dud of the week.  Titans went into Atlanta as Road Dogs & won handily.  Falcons don’t seem to have the offense we expected them to have

Titans have been tip-toeing the line for me. One week I have them breaking out only to see them regress the next.  I’ve got the Titans rolling off 5 straight wins from here. The Dog is BUYING!

Falcons are trending downward.  No defense. No offense? Not sure how you win games and stay competitive with that formula. Had they not been playing the Texans this upcoming week, it would be SELL SELL SELL!

Kansas City @ Detroit

KC 34 DET 30

KC -6.5 ❌🐾

OVER 54

Chiefs spotted the Lions 10 points in the 1st quarter on top of the 6.5 of the spread.  Can’t do that. Chiefs better not make a habit of falling behind early in games; won’t be as fortunate to come back against better teams.

Well within their grasp and let slip away, the Lions have to be hurting after this Loss.  The waya the NFC North is shaping up, the 14 point swing on the 100 yard fumble recovery KC touchdown will still be stinging come December.

We know Patricia’s defense ought to be serviceable all year; Lions need to get Stafford airing it out more and the running game has to gain some traction.  They get a Week 5 Bye to go back to the drawing board.

Chiefs continue to put up points; don’t expect otherwise until further notice.

Dog Pound now 0-3

Carolina @ Houston

CAR 16 HOU 10

HOU -4.5 ❌🐾

OVER 46.5

Dog Pound 0-4.

The Dog still hasn’t picked an ATS winner in Week 4 thus far. The Texans will for sure be the ones to end the drought, right? Wrong.

26 total points, you say the defenses must’ve played great! Wrong again!.  

5 turnovers.  4 fumbles lost. 1 INT thrown by DeAndre Hopkins. Who on Earth are you planning to throw it to, Bill O’Brien? You have to know that DeAndre Hopkins can’t throw it to himself, right? Apparently not.

The Texans offense was abysmal. Panthers Offense wasn’t much better.  Other than McCafferey, everyone looked like they were playing in Quicksand.

Texans receive a big downgrade from The Dog after this one. I’ve come to realize their Defense isn’t what I remember it to be, and the offense is too hit or miss to put much stock in them.

Panthers are a hold if you got em, wait and see how things go if you’re looking to buy.

Cleveland @ Baltimore

CLE 40 BAL 25

BAL -7

OVER 46.5

In the Week 4 Preview, we thought Mark Ingram 2 and The Ravens who were going “to Literally Run Away with this one and cover.” Looks more to me like it was their counterparts, Nick Chubb and the Browns were the ones doing the running.

Stat sheets here show this game as being pretty evenly matched, just the Browns outgaining the Ravens by 115 yards and LamJacks throwing one more INT than Mayfield.

The Dog was surprised at the kickin’ the Browns gave to the Ravens in Baltimore, but this might have been a little coming out party. Looked more like the Browns that the Cleveland Faithful had hoped for and less like your Father’s Browns.

If Browns can keep their opponents in check with mid-low 20s, and start to get the passing game going, they could be tough to beat.

New England @ Buffalo

NE 16 BUF 10

NE – 7.5 ❌🐾

OVER 42.5

What can The Dog say about this one?  Patriots come in 7.5 point faves against a 3-0 Bills team.  Think I still would’ve taken Patriots at 10.5. Hell, maybe even 13.5.  

What if I were to tell you….

  1. Pats have a special teams block punt touchdown & jump out to an early 13-0 lead in 1st Quarter. 
  2. Pats pick off Josh Allen 3 times and completes < 50% and a 24.0! QB rating.
  3. He gets pulled in favor of Matt Barkley who goes on to throw another interception.

Is that something you might be interested in? The Dog says WOOFx3, put this one in The Doggy Bag.

NAHHHHH! You wish you weren’t interested in that.  This one really ruined my week.

The Patriots put my Dog Pound picks at 0-2 for the week, so I’m putting them out back in the Doghouse until further notice.  They might be back inside come Sunday, but who knows at this point.

Oakland @ Indianapolis

IND 24 OAK 31

IND -7

OVER 45

The Dog didn’t catch any of this one on TV, and The Dog also didn’t see this one coming. Had I known for sure TY $ Hilton would be sitting this one out when I made my pick, I still don’t think I would have played this one any different.  

The Dog has been high on the Colts all year and been touting the smooth, yet unexpected, transition from Luck to Brissett.  Good O-Line and a decent running game. And then they go and lay an egg hosting Oakland.

Going forward I’ll be weary of Colts at anything over -4 ATS.  -7 might be a bit much to cover for these Colts. Tough matchup next week on road in Kansas City – they’ll be dogs but by how many.

Oakland travels to London for Game vs. Bears.  Those Soccer fans like low scoring games with ties and weird shit like yellow cards, so The Dog is leaning under there. Head on back to Doggybets later this week to see how we’re playing this one.

