Welcome to the fourth day of the Bet Basics Advent Calendar. Hopefully you are rested after taking a much-needed break yesterday. Now we can refocus and turn our attention to the Week 13 slate of the NFL season.
Now if we were doing the “12 Days of Christmas,” you’d probably expect to see something about the four calling birds, who ironically are all in action today thanks to a nicely timed bye week for the league’s fifth bird team, the Arizona Cardinals. However, if you read the weekly picks, you’d know that I’m actually picking against three of those four birds, on the spread at least.
So instead of taking the bird teams, how about this? We’ll bet on four players and their receiving yards today, as the football flies through the air much like a bird. So let’s take flight and focus on some aerial attacks today.
**All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook**
Day 4 – Profiting through the air
George Pickens (PIT) OVER 49.5 receiving yards (-110)
Take a look at the Falcons‘ secondary for four seconds and you’ll understand why this pick should win with ease. In what projects to be a fairly close game, the Atlanta secondary has been less than stellar and is really in touch with the giving season. George Pickens makes an impact almost every week, typically finding himself making a highlight reel worthy play in the process. The Falcons rank in the bottom five in opponent passing yards per game, meaning Kenny Pickett and the Steelers should give the Dirty Birds a taste of their own medicine with an aerial attack of their own.
In order to win this pick, Pickens needs to finish with at least 50 receiving yards in the game. The price of -110 means that you would need to bet $110 in order to win $100 if Pickens finished the game with 50 or more receiving yards.
Terry McLaurin (WSH) OVER 63.5 receiving yards (-110)
If you’ve been following along all week, you will have noticed that I am a huge fan of the Commanders‘ Terry McLaurin and his matchup against the Giants. History tells us that this is a play that we can’t pass up on, as we explained in the touchdown parlay of the week and our weekly newsletter. Scary Terry is going to take advantage of a generous Big Blue secondary.
Tyler Conklin (NYJ) OVER 30.5 receiving yards (-110)
In Mike White’s season debut last week, Tyler Conklin had three catches and 50 yards receiving in a monsoon in northern New Jersey. This week, he returns to the dome he called home in what is a revenge game against the Minnesota Vikings, his former team that ranks last in opponent passing yards per game. The Jets won’t have to deal with the weather this week, meaning we like Conklin to surpass the low total, even though he’s been splitting time with fellow tight end C.J. Uzomah. Plus the Jets are basically just bigger, mechanical birds, so that fits nicely here with our theme.
Christian Watson (GB) OVER 48.5 receiving yards (-110)
The Packers will start Aaron Rodgers today, despite the countless injuries he’s dealing with. In the past, that would mean we should stay away, but as Jordan Love displayed last week, it doesn’t matter who the quarterback is in Green Bay. Christian Watson will still find a way to produce. The speedy rookie receiver should enjoy a nice matchup against a leaky Bears‘ secondary that was just shredded by Mike White last week. As the injuries mount in Chicago, it’s important to note that Watson can surpass this total easily in just one play so don’t be discouraged if he’s quiet early on.
“The Flock”
If you want to parlay these four players, well, the parlay comes out to a hilarious +1228, which is right around when gift return season begins. That’s right. After weeks, sometimes months of shopping and gift giving, only a few days after the festivities, the process of returning takes center stage. In our case though, this is fairly desirable, as we want the sportsbooks to give us a return here, returning our money, but more than we originally gave. A $100 bet would payout an additional $1,228 if all four picks win. For those who prefer to minimize risk, bet each of these picks straight, which means you are only betting on one outcome. As always, happy betting and please play responsibly.
A parlay is when you are betting on multiple outcomes in hopes of securing a larger payout. In order to win, all four of these picks need to win.