Making Moves | December 5, 2025

Woo, tough night last night, but we are still profitable on the season, up $76.

Welcome to today's episode of Making Moves with Mac presented by FanDuel.

It is Friday, December 5th, and we gotta get you ready for this weekend's college football NFL action.

Strap in, let's go.

Let's take a look at the top headlines on sports betting today.

Starting with a streak that ended last night with myself in attendance at Scotiabank Arena, LeBron James went 1,297 straight regular season games, uh, where he scored at least 10 points.

Last night, with me in attendance as a LeBron guy, was the first time that he didn't get 10 points in a regular season games since January 5th, 2007.

Do you even know what you're doing January 5th, 2007?

It's a long time, I wasn't even in high school.

I was in grade eight.

The last time LeBron James didn't score 10 points in a regular season game.

Uh, and of course the first game I go and see my goat in attendance, he fails, uh, to do so.

But credit to LeBron, uh, as selfless as he is, had a chance to get to 10 points, uh, on the game-winning shot, but then he dished it out.

Uh, what a teammate LeBron is.

Had a chance with 17 attempts too and made 4.

So you know, the, the, that's true, 13 other attempts that could have happened for him did take a lot of sh.

LeBron did not look good last night, gonna be honest.

Just kind of jogged up and down the court, took some shots, didn't really try, but the Lakers still, uh, won the game.

But it's crazy, uh, my luck as a sports fan.

I might be the most cursed sports fan of all time, 28 to 3, 20s away in the World Series.

And then my favorite athlete, uh, breaks a streak that lasted, uh, almost 20 years, January 5th, 2007.

Crazy.

Uh, moving on to the PGA Tour, Scotty Scheffler.

If you remember Tuesday's golf corner, I said Scotty Scheffler was like a +175 favorite to win the Hero World Challenge.

Uh, he's already a -135 favorite and will probably continue to be a bigger favorite as the day goes on here.

Uh, and that is why I bet the winner without Scotty Market as well, because, uh, he is, uh, truly reaching Tiger Woods' level of dominance.

Uh, just unbelievable.

Nobody else can beat this guy.

Uh, last time we saw him play PGA Tour event, he won.

Uh, what, 7 wins, I think this year, and he's about to win the final event of 2025 as well.

So Scotty Scheffler is doing what Scotty Scheffler does in the final official PGA Tour event, uh, of the year.

Uh, switching over to some hockey action here, FanDuel has released, uh, a, a prop here for all 7 Canadian teams to miss the Stanley Cup playoffs at 100 to 1, uh, which when you look at it, I know that sounds crazy.

Uh, there are 7 teams, but right now, uh, if the season ended today, I'm just gonna verify this, but if the season ended today, only 1 Canadian team would be currently, yeah, would be currently in the NHL playoffs.

Which one?

The Montreal Canadiens.

Boo.

I would rather all Canadian teams miss the playoffs than the Habs being the only team, uh, that, uh, that, that does it.

But I'm wearing my Leafs jersey today for a reason, cause the Maple Leafs might be back.

3 straight wins, upset the Carolina Hurricanes on the road last night.

Big dominant win for the Leafs, so maybe the Leafs are back.

But yeah, a little bit of a fun, uh, prop bet, uh, that FanDuel has released, and the Canadians, yes, they are currently in a playoff spot, um.

But, oh, actually, yeah, they're the worst record they have out of all the Eastern Conference playoff teams, so they could in theory fall out.

So if you want to sprinkle on a 100 to 1 bet on uh no Canadian teams to make the playoffs, uh, that option is there for you.

Now, probably, at least the Oilers will probably get back in the mix, but as of right now, uh, Canucks, Flames, Jets, Oilers, Maple Leafs, and Senators all outside of the playoff, uh, pitcher.

Uh, big college basketball action set to take place this weekend.

Uh, we have a fun one on Saturday, uh, between Duke and Michigan State.

Uh, this is always a fun game.

Uh, it used to be a little bit more fun when it was Coach K against Tom Izzo.

Coach K, of course, retired.

Tom Izzo, uh, still around, still coaching Michigan State.

Probably my favorite coach in sports right now.

Uh, they don't make them like, uh, Tom Izzo, uh, anymore.

Uh, yelling in players' faces, pointing his finger in their chest, but they all love him.

Uh, but , uh, yeah, so Duke and Michigan State's always a fun game, but this one, is even more important because both these teams are ranked inside the top 10.

Duke, number 4 ranked team in the country right now, Michigan State, number 7.

And, uh, the oddsmakers have this game set as a coin flip.

Straight up, -110 on either side.

So that's gonna be a fun one on Saturday afternoon at noon, uh, noon.

Eastern Duke against Michigan State.

Uh, I lean towards Duke in that one, unfortunately.

I like Michigan State better, but Duke, uh, their numbers have been unbelievable, uh, this year.

So that's a fun one to watch on Saturday .

Uh, also on Saturday, we have the MLS Cup, uh, between Inter Miami and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Uh, we are on the Whitecaps.

This is a White Cap show.

We'll be cheering for the Whitecaps against Lionel Messi.

Uh, and, uh, in Miami, the Whitecaps have Thomas Muller, uh, so a couple of, uh, you know, all-time greats facing off in the MLS Cup.

Miami, -250 favorite, the Whitecaps coming back, uh, plus 205 to lift, uh, the cup.

And then we do have a UFC pay per view set to take place this weekend as well.

Uh, we have Marab Dewalashvili against Pioto Jan, uh, taking place in the main event.

Dewalashvili is a -500 favorite.

This is a rematch of a fight that took place back in 2023.

Uh, and then we have Alexandra Pentoja, uh, against Joshua Van in the co-main event.