Tampa Bay @ Rams

TB 55 LAR 40

LAR -9

OVER 50.5

Well, well, well. If you were to tell me that on Sunday the Buccaneers would go into The LA Coliseum 9-point dogs, put up a franchise record 55 points against the reigning NFC Champs, and win by 15; I’d tell you not this time, no chance.

If you thought otherwise, The Dog is all ears if you’re willing to share your intel.

What we do know is that the Bucs can put up points in bunches.  What we don’t know is how consistent they can do this. And if they don’t put up points, can they stop anyone? 

Buccaneers scare me right now as a very volatile play – Case of the CatDog and not sure which team you’re going to get.

Rams are trending down for me. The lack of running game is forcing Jared Goff and the Rams Offense into a pocket passing system. One which I don’t see working well for them in the long run. Goff is serviceable, still young and has his spurts of good. But he’s not great.

Seattle @ Arizona

SEA 27 ARI 10

SEA -5

OVER 47.5

The Dog really thought this one was destined for the Over.   Played out just about how I expected, and figured Arizona would put another 10 on the board in the 2nd half.

Just Arizona couldn’t find the endzone.  Should’ve known a disciplined Seattle defense wouldn’t let up on the road against a divisional opponent, no matter how bad.

Still think I like playing Arizona in the Overs.  Seahawks will be tough to pick them as winners ATS.  They’ll always do enough to win games, but winning ATS is always a different animal.

Minnesota @ Chicago

CHI 16 MIN 6 

MIN +3

UNDER 38.5

Vikings came out and tried to do what The Dog expected.  Run the ball with Dalvin Cook and limit the number of throws Kirk D. Cousins makes.

Looks like the Bears D knew too.  Cook was held in check to under 50 yards on the ground and the Vikings couldn’t muster any sort of offense.  Vikings fans and players alike are starting to get restless with an expensive QB putting up pedestrian numbers.  This offense is stuck in neutral.

Mr. Biscuit (Trubisky) went down with a shoulder injury, we’ll see how this impacts the team long term.  Chase Daniel appears serviceable in the near term, especially with a defense this good.

Bears head to London to play Oakland Raiders.  Expect it to be a low scoring affair, just like those soccer fans like.

Jacksonville @ Denver

JAX 26 DEN 24

JAX +3

UNDER 38

Wanted the game to end after the 3rd Quarter.  But 4th Quarter points in this one cost us going 2 for 2.

The Magician. El Mago. The Gardener Minshew 2 Show continues to impress.  The biggest new age Cult hero following in recent memory, in only 3 starts!

Had two of my favorite touchdowns of the week. 

The first, El Mago evaded multiple rushers, lookin’ like Brett Favre, and found an open receiver in the endzone.

The other; a classic fake end around/reverse w/ a double pump fake to find James O’Shaughnessy in the end zone, just like ya draw it up in the backyard.

And does The Dog have to say about Leonard Fournette. The Nard Dog. If he runs angry like that the rest of the year, WOOF WOOF The Dog wants to be all in on these Jags.

Broncos lose Bradley Chubb to ACL tear; makes their defense much less intimidating.  Von Miller won’t be able to shoulder the load by himself. These ain’t no Bucking Broncos, put ‘em out to pasture.

Dallas @ New Orleans

NO 12 DAL 10

DAL -3

OVER 46 ❌🐾

This one was a snoozer! Good thing The Dog likes afternoon naps.  Evident early on that this one wasn’t going to hit the Over, The Dog shut his eyes and checked out. 1 TD and 5 FGs later, Saints defender home turf as Home Dogs.

Until Saints get a little more aggressive with the playbook, expect their formula to be similar to this one. Eat up clock, take care of the ball, shorten the game and hopefully solid D wins you games.

Cowboys got their first true test, a road game against a formidable NFC opponent.  Hopefully they learned a thing or two about a thing or two. 3-0 don’t mean anything when you haven’t played anyone.

The Dog thinks this reality check is good for the Cowboys in the long run.  They’re back home in Week 5 to host the Packers. Shaping up to be the marquee matchup of the Week.  Check back in later this week to see how The Dog is playing this one!

Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh

PIT 27 CIN 3

PIT -4

UNDER 43.5

The Dog got both of these picks rights; a great way to close out a sub-par week. That’s what they call whipped cream on DogSh*t.  But that’s what will keep you coming back to The Dog Pound!

Mason Rudolph showed me something Monday night for the Steelers.  Not sure what exactly it was and it was against a below average defense. But a win is a win and he has to start somewhere. Hoping he can get his traction. 

Steelers hosting divisional rival Ravens this upcoming Sunday, will be interested to see if they can build from their first win of the season.

