NFL Week 11 Preview: Chiefs’ Azteca cracker and an AFC North clash
Published:
Odds and look-ahead for the major Gridiron action
The biggest clash of this NFL weekend is likely to be taking place south of the border, with the only 9-1 sides facing off in Mexico City.
Elsewhere, there’s a potentially season-defining game in the AFC North. As for NFC South hopefuls Carolina Panthers, they’re scrambling to recover after a mauling in Steel City.
Ahead of the action, we look at the big issues and deliver the odds…
Crunch time in AFC North as Bengals head to Baltimore
Last season saw 9-7 Baltimore Ravens agonisingly lose out on a Wild Card spot after defeat to Cincinnati Bengals. This time around, both sides are in the hunt for one – with the Ohio franchise currently occupying one of the AFC’s two spots.
The Ravens have lost their last three, though the overriding theme has been one awful quarter a game costing them. They blew a 17-7 fourth quarter lead to lose to New Orleans Saints, before a 17-0 second-quarter mauling in Charlotte.
Baltimore have won just two of their last five home games, while the Bengals are decent on the road. This is a tough one to call, but Andy Dalton and co. could edge it.
Top two offences face off in Estadio Azteca
It’s one of the world’s most spectacular stadiums, and this weekend the Estadio Azteca hosts a titanic clash between Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs.
These two are the highest-scoring sides in the entire NFL, as well as sharing the joint-best records of 9-1. Between them, the pair have chalked up 698 points over the course of 10 games apiece.
But neither are all that strong defensively. In fact, both have worse defensive records than the 2-7 New York Giants. In short, this is likely to be a straight shootout.
It’s 27/20 for Over 67.0 points in the game. The Chiefs have won all of their last six games against the Rams (then in their St. Louis guise). Kansas are 23/20 to make it a magnificent seven.
Can Panthers recover from Steelers mauling?
Carolina Panthers have generally been pretty impressive this season. But Ron Rivera’s men suffered a 52-21 loss in Pittsburgh last weekend. That marked their heaviest loss since 2016.
But they have a good chance to bounce back against Detroit Lions. The Lions have lost three games on the spin, and have conceded over 20 points in each of their last six games.
Defensively, they should be far easier to handle for Carolina than the Steelers’ running game was. In the Money Line, the Panthers are 1/2 shots. Meanwhile, the more ambitious CAR Panthers -6.5 handicap is available at 13/10.
Click here for the latest NFL odds.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