Another title fight there as well.

Uh, Pentoja is a -265 favorite with Van coming in at 2 to 1.

Uh, I have picks for both of those top two fights and another pick, uh, for this weekend's UFC action, but you gotta stick around for Combat Corner coming up in a little bit.

Let's take a look at some latest odds after last night's Thursday Night Football game between the Dallas Cowboys and, uh, Detroit Lions.

The Lions ended up getting the win in the cover.

I lost my bet on the.

Cowboys, uh, unfortunately, uh, but, uh, the Lions now move to -142 to make the NFL playoffs.

So that was a big win for them, as I kind of talked about yesterday, last night was kind of a loser goes home game, especially, uh, for the Cowboys.

Uh, but I do want to mention Lions, while they are favored to make the playoffs in -142, still a significant long shot to win the NFC North plus 750 to win the NFC North.

Not only, uh, are the Bears a couple of games ahead of them.

Uh, but, uh, what's even more important is that they do not have the tiebreaker against the Packers.

So that is why their odds are so long.

They would have to win out and hope the Packers lose a couple of games, cause if they finished with the same record as the Packers, uh, the Packers would win based on tiebreak because the Packers beat them both last week and back in week one.

Jamir Gibbs, uh, enters the Offensive Player of the Year conversation.

Uh, this has kind of been a two-man race for the past 567 weeks.

Uh, it feels like between Jackson Smith and Jigba and minus.

105 and Jonathan Taylor plus 110.

But now Jamir Gibbs, uh, a clear third option on the odds list at 10 to 1 after he scored 3 touchdowns, uh, last night.

Uh, now he would probably need the Jackson Smith Njigba and Jonathan Taylor to kind of fall off in the final five weeks.

Uh, but we kind of saw that last week.

Neither of those two players produced last week.

So if they both fall off, and, and Jamir Gibbs keeps playing at a high level, um, he could kind of steal that award from them.

So if you want to bet on that, that is available right now at FameDuel at 10 to 1.

As I mentioned, this was kind of a loser goes home game for the Dallas Cowboys.

Uh, with that loss last night, the Cowboys' playoff odds fall to 760, too little, too late, uh, for Jerry Jones, uh, and the Dallas Cowboys, 15 to 1 to win the NFC East.

So the Cowboys probably not going to, uh, go on a Cinderella run to make the NFL playoffs.

Uh, and not only that, but Dak is actually also fallen off the lead to win Comeback Player of the Year.

Now, Christian McCaffrey is the favorite at -130, -135, the flip flop.

Continues, but I don't really understand this award, comeback player of the Year.

I know it goes to a player who was hurt last season, uh, but how do you evaluate who should win that award?

Is it just the MVP of players who were injured last year, or I think it should be the guy who comes back from the worst injury.

I don't think performances should play that big of a role, so.

Whose injury was worse.

Yeah, yeah, right, yeah, yeah, I'm sure Alex Smith probably won that award, I think, when he did come back from his leg blowing up.

So I don't know why Dak Prescott's performance last night dropped him down to the underdog.

Uh, which of the two injuries were worse, that's what I wanna know.

Uh, I think it was actually Christian McCaff.

Maybe?

I don't really know, but I need to look into that.

But regardless, I digress.

CMC now the -135 favorite to win Comeback Player of the Year.

Dak Prescott plus uh 110.

Uh, we still have a lot more NFL Week 14 action coming up on Sunday and Monday, so stick around.

I got some picks for that later on in the show.

All right, let's talk some survivor pool, some knockout pool action.

If you're still alive in your survivor pools, congratulations, you are truly in the final stretch of the season, 5 picks away from winning some type of money.

Uh, in terms of myself, my big money pool that I've talked about before on the show, I'm out.

I lost on the Eagles, uh, just like a lot of other people, uh, this past week.

And for that pool, I had to pick two teams.

One of them was the Eagles.

Uh, so I've lost, but I still do have a survivor entry in one of my pools.

It's a smaller pool.

Winner gets $4000.

So, uh, hopefully I can win that one.

I think there's 12 of us left.

Uh, so let's, uh, use my knockout pool strategy here to see who we should go with, uh, this week.

So these are the top 5 biggest favorites.

As always, I want to use odds to the advantage, the Buccaneers against the.

Saints, Rams against the Cardinals, Broncos against the Raiders, Seahawks against the Falcons, Packers against the Bears.

Uh, that is rule number 1.

Use the odds to your advantage.

Check out the top 5 favorites.

Rule number 2, we want to avoid road teams if we can.

Uh, so the road teams this week, uh, Buccaneers are in New Orleans.

That's a road game.

Rams are in Arizona.

That's a road game.

Broncos are in Las Vegas, that's a road game.

I lied about this.

This is a home game.

Home game for the Bucks, road game for the Seahawks.

They're in Atlanta.

Home game for the Green Bay Packers at home to the Chicago Bears.

We also want to, if we can avoid divisional matchups.

We know this by this point.

Divisional matchups get weird.

Teams know each other, coaches know each other.

It comes a lot down a lot more to game plan.

Uh, so if we can avoid divisional matchups, that would be nice, but bad news.

A lot of divisional matchups this week in terms of the big favorites.

Bucks, Saints, that's NFC South .

Rams, Cardinals, that's NFC West.

Broncos, Raiders, that's AFC West.

Seahawks, Falcons, that's OK, that's NFC, but.

Different divisions, uh, Packers Bears, that's NFC North.

So we don't really have a clear option to take for survivor, but I think we want to eliminate the Rams.

That's 2 X's, eliminate the Broncos, that's 2 X's.