Bengals have nothing going for them right now.  The Dog will leave their outlook at that.

The Dog’s Week 3 Recap

The Dog was feeling really good coming out of the early slate on Sunday. We got out of the gate early with a Jacksonville win, which would have been in the dog pound if it wasn’t for a weekend bachelor party throwing a wrench in the logistics. 

I was riding a gravy train with biscuit wheels as we came into the afternoon games sitting at 10-5. Then, the 4 o’clock slate came through and put The Dog in the doghouse.

All in all feeling great picking all the games and going 15-12-1

Bad news. The Dog Pound took a loss this week at 2-3. I’ll blame myself first, and the Chiefs secondary next. When you’re thrown a tasty treat you catch it. I’ll be dialing the killer instincts up to 11 next week no doubt about it. If a Dog doesn’t have instincts, what good is he?

Tennessee @ Jacksonville

JAX 20 TEN 7

JAX +1.5 ✅

Gardener Minshew II was about the only bright spot in this game other than The Dog starting Week 3 off 1-0.  JAX D didn’t miss a beat after holding Houston to 13 points; kept Derrick Henry under 2.5 yards a carry and only 1 TD.  JAX 2-1 ATS this year; looked dominant when considering line in both of those wins.

Interested to see how long Vrbael sticks with Mariotta.  He’s been given his chances but has looked average at best.  Tannehill is ready waiting in the balance. The Dog hoping they consider the change.

No scares in this one.  Honestly would’ve been a Dog Pound pick had we gotten ahead of the Week.  Unfortunately, only going to be able to count the dub in the Overall.

Cincinnati @ Buffalo

BUF 21 CIN 17

CIN +6 ✅

UNDER 44 ✅

Had a blast crushing some cruisers/crispy-boys/pops and wings at Kitty’s in downtown Cincinnati whilst watching the first half of this one.  That was the only fun The Dog was having though, cause the Bengals looked awful.  

Dalton was throwing duds all over the field. Mixon couldn’t get much going on the ground.

Once we hit the road, things turned for the better. Cincinnati clawed back into it to beat the 6 pt spread as expected and we cashed the under, which never seemed in doubt based on how the first half went. Dog sweat this one out, pleased with 2 wins here, though.

Buffalo is 3-0 but not a contender yet. Cupcake schedule up front. Wins over NYG, NYJ, and CIN early means stiffer competition later.  Interested to see if 3-0 may influence public opinion, though.

Cincinnati at risk of being held scoreless against formidable defenses.  Will continue to monitor Unders with them.

Miami @ Dallas

DAL 31 MIA 6

DAL -21 ✅

OVER 47.5 ❌

The Dog didn’t get to watch this but I can guarantee we were never at risk of going 0-2 in this one.  Looking at the box score, Miami completing 20-41 (LESS THAN 50%!!!) means they were never going to get on the board.  

Dallas never had to worry and racked up almost 250 yards on the ground on 32 rushing attempts.  The clock must’ve ran out faster than a Greyhound out of the blocks in a 220 yard sprint.

Dallas will get their first true test next week – a Sunday Night Primetime game on the road in New Orleans. Early lines show DAL -2.5; nothing near the 3 touchdown line that this one was.  Come check back later this week to see how The Dog is going to play this spicy cajun matchup. 

Denver @ Green Bay

GB 27 DEN 16

Denver +7.5 ❌

UNDER 43.5 🐾  ✅

This one confused The Dog.  Fortunate to come away with a 1-1 split in this one.  But I honestly think it probably should’ve gone the other way.

Didn’t get to catch much of the action.  Was it the Bronco’s D-Line that bottled up Aaron Jones? A bad Packer’s O-Line. Or was Week 2 just an anomaly.  In any case, Packers didn’t run it well and they still put up 27.  

I know The Pack Faithful are stoked with their defense this year.  But I’m starting to think this was more of a matter of Denver just not having what it takes. Moved the ball better than the Packers, 149 total yards on the group with another 220 thru the air.  

The Dog thought Denver was sure to keep it within 7.  They just need to take care of the ball and find a way into the endzone. Plain and simple.

Atlanta @ Indianapolis

IND 27  ATL 24

IND -1 ✅

OVER 47 ✅

Was a bit disappointed that I let the Dog Pound faithful down by not being at The Fieldhouse for this one like I thought I would be.  However, where I didn’t let you down was having this one handicapped to a T.

Jacoby Jacoby.  He went toe to toe with Matt Ryan and came out on top at home.  He rode this Colt to victory as confidently as David Cohen rode 4.4:1 Her Kare to victory at Churchill Downs in the 5th race on Friday; my other lock of the week.  Go check it out, you won’t regret it.

A well balanced team and a steady Brissett with the reigns, The Dog plans to keep riding these Colts to the Winner’s Circle.

