NFL Thursday - Jaguars can keep it close in the Falcons house

Week 15 in the NFL starts off with a game between the out of contention for the playoffs Jacksonville Jaguars & the Atlanta Falcons who are pushing hard for a playoff place. The Falcons still have an outside squeak of winning their division, the NFC South especially as they have to face division leaders New Orleans next week, but are very live contenders for a wildcard spot with their record currently sat at 8&5. We've looked at the game & picked our best bets, trying to seek a value edge as usual, we're trying to improve from Sunday's under points picks where the games went over the total points lines by the slimmest of margins! Join in the conversation & get notified of any new blogs we post by following us on Twitter @likebuyingmoney it's good fun & we always try to converse with our followers & take any questions.

(Maurice Jones-Drew can continue his quest for the rushing title in Atlanta)

Jacksonville are in a little bit of turmoil with head coach Jack Del Rio being fired just two weeks ago but they rallied under Mel Tucker last week & gave a real lesson to the Buccaneers of how press home the advantage when creating turnovers with a 41-14 win at home. Maurice-Jones Drew was immense in that game with 85 yards rushing & 4 touchdowns (2 rushing & 2 receiving) & he leads the league in rushing yards, it's no surprise as he basically is the Jaguars offense with rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert continuing to be untrustworthy in terms of accuracy. The Falcons have only limited Indianapolis to less than 14 points suggesting that the Jags should be able to get into the end zone at least a couple of times even though they're only averaging 14.8 points a game, Jones-Drew has scored in 5 of his last 6 games & the 4/9 on offer for him to score at anytime with Boylesports is worth a sizeable bet.

The Jaguars offense is less than special other than Jones-Drew but they do rank 4th best in yards given up per game on defense & they've only been beaten by 12 points or more on 3 occasions, 2 of those coming in the first 4 games. The Falcons have only beaten two teams this year by 12 points or more & one of those were the league worst Colts & the other being the pretty ordinary Panthers, therefore the 12 points that Jacksonville get on the handicap in this one look generous & they should be backed on that basis. We like the Falcons especially at home in the Georgia Dome, Matt Ryan has thrown for 23 TDs already & has a star receiver corps with Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez & traded up for rookie Julio Jones all getting in the action, in the running game Michael Turner is one of the league's best. The Falcons are better than average defensively & offensively & we think they should win here but Jacksonville can at least keep it respectable, look to get the your wallets loaded for this weekend's games & oppose the home team.

Selections:
Jacksonville Jaguars to beat Atlanta Falcons with +12 points on the handicap at 10/11 (several)
Maurice Jones-Drew to score a touchdown at anytime at 4/9 (Boylesports)