Broncos only beat the Raiders by 3 at home last time that those two teams played.

So I think you gotta go Bucks, you gotta go Seahawks, you gotta go Packers, I think one of those three teams.

Uh, if you care more about avoiding divisional games, take the Seahawks, uh, on the road to the Falcons.

If you care more about avoiding road teams, take the Bucks at home to the Saints or take the Packers at home to the Bears.

If it was me, if I was still alive in my big money pool, I actually had the Buccaneers slotted in for this week.

So that is the one I would recommend if you have the Buccaneers left in your survivor pool.

We'll take the Buccaneers against the New Orleans Saints.

Now, I have an issue that maybe you have an issue too, uh, for my small money, uh, pool that I'm still left in.

I don't have any of these 5 teams available.

The Bucks have already used, the Rams have already used, the Broncos have already used, the Seahawks have already used, the Packers have already used.

So I have to go a little bit off the beaten path here and take a bad team who is playing another bad team.

So, if you don't have any of those 5 teams available, Uh, I don't really have room to write it in, but I'm gonna try to anyways.

The team I'm taking, I'm adding a 6th team to the list for the first time.

I'm taking the Browns.

I don't know what their odds are, but they are home favorites against the Titans.

I, I need to hope that the Browns defense can stop Cam Ward.

They're only 3.5 point favorites, but they are at home, and it is a non-divisional game, so not big favorites , but it does check the other two boxes.

So if you don't have any of those 5, teams, go with the Browns against the Titans, and let's hope Miles, Garrett can just wreck some havoc.

So, uh, those are my tips, if you're still alive in your survivor pools, best of luck, 5 games to go.

All right, let's talk some pick and pool plays, uh, for this weekend.

Uh, hopefully what you've been doing throughout the NFL season is taking my pick and plays and taking the opposite.

If you did, uh, you'd probably be in a pretty good spot in your pick and pool, whether you're in an online pool or an office pool, a pool with your friends, or a big money pool.

Uh, most of them, how they all work is you gotta do 5 picks against the spread, so I will give you my 5 picks against the spread for this weekend.

I'm already out in my pick and pool.

I'm almost dead last.

I'm like, uh, in like 80th place out of 100 people.

It's a truly a disaster.

Uh, so, once again, I recommend you probably take my picks and just do the opposite.

That's gonna be the smart move this week.

So here are the 5 picks that I'm on that you should fade.

Uh, I'm gonna take the Seahawks again.

My Atlanta Falcons.

I know the Falcons are, uh, really good as an underdog this season, but still, uh, Kirk Cousins, no Michael Pennick, Drake London did not practice again on Thursday.

That's not good news.

So really their only offensive weapon left is to run the football, and the Seahawks have arguably the best run defense in the NFL.

Uh, so the Seahawks probably just gonna load up the box, stop the run, uh, and then attack the Falcons' defense.

So, uh, I think this.

It's a bad stylistic matchup for the Falcons.

Also, I don't, they don't trust their coach anymore.

Raheem Morris is gonna get fired.

Their season's over.

It's a disaster in Atlanta right now.

Take the Seahawks, who are still battling for the top spot in the NFC West.

I'm also gonna take the Jaguars plus 1.5 against the Indianapolis Colts in an AFC South matchup .

Two teams trending in complete opposite directions, the Jaguars.

Uh, first in the NFL in net yards per play over each team's last 3 games.

Meanwhile, the Colts' defense is banged up, they've regressed.

Daniel Jones is playing on a fractured leg somehow, and teams have figured out how to slow down Jonathan Taylor.

So with the Jaguars getting 1.5 at home, I will take Jacksonville for my 2nd pick.

Now, I know I just said I'm gonna take Browns, uh, the Browns, uh, and Survivor, but I'm also gonna take the Titans plus 3.5 and pick them.

It's a game between two really bad teams, two really bad offenses, Cam Warden, uh, Shane, Sanders, two of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL.

So yeah, I think the Browns should win, and they are deserving favorites because of their defense.

Uh, but the spread is notable.

It's above that magic number of 33 is the most common, uh, scoring margin in an NFL game.

Uh, obviously because of field goals, so anything over that, that magic number of 3 is important , and while I do think the Browns win, winning by more than 3, I think is gonna be a tough ask.

So I'll take the points with the Tennessee Titans on the road.

They're gonna take the Bills, -5.5 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

I know the Bengals, a lot of hype.

Joe Burrow's back, they're still alive in the race for the NFC or AFC North.

Uh, but if you actually look at that game last week against the Ravens, which they won, uh, that was kind of all came down to turnover differential.

Ravens actually outgained them significantly, but it had a -4 turnover differential.

We remember Isaiah likely fumbling as he was going into the end zone.

Uh, Zay Flowers had a touchdown callback.

Because of a penalty, just a lot of things went against the Ravens and went the Bengals' way.

You can't rely on that happening again.

I will take the Buffalo Bills, who should be able to torch this Bengals' defense.

Uh, and then finally, I will take the Texans, plus 3.5 on Sunday Night Football against the Chiefs.

Uh, the Chiefs, I think, have 5 different games that have come down to a field goal.

Uh, so you can make the argument that the Chiefs win this game based on how Patrick Mahomes has played this year.

Um, but it's tough for them to.

Win by margin, even in their wins.

Most of them have not come by more than a field goal.

Uh, so I will take the 3.5 points with the Texans who have the best defense in the NFL.

Seahawks, -6.5, Jaguars plus 1.5, Titans plus 3.5, Bills minus 5.5, Texans plus 3.5. Those are my 5 picks for my pick and pull.

Go ahead, take the opposite, take the Falcons, Colts, Browns, Bengal Bengals, and Chiefs, and you'll probably have a winning week.