Atlanta is too one-dimensional. Not sure if it’s a blocking/play calling problem or he done lost a step, but Devonta Freeman can find his form of yesteryear. And STAT!

But until Freeman gets going, opponents can and will continue to key on the pass and be able to limit big plays thru the air.  Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley are a hell of a tandem, but so far the Dirty Birds aren’t owning the air like they once did.

Baltimore @ Kansas City

KC 33 BAL 28

KC -7 🐾  ❌

First – The Dog is kicking himself for not posting what turned out to be an easy Over.  That’s what we were thinking but we can’t take credit for that. But I think this one turned out as most people would’ve expected, a higher scoring affair with two power offenses.

Second – The Dog is kicking the KC secondary out to the Dog House.  LamJacks threw what should have been 3 interceptions that KC defensive backs just refused to take; just like your mangy mutt turning his nose up at the dogfood you laid out for him.  Those rascals, cost me the -7.

Mahomes looks good at the helm of the offense. Any already unstoppable offense gets a weapons upgrade with the acquisition of Shady McCoy at RB.  Even at his advanced he’s a huge asset reacclimating with his old coach Andy Reid.  

This KC team is Insta-Over until further notice.

The Dog also has the Ravens trending up. 

Oakland @ Minnesota

MIN  34 OAK 14

MIN  -8 ✅

OVER 42 ✅

The Dog was happy to see the vikings covering the spread easily and hit the over thanks to a garbage time TD by Oakland. Minnesota’s offense continues to put points on the board and The Dog likes it.

Oakland is on the road a bunch coming up when you include their home game in London and is in need of some improvements on both ends of the ball. 

New York Jets @ New England

NE 30 NYJ 14

NE -23 ❌

OVER 43.5 ✅

Something smells fishy but The Dog can’t dig it up. Why did Belichick pull Brady in this one but piled on last week against the Dolphins? Who knows. He don’t answer questions. That move cost us a cover but directly handed us the over.

Cause we learned that Jarrett Stidham doesn’t look like the heir-apparent to #Tommy.  His pick 6 got us to the Over. But The Dog was left wondering if Brady under center all 60 minutes would’ve cashed both these bets.

Consider them in The Dog House. The Dog won’t be playing the Jets any time soon.  

Detroit @ Philadelphia

DET 27 PHI 24

DET + 7 ✅

UNDER 48 ❌

This was an exciting game start to finish.  Philly just looked a little too depleted on the offensive side of the ball to have a fighting chance in this one spotting 7 points. Never in jeopardy of taking an L in this one, Stafford and Company marched into Philadelphia, and marched out with a W.

Eagles might have been able to come away with the victory had Nelson Agholor not made some crucial mistakes.  Redeemed himself by promising to bring West Philly hero and his family to the next game!

Lions need to start roaring their offensive engines.  Despite being 2-0-1; The Dog isn’t really looking at the Lions until we start seeing +4.5 or so.  Eagles are trending downward.

Carolina @ Arizona

CAR 38 ARI 20

CAR -3 ✅

OVER 46.5 ✅

The Bird Dog pointed you to Arizona Overs early this year.  That hit by 11.5 points. The BloodHound Gang Dog sniffed out McCaffery rebounding in Week 3. He went for 188 all purpose yards.

Week 4 Match-Ups.  Panthers @ Texans. Cardinals host the Seahawks.The needle is leaning towards The Dog not playing playing either of these teams ATS.  

Check back later in the Week for more and see what The Dog will be lockin in on.

New York Giants @ Tampa Bay

NYG 32 TB 31

NYG +6.5 ✅

UNDER 48 🐾 ❌

Both teams will be so worried about getting the W that watching this one will be like watching paint dry.  A conservative chess checkers match. A field position, punt-fest, clock management symposium with either team winning by a FG or less.  – The Dog, Week 3 Preview

What a game! This Dog knows there is more than 1 way to skin a cat.  Definitely knew it was going to be a tight game and that’s why The Dog went with NYG at +6.5 calling it as either team winning by FG or less.  That’s a 20/20 hindsight that should’ve been in the Dog Pound.

But boy we couldn’t have been more wrong on how we picked the O/U.  Mike Evans and Famous Jameis Winston hooked up for 3 touchdowns in an early offensive assault that killed our Under Dog Pound Pick only midway through the 3rd quarter.

Flash me some of them Dimes.  Career Record in games when the Giants trailed by 18 points. Daniel “Danny Dimes” Jones: 1-0. Eli Manning (0-44).  Dimes even did it without Saquon for the majority of the game, getting knocked out for what looks to be multiple games with a bad ankle sprain. 

