Week 14 NFL Recap: What We Learned

A look, now, at some of the biggest NFL football betting stories to emerge from Week 14:

Blowouts were on the menu. Many of the marquee games lacked the tight finish that would’ve made them interesting, and many of the larger point spreads on the day turned into outright laughers. Of the anticipated games…

– Cincinnati came into Minnesota as a 6.5-point underdog and was manhandled 30-10.

– The Jets went to Tampa as three-point favorites and toasted the Bucs 26-3.

– Houston hosted 6.5-point underdog Seattle and crushed the Seahawks 34-7.

– Washington traveled to Oakland as a slim one-point favorite yet won easily, 34-13.

Yet the real stories — and the gaudiest ones as well — were the blowouts in Tennessee and Baltimore. The Titans hosted the 1-11 Rams and were heavy favorites (-13) coming in, but the 47-7 scoreline indicated that the 13-point disparity wasn’t an accurate indicator of the difference between these two squads. St. Louis started rookie QB Keith Null, the former West Texas A&M standout, and he was awful. Null threw five interceptions and finished with a 37.8 QB rating, seemingly shell shocked by a Titans team that believed — unlike St. Louis — that it still had a lot to play for.

In Baltimore, an already-miserable Detroit Lions season got worse. A lot worse. The Ravens beat the Lions 48-3 and set a myriad of franchise records in the process — total yardage in a game (548), rushing touchdowns in a game (five) and a tie for most points in a single contest. Much like St. Louis, the Lions started a backup QB — Daunte Culpepper took over for an injured Matthew Stafford — and he was ineffective at best. Culpepper completed just 16-of-34 passing for 135 yards with two interceptions, guiding a rudderless offense to just 229 all-purpose yards on the day.

So why are we writing about these two awful games? Because they’re precursors for what to expect down the stretch of this NFL season. St. Louis wanted to get a look at a young QB prospect in Null, so they used the Tennessee game to do it. Detroit didn’t want to further injure QB Matthew Stafford (after all, their season was done a while ago), so they put a rusty Daunte Culpepper in there instead. This is why wagering on the last few weeks of any NFL season is tough — you can’t predict what is motivating each team when the season is already gone.

So keep an eye on the following situations down the stretch:

Seattle: Matt Hasselbeck has been hurt all year and took another solid licking during the debacle in Houston on Sunday. Backup QB Seneca Wallace got hurt (hamstring) against the Texans as well. Third-stringer Mike Teel, the former Rutgers star, could get a sniff.

Atlanta: At 6-7, the Falcons’ playoff chances fall somewhere between slim and none. Do not expect QB Matt Ryan or RB Michael Turner to play much, if all all, in these final few weeks. The Falcons will likely ride out the season with QB Chris Redman (although they might want to see what they have in former Alabama signal-caller John Parker Wilson) amd the RB duties will likely fall to Jason Snelling, who has been dynamic in relief of Turner (339 carries, four TDs).

Oakland: Bruce Gradkowski was hurt against the Redskins on Sunday and that only meant one thing — the return of JaMarcus Russell. Unsurprisingly, Russell was horrible (sacked six times in just two quarters!) and he’ll probably be horrible for the remainder of the season. Gradkowski is already listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game at Denver.