With it being Friday, I'd like to always reach out to you, the people, to get some additional plays for this weekend's sports betting action, cause there's too many games out there across NFL, college football, college basketball.

Uh, I can't handicap all of them, so I need some help from you, the people.

Uh, please follow me on Twitter, or X as they call it now, Ian Mac Betts, so you can give me your best bets on Friday morning.

So, uh, there you go, this is the tweet I send out every Friday.

Uh, so I can get some plays from you people, uh, and I have some replies.

So I'm going to tail the three that I like the most.

Uh, so let's take a look.

I'm gonna start with Neil Parker, who likes the Ravens -5.5. The Ravens taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers in a pivotal AFC North showdown on Sunday.

I'm already on the Ravens, so, um, Uh, not, I can't really tell you cause I'm already on it, but, uh, handshake emoji, both on the Ravens, my friend, Ravens to cover against the Eagles in that 10, we got a, we got a parlay here.

Uh, wager games, Higgins touchdown, Bengals money line, or Bengals spread, all great.

OK, so two-leg parlay, all great choices for an extremely undervalued team against an extremely overvalued team.

I don't know about that.

I don't know if I agree with that.

Uh, I don't think I can tail that one.

I'm, uh, kinda on the bills in that one already, but, uh, I mean, Higgins touchdown plus Bengals money line, be a nice little, uh, payout if you wanna take a long shot parlay.

I don't mean, I don't hate the play.

I don't know if I can tail it though.

Uh, Daniel at Daniel 113349389.

Says bet the three outright favorites that lost last Thursday and Friday on prime time, so that's the Ravens, Chiefs, and Eagles.

Uh, it'll be the Ravens against the Steelers, Chiefs against the Texans, Eagles, uh, against the Chargers.

That's on Monday night.

Uh, I like the strategy, I kind of get it, like buying low on teams who lost in a big spot.

They're coming off a little bit of a mini bye week after having the weekend off.

I see the uh I, I see the thought process.

Uh david Clark, um, David Clark 9293.

In his name is the 45 flags, US, Canada.

Russia, Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic.

It's not Czechoslovakia anymore.

Don't know what that third flag is.

Whatever, he says, Georgia money line.

I'll tail that one.

Georgia taking on Alabama in the SEC championship game.

Who wants to see Alabama win?

He might mean Georgia, the country.

Oh, Georgia, yeah, maybe.

Although one of those flags, yeah, Georgia, uh, one of those flags is not that.

I do know the Georgia flag.

He does not have the Georgia flag in his, in his, uh, in his thing, but yeah, maybe, uh, Georgia Money line international soccer, maybe.

Uh, off the betting pal, take a look.

If, uh, if some, if Georgia is playing in some international sport, I'll back Georgia.

Um, but I'm gonna assume he means the Bulldogs in the SEC championship game.

I'll, I'll tell you that one.

I like that one.

Kenyon Gabriel, uh, this is tonight.

We need ones for this weekend, but, uh, Gonzaga is a 2.5 point favorite.

Lockett.

His profile pitcher is a guy holding up a Kentucky jersey.

Gonzaga's playing Kentucky.

Is this a, is this an emo hedge?

I think this is an emo hedge he just gave us.

I think he's betting against his own team.

Um, good detective work.

I'm, yeah, thank you.

Uh, Kenyon Gabriel, yeah, that, uh, his profile pitcher is a guy holding up a UK, yeah, so, uh , I'm not gonna trust that.

Uh, that's an emo hedge.

Uh, I want, I want objective, non-biased picks.

Uh oh, we have conflicting plays.

Facts matter pound Bama money line.

We have uh conflicting plays between facts matter at I know Thing for and David Clark.

Uh, I saw David Clark's first, I said I was gonna tail him, so I, I am gonna take Georgia in the SEC championship game.

I also hate Alabama.

They're the, they're the patriots of college football.

Uh, Nick, I am gonna definitely tail this one.

Nick at that kid, Nick B, Iowa State Moneyline against Purdue.

This is a big college basketball game on Saturday afternoon.

Purdue, co-favorite to win the national championship as of right now, but Iowa State also a top 10 ranked team.

And I like Iowa State cause they force a ton of turnovers.

They play a very fun style of defensive basketball.

Uh, so I'll take that one.

I don't know the odds off the top of my head, but I assume they are gonna be underdogs in that one against Purdue.

Uh, probably not big underdogs, but underdogs enough that I will take the money line.

So Nick, I like it at that kid Nick B, I will tail that one.

Iowa State money line.

Uh, Tulane Moline, Tulane is against North Texas, uh, in the AAC AAC championship game.

The winner of that game will move on to the college football playoff.

I don't like Tulane.

I like North Texas.

North Texas offense is unbelievable, one of the best offenses in the entire country, and I wanna bet on an offensive team.

So I'm not gonna tail that one at Buffalo 0910, um, but good luck to you.

Uh, I think this next one's AI, so I'm not even gonna read it cause it reads like AI.

Um, love the tail game.

I'm eyeing Packers minus 3.5. No, I think that's AI.

I think we got bought it.

Um, mush musher, you know you made it when you got bought, right?

Yeah.

Uh, Mushherson, Moneyline Parlay, Seahawks, Rams, Broncos, Buccaneers, OK.

I will tail that one, and this last one's mean.

Ian eats too much, minus 10,000.

That's mean, I'm on a diet.

Uh, how dare you, Dale Bingleton?

Um, bad bet, take the opposite, although I probably will eat, it's the weekend.

I'll let loose a little bit on the weekends.