Houston @ Los Angeles Chargers

HOU 27 LAC 20

HOU +3 ✅

UNDER 48 ✅

This one could’ve just as easily been a 2 pick loser instead of a 2 pick winner. Philip Rivers came up just short of leading the Chargers to a TD in the final 2 minutes.  Houston has a stout defense that just got too much pressure onto Rivers and broke up some big passes down the stretch.  

This game was all DeShaun Watson & Philip Rivers in the air.  Both team laid it all out there. The Dog thinks he’s putting all his treats in their bowls next week.

Pittsburgh @ San Francisco

SF 24 PIT 20

SF -6.5 ❌

OVER 44 ↔️

I really don’t know what to say about this one other than it was arguably the worst game Sunday.  I was just happy to come away from this one with a tie instead of a flat out 0-2.

San Fran 49ers rushed it 40 times for 168 yards and 2 TDs.  Garappolo threw for less than 300 yards and 2 INTs against a suspect secondary.

Rudolph was a completion over 50% rate with 1 INT, but the Steelers receivers again letting the team down with critical drops.  He connected for TDs on a prayer deep chuck to J2S2; the other a wide open Diontae Johnson walked into the endzone for the easiest TD of the year.

Both teams are trending down in The Dogs eyes.  Gonna keep on walking on to the next.

New Orleans @ Seattle

NO 33 SEA 27

SEA -4 🐾 ❌

UNDER 44 ❌

When you’re wrong, Damn do things go wrong.  Teddy Bridgewater played well enough in his first start of the season, but it was the Saints stealing defensive and special team TDs and The Dog knew this Dog Pound Pick didn’t stand a chance of ca$hing.

This one is really making The Dog think about taking a time out and skipping playing O/Us for a few weeks.

Saints will have a big test next week hosting 3-0 Dallas.  The Dog is leaning Home Dogs in this one.

Seattle goes on the road to play the 0-2-1 Cardinals.  Will have to see how the line develops in this one.

Check back into the Dog Pound to see if either of these matchups make the grade.

Los Angeles Rams @ Cleveland

LAR 20 CLE 13

LAR -3 🐾 ✅

OVER 44 ❌

The Brownies coming out party has been put on hold for another Week.  Will have to wait until the next big game to see if they can prove they’re not just believers.  They’re 1-2. Head Coach Freddie Kitchens was adamant that this loss is on him and not his players.

Mayfield is now 1-10 against teams over .500.  OBJ hasn’t had a breakout game yet. Tick tock on when this offense will show up.

Rams just keep on doing what they need to do.  Goff hasn’t yet hit his stride this year. Donald is unstoppable on the defensive end. If things start to click, The Dog likes Rams. 

Chicago @ Washington

CHI 31 WAS 15

CHI -4✅

OVER 41.5✅

If Mitch ever does good, “Trubiscuits” for this Dog!  Hooking up with Taylor Gabriel for 3 touchdowns, The Dog was already digging holes to bury this 2 game Trubiscuit in the backyard with The Bears up 28-3 at half.

However, Bears couldn’t keep the offense going and getting only a field goal in the final 2 minutes of the game.  The Over was salvaged due to Redskins getting 2 second half touchdowns when the game was already out of reach.

The Dog was happy with how Week 3 wrapped up, going 2-0 on Monday Night.

Redskins stocks are down, Bears stocks are up.

2019 Record

The Dog Pound🐾 2019 Record: 6-4 🚀

The Dog’s 2019 Record: 26-23-1 ⚠️

Check back Thursday morning when The Dog will throw you another bone with his Picks, what you need to know and how you should play Tennessee @ Atlanta, Kansas City @ Detroit, and the rest of the Week 4 plate of games.


The Dog’s Week 2 Recap

I called it Road Team Dream Week before games kicked off Thursday and it did not disappoint. My only regret is that I didn’t play them all. We’d have been sitting pretty at 11-5 with wins ATS for Tampa, San Fran, Indy, New England, Buffalo, Seattle, Dallas, AZ, Jacksonville, KC, and Cleveland. The Dog went 11-11 starting hot in the early slate and giving it all back in the afternoon under some bizarre circumstances. The good news? My Dog Pound picks went 4-1. This Dog pounded those picks this week and I hope you did too.

Arizona & Baltimore was an exciting game down to the finish.  Unfortunate The Dog didn’t cash that one. A Baltimore TD late would’ve sealed the deal on a 2 for 2 pick. Instead it went the other way.  However, the way the game played out, The Dog is excited to be looking at playing Arizona in overs going forward.

Jacksonville at Houston was a nail biter for the game, but you shouldn’t have ever broken a sweat if you were looking to cash in on JAX @ +8.5.  If they continue to hold opponents to scores in the teens, The Dog will be looking to Pound It with JAX more and more. The wrinkle will be how Jalen Ramsey’s public announcement wanting out of Jacksonville will impact the Jags D. 

