Month: December 2025

— Patriots 33, Giants 15
Patriots in first half: 35 plays, 259 yards, 23 points.
New England also ran a punt back 94 yards for a TD; they led 30-7 at the half.
Patriots won their last ten games (8-2 ATS).
Over is 5-2 in their last seven games.

Giants in first half: 25 plays, 89 yards, 7 points.
Giants have lost their last seven games (3-3 ATS)
Down 17-7, Giants’ kicker fell down when he was trying a FG. Just fell down, never actually kicked the ball.
Giants also fumbled a kickoff in first half; rough night for their special teams.

— New York Mets signed reliever Devin Williams for three years, $51M. Williams had a career-worst 4.79 ERA over 67 appearances for Bronx last year; he is insurance for the Mets if they do not bring Edwin Diaz back in 2026.

— Kentucky fired football coach Mark Stoops, paid him $37.7M to take a hike, after he went 82-80 in 13 years coaching the Wildcats (4-4 in bowls). They replaced him with Will Stein, the offensive coordinator at Oregon, who grew up in Kentucky.

— NC State-Virginia will play a football game in Brazil next August, the first college football game in South America. The game will be played in a 44,661-seat stadium that helped host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

— Missouri recently became the 40th state to have legalized sports betting. 

— Denver Broncos are 10-2, but they’ve been behind in every game; they’re the only team ever to win that many games when they trailed in all of them. Next-best record was the 1978 Houston Oilers, who were 8-4 thru 12 games.

— Famous birthdays, December 2nd:
Steven Bauer, 69
OJ McDuffie, 56
Mark Kotsay, 50

Britney Spears, 44
Aaron Rodgers, 42
Daniela Ruah, 42

Matt McGloin, 36
Brandon Knight, 34
Ashton Jeanty, 22

— NFL divisional trends
AFC East
Underdogs 5-3 ATS divisional games
12-6 ATS non-divisional underdogs

AFC North
Home teams 5-1 ATS divisional games
18-24 ATS non-divisional games

AFC South
Home teams, favorites 5-2 ATS divisional games.
12-8 ATS non-divisional underdogs

AFC West
Home teams 4-1 ATS divisional games
4-10 ATS non-divisional road team
8-15 non-divisional favorite.

NFC East
Home teams 5-2 ATS divisional games
6-11 ATS non-divisional underdogs

NFC North
Favorites 4-2 ATS divisional games
11-9 ATS non-divisional favorite

NFC South
Underdogs 3-1 ATS divisional games
16-20 ATS non-divisional games

NFC West
Home teams 1-5 ATS divisional games
16-7 non-divisional favorites

— Middle Tennessee 76, UAB 61
UAB led by a point at halftime.
Blue Raiders are 3-0 vs teams ranked outside top 100
UAB is shooting 26% on the arc this year. (#345)

— Colorado 78, Cal Baptist 70
8-0 Buffs trailed 23-9 midway thru the first half.
Colorado already has three top 100 wins.
Frosh guard Johnson scored 17 points in 27:00 off the bench.

— Bowling Green 82, Kansas State 66
Underdog Falcons never trailed, shot 12-26 on the arc.
Ugly loss for K-State, which shot 12-22 on foul line, 6-23 on arc.
Wildcats have lost three in a row, giving up 86-86-82 points. 

— Villanova 74, Temple 56
Villanova led 29-28 at halftime, in this inner-city rivalry.
Wildcats out-rebounded Temple 43-24.
Villanova is 6-1, but lost their only top 100 game (BYU)

49ers 26, Browns 8
49ers won their last three games, by 19-11-18 points.
49ers are 9-0 when they allow less than 26 points.
49ers were 11-17 on third down, Cleveland 3-11.
49ers are 5-0 ATS as a road favorite this year.

49ers led the Browns 10-8 at halftime.
Browns in 2nd half: 28 plays, 60 yards, no points.
Cleveland gained less than 280 yards in their last seven games.
Browns are 0-9 when they allow more than 10 points.

Jaguars 25, Titans 3
Jaguars scored TDs on 2 of  first 3 drives, led 15-3 early.
Jacksonville won last three games, scoring 35-27-25 points.
Jaguars held 9 of last 11 opponents under 100 yards rushing.
Jaguars are 8-3 ATS in last eleven AFC South road games.

Tennessee is 0-7 SU/3-4 ATS in last seven games.
Titans are 3-9 ATS in last 12 AFC South home games.
Tennessee is 5-16-1 ATS last 22 games coming off a loss.
Titans are 7-16 ATS in last 23 games as an underdog.

Texans 20, Colts 16
QB Stroud threw for 276 yards after missing last three games.
Texans were 6-13 on third down, Colts 3-10.
Houston won its last four games, by 7-3-4-4 points.
Texans are 6-0 when they score 20+ points.  

Colts’ first four drives: 18 plays, 71 yards, no points.
Houston led 10-6 at halftime.
Colts scored fewer than 20 points for first time this season.
Colts lost three of last four games, after a 7-1 start.

