Football

Last week, the New Orleans Saints toppled the Carolina Panthers to move to the head of the class in the NFC South. Now they must deal with the defending NFC champion Atlanta Falcons to lock away the crown. The Saints and Falcons meet Thursday in Atlanta and again Dec. 24 in New Orleans, and in each of the past four seasons, the team that won the first game swept the series.

You can call the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals rivals, and historically, you'd be correct. Recent history, though, paints a much different picture. Pittsburgh has won five straight from the Bengals. The Steelers have taken eight of nine and 23 of 31 from Cincy since Marvin Lewis was installed as head coach of the Bengals in 2003. If Cincinnati wants this series to remain a rivalry, then the Bengals need to start winning.

Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell didn't enjoy being reminded of his Thanksgiving Day success, insisting his team can still be better in their traditional holiday showing. But how can you improve on perfection? The Lions are 3-0 on Thanksgiving Day under Caldwell's tutelage and have won four straight Thanksgiving Day games. Considering they were 1-11 the previous 12 Thanksgivings, you'd have to say that's impressive.

Like a giant boulder steamrolling down the side of a hill, the New Orleans Saints just keep picking up steam, and steamrolling everyone and everything in their path. Up next, a road test against NFC-West leading L.A. Rams. This will be another measure of the Saints' ability to overcome a challenge, but no one's stopped them yet, so betting against them would be a unwise choice to make.

The NFL takes it's show on the road again this week, as the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders will clash in Mexico City. Naturally, anytime the NFL plays one of these games on foreign soil, there's plenty of hype percolating around the event, And it's no different in the sports gaming industry. Bovada is offering a whole cottage industry of prop bets on this unique contest.

When the division winners were being predicted at the start of the NFL season, a few might have pegged the Minnesota Vikings to have a shot in the NFC North, but it would have been a select few. However, no one was counting the Los Angeles Rams in as an NFC West contender. And yet there they are just past mid-season, on top of their respective divisions and looking legitimate.

Lambeau Field has hardly been a field of dreams for the Detroit Lions. Since the 1992 season, the Lions have won one game there, finally tasting victory in Green Bay in 2015 but overall in that span the Lions are a dismal 1-25 on the road against the Packers. But with Packers QB and Lions killer Aaron Rodgers on the shelf with a broken collarbone, it could be Detroit's time to shine.

These two teams are heading in opposite directions as the season comes comes down to its final month, so why is the team that still has a pulse getting six points here?

Don't look now, but those are the Buffalo Bills right there in the midst of playoff contention. It's been a long time since you could say that. The drought goes all the way back to 1999. No NFL team has gone longer without a taste of the postseason than the Bills. But with a win Thursday over the New York Jets, they will top the AFC East standings.