Falcons Home Dogs against the Eagles.  The +3 was the result of the majority of the public thinking the Falcons wings were clipped for the season after the slow start in Minnesota during Week 1.  The Dog doesn’t expect to see a tasty line like this in Week 3.

Both Brees and Roethlisberger get knocked out of their games in the first half. Saints & Stillers are both now looking at the backups to come in and steady the ship for 5-6+ games and the season, respectively.  We’ll have to wait and see how Mason Rudolph and Teddy Bridgewater being the locked in starters will impact the lines.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Carolina Panthers

TB 20 CAR 14
CAR -7 ❌
UNDER 46.5 ✅

This was a sloppy game and it came with sloppy bets to boot. The Dog was happy to come away with cashing 1 of 2 bets here. Weather was certainly at play in this one as it bogged down both offenses.  

The Dog wasn’t pleased with the ineffectiveness of the Carolina running game, especially their inability to punch it in with the game on the line. 

They couldn’t punch it in, PERIOD. 

It certainly makes me think twice going forward how much faith to put in a Cam Newton led Panthers team until they prove otherwise. It’s hard to say what makes this team so different from the 2015 NFC champs, but something is off.

None much to say on Tampa, they got the job done and spoiled The Dog from opening Week 2 on a high note.

San Francisco 49ers @ Cincinnati Bengals

SF 41 CIN 17
SF pk ✅

Garoppolo & Company are starting to show some semblance of the 49ers of yesteryear.  The game played out as expected, with SF putting up more points than they know what to do with and to make this an easy lock in a pick’em type matchup.

The Dog says the jury is still out on the 49ers Defense – certainly played well and got the job done but having gone against Tampa Bay and Cincinnati thru Week 2, we just haven’t seen them tested yet.

What this does tell me is I’m confident in the 49ers going with the Overs down the road. Who is with me?

Los Angeles Charger @ Detroit Lions

DET 13 LAC 10
LAC -3 ❌
UNDER 47.5 ✅🐾

24 Points UNDER. The Dog hopes you all got in on this Dog Pound pick (Under 47.5) and took it to the bank. 

After 2 quick touchdowns, this game was riddled with WR dropped passes, TDs called back (more on that later), Redzone turnovers, and missed FGs (3 & and a PAT), leading to an easy Under.

Really expecting the Chargers to also get the Win and Cover, this one left The Dog puzzled beyond belief how it didn’t cash.  Watching the replay again. Still in disbelief. However, I wouldn’t bet this one any differently.

If you didn’t catch the action, Chargers had 2 touchdowns called back on their first drive of the 2nd half due to offensive penalties.  

The Dog has some questions on how to play the Chargers ATS after the way they showed here.

  1. At his advanced age, is Rivers too much as a senior Dog?  Doggy don’t think so. He led a fantastic opening drive with some good throws that led to a touchdown leap (see #2). And despite the 2 TDs called back mentioned above, he showed the resilience of a junkyard dog to lead his team down to the Lions 1 before a 2nd Ekeler lead was spilled and recovered by the Lions.  Aside from the one sack he took and the late INT, he navigated the pocket like a old hound with the spring of a young pup. WOOF WOOF. 
  2.  Melvin Gordon out for the indefinite future, how likely is it that the running back tandem of Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson can fill the void? The Dog says no problem.  These two shifty pass catching backs are perfect for the screen and scamper system which Rivers likes to operate.

Look for a tasty matchup next week for the Chargers at home against the Texans.

Onto the Lions – not a whole lot to say.  The Offense under the Patricia is just too plain vanilla. 

The Dog is looking forward to fading the Lions

Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers

GB 21 MIN 16
GB -3 ✅

The Dog’s head was spinning over this one, and when things look confusing, STOP THINKING. 

The Dog said K.I.S.S. – Keep it simple stupid In hindsight this was a Three-Woofs-no-brainer. 🐶🐶🐶

Rodgers or Cousins? 

Lambeau home field or A dome team on the road outside? 

Turn that brain off and collect on your bets. 

Rodgers looked phenomenal out the gate – leading the Packers to 3 scores in the first quarter and some change.  

Packers ultimately held on for the cover but boy did The Dog start to sweat.  

Jumping out 21-0 and then not tacking on a point in the final 44 minutes is usually the perfect recipe for the disastrous backdoor cover.  Good thing the Packers D nailed down the doggy door the last 24 minutes to lock in the -3.

When you can’t be smart, be good. Kiss It! 😘💵

Unfortunately this one left me with more questions than answers:

  • Are the Packers going to figure out how to play a whole game?
  • Is the  Packers defense for real?
  • Is the Vikings offense going to have this split personality all season?

This Dog may just stop thinking for a while on these two.