Dolphins 21, Saints 17
Miami won three of last four games, after a 1-6 start.
Down 19-11, Saints scored a TD with 1:17 left, but failed on 2-point try.
Saints recovered onside kick, got to Miami’s 36, but were stopped on downs.
De’Von Arcane ran ball for 134 yards and a TD. 

Saints lost five of their last six games.
New Orleans is 0-10 when it allows more than 14 points.
In seven of last eight games, Saints ran ball for less than 90 yards.
Saints are 0-4 in games decided by 7 or fewer points.

Jets 27, Falcons 24
Nick Folk kicked a 56-yard FG on last play to win on a rainy day.
Jets trailed 24-17, scored 10 points in last 1:53 of the game.
Jets are 3-2 in their last five games, after an 0-7 start.
WR Mitchell caught 8 passes for 102 yards and a TD. 

Game was tied 7-7 at halftime.
Atlanta lost six of its last seven games.
Falcons are 0-5 in games decided by 6 or fewer points.
Atlanta is 1-8 when it allows more than 14 points. 

Panthers 31, Rams 28
QB Young threw TD passes of 35-33-43 yards.
Carolina is 5-1 when they score 27+ points, 2-5 when they don’t
Panthers are 6-1 in games decided by 7 or fewer points.
Carolina is 5-0 ATS this year in games coming off a loss.

Rams were minus-3 in turnovers, throwing pick-6/INT in end zone.
LA allowed 33-26-31 points in their three losses.
Carolina was 7-15 on third down (3-3 on 4th), Rams 2-5.
7-6 Panthers are half-game behind Tampa Bay in NFC South.
 
Buccaneers 20, Cardinals 17
Buccaneers in first half: 34 plays, 147 yards, 10 points.
Tampa Bay led 10-3 at halftime.
Tampa Bay was 7-16 on third down, Arizona 3-8
Last eleven games, Tampa Bay is +9 in turnovers.

Cardinals are 0-7 in games decided by 4 or fewer points.
Arizona’s first five drives: 27 plays, 128 yards, 3 points.
Cardinals lost four in row, nine of last ten games.
Arizona is 1-8 when they allow more than 17 points. 

Famous birthdays, December 1st:
Bette Midler, 80
George Foster, 77
Larry Walker, 59
Steve Walsh, 59

DeSean Jackson, 39
Dan Straily, 37
Javier Baez, 33
Gary Payton II, 33

 Seahawks 26, Vikings 0
Vikings lost four in row, six of their last seven games.
Last four games, Minnesota is minus-11 in turnovers.
#3 QB Brosmer was overmatched, threw an 85-yard pick-6.
Minnesota was shut out for first time since 2007.

Seattle kicked FGs on four of their first seven drives.
Seattle is 4-1 ATS as a home favorite this year.
Seahawks won five of their last six games.
Seahawks held 8 of last 10 opponents under 300 TY.

Chargers 31, Raiders 14
Chargers outgained the Raiders, 341-156.
Chargers converted 12-17 on third down, Las Vegas 2-8
QB Herbert broke a bone in his left (non-throwing) hand.
Bolts are 8-3 ATS last 11 games as a home favorite.

Game was tied 7-7 at halftime.
Chargers in 2nd half: 31 plays, 199 yards, 24 points.
Raiders lost six games in a row, 10 of last 11.
Raiders are 11-18-2 ATS last 31 games as an underdog.  

Bills 26, Steelers 7
Pittsburgh led 7-3 at halftime.
Bills scored a defensive TD on first play of third quarter.
Steelers in 2nd half: 21 plays, 95 yards, zero points.
Pittsburgh lost five of its last seven games.

Buffalo outgained the Steelers, 372-166.
Bills ran ball 51 times for 249 yards (4.9 yards/carry).
Bills are 13-8 ATS in last 21 games coming off a loss.
Buffalo is 8-0 when they score more than 20 points.

Broncos 27, Commanders 26 OT
Both teams scored TD in OT; Washington went for 2 points/win, but failed.
Denver is 2-6 ATS last eight games as a road favorite.
Broncos won their last nine games, last four by 3-3-3-1 points.
Seven of their last eight wins were by 4 or fewer points.

Backup QB Mariota threw for 294 yards, two TD’s.
Commanders kicked FG at gun of regulation to force OT.
Washington is 0-7 SU/1-6 ATS in their last seven games.
Commanders are 0-5 in games decided by 9 or fewer points.

— College football coaching changes:
Lane Kiffin quits Ole Miss, bolts to LSU. He will not coach the Rebels in the college football playoff. 

Ole Miss named defensive coordinator Pete Golding its new head coach; he has never been a head coach before.

Florida hired former Tulane coach Jon Sumrall, who is 42-11 in four years as a HC.

Arkansas hired former Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield, who was 50-24 with the Tigers, 4-0 in bowl games.

Auburn hired former South Florida coach Alex Golesh, who was 23-15 in three years at USF, 2-0 in bowls.

Oklahoma State hired former North Texas coach Eric Morris, who was 22-15 in three years with the Mean Green.

Michigan State fired Jonathan Smith, who was 9-15 in two years at MSU, after going 25-13 his last three years at Oregon State. Spartans are expected to hire Pat Fitzgerald, who was 110-101 when he was coaching at Northwestern, his alma mater.