We are officially past the halfway point of the first-ever, 17-game National Football League (NFL) regular season, and last weekend saw some topsy-turvy results that felt like a seismic shift in the gridiron equilibrium.

Most of the JustBet favourites lost their games (some by huge margins) and the ones that were victorious, struggled to make the grade. Surprisingly, the teams that lived up to expectations (as far as betting odds are concerned) were the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins who beat the Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans, respectively.

The most jaw-dropping results came from the Buffalo Bills whose explosive offense was stifled in a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, an underhanded Arizona Cardinals blew past the favoured San Francisco 49ers and the weekend’s featured game had the Los Angeles Rams being humbled at home by the Derrick Henry-less Tennessee Titans.

The Bills put on a dismal display in a 9-6 loss to the Jaguars. Buffalo was previously leading the NFL in scoring but couldn’t muster a single touchdown drive on Sunday and saw their streak of 20+ games with 20+ first downs snapped by a Jacksonville defense that sits in the bottom five in every major statistical category.

The Jaguars were allowing opponents an average of 29 points per game heading into Sunday and the Bills, with all their offensive prowess, were only able to put together one sustained drive that eventually sputtered in the Jacksonville red zone. Last weekend will be counted as an anomaly for Buffalo (5-3), and they will look to rebound on the road against the New York Jets (2-6) this Sunday. Jacksonville (2-6) will visit the Indianapolis Colts (4-5) this weekend with high expectations, but the dream of back-to-back wins may be a bit ambitious.

The Cardinals, with only one loss this season, entered the Week 9 matchup without quarterback (QB) Kyler Murray and receivers DeAndre Hopkins and AJ Green, rendering them as JustBet underdogs to the 49ers. However, as it turned out, the QB play of Colt McKoy (249 yards and a touchdown), the contributions of James Conner and Christian Kirk plus the defensive stance of the Cardinals proved way too much for their opponents.

Arizona wasted little time taking control, as they had a 14-0 lead after the first quarter and scored the first 17 points of the game. San Francisco trailed by 10 at half-time and never got any closer during the second half, ending with a 31-17 score line and the 49ers without a home victory this season. The Cardinals’ defense gobbled up two fumbles and an interception, which proved the difference-maker in the game as their offence had no turnovers and every other statistics were (more or less) on par.

The Cardinals (8-1) should have their reinforcements back for this Sunday’s encounter against the Carolina Panthers (4-5) and are expected to improve their record while the 49ers (3-5) will, unfortunately, not have any respite as their opponent next Monday night are the Los Angeles Rams (7-2) who will be looking to rebound following the events of last week.

The Rams have been looking ominous all season and welcomed the Tennessee Titans into SoFi Stadium last Sunday night for an expected mauling – the Titans, however, had other ideas. The Rams obviously entered the game high on the fact that running back Derrick Henry was absent, and his replacement was newly signed veteran Adrian Peterson, therefore a walk in the park was in the making. Now, while the running game was covered (69 total yards), the Tennessee defense was apparently unaccounted for.

The Titans defense rattled QB Matthew Stafford right out the gate, and after leading the Rams to a field goal on their first drive, he threw back-to-back interceptions deep in his own territory to leave the home team on their heels the rest of the way. There wasn’t a lot of offense as both teams finished the first half with 94 total yards each, but the Titans scored 21 unanswered second quarter points that put the game out of reach, resulting in a final 28-16 score.

Stafford has looked like a Most Valuable Player (MVP) candidate all year, except last Sunday night when he looked like the same guy who spent so many years running scared and forcing plays with the Detroit Lions. Truth be told, the Rams out-passed, our-ran and dominated in every statistical category, but lost the game on turnovers and penalties, leading to only their second loss of the season. Their pride might be hurt, but there is no reason for them not to get back to winning ways against the 49ers this Sunday.

The Titans (7-2) will return home in Week 10 after their big prime-time win, to face the New Orleans Saints (5-3), who narrowly lost to the wavering Atlanta Falcons last week. The Titans are without NFL rushing leader Henry and the Saints have lost QB Jameis Winston for the season, so the game may be balanced offensively but, if the Tennessee defense is as stout as it was last week, New Orleans should brace for the flood – are you ready for some football?

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Super Bowl LVI ChampionTampa Bay Buccaneers 6.60

Team Odds

Buffalo Bills 6.80

Los Angeles Rams 8.60

Arizona Cardinals 8.80

Baltimore Ravens 11.00

Green Bay Packers 11.00

Tennessee Titans 11.00

Dallas Cowboys 12.00

Kansas City Chiefs 12.00

Los Angeles Chargers 20.00

*Only Top 10 odds shown (see

website for full list)