It’s a real shame the Las Vegas Raiders won’t play another prime-time game this season.
There’s no such thing as a lock but fading the silver and black at night has been nearly automatic.
In fact, the Raiders have been so bad that last night Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer didn’t think twice about benching CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens for the first drive of a must-win against them.
Lamb and Pickens still combined for 210 yards and two touchdowns on 14 receptions in a 33-16 Dallas victory.
Dak Prescott’s four TD passes matched a franchise record for the most in a single Monday Night Football game as the Cowboys covered easily as a 3.5-point favourite.
Las Vegas fell to 0-3 straight up in prime time this season.
The Raiders averaged just 12 points in those three losses.
Fortunately, rookie running back Ashton Jeanty delivered with six catches for 27 yards to cash the FanDuel Best Bet from Monday’s Morning Coffee column.
ASHTON JEANTY BRINGS US HOME 🏡
Six catches for 27 yards on eight targets 📈
Over 16.5 receiving is a best bet winner 💰
We capped off one of my busiest weekends of the year with a 12-4 record betting the NFL and Grey Cup 🏈
Back to work this morning ☕️🫡 pic.twitter.com/s9PzVxBTKC
— Domenic Padula (@Domenic_Padula) November 18, 2025
Meanwhile, the Dallas defence held Jeanty to seven yards on six carries as the team’s trade deadline acquisitions Quinnen Williams and Logan Wilson combined for six tackles and 1.5 sacks in their debuts.
Nobody was happier than Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
He was so happy that he might have been tempted to peak at FanDuel’s odds for Dallas to make the playoffs.
Then again, there was no reason to spoil the celebration.
At 4-5-1, the Cowboys remain on the outside looking in at +820 to make and -1600 to miss the postseason.
Can Dallas surprise as a playoff contender in the NFC?
FanDuel’s updated NFL futures markets offer a glimpse into expectations for how the playoff races will play out.
Let’s dive into those numbers in this latest edition of Morning Coffee for Tuesday November 18th, 2025.
Packers, Lions Remain Top Choices to Win NFC North
The NFC West might be the NFL’s best division.
The NFL regular season MVP favourite Matthew Stafford just led the Los Angeles Rams to a narrow 21-19 win over the rival Seattle Seahawks to improve to 8-2.
LA is tied with the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC’s best record.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks fell to 7-3 after Sunday’s loss.
The San Francisco 49ers are third in the NFC West at 7-4.
Seattle is -1800 to make and +880 to miss the playoffs.
San Francisco isn’t far behind at -590 to make and +410 to miss the postseason.
Then it’s the Green Bay Packers sandwiched between the Seahawks and 49ers in the standings with a 6-3-1 record.
The Packers are a 6.5-point favourite for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Green Bay is -350 to make and +265 to miss the playoffs.
The Detroit Lions are currently a half-game back of the Packers on the outside looking in at 6-4.
Detroit is also -350 to make and +265 to miss the playoffs.
Both teams are currently looking up at the Chicago Bears in the NFC North standings.
Interestingly, both teams also have shorter odds to win their division than Chicago.
The Packers are the NFC North favourite at +140.
The Lions are right behind them at +150 to win it.
Meanwhile, the 7-3 Bears are a whopping +300 to win the NFC North.
Chicago is +118 to make and -144 to miss the playoffs.
The Bears are 0-1 against Detroit and will play both of their games against Green Bay in Weeks 14 and 16.
Only the Packers have a more difficult schedule than Chicago the rest of the way.
The stakes will be high when the Lions host the Packers on American Thanksgiving Thursday in Week 13.
If the Bears do in fact fade down the stretch, the winner of that clash between Detroit and Green Bay could gain the inside track towards an NFC title.
Chicago is a three-point favourite against the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers this week.
Detroit is a 10.5-point favourite against the New York Giants.
Can the Bears hold off the Packers and Lions in the NFC North?