Uh, all right, so I'm gonna tail Mush Mushherson, Moneyline parlays, Seahawks, Buccaneers, Rams, Broncos, that is what my friend Joe Osborne calls a greasy Moneyline parlay, just parlay a bunch of big favorites together, but I like it .

I'll also take Iowa State Money line.

Against Purdue in college basketball action.

Thank you , Nick, uh, and thank you, um, David Clark for Georgia Money Line.

Uh, whether that's the Bulldogs or whether that's the country, Georgia, I will find out.

Uh, but those are the three plays I will tail for this weekend.

Thank you all for submitting your picks.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter or X at Ian Mac Betts.

Hello my friends, welcome to the combat corner .

Oh, you guys don't even know.

You guys don't even know.

I used to train a little jiu-jitsu, little Muay Thai myself.

Specialty move by Gogo Plata.

People don't even know.

All right, we got UFC 323 this weekend.

Uh, and I got some picks for it in the combat corner starting, uh, in the main event fight, which is the bantamweight championship bout between Marab.

Devalashvili and Piota Ian.

Uh, Devalashvili is a -500 favorite.

I'm not gonna lay that price point on him.

Uh, but I am gonna bet on him to finish the fight inside the distance all the way up at 420.

The overall overwhelming favorite is for him to win by decision.

That's kind of what he does.

Uh, but I'm gonna bet on him to finish this fight either by KO, TKO, or submission.

Uh, these two fought back in March of 2023.

Uh, so this is a rematch in that fight, Devalivili just completely smoked Peter Jan.

147 significant strikes, 11 takedowns in that fight.

So in a rematch, my kind of betting strategy and rematch fights in the UFC is, if, uh, if one fight was dominant, but it finished by decision, I bet the same guy who won the first fight, but for him to finish it inside the distance, cause you have to think psychologically.

If Pier Toron is in this fight, and he knows.

He realizes a round or two into it that it's going the exact same way that the first fight went.

He's gonna feel deflated, and he might not necessarily give up , uh, but, uh, I think Devalivili is gonna be able to finish him.

I don't think, I don't think Jan's gonna be psychologically in this fight, uh, in the later rounds if it goes the same way it did the first time.

So I'll take Devalishvili by TKO or submission at 420 over at FanDuel.

Uh, the co-main event is a flyweight title fight, uh, between Alexandra Pantoja and Joshua Vanna.

I'm gonna take the underdog, just take the underdog to win here, Joshua Vanna 2 to 1.

Uh, Pantoja is getting up there in age.

He is now 35 years old, and, uh, usually the older guys in the lighter weight classes usually see their age come through a little bit quicker because for the lighter weight classes.

flyweight is the lightest, it's 125 pounds.

Uh, usually it's speed and quickness that goes first, uh, in your age.

Power is the last thing to go, so that's why you see some light heavyweights and heavyweights still at an old age, being able to fight.

Flyweights, uh, your lifespan's a little bit shorter here.

So, at 35 years old, I think Pentoja's days are numbered here, and now he takes on a young, hungry prospect in Joshua Van, whose output is unbelievable.

Averages 8.86 significant strikes per minute.

That's bad news against Pinoja, who's not exactly known for his defense.

He has a he has a defend rate of just 49%.

Uh, and Pinoa, his best, uh, or one of his tools is to be able to take down his opponents.

Uh, but now Van has an 81% takedown defense rate.

So, I think stylistically, uh, I think I like the underdog here.

I'll take a shot on him.

And the co-main event for the flyweight belt at 2 to 1.

Uh, and then if you want just my best overall bet for the rest of the card, not including the main event and the co-main event, uh, I'm gonna take Talbot to beat Henry Cejudo, uh, by KO or TKO at 3 to 1.

I was just talking about how older guys fall off in the lighter weight classes.

Well, Henry Cejudo is now 38 years old.

He retired there for a number of years.

Uh, he was champion, then he retired.

Uh, he came back, and since he's come back off his retirement, he has lost 3 straight fights.

Now , he lost those fights by decision.

He did, uh, manage to, uh, survive every round, uh, but now he takes on a young, hungry Peyton Talbot.

Who has already 2 KOTKO wins in a 6 UFC fights so far.

So I think we're gonna see a couple of older guys on this card in the lighter weight classes get finished inside the distance.

So I will take Talbot to win by KOTKO, uh, on the main card.

I think it's the 2nd fight on the main card.

I'll take him to win 3 to 1, uh, by KO or TKO against Henry Cejudo.

Those are my 3 picks for this week's edition of the comeback corner.

Be, be careful.

Don't come in.

Let's have a little Friday fun and do some immaculate grid, uh, here.

If you don't know, I gotta guess a player that, uh, crosses off both the X axis and the Y axis.

I'm gonna give myself 2 minutes to get it done.

I think for everyone that I get correct in the 2 minutes, I get an extra what, $5 to bet with on Monday, an extra $5.

So let's start the timer.

I got 2.

2 Minutes, we got a very sophisticated timer here, so we gotta get it set up.

2 minutes starting, oh, we're going, OK.

I always like to start on the easy side here, which is usually a stat, and then we got 2 stats, so Super Bowl champion who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, I'm gonna go with, um, Antonio Holmes caught that game-winning touchdown against the Cardinals, uh, Super Bowl champ for the Denver Broncos.

Let's go with Terrell Davis.

TD?

OK, you know what, pretty low percentages too, kind of surprising .

Uh, 50 sacks, who was also a Super Bowl champion, of course, uh, the great Lawrence Taylor, 11%, OK, I'm cruising.

50 sacks who played for the Rams, are they gonna count Deacon Jones?

Uh, cause they didn't, uh, count sacks back when he played.

Yup, they counted 5%.

