We have two football games Monday night in the NFL. Let’s double the fun!
The Tennessee Titans (4-8) travel to South Beach to take on the explosive Miami Dolphins (9-3). And in the other matchup, the playoff-hopeful Green Bay Packers (6-6) make the trip to The Meadowlands to play the New York Giants (4-8).
The Titans are coming off a crushing overtime loss to the Colts, which all but eliminated them from playoff contention. The Dolphins are riding a three-game winning streak and remain in contention for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill remains on pace to break the NFL single-season record for receiving yards.
Meanwhile, the Packers have entered the NFC playoff picture with three straight victories, including a big upset of the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 13. The Giants have shown signs of life with two straight wins behind backup quarterback Tommy DeVito.
Let’s dive into three of my favorite PrizePicks selections for Monday night’s two-game slate.
Tyjae Spears more than 35.5 rushing + receiving yards
The Titans should be in evaluation mode with their playoff chances residing less than five percent.
Tennessee’s third-round rookie running back has looked explosive in a productive first season as Derrick Henry’s primary backup. He saw his largest workload of the season last week when he earned 16 carries and six targets.
The Dolphins have the NFL’s most prolific offense, so expect the Titans to be playing from behind in this game. Tennessee should be forced to the air more than usual and that could mean even more playing time for Spears, who is the team’s preferred backfield option in the passing game.
Given the potential for Spears to be on the field a ton in a negative game script, and with the Titans’ playoff hopes being almost nil, the rookie should be able to beat this modest rushing/receiving yards projection.
De’Von Achane more than 77.5 rushing + receiving yards
Achane has dealt with injuries for the majority of his rookie season, but when he has been on the field he has looked like one of the most explosive players in the entire league.
The Dolphins rookie running back has beaten this projection in three of the four full games he has played. He fell just short last week in a blowout of the Commanders, but the encouraging thing is he was still used to chew up clock after the game was out of hand.
He out-snapped fellow running back Raheem Mostert 58 percent to 39 percent in the game. The rushing attempt split was 50 percent to 32 percent in favor of Achane, and he earned 16 percent of the team’s targets compared to only four percent for Mostert.
Him being on the field with his team up multiple scores last week should be a positive signal for his workload in this game as it projects similarly for the Dolphins.
Achane has been one of the most efficient players in the league when he has seen the field, and his usage last week suggests he should be able to beat this rushing/receiving yards projection.
Romeo Doubs more than 45.5 receiving yards
Doubs leads the Packers in target share this season at 17.9 percent. Christian Watson (16.9 percent) is second on the team and Luke Musgrave (13.2%) is fourth. Watson and Musgrave are ruled out for Monday’s game with injuries.
Doubs has only topped this projection in four of 12 games this season, but he should be in line for his biggest workload yet.
Betting on the NFL?
Quarterback Jordan Love has played much better in the last three games, completing at least 67 percent of his passes in each game.
If Love and Doubs – who is second on the team in air yards share (26.4%) – can connect on a downfield target or two, the second-year receiver should be able to easily clear this receiving yards projection.
Even if they are unable to connect downfield, Doubs has a chance to beat the projection on increased volume alone.
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