If not, Chicago could ultimately miss the playoffs.
All eyes are on the NFC North entering the final stretch.
Will The Chiefs Actually Miss The Playoffs?
The Kansas City Chiefs are on the outside looking in on the AFC playoff race entering Week 11.
At 5-5, Kansas City is off to its worst 10-game start in the Patrick Mahomes era.
The Chiefs are one game back of the Jacksonville Jaguars for the final AFC Wild Card spot.
What are the odds Kansas City misses the postseason?
The Chiefs are -205 to make and +164 to miss the playoffs at FanDuel this morning.
For perspective, the 7-4 Los Angeles Chargers are -170 to make and +138 to miss the playoffs.
The 6-4 Jaguars are -188 to make and +152 to miss the postseason at FanDuel.
Despite trailing the Chargers and Jaguars in the standings, Kansas City has shorter odds to make the playoffs than both of those teams at FanDuel.
The Houston Texans, which are currently tied with KC at 5-5, are +310 to make and -420 to miss the playoffs.
The Baltimore Ravens are also in the mix at 5-5.
However, the Ravens are considered more likely to make the playoffs than the Chiefs, Chargers, and Jaguars based on the likelier path as the AFC North champion.
Baltimore is one game back of the Pittsburgh Steelers for the best record in that division with two head-to-head meetings remaining.
The Ravens are -280 to win the AFC North at FanDuel.
The Steelers, which could reportedly still have injured QB Aaron Rodgers available in Sunday’s game against Chicago, are +250 to win the division.
Meanwhile, the 7-3 Buffalo Bills are -3500 to make and +1200 to miss the playoffs at FanDuel this morning.
The Jaguars have the easiest remaining strength of schedule of the AFC teams in the Wild Card hunt, including two games against the Tennessee Titans.
The Chargers have the eighth-most difficult remaining strength of schedule on paper.
The Chiefs are in the middle of the pack but face another tough test this week against the Indianapolis Colts.
Indianapolis is 8-2 and should be well prepared with their newest addition available for Sunday’s showdown after a bye week.
However, Kansas City is a 3.5-point home favourite.
I’m tempted to play Chargers to miss the playoffs, but the value is gone following’s Sunday’s loss in Jacksonville.
LA could very well go on to be the most talented team to miss the playoffs after being devastated by injuries.
If the AFC plays out according to the current futures at FanDuel, the Chiefs and Jaguars will edge out the Chargers for the final two Wild Card spots.
All eyes will be on Kansas City to see if they can get in.
A Pair of FanDuel Best Bets to Consider for NFL Week 11
I’ll lock in a two-team money line parlay with the Chiefs and New England Patriots to win outright on Sunday at -114 as a FanDuel Best Bet.
Sure, the Chiefs have been a disappointment at 5-5.
Still, they’ve faced a brutal schedule that has included losses away from home to the Chargers, Bills, and the Denver Broncos.
Kansas City has won four straight games at Arrowhead.
Back home after a pair of one-score losses to Buffalo and Denver, I’ll bank on the Chiefs to snap their slide.
Meanwhile, the Patriots had the advantage at Cincinnati before Ja’Marr Chase was suspended for Sunday’s game.
Hopefully, New England can extend its win streak to nine with a victory over the Bengals on Sunday.
Meanwhile, I also like the under 49.5 in an NFC East showdown between Dallas and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Those teams combined for 51 points in a Week 9 game.
However, the Eagles defence has improved with the addition of Jaelen Phillips in the front-seven.
After holding the Lions and Packers under 10 points in back-to-back wins, I expect Philly’s defence to be motivated to slow down Dak and the Cowboys attack.
Meanwhile, the Eagles offence has lacked the type of explosive plays that lead to scoring points in bunches.
With the Cowboys fighting to keep their season alive, I expect them to try to slow the game down and try to limit the number of possessions that Philly gets.
Have a great day, everyone!