Football, football, and more football and some baseball, too!

Man, oh man, the sports calendar is packed this weekend. Full schedules in the NFL, college football, and MLB will provide us with a ton of great opportunities to line our pockets with cash.💵 As promised, today’s newsletter is jam-packed to close out the week. We will have bonus plays all weekend, so keep your eyes locked on Twitter/X @give_me_wins so you don’t miss out on any chances to head to the pay window. It’s probably going to take you about six minutes to get through today’s newsletter, so sit back, have a tasty beverage🥃, and enjoy reading how we’re taking down the books today.🔥

Here’s what’s on tap:

• We’re banking on a pair of aces to roll on the road⚾

• A pair of MLB pitcher props that present great value🧢

• A road dog in the NFL that we’re over the moon about🏈

• Three CFB favorites poised to cash🤑

Here we go!

MLB Sides and Totals: Look for the Snakes to bite the Cubs this afternoon

These two games stood out as opportunities to hit paydirt among the 15 games on today’s MLB schedule.

Diamondbacks ML-108 vs. Cubs: This play is about two things, and it’s primarily the first one that has us on the Diamondbacks today. First, Arizona has a massive edge in the starting pitchers, sending Zac Gallen to the hill while the Cubs counter with the extremely hittable Jameson Taillon; ‘nuff said there. The other factor for us today is that the Snakes' bats have actually been in a little better form than the Cubbies' bats against right-handed pitching over the last 10 days. With Arizona having a solid bullpen, we don’t have to remove them from the equation, so the full game moneyline is the play. 

Mets F5 ML-130 vs. Twins: This play boils down to us fading Dallas Keuchel and believing that Kodai Senga can slow the Twins bats down for five innings. While Minnesota may plate a couple of runs against Senga, look for the Mets, who hit lefties well to tee off on Keuchel. We want to stay clear of the New York pen, so we will lay the extra wood and play the first half moneyline here.  

MLB Pitcher Props: Quality over quantity today

Even with MLB back with a full slate on Friday, only two plays presented themselves as spots we liked in today’s pitcher props market.

Colin Rea u4.5 K’s (+116): We have Rea projected at four strikeouts, so at +116, we have over 26% positive EV, making this a no-brainer play. 

Zac Gallen o4.5 K’s (-155): Our projections have Gallen almost two strikeouts over this total, so even though we’re laying 55 cents, this play makes sense. 

NFL Week 1: We’re swimming with the Dolphins in LA

We were wrong about Travis Kelce playing last night, and even Patrick Mahomes couldn’t overcome Kadarius “ Edward Scissorhands” Toney’s drops in the Chiefs’ loss to the Lions in Thursday night’s opener. What surprised us even more was the slow pace at which this game was played, making the over a lost cause by the early stages of the fourth quarter. We’ve been doling out Week 1 plays for almost two weeks, and here’s another we really like to cash. We may have another play or two by Sunday at noon ET, so keep tabs on our Twitter/X page @give_me_wins so you don’t miss out.

Dolphins +3 (-110) vs. Chargers: The Chargers are an excellent football team, just not a very deep one, and this week, it could hurt them despite it being the season opener. With LA head coach Brandon Staley so worried about injuries to his starters, he gave them hardly any run in the preseason, and as a result, the Bolts may end up using much of this game to knock off rust. The Dolphins made the playoffs last season despite a bottom-five turnover differential. With that mark primed for improvement and Miami’s talent on both sides of the ball, it’s hard not to see them as a legit Super Bowl contender. The road to that deep playoff run starts Sunday, where they catch three free points thanks to the Chargers' nonexistent home-field advantage. So take the points and swim with the Dolphins. 

College Football Week 2: Expect the Buffaloes to trample the Cornhuskers

This weekend’s college football slate has some great matchups that should provide all kinds of thrills and excitement. It has also provided us with great opportunities to head to the pay window. We put out three plays earlier this week; we’ve got three more today and might have one or two more by noon ET Saturday for our Twitter/X page @give_me_wins, so keep your eyes peeled.

Colorado -2.5 (-105) vs. Nebraska: I’m not crazy about having to lay points here when we could have been getting points had we pounced early, before the books adjusted the lines in the wake of Colorado’s impressive win over TCU. With that said, we’re on the right side of a key number (3), and we’re of the belief that the Buffaloes are the better team and will prevail on Saturday. As we mentioned in our analysis of last week's Nebraska-Minnesota matchup, we think Matt Rhule is the right guy to turn the Cornhuskers program around, but we also believe this season will be a long one in Lincoln. As for Colorado, in the TCU game, they showed several things that make a win and cover likely. First, Coach Prime’s son Shedeur Sanders can really play the quarterback position, which means the Buffaloes always have at least a puncher's chance in any game. They have speed to burn, and as we always say in football, speed kills. They’ve got a legit star on both sides of the ball that has to be accounted for on every play in wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter. And finally, this is one hell of a coaching staff with top-shelf coordinators. So, while the line value isn’t there, the fact that we are on the right side of a key number with the better team makes laying the points a sound play.  

Utah -7.5 (-110) vs. Baylor: Here’s a case where we are on the wrong side of a key number, and while we’re not thrilled about it, buying the point we need to get on the right side of this number will be too costly and we expect the Utes to win this game by at least two scores. Utah gets back quarterback Cameron Rising back, which will open up an offense that did just enough in a Week 1 win over Florida. The Utes' defense is elite and should have little trouble slowing down an ordinary Baylor offense that will be operating with backup QB Sawyer Robertson stepping in for the injured Blake Shapen. The biggest problem for the Bears is not their offense, which, outside of the turnovers, actually punched above its weight in Week 1, it’s the fact that their defense, which was expected to be the strength of this team, gave up 441 yards in a Week 1 upset loss to Texas State. That type of defensive performance versus the Utes will make this one a blowout by halftime. While the Baylor defense should be better this week, they are not facing Texas State again, meaning they will likely struggle on Saturday. I also wouldn’t count on a 500+ yard offensive performance from the Bears offense with a backup QB, limited weapons, and a shaky O-line. The result, Baylor falls in front of the home folks by double digits.  

North Carolina -18.5 (-105) vs. Appalachian St.: North Carolina suffered a huge loss this week when transfer wideout Tez Walker was ruled ineligible for the season. Coming into the season, one of the major concerns for the Tar Heels was who was going to catch star QB Drake Maye’s passes; well, it won’t be Walker, and if you watched UNC’s Week 1 win over South Carolina, you’re still left wondering who will lead that receiving corps. That said, we expected a somewhat underwhelming offensive performance in Week 1 and made that part of the foundation of taking the under in the UNC-SC matchup. The surprise in that game for us is how well the Tar Heels defense played. Look for that to carry over to this week. Appalachian State will be rolling with backup signal caller Joey Aguilar, who, while he threw four touchdowns in the Mountaineers' workmanlike win over FCS program Garner-Webb, is a step down from starter Ryan Burger. Don’t expect the fireworks we got in last year’s 63-61 matchup between these two squads or the close score. While Maye and the UNC offense may still be finding their way, expect them to put up 40+ on State while the much improved Tar Heels defense holds Appalachian State and their backup QB to right around 20 points, resulting in a win and cover for North Carolina. 

That’s a wrap gang. Another incredible week is in the books. Again, make sure to check Twitter/X @give_me_wins for all the latest from the GIVE ME WINS team. Enjoy all the great sports action this weekend. We’ll be back Monday to start a kickoff a new week.😊