Last week, I advised betting on the Tennessee Titans. For that, I apologize.

It was not a prank. It was not a test to see if any of you would push back. I genuinely thought Cam Ward’s quiet, linear improvement would fall perfectly into a Jacksonville Jaguars brain fart. Instead, Tennessee’s early 3-0 lead became a 25-3 blowout and we were left stuck with the least interest week a bettor can have; a coin flip, .500 weekend.

Week 14 is an opportunity to bounce back, but it’s filled with lines we don’t love. The last 14-game slate of the weekend opens and closes with some compelling games, but the creamy middle is meant for an early RedZone day rather than watching any one game all the way through (and, subsequently, the creeping advance of ads into what was once one of the NFL’s purest, most valuable products. The next generation will never understand what has been taken from us).

Let’s team up with our resident NFL betting expert, the Rhode Island Scumbag, and go make some non-Titans bets. We’ll see if we can build on our nice little profit (13 units in 13 weeks). But first, if you’re doing some last-minute playoff-push fantasy tinkering and need a fill-in running back or wide receiver, we’ve got you covered there as well.

Let’s get on to the bets. All Scumbag analysis is in blockquotes below.

After a very promising start with the Thursday games, our profits dissipated like Thanksgiving decor on Black Friday. That pretty much leaves us in neutral as we head into an abbreviated Week 14 schedule. Here are some games I like that could potentially get us back in the black this week.

Scumbag Lock of the Week I: Cleveland Browns (-3.5) vs Tennessee Titans (one unit)

Cleveland looks to get back in the win column with the hapless Titans (see above) coming to town. The Browns offense has shown they can be somewhat (barely?) serviceable with Shedeur Sanders and the defense remains one of the best in the league.

The Titans got whooped by the Jaguars’ last week, and face an even better defense this time around. The Cleveland run game could lead the way, allowing Sanders to game-managed his way to a second win.

Scumbag Lock of the Week II: Jacksonville Jaguars (+2) vs Indianapolis Colts (one unit)

For reasons unknown, Everbank Stadium has turned into a house of horrors for the Colts. The last time the Colts actually beat the Jaguars on the road was 11 (!) years ago. My favorite implosion was the 2022 Colts getting beat by the 14-point home underdog Jags the final game of the season and missing the playoffs due to it.

The current version of the Colts are stuck in neutral and just lost their newest trade acquisition (Sauce Gardiner) to injury. The Jaguars’ offense looked good last week with Jakobi Meyers and Brenton Strange providing much needed stability for Trevor Lawrence. I think the struggles for the Colts continue as they try to keep their playoff hopes alive against the rejuvenated Jaguars.

The Rams look to get back to their winning ways against the reeling host Cardinals and should make last week’s loss at the Panthers a distant memory. Los Angeles is better than Arizona in virtually every aspect of the game (offense, defense, special teams) and fighting for the top seed in the NFC.

The Cardinals, although plucky with Brissett under center, should not provide too much resistance for the buzzsaw that is the Rams offense. Arizona will put up some points in garbage time, but I feel like the Rams get right here and continue to focus on locking up the NFC’s playoff bye.

Scumbag Lock of the Week IV: Houston Texans (+3.5) at Kansas City Chiefs (one unit)

Houston historically has had a hard time playing in Kansas City. Last year’s regular season loss gained notoriety and fed the rumors that the refs weren’t as impartial as they should have been, which is all I’ll say on that matter (but you know what I’m talking about).

The Texans boast arguably the best defense in the NFL and look to keep their positive momentum going in their late season surge to the top of the wide open AFC South. Kansas City has its back against the wall, possibly missing the playoffs for the first time since the pre-Mahomes era (2014). They pretty much need to win out to make it in, so they will be playing with some desperation.

Ultimately, that’s a long way of saying this is going to be a very tight game. It will most likely come down to a field goal, making the extra 0.5 points the Texans are getting intriguing enough for me to back them on the road.

Last week: 2-2, +0 unitsSeason to date: 30-24 (.556), +5.4 unitsMy non-Scumbag bets: Atlanta Falcons +7.5 vs. the Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars +2 vs. the Indianapolis Colts and Washington Commanders +2.5 at the Minnesota Vikings (one unit each)

Sam Darnold has struggled lately. His passer rating dips from 116 to 67.3 when pressured. He’s facing a Falcons team with a top-seven pressure rate. He’s also part of a West Coast team heading east for an early game. While I hate putting any faith in Atlanta, this is a team that should be able to keep things within a touchdown. The under of 44.5 points is tempting as well.

Last week I was originally on the Colts to win, then flipped that pick to the Houston Texans, which made their +4.5 line an easy bet to make. This week I did the same with the Jaguars, who are home underdogs despite a three-game winning streak and a matchup against a quarterback with a broken leg who is 1-3 in his last four outings.

The easy counter would be for Indianapolis to lean on Jonathan Taylor to carry the offense, but that hasn’t worked. Jacksonville has a top 10 defense that’s allowed under four yards per carry this fall. While Trevor Lawrence is a bit of a concern, he’s got an adult in the receiving corps now with Jakobi Meyers and Brenton Strange is going up against a defense that’s allowed the second-most receiving yards to tight ends in 2025.

We’ve established that the Vikings quarterback situation is butt. Marcus Mariota, however, is not. He’s also playing significantly more efficient football while blitzed, which throws a wrench in Brian Flores’ defensive plan. Terry McLaurin’s return and Mariota’s subsequent spamming of targets to him (14 last week) further limits Minnesota’s ability to rely on man coverage. I don’t love only getting two points on the road, but I think the Commanders pull out the win here.

Last week: 2-2, +0 unitsSeason to date: 28-24-1 (.538), +7.6 units