Deacon Jones used to slap guys outside the head.

Uh, 50 sacks for the Eagles.

I can't think of any like an Eagles pass rusher that had that many sacks.

Um, Hassan Reddick, no, definitely not.

Uh, I think I have to pass.

I can't think of, can't think of an Eagles pass rusher.

Got about a minute.

Oh, yes, I can.

Reggie White, what are we talking about?

Reggie White, come on, Ian, tough.

Uh, uh oh.

It must be, it must be that one, yep, OK, perfect.

Uh, someone who played for the Rams and the Broncos or Broncos Eagles, these teams are where I struggle a little bit more.

There's definitely someone who played for both the Rams and the Steelers.

Um, For 25 cents.

Steeler, uh, ba ba ba.

Uh, My one of my classics is Dante Stallworth.

Give me Dante Stallworth.

No.

Got it.

No, I got 8, I got 8 seconds, uh.

Did Clinton Portis ever play for the Eagles?

I don't think so, no.

All right.

So I got the stat ones easy, the teams always messed me up a little bit.

All right, let's give up, let's see who I should've got.

I give up, maybe later.

Who are the obvious ones here?

Scroll down, it's gonna show me the most, uh, the most, uh, popular right here.

Darius Slay, God.

Jalen Ramsey, see, I, I never think of current players, I'm always trying to think of old players, Von Miller, of course, Brian Dawkins.

I really should have got those, that's tough.

That's tough.

Uh, but I'll write, that's still, I got 12345, so I have an extra.

Here we go, ring the bell.

That's better than nothing.

I've got an extra $25 to bet with on Monday.

Uh, I gotta do better than uh $5 next time they do a Malegrid though.

What country are we going to for today's edition of Off the Betting Path?

We're going to, uh, one more spin, boom, great country of Finland for today's edition of Off the Betting Path.

I'm going back to basketball.

We are going to bet on the Finnish Horisliga.

I don't know if I can do a Finnish accent.

Uh, and once again, uh, continue the tradition of betting on a team that I can't pronounce.

Uh.

Uh, I'm gonna bet on Kahajoki Karu at 100, uh, in some Finnish Cre Eastliga basketball action against Tampirin Pirinto.

Uh, if you don't know, Core Eastliga is the top Finnish professional basketball league, uh, so we're not doing second division this time.

Uh, betting on the top division.

This is a Saturday morning game, so you guys are gonna want to get your, get your bets in tonight, uh, for tomorrow morning, the game tips off at 8 a.m. Eastern.

Uh, but the reason why I'm going to bet on Kara Kahajoki Karu.

Uh, is because they are the best shooting team in this league.

They lead the league out of 12 teams.

They lead the league, uh, in effective field goal percentage at 536, uh, well above, uh, their opponent, Tamurine Perino, who is now, who are really only middle of the pack and then and also net rating, our, our guys Kahajoki, Karu, third in net rating.

Uh, whereas their opponent, uh, down at 8th.

Uh, so I think the advanced metrics have them as the better team, but despite that fact, they are a very slight underdog.

They're gonna take a shot on the underdog, Kahajoki Karu.

That sounds Japanese, that doesn't sound Finnish.

Uh, plus 100 against Tamperine Perinto and some Finnish Corrusliga action.

We're gonna bet on some Finnish basketball on Saturday morning.

What a way to start the weekend.

Losing night last night with my picks, 1 and 3 , unfortunately, uh, lost in the Cowboys plus 3 against the Lions.

Looked like it had a chance there late, uh, in the fourth quarter, even down by 3.

It looked like we might get a push, uh, but it wasn't, wasn't meant to be.

Uh, thank you to, uh, Cavante Turpin for getting a , what, 30 yard reception, I think, with a minute and a half to go in garbage time.

That 21, yeah, 20, yeah, that, uh, that saved us from the reverse sweep, so that was nice at least.

Thank you to Cavante Turpin.

Uh, but then lost both NHL plays.

Uh, pretty rare for me to lose, uh, both NHL plays in a single night, uh, my Maple Leafs.

Uh, of course, whenever I bet against them, that's when they decide to win.

Uh, they crushed the Carolina Hurricanes, so, big win for them in terms of, the team.

Uh, now 3 straight wins for the Maple Leafs.

Not good for my bets though.

Uh, and the Minnesota Wild lost the Flames as well .

Couldn't really get anything, anything going offensively.

Lost 3-1, I think was the final score in that one.

So 1 and 3 on the night.

Can't win every night, uh, lost 6 $64.

37.

The good news is we are still profitable for the season.

Didn't hurt us too, too, too bad.

We're still up $76.

11.

If I end the season and the year, uh, with a profit of $1 I will be happy.

So, uh, we still have a little bit of wiggle room, but we need to have a pretty solid.

Uh, weekend coming up.

Certainly can't have the old reverse sweep this weekend.

So, let's dive into my plays for this weekend's football action, as I usually do.

I got one bet in college football, and then I got 3 in the NFL.

Let's start with my college football play, which is set to take place on Saturday night.

It is the Big 10 championship.

Now, I did give this pick out as an upset pick earlier in the week, uh, but I also do like even more Indiana getting the points.

So for this segment, I will take Indiana plus 4.5 at -115.

Uh, for the same reasons why I do, I'm going to sprinkle a little bit on the money line as well, separately, but.

I think this game is much closer to a coin flip than people think.

You look at the underlying metrics for these two teams, uh, they are clearly the top two teams in the entire country.

If you look at, uh, net success rate, they're 1st and 2nd, net adjusted EPA per play, uh, their 1st and 2nd, 3rd down conversion rate, 1st and 2nd.

