🎅 A Football Story

It’s FRIDAY! Hey Alexa, “play Frank Sinatra Christmas classics”. You’ve officially made it to the holiday season! If you’re working today, I highly suggest this being the last email you read all day. We got Thursday Night Football to recap and a juicy preview of Week 16 in the NFL. Yesterday we had OT winners in the NHL, college basketball rivalries, a college bowl blowout and some NBA stars in were action. Let’s gear you up for a holiday weekend full of sports. I hope those Sinatra tunes are already blaring, let’s party.

We won’t see you until Tuesday the 26th. Yes, the boys will be “working” (watching sports and writing about them) on Christmas to make sure you’re all caught up on the weekend of NFL football and Christmas Day NBA games.

Blitz Prime readers, we’ll see you at Noon ET later today for a full breakdown on this weekend’s NFL best bets. Subscribe here if you haven’t yet.

WTF Stat: Japanese superstar pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto has signed a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers worth $325M over 12 years (most ever total money to a pitcher and has never played an MLB game). The Dodgers have now committed $1,025,000,000 to just two players over the last few weeks. Both are Japanese players as Shohei Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700M contract earlier this month. They also signed P Tyler Glasnow to 5-year, $136.5M deal last week.

🏈 Thursday Night Lights + Week 16 Preview

NFL - Thursday Night Football

• Los Angeles Rams (8-7) 30, New Orleans Saints (7-8) 22: The Rams rolled after scoring a TD on their opening drive with Matthew Stafford (328 YDS, 2 TD) staying hot finding his rookie superstar Puka Nacua (9 REC, 164 YDS, 1 TD) at will backed up by a strong ground game behind Kyren Williams (104 YDS, 1 TD) - score makes this game seem closer than it was, pretty classic TNF blowout

• Playoff Implications: The Rams hold onto an NFC Wild Card spot (currently the 6 seed) and no matter what happens this weekend they will still be in the Wild Card owning lots of tiebreakers over NFC teams. The Saints are on the outside looking in just hoping for a division title in a very poor NFC South that is currently led by the 7-7 Tampa Bay Bucs (Bucs own tie-breaker over Saints but they play in Week 17).

See the full box score here and the current NFL standings here.

Week 16 - Top Games

• Baltimore Ravens (11-3) @ San Francisco 49ers (11-3) Monday 8:15pm ET, ABC: According to Vegas oddsmaker, this is the most likely Super Bowl matchup come February as football fans will be getting an additional Christmas present Monday with this one. 49ers QB Brock Purdy and Ravens QB Lamar Jackson sit #1 and #2 in betting odds to win the MVP respectively as both teams look to hold onto their conference first overall seeds and bye weeks. Niners are riding a six-game win streak and look like the best team in football in the last decade, but the Ravens as 5-point road underdogs will be a very challenging test as the new air-raid offense with coordinator Todd Monken has seemingly worked out.

• Dallas Cowboys (10-4) @ Miami Dolphins (10-4) Sunday 4:25pm ET, FOX: The Cowboys are coming off a blowout loss to Buffalo, the Dolphins divisional rival, and look to rebound as Dak Prescott has yet to impress on the road this season. With the Eagles losing three games in a row, it’s pertinent the Cowboys keep winning to keep control of the NFC East division lead. Miami sits atop the AFC East with hopes of the #1 seed. They dismantled the Jets last week, but who cares, it’s the Jets. WR Tyreek Hill’s health should be a top priority for the Fins after he missed last week and will be a game-time decision on Sunday afternoon at home.

Subscribe to Blitz Prime to see our betting picks for these games.

The Rest of Week 16

Saturday

• Cincinnati Bengals (8-6) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7) 4:30pm ET, NBC

• Buffalo Bills (8-6) @ Los Angeles Chargers (5-9) 8:00pm ET, Peacock

Sunday

• Cleveland Browns (9-5) @ Houston Texans (8-6) 1:00pm ET, CBS

• Detroit Lions (10-4) @ Minnesota Vikings (7-7) 1:00pm ET, FOX

• Green Bay Packers (6-8) @ Carolina Panthers (2-12) 1:00pm ET, FOX

• Indianapolis Colts (8-6) @ Atlanta Falcons (6-8) 1:00pm ET, FOX

• Seattle Seahawks (7-7) @ Tennessee Titans (5-9) 1:00pm ET, CBS

• Washington Commanders (4-10) @ New York Jets (5-9) 1:00pm ET, CBS

• Jacksonville Jaguars (8-6) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-7) 4:05pm ET, CBS

• Arizona Cardinals (3-11) @ Chicago Bears (5-9) 4:25pm ET, FOX

• New England Patriots (3-11) @ Denver Broncos (7-7) 8:15pm ET, NFL Network

Monday

• Las Vegas Raiders (6-8) @ Kansas City Chiefs (9-5) 1:00pm ET, CBS

• New York Giants (5-9) @ Philadelphia Eagles (10-4) 4:30pm ET, FOX

2023 NFL Pick Record is 32-15-1. Looking for more insight from our experts? Sign up for Blitz Prime, our new premium weekly newsletter featuring our best bets of the week!

NHL - Top Games

• Washington Capitals 3, Columbus Blue Jackets 2 (OT): Ovi ended his 15-game goal-less streak at the perfect time wristing home the OT winner with just 53 ticks left on the clock

• Buffalo Sabres 9, Toronto Maple Leafs 3: Two days after the Sabres allowed nine goals, they responded with their own offensive eruption scoring three goals in each period - does anyone else look at this score and just think field goals? Football math is real

• Tampa Bay Lightning 5, Vegas Golden Knights 4: The Lightning went down in a 2-0 hole, but roared back scoring four goals in the second period and Nicholas Paul netted the game-winner with under two minutes in regulation

See the full NHL scoreboard here and the current standings here.