Indianapolis Colts @ Tennessee Titans

IND 19 TEN 17
TEN -3 ❌

Indianapolis took this one by a narrow margin.  Brissett is no Andrew Luck, but The Dog bit too much on the Colts downswing.  

As I said during last Week 2 picks, Colts have some talent but are still unproven.  This might have just been their first proving game of many. A little coming out party for them so to speak. 

If Brissett can game manage, they should have a nicely rounded offensive attack and looking forward to playing this coming Week 3 home opener against ATL.  Check back for how The Dog will play that one. 

Still love what I’m seeing out of Vrabel’s boys in Tennessee and still standing by calling them a top money maker for the year.

New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins

NE 43 MIA 0
NE -19.5 ✅🐾

Hope you were a Pound Hound on this Dog Pound Pick of the Week.

Two pick 6’s were just a little insurance in this one, but Tommy took care of business in Road Team Dream week.  Three Woofs all-the-way. 

We know New England will be putting up points, eager to see how many they’ll hang on the Jets in Foxborough.  I’m thinking 38 WOOF WOOF.

Even though we are likely seeing some record setting lines as Miami sells off their entire team, fading Miami ATS looks to be pretty safe until further notice.

Buffalo Bills @ New York Giants

BUF 28 NYG 14
NYG +1.5 ❌

Didn’t get to catch much of this one at all and didn’t play out as planned.  Saquon put he NYFG up 7-0 early as expected. He had a respectable 18 carries for 107 yards, but was denied the ball in the passing game.

I said before this one that the G-Men have an easy problem to fix. Just feed Saquon. This squad might be further off than that.

Buffalo did more than enough to put this one out of reach for the Dog.

Josh Allen and Buffalo look to be an interesting offense.  He’s always a threat on the ground, which will open up his passing attack. Really looking forward to their home opener in Week 3 against Cincinnati.

Seattle Seahawks @ Pittsburgh Steelers

SEA 28 PIT 26
SEA +3.5 ✅

This was another unofficial Road Team Dream week pick.  Unfortunate for Big Ben to go down and out for the season, which helped The Dog.  But in all honesty, this Dog doesn’t think it mattered.

Seattle game-planned to victory and Russ delivered.  He’s just a bulldog of a QB that gets it done. The Dog loves a bulldog. 🐶

Pittsburgh is trending down, but is for some reason shedding assets like they can actually win now. We’ll see if Mason Rudolph has what it takes as he’s now the defacto Big Dog in the Steel City and the future heir apparent for Big Ben.

This Dog doesn’t see it.

Dallas Cowboys @ Washington Redskins

DAL 31 WSH 21
DAL -6 ✅ 🐾

Dallas was the #1 Dog Pound Pick of Week 2. 

Dak & The Gang Clocked In and The Dog was happily Locked In.  Dallas got up and ahead early and never let this one in jeopardy. 

Nice to see Dak Prescott completing a high rate percentage of his passes and another strong ground game out of Zeke.

Arizona Cardinals @ Baltimore Ravens

BAL 23 ARI 17
BAL -13 ❌
OVER 46.5 ❌🐾

Football is a game of inches, and betting on football is…. frustrating. 

This one was looking to be in the bag with Baltimore driving to go up 2 scores late, but then Baltimore somehow spends 2:57 inside the Arizona 15 to end the game. The Dog still can’t figure this one out, but it cost me the week and was the only Dog Pound bet to miss.

We got to put my theory to work and The Dog is drooling over this one.

Just call me The Bird Dog on this one because I’m pointing you to the AZ OVERs this year. The formula is simple and The Dog is going to take it to the bank. 

The opposing team piles on in the first half while Kliff Kingsberry’s un-special Cardinals’ offense sputters. In the second half, and with a big lead, the Cardinals’ opponent falls asleep. Kyler and co pile on late.

If The Dog’s math is correct Pile A + Pile B = Pound the Arizona OVERs..
🐶🐶🐶

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston Texans

HOU 13 JAX 12
JAX +8.5 ✅🐾

Houston’s offense probably overswung a bit and reverted back to probably below the norm in terms of production.  But in The Dogs eyes, JAX was going to keep it within a TD, which they did, and that’s why we’re proud this was one of the Dog Pound picks of the week.  

20/20 hindsight The Dog wishes to have gotten in on the Under as this one played out pretty close to expected.  But we ain’t gonna complain about cashing 1 of 1. We wouldn’t have played this any other way.

Gardener Minshew Jr. now has to be the guy in JAX, and needs to get all facets of the offense in play.  Just hoping this guy puts on as much of a show during the game as much as he does before kickoff!

Texans at Chargers should be a fun matchup in the mid day games on Sunday. Check back in on Thursday morning for all you need to know about this one and see what The Dog is going to be pounding!