So yes, I know Ohio State is the defending national champions, but let's not disrespect the Indiana Hoosiers.

Uh, Ohio State might win this game, but I think 4.5, uh, with that number being over that magic number of 3.

I will take the points with the Hoosiers, at -115 on Saturday night's Big 10 championship.

Uh, moving on to the NFL, uh, let's start with my top player prop for this week.

You know this play, uh, if you watched, uh, yesterday's episode, uh, so I'm gonna give it, give it out for a weekend play as well for playing it safe , and that is Tuatungavioa under 29.5 past attempts at -106.

Hopefully you bet on this, uh, when yesterday's episode aired because it was at 30.5 when I gave this pick out yesterday.

Uh, I must be sharp because, uh, this line has moved down, one pass attempt down to 29.5. I still like it at the new number though, especially at the -106 juice.

Uh, but just to reiterate what I said yesterday, the Dolphins have completely changed their offensive game plan over the last three weeks.

They're 3-0 in those games, and in those games , they threw the ball just 42.7%. of the time.

That is the lowest rate, uh, in the NFL over the past three weeks by almost 3%.

So they are just sticking to the run game.

They're not asking Tua to do too much.

In those three games, he has passed attempt totals of just 21, 20, and 23.

Nowhere near the number of 30.5 and still nowhere near the number of 29.5, which is where it is set at, uh, today as of recording.

So I'll go under.

Tua Tugga my lowa's passing attempts, 29.5 at -106.

Looking over to the Bills and Bengals game, I'll take the under 53.5 for the game at -112.

This total opened at 51.5 earlier this week.

It's been bet up to 53.5, so now I think is the time to zig after everyone else has zagged.

So with the line movement, go ahead and take the under.

I know this, uh, The game does have overwritten all over two teams with good offenses, but bad defenses.

Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, you think it's gonna be a high scoring affair.

Uh, but there are some reasons to think that it could be a little bit of a lower scoring game.

First off, yes, Joe Burrow beat the Ravens last week, uh, but they only averaged 4.8 yards per play in that game.

So they actually weren't as good offensively as the final score indicated.

They kind of won mostly because of Ravens.

Turnovers.

Uh, T Higgins also still in concussion protocol.

We don't know if he's gonna play this weekend, which is gonna hurt the Bengals.

And then on the other side of the ball, the Bills, uh, still don't really have a viable option at wide receiver.

Uh, their top two offensive tackles, probably over the lineup, Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown.

Um, so they have some issues, uh, and they are primarily a run first team.

So if the Bengals can find a way to stop the run.

Uh, then they may not be able to produce as much offensively as you might think.

That's kind of been the story of the Bills' year.

If they've been able to run the ball, they put up a ton of points.

If teams have been able to slow down their run, they have struggled offensively.

So, uh, I think this is sneakily might be a lower scoring game than people think.

I'll go under 53.5 between the Bengals and the Bills.

And then finally, Sunday Night Football, the Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, big game for both teams.

I will take the 3.5 points with the Houston Texans plus 3.5 minus 120.

This Chiefs team is not the same team as they were last year.

I think they're tired.

I think when a team has a core group of players that has gone to the AFC championship 7 years in a row, the Super Bowl, 3 years in a row now, I think that's a lot of extra football, that's a lot shorter of an offseason year after year.

So when I watched the Chiefs this year, they look tired.

They look kind of mentally exhausted, and that, uh, affects teams late in games in big moments.

Uh, and the Chiefs just continuously do seem to play.

Uh, in lower scoring games, even when they beat the Colts a couple of weeks ago, that was still just a 3-point victory.

The Colts covered in that game.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar outcome this week, especially given how good the Texans defense is.

I would say the best defense in the NFL.

1st in opponent of the EPA, 3rd in opponent's success rate, 2nd in defensive DVOA, 4th in opponent yards per play.

They have been fantastic.

Their defense is good enough to be able to keep this game close.

So I'll take Texans plus 3.5 minus 120.

Against the Chiefs, who if the Chiefs lose this game, playoff hopes, done.

Uh, all right, let's take a look in the safe to see what I have to bet with tonight, or this after this weekend, I should say, $100.

It's our friend, once again, Sir Robert L.

Borden, who could forget, with insulin on the back.

Um, all right, uh how do I want to divvy this up?

I think I kind of just wanna do it as easy as possible.

Uh, no upset play for this weekend, so I think I'm just gonna go $25 on each, uh, cause I am much as, much as I have not done well in college football this year, I do really like Indiana getting the points.

So I'll go $25 Indiana, $25 Tuatakavioa under 29.5 pass downs, $25 Bengals , Bills under 53.5, 20.

$25 Texans plus $3.5 even across the board.

Uh, those are my best bets for this weekend.

This has been Play It Safe, presented by FanDuel.

Stick around cause we still gotta do the teaser of the week and parlay of the day.

We're trying to climb the parlay peak.

Come on.

It's time for the teaser of the week.

I believe last week's teaser lost because of the Eagles.

They lost my, my entry in Survivor, they lost my teaser.

I'm mad at the Eagles right now.

But this week, for those of you who like to play teasers, a lot of really, really good options, a lot of 7.5 point favorites, 6.5 point favorites, 8.5 point favorites.

Uh, so a lot of really good, uh, options for a six-point teaser.

So as always, I'll do a 62 league, uh, two-leg teaser for this week.

I'm going to start, uh, with the Denver Broncos in an AFC West matchup.

This is one of those.

Perfect teams are options.

I thought I was writing a B there for a second.

They are 7.5 point favorites against.

It is.

Uh, we're gonna tease that down 6 points to -1.5. Of course, we're always trying to cross key numbers when we do a 6 point teaser.

