Best Bets in Sports: ‘Monday Night Football,’ MLB Playoffs Offer Plenty of Props

Week 5 of the NFL concludes tonight with the Green Bay Packers taking on the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football. Raiders’ wide receiver Davante Adams faces his former team for the first time since being traded. He is listed as questionable with a shoulder injury but is reportedly expected to play. 

Packers quarterback Jordan Love has done well without pressure, completing 62.7% of his passes, and the Raiders are 31st in pressure rate. Love had three touchdown passes against Chicago and Atlanta but struggled against the Lions and Saints. It could be a good bounce-back spot for Love. Jimmy Garoppolo missed last week’s game due to a concussion and returns tonight. Garoppolo has thrown six interceptions in three games. 

In baseball, two top teams are trailing 1-0 at home in a best-of-five series. Atlanta will start Max Fried against Phillies’ Zack Wheeler, who will look to take a 2-0 lead before heading back home for Game 3. The Dodgers were crushed by the Diamondbacks in Game 1, 11-2. Los Angeles will start rookie Bobby Miller against Zac Gallen. Here are my best bets for Monday:

Christian Watson OVER 43.5 receiving yards (-115 on BetMGM Sportsbook)
Watson made his season debut last week coming off a hamstring injury. He played 46% of the snaps with a 22.2% target share. He had two receptions for 25 yards on four targets with a touchdown. He should play a lot more snaps and is coming off extra rest after Week 4’s Thursday night game. Watson is a big-play threat, and the Raiders have allowed five receivers to record at least 66 receiving yards. The Raiders have allowed a reception of at least 40 yards three weeks in a row, and Watson is capable of doing it. He caught eight passes of 20-plus yards last season.

Zack Wheeler OVER 15.5 outs (+100 on BetMGM Sportsbook)
Wheeler has been a great pitcher in the postseason. He has a 0.73 WHIP in the playoffs, the best in MLB history with a minimum of 40 innings. In 42.1 postseason innings, Wheeler has allowed 24 hits with a 2.55 ERA and 41:7 K:BB ratio. He averages a little more than six innings per start. In his start last week against the Marlins, Wheeler pitched 6.2 innings. Wheeler faced the Braves twice in September, pitching five and six innings. He also pitched against Atlanta in May and went eight scoreless innings. Wheeler recorded at least 16 outs in 26 of 32 starts. In his last start of the season, he was limited to 67 pitches to prepare for the postseason. In last season’s NLDS against the Braves, Wheeler pitched six innings. It’s a daunting task against the Braves’ offense and with a day off, the bullpen will be fresh. As long as Wheeler isn’t getting crushed early, he should be able to get 16 outs.

Saturday’s record: 1-1 (-.09 units)
All-time record: 57–32 (+18.41 units)