College Basketball - Top Games

• NCAAM | #9 Kentucky 95, Louisville 76: The Bluegrass showdown was instead a down behind the Wildcats’ Antonio Reeves 30-point night despite a slow start as the against their in-state rival

• NCAAM | #1 Purdue 100, Jacksonville 57: The highest ranked hoops squad in the country made slight work of the Dolphins with reigning College Player of Year Zach Edey (18 PTS, 8 REB) leading the way

• NCAAW | #4 Iowa 98, Loyola Chicago 69: The women’s hoops Queen Caitlin Clark (35 PTS, 17 REB, 10 AST) recorded her 13th career triple double, which also only the second ever 35+, 15+, 10+ triple-double in D1 women’s basketball history - if I’m an opposing coach playing the Hawkeyes, I am face-guarding Clark full court for the entire game just rotating people off the bench to avoid fatigue

• NCAAW | #2 UCLA 85, Hawaii 46: The Bruins had five ladies in double-figures in a dominating win

See the full men’s scoreboard here and the full women’s scoreboard here.

College Football - Only Game

• Boca Raton Bowl | South Florida 45, Syracuse 0: USF QB Byrum Brown (214 YDS, 3 TDs, 65 rush YDS) balled out on the ground and through the air hitting WR Sean Atkins for two scores as the Orange offense could do absolutely nothing - Cuse can blame the home state advantage for USF the loss

NBA - Top Games

• Oklahoma City Thunder 134, Los Angeles Clippers 115: The young core of the Thunder is clicking in 2023 sitting at 18-8 as they took out a streaking Clippers squad riding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s (31 PTS, 8 REB) hot hand - Chet Holmgren dunk of the year nominee? You be the judge

• Utah Jazz 119, Detroit Pistons 111: Little Caesars Arena rained down with “sell the team” chants as the Pistons are just one loss shy of the single season record for most consecutive loses

• Milwaukee Bucks 118, Orlando Magic 114: Giannis (37 PTS, 10 REB, 6 AST) did Giannis things as the Bucks outlast a gutsy Magic team that had three players over 20 points including both the Wagner brothers

See the full NBA scoreboard here and the current standings here.

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Player with the most points in Boston Celtics franchise history?

A. John Havlicek

B. Paul Pierce

C. Larry Bird

D. Jayson Tatum

Boston Sports Trips Giveaway!

Boston Bruins travel to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, January 27, 2023. This giveaway includes:

• (2) Roundtrip Airfare 

• (2) Suite Tickets

• Free food and drinks (21+)

• Airport transportation

Enter to win the Ultimate Bruins Daytrip to Philly Giveaway here!

On December 22, 2020, Lionel Messi scored his 644th goal with FC Barcelona in a 3-0 win over Real Valladolid. This goal broke the legendary Pele's record for most goals with a single club. Pele had 643 goals with Santos from 1956 to 1974 - send us a reply to this email if you think Messi is the GOAT!

Friday

• CFB: Georgia Tech vs. UCF 6:30pm ET, ESPN

• NBA: Washington Wizards @ Golden State Warriors 10:00pm ET, ESPN

• NCAAM: Georgetown @ #6 Marquette 7:00pm ET, FS1

• NCAAM: #13 Illinois @ Missouri 9:00pm ET, FS1

• NHL: Edmonton Oilers @ New York Rangers 7:30pm ET, ESPN+

Saturday

• NFL: Cincinnati Bengals (8-6) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7) 4:30pm ET, NBC

• NFL: Buffalo Bills (8-6) @ Los Angeles Chargers (5-9) 8:00pm ET, Peacock

• CFB: Troy vs. Duke Noon ET, ABC

• CFB: Utah vs. Northwestern 7:30pm ET, ABC

• CFB: Full Bowl Schedule

• EPL: West Ham United vs. Manchester United 7:30am ET

• NBA: Milwaukee Bucks @ New York Knicks 12:30pm ET, NBA TV

• NCAAM: #4 Arizona @ #14 Florida Atlantic 3:00pm ET, FOX

• NCAAM: St. John’s @ #5 UConn 8:00pm ET, FOX

• NCAAM: Full Schedule

Sunday

• NFL: Full Schedule

• EPL: Wolverhampton vs. Chelsea 8:00am ET

• Most other sports are off Sunday and Monday

Monday

NBA Christmas Games

• Milwaukee Bucks @ New York Knicks Noon ET, ESPN

• Golden State Warriors @ Denver Nuggets 2:30pm ET, ABC / ESPN

• Boston Celtics @ Los Angeles Lakers 5:00pm ET, ABC / ESPN

• Philadelphia 76ers @ Miami Heat 8:00pm ET, ESPN

• Dallas Mavericks @ Phoenix Suns 10:30pm ET ESPN

Trivia Time Answer

A. John Havlicek. In 16 seasons from 1962 to 1978 all with Boston, the basketball Hall of Famer scored 26,395 total points. That’s over 2,000 more than Paul Pierce and has Bird by 4,500. Active members of the Celtics Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown sit 14th and 16th on the all-time franchise scoring list respectively.

Prime Lock of the Day

Subscribe to Blitz Prime to unlock this betting slip. For those already signed up, enjoy the winner!

Go have the greatest Christmas you could have ever imagined. Enjoy family, but most importantly, watch a ton of football. See you Tuesday, Blitzers!