That crosses all of them, crosses 7, crosses 3, crosses 6.

Perfect teaser lay for the Broncos this weekend.

Let's hope that they don't lose to the Raiders.

If they win by 1, that would be a loss as well.

We just need them to win by 2 or more.

We're also gonna take, uh, the Rams .

Rams, who are 8.5 point favorites against the Arizona Cardinals, we will tease that down 6 points, down to -2.5. Now, we don't quite get to the 1.5 mark that we got the Raiders on, uh, but that does cross key numbers of 73, secondary key number of 6, 8's kind of a key number as well, maybe, a tertiary key number.

Um, so, great teaser light for the Rams as well on the road trying to bounce back.

After losing to the Carolina Panthers as 10-point favorites last week.

Uh, now, if you watch yesterday's show, the trend show, uh, the Rams have dominated the Cardinals when they play in Arizona, I think what, 9-1 against the spread their last 10 games in Arizona.

Uh, so that bodes well for this 6-point teaser as well.

So Broncos down from 7.5 down to 1.5, Rams down from 8.5, down to 2.5. That is my two-leg 6-point teaser for NFL week 14.

Let's wrap up the week with my parlay of the day, or I guess this case the parlay of the week, and I continue to try to climb the parlay peak.

I've gotten so close night after night to hitting the four-leg parlay last night was not that close, to be fair.

Cowboys didn't cover, the even the alternate overhit, uh, and I don't, Dak did hit his passing yards total, and I forget what the fourth leg was.

Jamir Gibbs' receiving yards, was that he went 2 and 2.

2 and 2, it doesn't matter.

I could have gone 3 and 1, and it wouldn't have mattered cause the parlay you have to hit every single lay close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, not in parlays.

So, I got a weekend parlay, uh, money line parlay, actually it is a 2 money line plays actually in 2 touchdown scores.

In the NFL, uh, so let's, come on, I'm praying to Gambler, the gambling god.

I want to take the next step in the parlay peak.

I'm sick of the four-leg parlays.

I wanna move on to five-leg parlays.

Let's start with the first leg, which is, uh, the ACC championship on Saturday night.

I'm gonna take Virginia.

I should have just wrote UVA, but I already started writing Virginia against Duke.

That's a terrible A.

Come on, Ian.

Uh, Virginia Moline, uh, against Duke, we know that's an interesting one.

Duke somehow squeaked into the ACC championship game.

If they win that, all chaos will break loose, uh, in the college football playoff bracket, but, uh, as we know as sports fans, nothing fun ever happens, so that's not gonna happen.

Virginia is, to be fair, the far better team.

They should be bigger favorites than they already are, uh, in my opinion.

Opinion, uh, Duke has losses to, uh, Tulane, I think it was UConn.

They're just not a good team.

It's crazy that they somehow made it to the championship game in the ACC.

Virginia is -186 on the money line, so well within the rules of -250 or longer.

So the first legs on Saturday, we gotta survive Saturday.

If we can survive the ACC championship game, we move on to Sunday's NFL action.

Uh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna take.

This is where the parley is gonna lose.

I just realized this is dumb.

Uh, I'm taking my survivor pick.

So, of course, the Browns are gonna lose to the Titans, which will then eliminate me from my last survivor pool and lose this parlay.

But there's not very many short favorites that I like this week.

A lot of the bigger favorites have, uh, odds shorter than -250, so I can't use them.

So I'll use the Browns.

I do have to have faith in them.

They are at home, they have a dominant defense , they have Miles Garrett.

The Titans are the worst team in the league.

Uh, so let's hope the Browns just win.

My pick here is for the Titans to cover.

So a Browns field goal win, a Browns 3-point win, we win everything across the board, that would be peachy.

Uh, and then we have two touchdown bets here.

Like I said, most favorites in the NFL are big favorites, so they don't follow in our -250 or shorter odds rule.

So let's start with, uh, the Colts who are taking on the Jaguars.

JT Jonathan Taylor, JTT.

How about that?

Uh, that is coming in just under-250 and -240, even if I like the Jaguars in that game, the Colts are gonna score at some point, and we can't really trust Daniel Jones.

He's literally playing on a broken leg.

Don't know how that's possible, uh, but they're gonna hand the ball to Jonathan Taylor early and often.

Let's hope he does just one touchdown.

That's all we need from Jonathan Taylor.

And then we will go the Bills, James.

James Cook, brother of Dalvin Cook.

We need him to score for the Buffalo Bills.

Bills are a run-first team, we know this by now.

We just need Josh Allen to not vulture those touchdowns when they get close to the goal line.

If they don't, or if he doesn't, if he just hands the ball off to James Cook, he should be able to uh score at least one touchdown against a Bengals defense, which has not been good this season.

So that is my four-leg parlay for this weekend.

Uh, just in case you can't read my writing, I do think you can see it on the graphic.

Am I pointing to the right side?

Other side, other side, that side, look at the mountain again.

Oh, there we go, yeah, I can see it now.

There we go, yeah.

Where are you on this mountain?

I'm the marker right there, now lower, uh, right, yeah, 4 foreleg, I think, yeah, I I hit the first two, the first two steps, uh, so we're up to the fore leg, which would, if I can win that this weekend, would be halfway through, and I still have.

26 days to do the, uh, to do 5-leg.

I don't think we're gonna climb the bar, I don't think we're gonna go all the way up to the seven-leg, but I'm gonna try.

Virginia, Browns, Jonathan Taylor, James Cook touchdown, that is my parlay of the weekend.

This has been Making Moves with Matt presented by FanDuel.

Thank you all so much for watching.

Best of luck this weekend.

I will see you all on Monday.