Morning Coffee: Ohtani establishes exclusive 50/50 Club with historic performance

The sports world recognizes Shohei Ohtani as an extraordinary and unparalleled baseball talent.

On Thursday, Ohtani delivered a historic performance that emphasized his unique skill set once again. 

Ohtani needed two home runs and one stolen base to cap an unprecedented year by reaching the 50/50 milestone.

Not only did he do it – Ohtani became the founding member of the 50/50 club in style by becoming the first player in MLB history to hit three home runs and steal two bases in a single game.

No player in MLB history has ever hit 50 home runs and stolen 25 bases in one season.

Ohtani has already more than doubled that with 51 home runs and 51 stolen bases.

As if those marks aren’t impressive enough, Ohtani still has nine more games to add to his remarkable season.

Ohtani is primed to become just the 12th player all-time with three or more MVP awards, the first player to ever win MVP as a DH, and the only player ever to win MVP unanimously three times.

He’s already the only player to win MVP unanimously twice.

The fact that Ohtani to win NL MVP at FanDuel was +950 at FanDuel on MLB Opening Day is stunning.

Teammates Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman followed Ronald Acuna Jr. as the three players with shorter odds.

Looking ahead, the Dodgers will play six of their final nine games at home, wrapping up the season with three games on the road at Coors Field.

Los Angeles already clinched its 12th consecutive appearance with Thursday’s 20-4 win over Miami. 

Still, I can’t shake the feeling that Ohtani will add to his historic season over the next 10 days.

Ohtani has already redefined what’s possible in the sport in more ways than one.

It’s a new standard for greatness in baseball that we might never see again.

This is the Morning Coffee for Friday September 20th, 2024.

Rodgers Delivers In MetLife Return As Jets Blow Out Patriots

While the rest of the sports world was digesting Ohtani’s spectacular performance on a milestone night, football fans in New York were anxiously awaiting the return of Aaron Rodgers at MetLife Stadium. 

The four-time NFL MVP did not disappoint.

Rodgers completed 77 per cent of his passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-3 win over the rival New England Patriots.

The win snapped a string of eight straight home losses to the Patriots – tied for the longest home losing streak against any team in franchise history.

It also ended the New York Jets’ streak of six straight losses on Thursday Night Football.

With the win and cover as a 6.5-point favourite at FanDuel, the Jets became the first favourite of six or more points to cover the spread this season.

Favourites of six or more points had gone a combined 0-8 against the spread through the first two weeks of the season.

Rodgers to win NFL regular season MVP is down to +1600 from +2000 at FanDuel following last night’s win.

The Jets’ odds to win the Super Bowl were cut to +2000 from +2200 entering Week 3.

Perhaps most importantly for yours truly, last night was a clean sweep for the betting team with our picks for Thursday Night Football.

Davis Sanchez’s FanDuel Best Bet cashed in the second quarter when tight end Ty Conklin went over 20.5 receiving yards.

Meanwhile, Patriots’ wide receiver DeMario Douglas got me the one yard I needed to cash the over 0.5 first quarter receiving yards at +130.

Then in the third quarter he went over 2.5 receptions to cash the FanDuel Best Bet I recommended in Thursdays’ Morning Coffee column.

Douglas finished with seven catches for 69 yards on nine targets.  

He accounted for exactly half of Jacoby Brissett’s pass targets in the game.

It was the perfect start to betting Week 3 in the NFL.

Turning the page this morning, I have circled a handful of FanDuel Best Bets to consider for Sunday. 

First up, I’ll recommend Alvin Kamara 60+ rushing yards at -150 at FanDuel.

Kamara has averaged 99.0 rushing yards on 17.5 rushing attempts through the first two games of the season.

Kamara has raved about the scheme that new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak installed in New Orleans, and we should see him featured heavily against a Philadelphia Eagles’ defence that has allowed a league-high 6.4 yards per carry this season.

Josh Jacobs and Bijan Robinson both topped 80+ rushing yards against the Eagles defence.

I like Kamara over 64.5 rushing yards at -110 at FanDuel, but I’ll go with 60+ rushing yards at -150 as a FanDuel Best Bet for this column.

In the same game, I like Jalen Hurts over 40.5 rushing yards at -114 and over 9.5 attempts at -132.

Hurts is healthy again and he’s shown a willingness to use his legs more often through the first two weeks of the season with 59.0 rushing yards on 13.0 attempts per game.

I’ll like these plays even more if A.J. Brown doesn’t play.

Regardless, I think we see a lot of running from both Hurts and Kamara on Sunday.

For my fourth recommended play, I’ll lock in Kyler Murray 225+ over 31.5 rushing yards against the Detroit Lions.

After rushing for 57 yards in a Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills, we saw Murray run for 59 yards in a Week 2 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

He might have scrambled for even more yards against the Rams if it wasn’t for the game being over before the half.

The Detroit Lions defence just allowed Baker Mayfield to run for 34 yards and a touchdown on five carries in a Week 2 loss, and I’m confident that Murray could get us an even higher rushing total this week. 

Meanwhile, after a disappointing Week 1 from a passing perspective, we saw Murray open things up in the passing game from the outset in Week 2 as he went 17-of-21 for 266 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-10 win over the Rams.

Murray would have thrown for even more yards if the game wasn’t over before the half. 

I like him to get us 225+ passing yards against a Lions defence that allowed Matt Stafford to throw for 317 yards against them in Week 1.

Next up, I’ll take Chicago Bears running back D’Andre Swift to register 50+ rushing yards against the Indianapolis Colts at -150 odds. 

Swift has averaged just 24.0 rushing yards through the first two games of the season, but that’s in large part because the Bears have faced two solid run defences in the Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans.

The Colts were absolutely torched by Joe Mixon in Week 1 and then hit hard again by Josh Jacobs in Week 2, even though they clearly understood that the Green Bay Packers wanted to run the football without Jordan Love.

Indianapolis has allowed a league-high 237.0 rushing yards per game.

No other defence has allowed more than 199.5 rushing yards per game.

I like Swift to go over 54.5 rushing yards against the Colts.

I’ll lock in Swift 50+ rushing yards as a recommended play.

Meanwhile, it flew under the radar a bit in Week 2, but Dallas Cowboys’ third-year receiver Jalen Tolbert finished with a career-high six catches for 82 yards on nine targets in a loss to the Saints.

CeeDee Lamb is already banged up but should be good to go on Sunday.

He’ll command a ton of attention from the Baltimore Ravens defence and open space for Tolbert and Brandin Cooks to operate in an offence that will continue to lean heavily on the passing game.

I’ll lock in Tolbert over 29.5 receiving yards at -110.

Finally, the AFC North has disappointed through the first two weeks of the season with a combined 3-5 record.

The Pittsburgh Steelers sit alone in first place at 2-0.

The Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals are a combined 1-5.

I like the Browns and Bengals to win outright in Week 3.

I’ll lock in a traditional two-team parlay with Cleveland and Cincinnati to win outright at -145 odds as the sixth and final recommended FanDuel Best Bet for Sunday.

Have a great weekend, everyone!