Kansas City Chiefs @ Oakland Raiders

KC 28 OAK 10
KC -7.5 ✅
OVER 53.5❌

The early games were over and The Dog was feeling great. Better than 50% and I felt GREAT about my late afternoon picks.

Early into this one though, The Dog put his tail between his legs and got on the defensive.  

Oakland jumped out to a 10-0 lead early in this one and The Dog was stunned at how he could’ve gotten this one so wrong.  No way were the Raiders going to take it to Chiefs and hold them in check, Right? Right. Woof.

Patty Mahomes and Co. snapped back like a pitbull backed into a corner and went on the offensive, opening up the offense for 4 TDs in the 2nd quarter and The Dog knew the -7.5 was cashed. 

The Chiefs D muzzled the Raiders for 0 points after the 1st Quarter. 

The Raiders D muzzled the Chiefs for 0 points in the 2nd half.

What we would’ve done differently?  Nothing.  

We were 15.5 off the O/U and appeared to miss big time.  But we’re not going to be betting on anyone bottling up the Chiefs offense for 0 points in a half for the rest of this season.

Chicago Bears @ Denver Broncos

CHI 16 DEN 14
CHI -3 ❌

The Dog was right, and still somehow getting it wrong.  

Denver didn’t really have much of an answer to the BEARS! Defense.  

Flacco somehow got the Broncos into the endzone late.  

Bears did what they had to do to get the W, but it wasn’t enough to cover.

A few Dog Biscuits on Mitch “Mitchell” aka Mr. Biscuit Trubisky.

Thru Week 2

  • ZERO TDs
  • 32nd in YDs/Attempt
  • 32nd in YDs/Completion
  • 27th in Completion %age
  • 29th in Passing YDs/Game
  • 31st in Passer Rating.  

Mr. Biscuit & Matt Nagy better get the ball moving!  For now, The Dog is going to have to be looking harder and harder at Bears UNDERS in scenarios when taking them ATS.  

Not covering the 3 points here hurts!

New Orleans Saints @ Los Angeles Rams

LAR 27 NO 9
NO +2 ❌
OVER 52 ❌

Sucker bets are only sucker bets when you don’t take them… Or when a hall of fame quarterback goes down slapping hands with Aaron Donald.

Brees is out with scheduled surgery on his throwing thumb which will, without a doubt, sideline him for many weeks.

In the interim, Teddy Bridgewater will take over and we’re just waiting to see how much Saints HC Sean Payton will dial back the playbook.

The Brees and Payton combo has been the one consistent down in New Orleans; how seamlessly can Bridgewater step into a complex and timing based offense?

For now, can Kamara shoulder the load of the Saints offense Week 3 on the road against Seattle? The Dog isn’t so sure.

Two young and exciting offenses square off when the LA Rams head into Week 3 at Cleveland. Check back at The Dog Pound to see how we’re playing this one, surely to be a Sunday Night Special at the Cleveland Pound!

Philadelphia Eagles @ Atlanta Falcons

ATL 24 PHI 20
ATL +3 ✅

The Home Dog in this one was a relatively easy play, especially in a home opener.

Atlanta got back to their bread and butter, with Matty Ice hooking up both of his star receivers with touchdowns and over 100 yards each. If he can limit the INTs moving forward and they can develop any kind of ground game, Falcons will be a Points Hound dream and look to be a more than favorable play in the future.

Not sure how the Wentz injury will impact the Eagles going forward, but if he takes any more licks like he did Sunday night, The Dog certainly doesn’t like the Eagles prospects.

Cleveland Browns @ New York Jets

CLE -7✅
OVER 44❌

I just talked myself into the OVER. Both of these teams have something to prove and we won’t miss Darnold this week anymore than we miss the AAF.

The Dog Week 2

The Dog put himself in the Doghouse for talking myself into the OVER on this one. We may not have missed Darnold, but we definitely missed Darnold and Siemian.

This one just wrapped up as expected and couldn’t have been more confident on The Brownies, My Dogs, at -7. 

The Brownies did exactly what was expected of them, grounding the Jets Offense on the tarmac. 

The Mayfield led Browns offense with a lot of weapons will be exciting moving forward, but in all honesty should’ve been able to pile on more than they did in this game.  

Not a whole lot else to say, the Jets will continue to struggle to put up points all year with anyone under center, especially if Darnold can’t get healthy and back on the field quick.  With an above average defense and an inept offense, we’ll be eyeing some Jets UNDERs going forward.

2019 Record

The Dog Pound🐾 2019 Record: 4-1 🚀

The Dog’s 2019 Record: 11-11 ⚠️

Check back Thursday morning when The Dog will throw you another bone with his Picks, what you need to know and how you should play Pittsburgh @ San Fran, New Orleans @ Seattle, and the rest of the Week 3 plate of games.